This just gives you an idea of the potential that the addition of voices presents, and I could see this becoming a regular feature in future LEGO games. Then when Superman comes into things, with his confident and well-meaning manner, things get even better, what with Batman resenting all of his help and Robin frantically trying to impress him. Their back and forth dialogue is particularly witty, with some great lines based around the conventional Batman and Robin relationship. Batman comes across as surly, whilst Robin is a bit bumbling and goofy. The voice actors for all of the characters are almost universally well-acted and well-suited to their roles. However, after a couple of cutscenes, all of my doubts were quickly erased. There was a definite charm in the way that the developers managed to tell these famous stories through mime with such flair, complete with the exaggerated expressions of the faces of the mini-figures providing some of the funniest moments. I had always thought that a lot of the charm in the LEGO games came from the almost Buster Keaton-like silent movie atmosphere and acting created by the mute characters. Now when I first heard this news, I must say that I was more than a little dubious. Of course, they don’t exactly chat like crazy throughout the game, but when in cut-scenes and the like, all the speech is performed by voice actors. ![]() For the first time in any of the titles from TT Games, all of the speaking mini-figures in the game are fully-voiced. SOUND: Sound design is one area in which the game has had a radical change from earlier LEGO titles. It must be said that one slight disappointment is the fact that the team have tended to use non-LEGO shapes and models for some of the larger buildings and trees that appear in the game, and this is slightly jarring between the two art styles, but it is something that isn’t likely to bother many gamers especially those who are fans of the series anyway. Obviously, there is a slight refinement of the graphical resolutions, with the sprites certainly looking smoother than in the original LEGO Batman, but none of this will be ground-breaking stuff and the game appears more or less the same as you would expect, all the way from the characters to the Head-up-Display. GRAPHICS: Not very much can be said of the graphics aside from the fact that the game is built on the same engine that has been used for almost every other LEGO licensed game that came before it. What is happening in the plot isn’t likely to amaze anyone, but the way in which it is all strung together and carried off provides constant entertainment. The conversations between both friends and enemies are very funny, and the comic timing is actually quite impressive especially considering that the actors are basically blocks of LEGO. Jokes are played upon many standard comic book conventions, and the simmering friendship-by-association between Superman and Batman is a particularly amusing one, with Superman constantly oblivious to the grumblings and jealousy of Batman. You could have written all of this by yourself, and the plot-line definitely won’t win any awards, but it is the interplay between the characters and the little LEGO in-jokes that really make the title entertaining. This is where Batman and Robin realise that they cannot tackle this problem alone, and enlist the help of several members of the Justice League to help save Gotham. Wayne manages to slip away and successfully defeat this entourage whilst in the guise of Batman, but as in all good comics, the walls of a prison cannot hold a super villain for long, and The Joker teams up to form a menacing Super-Villain duo with Lex Luthor. Inevitably, The Joker interrupts this joyous affair, accompanied by the usual suspects such as The Penguin, The Riddler and Poison Ivy. ![]() We join Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor attending the Gotham City “Man of the Year” award ceremony. STORY: This is all fairly standard comic-book stuff, and certainly doesn’t take any pointers from the realism and grit of the aforementioned Christopher Nolan feature films. Does it manage to step out of the shadow of its more serious sibling especially due to the fact it now comes with added DC Super Heroes? In a shrewd piece of marketing, the release of this game has also arrived during the run-up to the release of The Dark Knight Rises in cinemas worldwide. The LEGO Batman license obviously had some legs to it, as we now have a sequel, four years on from the first game. ![]() Star Wars and Harry Potter have also received hugely successful LEGO makeovers, but Pirates of the Caribbean fared less favourably. With the news that LEGO and TT Games are working on a LEGO Lord of the Rings game, it seems almost as though no popular franchise will be safe from those little mini-figures. Interactive EntertainmentĪvailable on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Windows PC and PS Vita (Reviewed on Xbox 360)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |