LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Review – Let’s Put a Smile on That Face

Batman fans have been strangely starved in the video games arena for a long time now. More than a decade on from the launch of Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight, the wait for a new mainline AAA game featuring the Dark Knight has stretched on far longer than anyone could have expected.

Sure, we got the surprisingly excellent Arkham Shadow a couple of years ago, but between that game being VR-exclusive, Rocksteady’s talents being wasted on the failed experiment that was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and the wait for a new Batman game having dragged on as long as it has, questions over how WB has handled the franchise have become increasingly unavoidable.

"As its name implies, Legacy of the Dark Knight borrows liberally and heavily from and pays homage to all corners of the Batman universe, pulling in elements from past games, comics, films, and more."

Enter: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. The newest entry in TT Games’ LEGO Batman franchise, Legacy of the Dark Knight shockingly delivers the sort of experience that Batman fans have been craving for so long. With gameplay and design heavily inspired by the Arkham titles, a story that is packed full of secrets, callbacks, and references from across Batman history, and all of the charm, humour, and replayability that you would expect to find in one of TT Games’ LEGO titles, Legacy of the Dark Knight is an accomplished, packed, and thoroughly enjoyable Batman game.

As its name implies, Legacy of the Dark Knight borrows liberally and heavily from and pays homage to all corners of the Batman universe, pulling in elements from past games, comics, films, and more. Narratively, it charts a long story for Bruce Wayne, starting at the very beginning with the death of his parents in his childhood, seeing him join the League of Shadows and train as a ninja, and then becoming the Dark Knight of Gotham and protecting the city from a wide roster of fan-favourite villains.

There’s little that LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight does with its story that can be called entirely original, but it does a solid job nonetheless of combining elements from familiar stories and cobbling together a fun setting that Batman fans will doubtless enjoy. The game is brimming with an undeniable love for the property. Of course, the classic LEGO charm and humour that we’ve come to expect also contribute significantly, with amusing visual gags, legitimately funny writing, and more.

Where Legacy of the Dark Knight really shines is the gameplay, which is thanks in large part to how heavily it borrows from the Arkham games. Take the combat for instance, with the same free-flowing brawling systems implemented here. You punch and kick your way through crowds of enemies, with different types bearing unique weapons and shields, or donning armour, or being larger and more difficult to take down. Along with your basic attacks, you can dodge and, of course, counter incoming moves, while your gadgets also have a big role to play. From the mechanics to the moment-to-moment action and beyond, Legacy of the Dark Knight evokes Batman: Arkham’s combat strongly, and replicates it really, really well.

"You can perform silent takedowns, use your gadgets to distract or knock out foes, swing from vantage point to vantage point, and more."

Don’t get me wrong- this is, at the end of the day, still a LEGO game, which means you shouldn’t go in expecting all of the depth and complexity of the Arkham games’ combat. Like past TT Games titles, Legacy of the Dark Knight features gameplay that has been simplified so it can be accessible to players of all ages. But even in its simplified form, the combat here is an absolute blast. Sure, there are times when its relatively straightforward nature can make for somewhat dull or repetitive encounters, but more often than not, Legacy of the Dark Knight’s Arkham-inspired brawler combat is a ton of fun.

Fisticuffs, however, are not the only way Batman knows how to deal with problems. The Dark Knight likes to stick to the shadows and strike fear into his enemies’ hearts, and Legacy of the Dark Knight lets you do just that- for the most part. Again, it does so by modeling itself after the Arkham game- though again, it does so in much more straightforward fashion.

You can perform silent takedowns, use your gadgets to distract or knock out foes, swing from vantage point to vantage point, and more. With all of those fundamentals in place, Legacy of the Dark Knight successfully delivers a stealth game that feels surprisingly similar to Rocksteady’s titles. A lot of the nuance is taken out of the equation, yes, while the game also understandably doesn’t stick to the “striking fear into enemies’ hearts” schtick, instead sticking to a much more lighthearted tone, though all in all, the combat and stealth mix together really well, especially as your arsenal of tools and weapons and roster of playable characters and abilities expand.

"Exploring the city is always thoroughly enjoyable thanks to just how much there is to do and how consistently fun most of it tends to be."

Outside of combat and stealth, there’s plenty else to do. When you’re not in the middle of a story mission, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight lets you explore an open world Gotham City, which is an exceptional rendition of the iconic location. Gotham in the game looks exactly as Gotham should, with all of the atmosphere, dramatic weather effects, gothic architecture, and lighting we have come to expect from the city. All of that is blended effortlessly with the LEGO aesthetic, and the result is absolutely fantastic.

Legacy of the Dark Knight’s Gotham is also impressive from a design perspective. Again, you shouldn’t go in expecting a gargantuan open world similar to Arkham Knight or even Arkham City, but what’s on offer here serves as an excellent open world sandbox nonetheless. Gotham is comprised of multiple different districts, each serving as a small map with its own distinct theme and look, and featuring a plethora of side activities for players to tackle. That includes stopping crimes, dealing with the Riddler’s pesky challenges, tracking down and opening chests, collecting collectibles, and so much more.

Exploring the city is always thoroughly enjoyable thanks to just how much there is to do and how consistently fun most of it tends to be. Meanwhile, it also helps that making your way around Gotham is consistently a total blast. You can grapple and glide around the city, which, again, is not too dissimilar from how the Arkham games handle it (complete with dive bombing, grapple launching, and more), while you also get access to vehicles as you make your way through the story, including the Batmobile and the Batcycle.

The vehicles feel excellent to control, while the gliding and traversal mechanics are also top-notch, which means getting from point A to B in Gotham City never feels like a chore- especially with so much fun and varied side activities to distract you along the way.

Outside of Gotham City, you can also explore Bruce’s Batcave, which is always fun (especially for a Batman fan) and also comes with light customization elements. Meanwhile, like any of TT Games’ LEGO titles, Legacy of the Dark Knight also boasts a ton of replayability, with plenty of suits, characters, and collectibles to track down (including exclusive ones across different missions). Between the main story being close to 15 hours long and the abundant side content outside of it, the game has plenty on offer to keep players busy for hours and hours.

"There’s no shortage of things to love about Legacy of the Dark Knight."

It’s also worth noting how technically impressive Legacy of the Dark Knight is. I spent most of my time on Performance Mode, and I haven’t noticed too many technical issues. Barring some minor (albeit somewhat jarring) glitches here and there, the game touts smooth frame rates and gorgeous and highly detailed visuals. Then there’s the music, of course, which, like much of the rest of the game, does an incredible job of pulling in elements from across the entirety of Batman’s history.

There’s no shortage of things to love about Legacy of the Dark Knight. It’s an excellent Batman game that has everything in place to keep fans satisfied while we wait for our next big AAA Dark Knight adventure, a solid (yet simplified) take on the beloved Arkham formula, and of course, yet another charming, amusing, and addictive LEGO adventure by TT Games. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight might not be the Batman game we deserve, but it’s the one we need.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.