Heroes united: Batman and Robin will meet Superman during their questThe brick’s hit the fan (yet again) in another brilliant outing in the LEGO franchise from the terrific TT developers.They have built a dream game - one brick at a time.And holy-expectations Batman, they had a lot to live up to. Because the majority of previous outings involving the family-friendly gold mine have been in tip-top form.There’s been a-brick-adabra wizardry with LEGO Harry Potter as well as swashbuckling smash 'n' grabbing in LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. And let’s not forget the LEGO lightsabers from the Star Wars version.All of these titles bow down to the original master, the 11-million selling LEGO Batman. So does the sequel have a hope in Harley Quinn’s hell of matching up to its predecessor. Of course it does.Not only does LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes combine the exciting aspects of the other games, but it tries to expand further with a lengthy single-player mode set in an open-world environment.
And what a joy it is to see the characters finally talking - previous LEGO games used comical grunts and chuckles during cut-scenes. As unique and cute as this was, TT has done the right thing in taking the next step to grow the characters.Story wise, the dastardly Joker is in Gotham and ready to smash some bricks. He interrupts the Man of the Year award ceremony (which, of course, was supposed to be Bruce Wayne’s big night) and things get ugly. That's some cool trick, man! Batman watches in envy as Superman melts metal Joker teams up with Lex Luthor and lets all the bad guys out of Arkham jail. The characters are delightfully detailed and each has their own persona. For example, Batman’s underlying jealousy of Superman slowly bubbles to surface, as Mr S continues to pop up to help out the Dark Knight with his annoyingly awesome powers.Thus begins your action adventure as the caped crusader and his athletic little mate, Robin. Along the journey, you are introduced to a number of DC characters including Superman and Wonder Woman as you try to battle the evil likes of Lex Luthor, the Penguin, Harley Quinn and Two-Face.The story and cutscenes are sliced effortlessly into the gaming experience and there’s no unnecessary hanging around while you wait to get back into the action.
The scenery and effervescent surroundings make for absorbing entertainment which is incredibly hard to tear away from. The action is just as addictive.You'll get to drive the Batmobile around the city As in most LEGO titles, you need to work as a team to advance through the levels. Each character has their own skills and in Batman 2, there are special suits that give you extra abilities. Batman can jump into an Electrical suit to absorb any shocking objects or jump into a Power outfit to blow stuff up. Robin has his own wonderful wardrobe, too. His Athletic outfit allows him to jump, flip and spring himself through seemingly impossible gaps - sticking beautifully to Robin’s circus background.And then there’s Superman, who can do anything. He can fly, freeze water falls with his ice breath (allowing others to then climb up them) or use his laser beam eyes to cut through metal.If there’s two of you playing, you’ll have to share Superman. If you’re on your own and jumping between characters, it can get a little cluttered with three on the screen at once.
But the teamwork ethos makes this a wonderful family game and the challenges are not as easy as you’d think.The collectables are as plentiful as ever (this gamer’s OCD went into overdrive as he desperately tried to collect as many purple LEGO coins as possible). He's behind you: The Joker is up to his usual tricks so it's time to bring him down The coins can be found by button-mashing your way through objects and bad guys. Each character also has his/her own takedown moves which can vary depending on what buttons you hit. It is slightly frustrating that the bad guys are so easy to dispatch of and the lack of AI takes a slight edge off the game overall.As well as that, there is the chance of rescuing an innocent bystander in every level. All this adds to your total score and your gold LEGO brick collection.This means excellent replayability as you jump back into levels already completed in order to collect everything and rescue everyone. The open world aspect to the game really expands the franchise.
You can go cruising around in the Batmobile collecting coins, running over bad guys and shooting plant pots.One small gripe is the lack of a mini-map - despite a trail of light-blue coins showing you the way, it’s incredibly easy to get lost and the final destination is not always as obvious as you’d like. But the sat-nav fail is not the end of the world. In fact, there’s very little that can be said against Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.It is a glorious game which grows in stature - level by level, piece by piece.Superheroes deserve a super game - and Batman 2 is that game.Head to the Fortress Of Solitude and crash the big Justice League party in Level 2 of The LEGO Batman Story Pack for LEGO Dimensions. Poke around the party floor causing some trouble then head into the halls of the Fortress to locate the Phantom Zone projector! Keep a close eye out for the hidden area in this level! Minikits – Laser, Flying, Super Strength, Pole Vault, Invisibility, Grapple, Dive, Fix It, Underwater Tow Bar, Fuse Box, Energy Transfer, Accelerator Switch, Relic Detection, Drill, Spinjitzu, Tracking
Rescue Characters – Silver LEGO Destroy Destroy the five gold wall decorations with LASER, will either require a character with FLYING or a vehicle that has laser ability. They are not hard to find. Just inside the entrance of the Fortress, head down to the lower platform and smash through the cracked wall with SUPER STRENGTH. On the far right side of the room beyond the party area, find the large door to the refrigerator. Use POLE VAULT to open the door, then INVISIBILITY to sneak past the camera, GRAPPLE down the large ice brick and push it into the light to melt it revealing the minikit. In the center of the room next to the portraits of Superman, destroy the fountain to get access to a small underwater area. Once underwater use FIX IT to repair the submarine. Once inside the same underwater area as the above minikit, use a vehicle with UNDERWATER TOW BAR to pull open the wall, freeing the minikit. To enter the Trophy Room, find the laser grid doorway near the end of the Atomic Cauldron part of the level.
The door can be found just before the large door that requires LASER DEFLECTION to open. Use Ethan Hunk to diffuse the FUSE BOX and enter the Trophy Room! In the upper right side of the Trophy Room, clear the floor tiles with DRILL to release the minikit from under the floor. Create a GRAPPLE hook on the suit by summoning it with RELIC DETECTION, once you pull over the suit, blast the gold blocks inside to release a minikit. Activate the ENERGY TRANSFER terminal by using the ACCELERATOR SWITCH in the center of the room, transfer the power over to the TV near the entrance to destroy it and unleash a minikit! Starting at Krypto the Wonder Dog’s dog house, use TRACKING to follow the trail near the entrance of the room, digging up a minikit. The rear top level of the room has several large gold Justice League statues, using SPINJITZU turn the statues until they all align facing forward, opening the crystal chamber and releasing the minikit. Rescue Character – Menial Task Mike