My goodness it is easy to become jaded when your a long time gamer, sever that guys head, bomb these guys, and generally shooting up places until nothings left. If you have ever wondered if there is something more out there, something purer and more fun then perhaps today I have a remedy for those pains, and its Lego flavoured. Lego Batman is the third title to come from Travellers Tales, and its guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Lego Batman is the first title from Travellers Tales to not be restricted by adhering to a rigid film story, such as previous titles as Lego Indy of Stars. At times this can be refreshing as you don’t know what will be thrown at you during the games three different episodes. But at times your scratching your head trying to figure out what is actually going on. Imagine trying to gain an insight into intergalactic politics using the Lego Star Wars cut scenes, certain scenes don’t work. But once individuals brush aside the occasional incomprehension, the story provides ample opportunity for for slapstick and falling down comedy styling along with mocking every character. If that isn’t part of the Lego motif I’m not sure what is, and they rarely fail to make you laugh.

As mentioned before the game is split into three story based episodes in which players are able to play as heroes Batman and Robin or whichever villains star in their respective episodes, e.g. Joker and Harley. Its a nice change to the established Lego formula, as instead of merely getting to choose the enemies in the games free play mode in order to collect more of the games loot, the villains have their own story arc running parallel to the heroes. For example if your playing a Batman and Robin episode, you will be charged with saving a VIP from the clutches of Joker and Harley. But when you play that episode from the villains perspective, you’ll see different levels, environments and your goal will be to snare and capture that VIP. When the villain’s episodes you really feel that the developers had a lot of fun with this concept and it was the highlight of the game for me, nothing comes close to the glee caused by you shocking someone lightning style with Jokers hand buzzer or whacking characters on the head with a huge novelty hammer.

Just to give you an idea of depth, after playing through the entire Batman story and a significant portion of the Villains levels, I was still only at 29.2% completion. Undoubtedly there is a lot to do here, with levels requiring multiple play troughs in the games Freeplay mode when you can switch between several characters in order to collect more mini-kits or to gain access to previously hidden areas. Some of these levels may turn into a bit of a grind for some players but there is plenty of value here for your average gamer, and even if you don’t want to find everything the main story’s six episodes (including villains) and thirty subsequent levels represent good value. Not only this but the Batman feel and atmosphere is recreated well within the games dark and moody atmosphere, which is aided by the use of Danny Elfman’s excellent score, borrowed from the early Batman films.

Drop in and drop out local co-op game play returns and and if your lacking any friends to join you in your Lego adventures, a more than capable AI buddy will team up with you to help solve puzzles and accompany you throughout the level. The simplistic game play may be too easy for some players, but if that isn’t a viable criticism of the game because that has never been the point. Lego Batman, Star Wars and to a lesser extent Indy has always been the core gamers opportunity to enjoy a game on a level playing field with their game pad phobic friends, or pre pubescent relatives. It is this aspect that will be key to your average gamers enjoyment of this title because if your playing it on your own, you are only really getting half the experience. Sure at times it can be frustrating especially with the finicky suits with some uninitiated players will take time getting used to, but that anger ebbs away when you solve a puzzle with your girlfriend whose deepest experience playing a game is playing a Scrabble application on Facebook. It would be easy to lambaste Travellers Tales for not employing a little more innovation or change in Lego Batman, but it would be very easy to venture into ‘change for changes sake’ territory instead of actually enhancing gameplay.

For what its worth, there isn’t much here that changes the established formula besides a more hand to hand combat system and suits to change further complicate puzzles. At this point the Lego formula is established but its a shame as there are still some niggles in here that ultimately hold it back from being a really excellent title. Camera issues return from previous titles, all too often key level collectibles or objectives are missed thanks to environment based artefacts such as pillars and other obstructions getting in the way. Boring vehicle sections return to the annoyance of everyone who will play these unfortunate levels, which boil down to a sub par shoot em up where the only goal is to keep your hand on the A button until everything in the level is destroyed. These levels do attempt to break up the puzzle platform bread and butter of the Lego series but they are executed in such a dull way you will never want to fire them up in Freeplay mode unless you need a mini-kit or other collectible.

Overall Lego Batman is a very solid experience with enough visual charm and humour to provide enough entertainment for the majority of gamers to warrant a purchase, especially if they can team up with a friend, loved one or indeed both. If your looking for something to play with a younger brother or sister, or ‘game-o-phobic’ girlfriend then Lego Batman is an ideal purchase. For Lego Indy and Star Wars veterans you may want to pass up this title until you feel the need for a new Lego experience, as this latest title doesn’t shift the gameplay dynamic very far and it is this aspect that ultimately holds it back from being a must buy purchase.

Travellers Tales have created a game which represents an enjoyable retreat from your average experience on the market. If you’d like a break from the killing, driving and swearing on-line, then be sure to give the cute fun styling’s of Lego Batman a try. Its not perfect, but it is different enough to warrant the average gamers time.