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| FEBRUARY 22, 2008 |
| A Batman game without plenty of high-tech gizmos at your disposal wouldn't be much of a Batman game so it's nice to see, then, that Lego Batman is dealing out the gadgets liberally throughout the game. For example, in certain areas of a level, you'll be able to change suits from your regular Batman or Robin get-up to a specialized costume that will grant the wearer special powers. We saw several examples during the demo including a magnetic-shoed suit for Robin that allowed him to climb up the sheer face of a building, or indeed upside down in certain spots; a glide suit that let Batman glide across rooftops to access areas he couldn't make on a regular jump; a demolition suit for Batman that let him set mines and detonate them remotely; and a tech suit that let Robin take control of remote controlled airplanes, cars, and robots (made out of Legos, naturally). Proving the Lego series still has its sense of humor well intact in Lego Batman, the chase for the Catwoman ended with the sultry feline thief planting an extended kiss on Batman (much to the chagrin of Robin), before tossing the pink diamond over the roof of the building (only to be picked up by an umbrella-gliding Penguin). From there we were taken to a different level, focusing on two of Batman's most notorious foes. |
| Harley Quinn and the Joker are just two of the many villains making trouble in Lego Batman. We're speaking, of course, of The Joker and his sidekick Harley Quinn. In this level, the pair was navigating through an amusement park--which acted as a colorful visual counterpoint to the grim and gritty streets of Gotham during the Batman level we saw. Like Batman and Robin, The Joker and Quinn have their own special abilities; we especially enjoyed The Joker's hand buzzer, which can be used to electrocute opponents or charge up unpowered objects. While watching the two villains navigate the level, we got a nice taste of the amount of animation work the team at TT Games has put into these characters; from The Joker's strut to Harley Quinn's lithe and agile jumping, it's amazing to see how dexterous these blocky little characters can be. Quinn and The Joker cooperated to solve several puzzles, including setting off a roller coaster to break through a cave wall blocked by boulders, before ending with a confrontation with the end-boss: Commissioner Jim Gordon and a bevy of Gotham's finest that ended with Gordon getting locked in a cage and awaiting rescue from you know who. Commissioner Gordon as a boss battle? Yeah, count us in. The folks at TT Games must be having a ball twisting up expectations for the Batman formula with this game, and it shows. With a lighthearted tone and plenty of iconic characters in the mix (in addition to the above villains, we also briefly saw King Croc and the Sandman in action), this looks to be like another fun-filled adventure for the Caped Crusader. The game is due for release this fall on practically every major platform and we'll have more on the game in the coming months. |
