LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight review - the true spiritual Arkham successor

Batman is a superhero so many generations have their own fond memories of. The caped character is now 87-years-old, making his debut in comics in 1939, and has been popular for decades across comic books, TV series, movies and games.

More towards the recent end of that have been the Arkham titles, widely regarded as not only the best Batman games but among the best superhero games of all time.

Fans have been crying out for a non-VR Arkham-esque Batman game for years and those calls have finally been answered with LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight.

With it being a LEGO title, it's a lot more family friendly and although it has obvious Arkham influences, it's a fantastic title in its own right that longtime Batman fans and newcomers alike will absolutely love.

A review code was provided by the publisher and I played LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight on a PS5 Pro.

Batman is back in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight / TT Games, Warner Bros Games

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is described by developers as a "greatest hits" and they've absolutely hit the nail on the head with that. It starts off with a young Bruce Wayne's origins, showing how he trains and becomes Batman before fighting crime and iconic villains in Gotham City.

It's actually a short while before you're let loose on the streets of Gotham and the game gets you to grips with its controls with what plays out as an extended tutorial. It serves as a very effective way of getting you familiar with what's asked of you, slowly building up with a younger audience in mind.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight tells a fun story of Batman and his companions fighting crime and besting supervillains. There are a number of scenes long-time Batman fans will recognise but the game does a fantastic job of treading the line between having exceptional fan service in this regard and telling its own story without alienating a new audience.

With it being more family friendly too, there are moments of silliness younger players will enjoy but importantly, these instances never feel forced or cheesy for older players. Again, TT Games has done a brilliant job of catering for all players.

The writing throughout is fantastic and the voice acting is great too. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight also doesn't take itself too seriously and isn't afraid to poke fun at itself or even some iconic Batman moments.

Gotham City is brilliant to explore and feels lived in / TT Games, Warner Bros Games

After the opening, when Gotham becomes free to roam, you can advance the story or get lost in the city at your leisure. TT Games has done a fantastic job of making Gotham feeling like a real, living place - as much as you can when it's all made out of LEGO anyway!

Navigating and exploring Gotham is a joy thanks to its Arkham influences in terms of traversal. When playing as Batman or even one of the supporting characters, players can glide, zipline and drive around the open world. It constantly feels fluid, which is important for any superhero game, and it's a joy when you get in that flow state. Bat vision can be toggled to show hints or points of interest to help out across the game too.

Gotham's side quests involve solving Riddler puzzles, fighting crime, restoring the subway for fast travel and more. More districts unlock as you play through and while similar tasks are asked of you, they avoid feeling repetitive thanks to superb design and puzzles that will get players of all ages thinking.

Some side quests require certain characters to be unlocked before you can complete them too. You can only get so far completing a certain amount of side content before progressing the main story at parts but that helps to keep a decent pacing as far as the story goes and makes it feel as though your Batman, fighting crime and making Gotham more safe while then targeting more overarching threats.

There's a lot of side content too which will keep players busy for a while. Completing quests and exploring earns skill points which can be used to unlock new abilities and moves across different characters. Each main mission has its own set of collectibles too for you to find, meaning there's a lot of replayability for completionists.

On level design in the main quests, some levels are absolutely awesome but there are one or two that do feel a little repetitive, basically asking you to do something you've just done but again with a slightly harder challenge. This had me feeling as though I was going through the motions on occasion.

This was more when specific platforming tasks are presented which felt a little restrictive at times given how good the open world of Gotham City feels to explore. However, on the gameplay, fighting bad guys is where LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight shines, again because of its Arkham influence.

Boss battles switch up the formula from usual combat / TT Games, Warner Bros Games

Playing through story missions, usually you'll either be presented with a corridor of enemies you need to take out, big open spaces that act as a playground to work through or enemies spotting you and rushing you right off the bat. The missions in this regard ask different skills of you as Batman or a companion and keep combat feeling fresh.

When you can, stealth is usually the best option and players are encouraged to do this as enemies will drop greater rewards if you take them out unseen. In the open spaces, there are usually platforms players can swing between so they can remain hidden and drop down from to stealthily take out enemies, then either chaining another takedown or retreating back to a high platform.

These platforms can be quickly swung between too, keeping combat feel fast and fluid. When you're spotted and the sections where melee combat takes over, again the Arkham formula shines with a wide camera and the ability to quickly and easily bounce between fighting different enemies in a free-flowing beat-em-up style.

Melee sees you punching enemies, countering attacks, avoiding certain moves, using gadgets in different and sometimes hilarious ways (such as pulling two enemies into each other to knock them out), pulling fantastic finishers and creating combos. With it being a LEGO game, it feels more slapstick than anything too serious, especially as defeated enemies crumble into the blocks they were made out of. Boss battles switch up the formula very well and are great in scale.

Combat and exploration are not as detailed or complicated as you'd find in an Arkham game but have been streamlined so audiences of all ages can enjoy it. TT Games has recognised that and again has done a fantastic job in making it fun for people of all ages and even long-time Arkham fans like myself. Having said that, there are a lot of Easter eggs Batman fans will love too.

The Batcave acts as the game's main hub and there's a bit of freedom players can have in making the space how they want it. There are sections where you can display or create certain items to put your own spin on the iconic location. The different suits on display as you collect them is a standout too and it's genuinely interesting unlocking more of the Batcave as the game progresses.

In terms of how LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight looks and performs, on a PS5 Pro the game looks great and performance is largely strong with the odd bit of jank here and there. Some things can take a bit longer to load than you'd expect when toggling vision, characters can cut into certain animations and defeated characters can warp to where the game is designed to have you beat them even though you might have defeated them in a different section.

They're not massive issues in all honesty and didn't massively take me out of the immersion. Playing on a PS5, the DualSense comes alive and its haptic feedback is fantastic, especially when driving around Gotham City. You can feel every move and turn you make in your vehicle, even feeling a kick when gears shift and resistance when braking heavily.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a game fans of all ages will love / TT Games, Warner Bros Games

While LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is undoubtedly heavily influenced by Arkham games, it stands on its own as a title I can't get enough of.

While combat, navigation and exploration have been streamlined compared to those iconic titles, it's a brilliantly fun game to play throughout and there's so much engaging content to keep players busy.

The game looks great and performs as it should for the most part with the odd hiccup here and there. Level design on the whole is fantastic with only the odd section feeling slightly repetitive.

TT Games has done an absolutely stellar job of making LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight a game long-time Batman fans and newcomers of all ages will really enjoy.

9/10

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight releases on 22 May on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC with a Nintendo Switch 2 release planned later in the year.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• I've played the new LEGO Batman - one key influence makes it utterly brilliant
• Forza Horizon 6 review: The best open-world arcade racer ever made

How to join the Indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the Indy100 rankings.