Developer: Traveler’s Tales
Publisher: Warner Bros. Games
Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S; Switch 2 (Sept 18)
Played on: PlayStation 5
Batman has been a top-tier superhero for decades, with widely recognizable stories, allies, and villains through hundreds of comics and adaptations. Legacy of the Dark Knight admirably combines Batman’s most famously adapted tales of the last 35 years into a single cohesive narrative, while including the best open-world Gotham City in over a decade.
Read on for our co-op review of LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight!
Gotham City Nights
Despite Batman’s propensity for going solo, he’s never alone in Legacy of the Dark Knight.
The game was clearly designed to always support a second playable character who tags along, with easy drop-in/drop-out co-op.
In the early hours, it’s Talia al Ghul training with Batman at the League of Shadows. Then police officer Jim Gordon as we’re dropped into Gotham City proper for the opening chapter.
Like the Grand Theft Auto games of yore, Gotham’s districts are mostly separated by islands. Each area is filled with treasure chests, Riddler puzzles, AR racing games, investigative wanted posters, and more.
Impressively, both players can freely wander the city to nab collectibles, solve puzzles, and thwart the many pop-up random crimes, which occur a bit-too frequently.
We know Gotham is infamously crime-ridden, but yeesh!
I’ve played many Batman games in the past, and this is one of my favorite iterations of Gotham, with nothing but night skies and almost constant rainfall.
Don’t get me started on how good the raindrops look on Batman’s cape and cowl!
There’s always something just around the corner (or rooftop) to distract us, whether we’re hunting an escaped animal from the Gotham Zoo, or breaking into criminal warehouses to crack a safe. It’s a masterclass in urban open-world game design.
On the flip side, many puzzles and collectibles require a surprising amount of effort. Almost every Waynetech Cache, which include valuable upgrade points for our gadgets, requires solving a puzzle involving switches and cables or other tasks.
This is extra tricky in co-op, when a specific character’s skills are often needed. As Batman, there was many a time where I had to call my co-op partner over to foam-up a water spout as Gordon, or climb a wall as Catwoman, just to nab a collectible or unlock a chest.
They really make you work for these rewards!
Players can ride together in a vehicle, or pilot their own, summoning them with the press of a button. The only restriction is that a character may only pilot their own vehicle.
Also, ground vehicles only. Boo!
In fact, players can’t swim at all, which really reminds me of those 2000s era GTA games, with bodies of water acting as the natural barriers of the world.
When it’s time for an actual story mission, both characters need to agree to proceed when they reach the next main objective area.
The story missions act more like traditional LEGO levels, with a limited area, linear objectives, and specific collectibles to nab.
Many of the missions in the first half follow the ’89 and 90s Batman films, from a very Jack Nicholson-esque Joker, to the introduction of Robin as a high-flying circus performer, before transitioning into the later Christopher Nolan trilogy (with a liight sprinkling of the Batman Arkham games).
Though Batman is a typically serious (if not downright melodramatic) superhero, LEGO Batman retains the signature LEGO humor, filled with just the right amount of gags and references. We laughed at Harvey Dent’s accidental facial scarring and villain origin, and I lost it at a certain actor reference with an early scene involving a business card.
The very calm and Michael Caine-coded Alfred is also a complete delight.
The Whole Bat Family
One of Legacy of the Dark Knight’s biggest departures from a typical LEGO video game is the reduced number of playable characters. While many LEGO games feature dozens if not hundreds of characters to unlock, Legacy only includes seven: Batman, Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Talia al Ghul. This is a smart change, however, as each character is much more distinct and interesting, with their own special abilities and features — not to mention critical roles in the main story.
Batman’s Batclaw can pull down objects, Robin’s cable launcher can create tripwires, and Catwoman can summon her cute cats to squeeze into hard-to-reach places. All these abilities also function in combat, such as using Batarangs to stun enemies, or spinning enemies with Catwoman’s whip.
As the main character, Batman has extra gadget upgrades and skill points, though most skills work with multiple characters, such as gliding takedowns, and the second focus meter.
Combat takes its cue from the Batman Arkham games — even using the same basic enemy types, including shields, stun batons, and large bruisers. Players can button mash to pummel foes, or time their hits to deliver counter-attacks and dodges. By building up the focus meter, we can unleash instant takedowns with fun animations.
The combat is easy enough that anyone can enjoy it, but the gadgets help add a fun layer of complexity and expand each character’s moveset.
Legacy of the Dark Knight is an excellent family game for multiple ages, thanks to the different difficulty levels. Caped Crusader, the middle level, feels like the perfect balance, with a slightly more challenging LEGO action game that leans on the expanded combat, while Dark Knight adds limited lives and even more challenging opponents for more hardcore gamers.
To help keep traversal smooth, every character can grapple across the rooftops and glide with their own capes or gliders. Plus, each character has their own set of costumes and vehicles to unlock.
Sadly, only land vehicles, however.
At any time players can return to the Bat Cave, Batman’s ridiculously huge base of operations. Here we can unlock additional vehicles, check out our full line of unlocked outfits, and expand the cave into new areas.
Legacy of the Dark Knight also introduces decorating within designated areas of the Bat Cave. We can place unlocked and purchased (using in-game studs) furniture and objects, from Sims-like couches and lamps to giant boomboxes or cat heads.
Trying to decorate while playing co-op splitscreen isn’t exactly easy. And I’m not exactly playing a Batman game to exercise my interior decorating skills (or lack thereof), but it’s a neat idea.
The Rating
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight has been rated E10+, with Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence. It falls in line with every other LEGO action game, with players frequently engaged in melee combat, using punches and gadgets to defeat bad guys. Defeated enemies explode into their individual LEGO pieces.
Even the more serious scenes from Batman lore, such as the various villain origins, are mostly played for laughs and chuckles, with plenty of fun references and slapstick gags. Easy for the whole family to enjoy, including my six year old.
See our Game Picker entry for further details.
The Takeaway
After decades of licensed LEGO video game adaptations, Traveler’s Tales have hit their magnum opus with Legacy of the Dark Knight. The freedom to explore all the big Batman films as one cohesive, hilarious, and effective narrative is extremely satisfying — not to mention the immersive open-world Gotham City to explore.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is not only the best LEGO co-op game, it’s also one of the greatest Batman games, and a must-play for gaming families.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It’s launching on Switch 2 on September 18.
