Lego Batman

We're not convinced about the latest Lego offering.

	Version 360, (PS3, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, PS2)	Developer Trveller's Tales	Publisher Warner Bros.	Genre Action

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All of these stalwart and familiar features beg the obvious; how long can strong source material keep a predictable and stationary series alive for? The wearisome answer is probably forever, many a games publisher has made a mint on evolution, not revolution.

To cite problems with Lego Batman is to highlight its lack of ambition. It carries with it all the headaches of the previous installments and only offers token efforts at moving forward. There are still far too many jumps and angles that don't look quite correct leaving Bruce Wayne to tediously fall to his doom. If you are playing this without a chum then the frustrating AI will grind your patience to dust.

Having puzzles that involve co-op is all well and good but when young Dick starts acting like his name suggests and refuses to pull his lever, thoughts start to wander to other titles in your 360 collection that vie for your time. There are even a couple of reprehensible occasions where you may find yourself plugging another pad in to control both characters to progress.

The Lego games have always been like a Sunday afternoon stroll for the cooling fans inside your lovely ivory box. As we all already know, it's never going to be a technical tour de force, more a lesson in characterisation, brand and appeal. Batman ticks all the boxes it should in this regard with the 'cutesy' feel apparent throughout and pseudo 3D locales looking solid and robust. Each criminal has a suitable hangout and some of the Lego looks effective when replicating Poison Ivy's mansion or Mr Freeze's Ice Parlour. None of these however, get the heart racing as Batman is all about the gadgets and Dark Knight himself, there aren't many memorable environments due to darkness and plotline so with that, this feels like a step back from a Star Destroyer Docking Bay or the Grand Palace of Indy.

There's no doubt that fans of previous games in the series will lap this up with vigour but for the more discerning gamer, it's difficult not to think these games are getting close to saturation point. One can only tolerate and ignore so much under the guise of "It's only Lego and for kids" for so long. However, keeping the total package in focus, none of the gratings can prevent the overall enjoyment of the series seeping out. It's still fun to watch a little character build something wonderful out of Lego and to try and collect as many studs and booty as possible. No other franchise can remotely interest 'her indoors' to pick up a controller like Lego successfully does (though LittleBigPlanet could be a contender).

It's socially acceptable and family orientated co-operative gaming that resonates with non-gamers and for that, Lego is still top of its own pile. Is it too late to send a copy to Madonna and Guy?

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