LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Review (Uncle Sock)
Rounding out the Lego Batman Trilogy is Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham; which I wasn't all too fond of when it released, but have gained a newfound appreciation for in my latest playthrough. Building directly on the plot of the previous game, Beyond Gotham feels far more refined in terms of its story with a decidedly more cinematic approach in its visuals and a generally higher level of quality all around. Once again it delivers a solid message through its narrative, this time pointed at Batman and his reluctance to embrace emotion (which also ties in nicely to the Lantern-focused storyline), and although it feels a little lighter on the humour than previous games, there's plenty of levity in there and certainly feels like an improvement on Lego Batman 2's paltry comedy. Aside from a lacklustre finale, I thought the story was not only on the higher end of original Lego plots, but also a pretty solid DC narrative in its own right with a number of cool moments, and the inclusion of the hero and villain team-up was a nice way to revive the playable villain missions from the original Lego Batman. Again, the last one aside, the levels are all pretty solid; offering a good and consistent length and a variety of visually striking environments laden with puzzle and combat segments - and a few lame Tron-esque hacking minigames here and there. The boss battles are the best of the trilogy, even if the seemingly unavoidable attacks present in many of them can get on your nerves, but combat generally seems to have taken a step down with the removal of grabs and special combo moves, which have now been replaced with seemingly random finisher moves that just slow fights right down. The Suit mechanics make a return, albeit with some changes - the Suit pads are now replaced with a wheel that allows you to switch abilities on the fly, and the range of characters with suits available has broadened from Batman and Robin exclusively to include characters such as Cyborg, Lex Luthor and The Joker. Unfortunately, a large number of the suits fail to offer a unique purpose, making many of them feel a little redundant, especially when accompanied by characters that have those powers anyway, even if they do have fun and visually appealing designs. The open world is a big point of contention when it comes to this game, and as much as I'm not a fan of the broken up hub world approach, I will say the various environments do at least look nice, and between collectables, puzzles and small "side missions" there's a solid amount of stuff to do without the free-play content feeling too bloated. Beyond that, I had a surprisingly good time with Lego Batman 3; although the gameplay is nothing to write home about, it maintains that essential Lego quality that makes it tick, and beyond a few sound issues my playthrough was almost entirely bug-free, but it was revisiting the main story that has vastly improved my estimation of Beyond Gotham years later. It may not quite live up to the original, but it isn't too far behind thanks to a decent enough level of quality and the amenities of a more modernised title, and I'd certainly recommend picking it up - especially the Premium Edition, which comes equipped with a bucketload of characters and six short but sweet bonus levels for you to enjoy.
7/10