Lego Dimensions: The Lego Batman Movie review
The LEGO Batman Movie story pack is one I was looking forward to the most in my ever growing collection of LEGO Dimensions sets. The formula here hasn’t changed from the standard LEGO Dimensions formula, but it does add some additional character exclusive abilities and manages to tell a hilarious story that also incorporates a lot of characters from the LEGO Universe that we saw glimpses of in the LEGO Batman Movie.
The LEGO Batman Movie story pack is interesting, as you would expect it to be just like another LEGO Batman game, but due to the villains introduced in the movie it actually ends up feeling like a new LEGO Dimensions game. Unlike the LEGO Ghostbusters 2016 pack or the Fantastic Beast story pack, which featured characters mostly from its movie, LEGO Batman features characters like King Kong, Agent Smith (The Matrix) and the flying monkeys from Wizard of Oz. These characters made appearances in the LEGO Batman Movie but they allow this story pack to stand out. Watching Batman try an take on Voldemort is not only hilarious due to his dialogue but also refreshing as it doesn’t feel like just another LEGO Batman game.
For those who have seen the LEGO Batman Movie will know just how hilarious the movie is, in particular the self centeredness of Batman. Travelers Tales have done an amazing job at bringing that humor into this story pack. Batman’s one liners are perfect and Robin is just as goofy as he is in the movie. Batman constantly makes excuses when he can’t figure something out and constantly talks about himself. When idle he even pulls out a rock guitar and starts rocking out. It’s all so very well done.
The new story pack doesn’t come with a new Batman character but instead simply has you use the one from the starter pack. What it does come with is the movie version of Robin and Batgirl. Both are unique characters with abilities that we haven’t seen in the LEGO Dimensions game before. Robin has the ability to climb through ventilation shafts which in itself is perfectly animated because he does the warm break dance move when he shimmies around in the vents. Robin also has the ability to change costumes by ripping off his clothes like he does in the movie and turns into The LEGO Batman Movie version of Nightwing, while in the Nightwing costume he is able to swing on posts with his staff and illuminate dark areas.
.jpg)
Batgirl is also given a new ability and new game gimmick. Hers it’s more of a new puzzle which sees her rotate parts of a sphere to connect lines so they can reach a core and power up devices. It’s not a difficult puzzle to solve but anything new to the LEGO formula is welcomed. Batman himself is utilized in new mechanics as well. At some points you have to be a detective and figure out how to access secret passages. In specific areas Batman can go into detective mode much like in the Batman Arkham games and reveal footsteps or smells to follow to figure out his next step and solving puzzles. Batman also has the ability to stun his enemies by shooting them with a merchandise gun. This gun stunes anyone it hits by putting a Batman t-shirt on them confusing them as they try and figure out how they got this new Batman shirt. It’s very entertaining to watch.
The biggest problem with the LEGO Batman Movie story pack is it feels rushed. Cutscenes feel empty with almost no detail in the backgrounds and a lot of the textures look like they were pulled from the PlayStation 2. The new hub world also didn’t get much attention in much the same way as the cutscenes. LEGO Batman’s Gotham City has been given almost no love. The streets are barren with hardly any NPC’s walking around and again looks incredibly bland with almost no detail put into the backgrounds compared to the great attention to detail in the Fantastic Beasts and Ghostbusters 2016 hub worlds it’s clear that Travelers Tales just didn’t have the time with this story pack like they did with the others. It’s also a lot smaller than past story pack hub worlds.
The LEGO Batman Movie story pack is still a great addition to the LEGO Dimensions franchise but one that feels like it should have been better. It’s great to see new characters finally get new abilities for future instalments and the humor is just as great as it was in the movie but it also shows signs of a rushed product that I hope isn’t a sign of things to come. With the lack of competition this year Travelers Tales can get a stranglehold on the market, I just hope it doesn’t come at the cost of quality.