LEGO Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight Review

As far as video game titles go, you'd struggle to find one more instructive than LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight.

Legacy (or should that be "LEGO-cy?") is very much the mission statement when it comes to TT Games' latest offering, with the brick-based British game developer marshalling all the myriad interpretations of DC Comics' most renowned superhero into a package that feels as much a celebration of the Caped Crusader and his many, many facets, as it does a new chapter for a studio keen to rip up the instruction booklet on how a LEGO game should be built.

That lattermost aspect may cause some consternation among the LEGO game faithful, with TT's previous attempt to break out from the blocky confines of its LEGO past resulting in the bloated and unwieldy LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Legacy of the Dark Knight - while huge in its own regard - thankfully does not befall the same fate, largely thanks to TT taking plentiful and welcome cues from Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham franchise. The end result is something legitimately impressive - a game lofty enough to build upon the foundations of Rocksteady's acclaimed franchise and even plug the gap left by its now 11 (!!) year absence, as well as one that retains the charm and affection that kickstarted TT's LEGO journey over 20 years ago.

It's a charm reflected in Legacy of the Dark Knight's approach to the idea of adaptation altogether. Rather than taking the traditional LEGO route of reimagining a select number of films into blocky form - as proved so successful on the original LEGO Star Wars and Indiana Jones titles - this new LEGO Batman has ordered everything off the menu. Comics, TV, animation, video games, and of course the movies of Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan - everything is accounted for and lovingly assembled, ensuring TT's rendition of Gotham City resembles the brick box of a childhood bedroom and all the chaos that brings, but layered in such a way so as to satisfy the Dark Knight's hardcore - like a MOC painstakingly created by a Master Builder.

Legacy of the Dark Knight moves breathlessly through Bruce Wayne's comic book and screen career, starting with the fateful murder of his parents and his tutelage under R'as al Ghul a la Batman Begins, and continuing all the way through to the creation of the Bat Family, with the World's Greatest Detective a key fixture of the Gotham City nightlife. The origin phase of the story draws from Nolan's first Batman film, the comics of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Batman: The Animated Series and Matt Reeves' The Batman, before proceeding to pay homage to the Burton and Schumacher years as the Dark Knight approaches his peak.

This amalgamation of various Bat material is never jarring and always cohesive, with TT not content merely to spotlight these various Batman interpretations, but to layer them in such a way that complements a genuine Batman biograph.

LEGO Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight Is The Perfect DC Tribute

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight also marks a massive step-up for TT Games on a gameplay and level design front. This open-world incarnation of Gotham City is easily the best and most fluid the studio has concocted yet, bustling with life and crime and plentiful Easter eggs and navigable both via Batmobile and a grappling and glide mechanic that again draws heavily from Batman: Arkham. Rocksteady's influence can also be heavily felt in Legacy of the Dark Knight's combat and stealth encounters, with freeflow combat, invisible predator stealth and puzzle-solving playing just as well in minifigure form as it does in the gothic, neon-lit stylings of Batman: Arkham Knight.

But for as much as Legacy of the Dark Knight imitates Batman: Arkham, it also manages to make original and novel innovations to the open-world Batman concept that place it alongside - rather than underneath - its predecessor. TT Games has developed an open-world Gotham playground uninterrupted by doomsday-scenario villain schemes where the Bat Family "patrol" fantasy can be fully realised, but even better is the construction of a living, breathing, fully customisable Batcave. Players can upgrade and expand Batman's secret lair like never before, displaying iconic trophies, costumes, and Batmobiles and - even better - customise portions of the area to make their own custom LEGO scenes and sets.

Want to build a museum dedicated to props used by the Justice League? You can do that. Want to make a miniature library for Bats and co. to take away the stresses of their day? You can do that too. Want to build a tribute to the iconography of cult animated show Batman Beyond, including the legendary Eggbaby? Done and done.

There are shortfalls in attaining that ultimate Batman fantasy - such as being unable to drive the Batmobile seamlessly in and out of the cave, nor take an elevator to explore Wayne Manor as and when you see fit, but with the prospect of DLC on the horizon, there's always hope that won't be the case for long.

As for other shortcomings, there's scarcely little that brings Legacy of the Dark Knight down either as a LEGO Game or as a Batman: Arkhamlite. With the fleshing out of the open-world and a gloriously realised Batcave, I'd go as far as to say that this is the most complete Batman gaming experience DC fans could hope to find. It's lovingly drawn, hilariously constructed, and a wonderful game to exist in.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a Batcave to customise.

Review Score:★★★★½

Reviewed on PlayStation 5.