Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham hews close to the series’ formula, pairing uncomplicated gameplay with a deep, charming dive into decades’ worth of DC Comics stories and history. But after the impressive freedom of Lego Batman 2 and Lego Marvel, Lego Batman 3 feels far more restrictive in scope, and its inconsistent tone sometimes seems to mock the great DC Comics source material it should be celebrating. Picking up from the end of Lego Batman 2, the villain Braniac drives most of the fun but scattered plot in Lego Batman 3. Without giving too much away, Batman and the rest of the Justice League have to team up with the likes of Lex Luthor, the Joker, and the rest of the Legion of Doom to bring him down, and sort out some trouble with the various Lantern Corps. It’s not as strong or as focused a story as in either Lego Marvel or Lego Batman 2, but it manages to keep the interest high through most of the 10 hours or so it took to finish it. To ensure constant variety, Lego Batman 3 uses the same format as Lego Marvel, where different playable characters drop in and out of the missions at each checkpoint.
You may be playing as Batman and Robin one moment, and then Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter the next. It definitely helps break up the action, which otherwise might get old quickly due to the simplistic attacks, and celebrates a larger roster of DC favorites. The best new addition to the system is that you can now load specific checkpoints of missions for Free Play; it makes finding all those little secrets so much more convenient. When the story missions are finished, there’s loads more to do here, including plenty of other mission-style content. We’re sort of left to figure that stuff out for ourselves, which is actually not such a bad thing; accidentally stumbling on a mission that recreates an old Adam West Batman TV show episode was fantastic. There are also options to explore the Hall of Justice and Hall of Doom, which are super fun for a DC fan like myself. I also enjoyed unlocking some of the more obscure characters from the DC canon – I’m sure not many people are exactly champing at the bit to play as Etrigan or The Question, but it’s great that those more obscure characters get to share the stage with the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman.
It’s clear the game makers love the source material. From Wonder Woman’s idle animation where she does the Linda Carter-style twirl to Flash’s frequent stints on the Cosmic Treadmill and the payoff of that final revelation between Batman and Robin, Lego Batman 3 does a great job of showcasing moments that’ll resonate with fans of the comics. While it’s not quite as developed here as it was in Lego Marvel, I still appreciate that each character has a unique combination of abilities. Martian Manhunter and Superman both have heat vision, but the green guy can also control minds, while Supes has frost breath. This approach to character powers gives us lots of options, which are furthered by the excellent new suit system. No longer do you have to wait to find a station to swap out for the Magnet suit or the Sonar suit, because now characters like Batman, Robin, and Cyborg can change their power setups on the fly. Being able to change at will to any suit you’ve unlocked eliminates a lot of tedium.
Even better, a quick button press instantly swaps you to the suit that’s appropriate to the obstacle you’ve encountered. While not every game has to be open-world to be good, playing Lego Batman 3 made me long for the freedom of Lego Batman 2. Instead of roaming through the streets of Gotham at your discretion, you’re mostly just running back and forth between the Batcave and the Watchtower. There are limited open-world options for the various Lantern planets, but those aren’t part of the main story and are generally small and pretty light on things to do. So why even have these unlockable vehicles if there’s nowhere fun to drive them? My biggest disappointment with Lego Batman 3 is its inconsistent tone. The developers definitely love the source material, but there are moments where they take a substantial step away from familiar franchise turf to introduce elements that immediately start to erode the fun of being in the world of the comics. When Braniac comes to Earth, we don’t get to battle him in iconic DC locations like Smallville, Gorilla City, or Paradise Island;
No, Braniac just terrorizes Paris or Pisa. Shortly after that, you spend the final third of the story missions on a sort of sci-fi tour through unfamiliar Lantern worlds, which is kind of a letdown. I also have to question the decision to include these annoying cameos. Instead of DC’s quintessential everyman Jimmy Olsen, this game’s ubiquitous hanger-on is Conan O’Brien. He’s all over the place, repeating the same gags every time you see him. After a while, making jokes about how there are no Labradors in the Batcave laboratory gets kind of old. You even end up spending quite a bit of time with Daffy Duck as Green Loontern, which, again, kills the mood for me. Yes, I get it; it’s a game where Cyborg can fool a security camera by turning into a washing machine, but there’s a difference between making a joke about the characters and just surrounding them with other stuff that also happens to be part of the Warner Bros. empire. (I didn’t have as much of a problem with the inclusion of references to the Batman TV show because that, at least, seems to make some sense within Lego Batman 3’s world – and unlike Daffy Duck, Adam West isn’t hanging around the Watchtower talking about space the whole time.)
I like Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, but I don’t love it as much as I’ve loved previous games in the series. It definitely delivers on the promise of letting me play with charmingly realized versions of many of my favorite DC heroes and villains, and it even presents a setting with lots of great surprises, challenges, and systems that promote variety. As a longtime DC fan, I do wish it had given me the chance to dig into more locations and plot elements from the comics, but the biggest hurdle for me to clear is the bizarre cameos.If you haven't played LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham yet, you don't know what a crazy ride you're missing. If you have played it, well, let's be honest... There's no way you've gotten to 100% yet. It's just impossible, in a game of this size, to complete it fast. There are over 150 playable Minifigures in LEGO Batman 3, all of them plucked from DC Comics history and continuity. It goes without saying that there are plenty of obscure characters in that enormous catalog, but there are some longtime fan-favorites as well.
Here are ten of the most desired DC characters that you'll want to play as, and what you have to do in the game to get them. Getting your virtual hands on the Atom is a big deal in LEGO Batman 3. Throughout the Free Play hubs and worlds, you'll run across elaborate rat-maze contraptions that only someone very small can access. Don't bother trying to use Brainiac's shrink ray to shrink down another character to enter the maze; the effects of that gun only last for a few seconds. You can always unlock the "Mini Characters" Red Brick, which turns all of your characters that small, but it's a pain to go back and forth to the Extras menu just to turn it on, and then do the thing, and then go back to turn it off, etc. The easiest and quickest way to access those small areas is with the Atom, who can shrink at will. The Atom can be acquired during the level "The Big Grapple," but only in Free Play mode. After escaping the big green dome bubble with Plastic Man, go around to the open area between Green Lantern (who's still being mind controlled by Brainiac) and the dome.
Destroy the three silver items there and then build with your brand new LEGO bricks. This triggers a grappling hook to the left, so go to it and grapple and it creates a bunch of green toxic goop all over the floor. It also creates a hovering cleanup vehicle, which you should use to mop up the goop. Next, go park your hovering vacuum car over the contraption you built a minute ago with those exploded silver pieces. Two levers pop up; pull them and there it is: the Atom character token. In the Watchtower, go to the Trophy Room. Fly up to the platform on the right side of the room. Use Brainiac to shrink the statues, and shazam. There's Black Adam's token. Deathstroke can be found in the "Big Trouble in Little Gotham" level, and is easy to get regardless of whether you're in Story Mode or Free Play. In the second area, where Flash and Joker team up to fight bad guys at Joker's carnival, look for five fireworks spinners. Use a grappling hook to pull on each one, and after they've all gone off, you're rewarded with Deathstroke's character token.
From the Hall of Justice hub, jump down the big hole into the Hall of Doom area. Outside the Hall of Doom is a swamp area where you'll find a long row of mushrooms growing. Look for the mushroom that has a circular, glowing gate around it. That's right: it's a race. Just follow the gates and jump on each mushroom in turn, and you'll get Doomsday's token as your reward. You'll want to have plenty of coins saved up for Doomsday; at 1,250,000 coins, he's one of the most expensive characters in the game. As long as you're at the Hall of Doom, you might as well go ahead and get... Go inside the Hall of Doom and work your way through the various character quests until you get to one called "Five Studs Please," in which Ms. Quinn herself gives you a mission. After you've spoken to her, several patients will appear inside the Hall of Doom. Go and speak to each one in turn, and then have them follow you to Harley. She'll give you her character token as your reward. Kilowog can be found as you enter the big temple in the "Need for Greed" level.
Pull down the big pillar and then look for a birds nest with 3 eggs inside. Destroy the eggs and then destroy the big bird that appears. Claim Kilowog as your prize (if you can get past the baby bird murderer guilt). While Free Playing in the London part of the "Europe Against It" level, look for the wrecking ball near the bus. Have Brainiac shoot his blaster at the wrecking ball, and it will grow bigger. That's all you have to do. The wrecking ball falls on its own onto a boat, which dispenses Lobo's token. In the "Space Station Infestation" level, fly up and look on the right of the armory. There's a missile here that Brainiac can shrink. Destroy the crate that appears and then fly back up to nab the character token for Reverse Flash. While you're in this level, you can also get... During the Firefly boss fight, go around to the left of the spot where you started in this area. Look for a blue grate above you and use a power suit equipped with magnetic control to open the grate.
Switch to a flying character (or suit) and soar up into the grate to get John Stewart's token. Swamp Thing is one of the characters that comes in more than one flavor. You have your original Swamp Thing, and then there's the New 52's version of Swamp Thing. Let's grab them both. The fourth character quest that becomes available in the Hall of Doom is called "The Garden of Love." It involves going outside and helping Poison Ivy out by putting out some fires. Have her follow you all the way around to the left of the building and Swamp Thing will be waiting for her there. He'll give you his own token when you hand her over. The New 52 Swamp Thing is found on the Orange Lantern homeworld, Odym. Leave the main village and look for a collection of small huts. Destroy the crates there, then blow up the sliver lock that appears. Go inside the hut and you've got the token. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Lego, Batman, DC Comics, Video Games, TT Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Tips, How-To, Minifigures, characters, Unlockable