Traveller’s Tales is currently working their magic on the always exploitable Batman series.
A major part of what made the Lego: Star Wars series so endearing was the fact that they were reenacting scenes we are all familiar with. They could speak without speaking, so to spek. (Jar-Jar nod.) When you think of The Bat too many things come to mind.
I created a little table to explain myself.
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GOOD |
BAD |
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Classic Batman comic books. |
Horrible late 70’s Super Friends Batman. |
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Great mid 90’s Batman: The Animated Series. |
Horrible late 90’s Batman: Beyond. |
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Cool Tim Burton Batman. |
Idiotic non Tim Burton Sequels. |
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Batman (puckered) Begins. |
Unintentionally Funny Batman TV Series. |
Point is, there isn’t really any one Batman story to follow. Can they create the same personality they did so perfectly in the Star Wars series with such a huge and varied selection of source material?
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Another concern I have has to do with the enemies. Just as important as the hero are the villains. This is a big reason why I wasn’t a big fan of the "Amazing" Spiderman. I just wasn’t sold on Sandman and Doctor Octopus. The Goblin was IMHO their best creation and probably why he had a part throughout the entire series. Other than Lex Luthor I think the Superman villains are a joke. |
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Batman DOES have some of the greatest villains ever devised, (Croc excluded.) Add to that the fact that he is a simple, albeit horribly traumatized, vigilante. It isn’t as much a stretch as say, an extra-terrestrial or a magical lantern. |
From the screen shots it seems as if they are creating a mix of everything we have seen so far. Character designs show inspiration from the T.V. shows, movies and comic books. The only in-game screenshot appears to be the one below.
The others appear to be taken from cutscenes. Sure you will probably be able to play as those characters like you can in the other games but without LightSabers or Force Powers, how are you going to attack and defend yourself with those stubby little arms?
In either case it seems they have been able to recycle some of the old Lego pieces they had laying around from the previous series and it also appears they are recycling some of the game mechanics like the occasionally tiresome object collecting.
I adored the Star Wars series and although I think Lego: Batman will prove a fun distraction, I will not be paying $50 this time around. Unless of course they do X-Men. After all, 10 superheroes are better than 1!
