Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham (2015) - What's New

The Traveller's Tales Lego games have always been extremely high quality. You can always count on them to be good, but you can't always expect them to be very different. It's no secret that these games have been using the same formula for years, but does Beyond Gotham do enough to make it feel fresh?

Storyline

The story plays out in a very similar structure to past LEGO games. You go from mission to mission, solving puzzles and smashing bricks. Lego Batman narrative centers around Braniac capturing various Lanterns and using their energy for his own purposes. Ultimately this serves as a motivation to travel into outer space, visiting other planets and fighting bad guys.

Justice League characters

Interestingly although the game is called Lego Batman, you do spend a lot of time playing as the members of the Justice League. Batman still plays a big role but other characters like Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter spend a fair amount of time in the spotlight.

Lego Batman 3: pleiad of characters from Justice League

Voice acting

The voice acting is of very high quality with a special mention going to Adam West, who pops every now and then and need rescuing.

Differences to previous Lego games

Not much has changed in the way of gameplay in Lego Batman 3 with respect to past LEGO games. The general formula of smashing objects and than rebuilding them into new ones remains as a core gameplay element. The only real major change is the ability to switch into different suits at will, and not just with Batman and Robin. Many characters have multiple suites with different abilities that turn helpful in certain situations.

The general combat is extremely simple and it usually involves button mashing until all the bad guys are dead.

Playing against/with your friends

As with every LEGO game the whole of Beyond Gotham can be played locally with a friend, which I've always found to be a lot of fun. If you move away from your partner or if you're in a hub, the game will go into a split screen mode.

Lego Batman 3: Going into split screen mode

Graphics

Every location in the game is bursting with color and detail. The animation team have also done a great job with charming movements and facial expressions that expertly capture each character's personality. Also because the hardware requirements for this game are quite modest, it should run at solid frame rate even on older PCs and laptops.

Story mode vs free play mode; Hub worlds

After you've completed the mission in story mode, you can return to it in a free play mode where you select any character you've unlocked during the mission. There's also the 'Hub world' to explore which is made up of multiple locations including the watchtower, the bat-cave and the Hall of Justice. Moreover you can even explore different planets and moons, which are progressively unlocked by collecting gold bricks.

In conclusion

In conclusion LEGO Batman Beyond is a fun addition to the Lego series and the ability to explore planets offers and exciting new take on the open-world format. In every core aspect "Beyond Gotham" feels highly refined, especially in regards to colorful visuals and charming voice-over work.

If you're fan of the Lego games or DC Comics, I would definitely recommend giving it a try.