LEGO Batman 2 DC Super Heroes : A Review

When I was offered the chance to review a game from Warner Brothers, I decided that there was no point in doing it myself as its not my 'thing'. However, my OH, a self confessed geek when it comes to all things gamey, computery, gadgety etc.... would make a perfect tester for the new LEGO Batman 2 Dc Heroes game because he spends most of his spare time on his XBox. 

After some initial mumblings about it not being the type of game he usually plays, I finally handed the game over to him after he succumbed to my nagging feminine charms, and do you known what? He hasn't stopped playing it!!! He has even turned our children into mini Batman fans! Burton has played it with him (he is almost 3) and the pair of them have been singing "nanananananananananananana Batmaaaan!" around the house!! Plus my youngest turned into the caped crusader for about oooh 45 seconds!!

Anyway, enough of my waffle. Here is what my OH thought of the game:

There have been several LEGO video games in the past and to be completely honest, I haven't played any of them (because I generally prefer racing games with an occasional blast around an FPS). I've been aware of their existence but not been interested enough to hunt down a demo, let alone go out and buy one. Anyway, I was asked to take a look at the latest iteration, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, 

about a week ago to which I reluctantly agreed.

So, when I launched the game for the first time, I wasn't expecting to be playing for long. My intention was to play it for half an hour or so, write down a few thoughts and then go back to playing an F1 game. Well, that WAS my intention, but the reason this review has taken me a week to start is because I haven't been able to stop playing it for long enough to write anything down. It's BRILLIANT.

It's a completely original story which is interesting and entertaining and not only includes Batman and Robin but (eventually) loads of other Super Heroes and a similarly impressive suite of Super Villains to match. I won't list them all but a handful are; Superman, Wonderwoman, Green Latern, The Joker, Lex Luther and The Riddler.

The story takes place over 15 missions in which you are loosely guided through various levels, puzzles and boss battles until eventually the villains are back behind bars. As you play through the story there are loads of great cut scenes which not only look amazing but have superb scripts that are really funny and the voice acting is excellent. The whole story took me around 8 hours to complete but the that is just the beginning of the game as each mission in the story unlocks part of the huge Gotham City hub which you can free roam by walking, flying or using one of a number of vehicles including the Batmobile, Batboat and Batcopter. They also introduce various suits for your characters to wear such as Batman's Sensor Suit which allows him to slip past security cameras unnoticed.

One you've opened up the whole city there are tonnes more vehicles and characters to collect and lots more puzzles to solve and this part has kept me entertained for hours (so far!) after completing the story. You can also unlock loads more cool stuff by collecting studs and  gold or red bricks. Another cool feature is that a second player can drop in and out of your game at any time just by attaching another controller and the game is easily playable for younger gamers too (my 3yr old loves it!).

So my quick half hour blast has turned into the  a weeks worth of evenings and I'm not finished yet!

is available on PS3, Wii, 3DS, XBox 360, PC and DS and is on sale now 

we were sent a copy of the game for the purpose of this review. all thoughts and comments stated are that of my OH and trust me he is *very* honest!!