Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight makes a bold attempt to recreate what made the Arkham games so good

Date:
Wed, 20 May 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Description:
Theres a lot to love about Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, from its renewed focus on stealth and combat mechanics to its sprawling and adventure-packed open world but does it work as a Lego game?

FULL STORY ======================================================================Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight sees everyones favorite morally dubious
hero return to the streets of Gotham once more in TT Games latest brick-based adventure. Its a real mish-mash of genres, combining RPG and brawler elements with classic Lego action-adventure platforming fun, but it makes for a charming adventure that Bat-fans are sure to love. Review info Platform reviewed: PC (via Steam and on handheld) Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC Release date: May 22, 2026 They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if nothing else, its something Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight has turned into an art form. Riddled with references, jam-packed with jokes, and quintessential comic book ka-powery, theres no denying that this is an ode to all things Batman. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight at Amazon for 59.99 But in particular, its evident how much the Batman: Arkham series by Rocksteady Studios and WB Games heavily inspired gameplay. If youre more a fan of Lego than you are Batman, you might have missed the trilogy and its many accolades; released in 2009, 2011, and 2015, the three games in the series were met with abundant praise for their inventive free-flow combat, excellent stealth gameplay, and exploration mechanics. Latest Videos From

Of note is that the original Lego Batman trilogy was released almost in parallel (across 2008, 2012, and 2014). While creative and well-received, ultimately, a Lego game is a Lego game; its for all ages and somewhat limited by its own bricky source material. Times have changed, and Lego has since gutted its typical game formula enough for Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight to make a pretty big swing at being more Arkham- like, combining the best of these two trilogies and Bat-media beyond. But does it hit or miss? (Image credit: Lego/WB Games/TT Games)) Put em up Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is still a Lego game at heart; its slapstick humor, goofy
parodies of iconic scenes, and low-stakes couch co-op fun form the beating heart of its success. Broadly speaking, Legacy of the Dark Knight respects
the Lego gameplay loop: fight, smash stuff, build something grossly overequipped to progress through the level, and repeat.

But hold your horses before you decry it as just another Lego game; there are some tweaks to the formula here, including some that fans may take issue
with. That starts with the slimmer roster of seven playable characters (compared to over 100 in the most recent Lego Batman game), each with unique skills youll unlock as the game progresses. Broadly, these are inventive and distinct, though some fare better than others Im looking at you, Batgirl.

Newly added to the mix is a more fleshed-out combat system that mimics the Batman: Arkham series free-flow combat system. Now, your heroes can build combo stacks as they attack, dodge, counter, and land satisfying
environmental takedowns, combining unique skills with melee combat in a super-fun brawl-style showdown, enunciated by the occasional THAKK! or
KAPOW!. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. (Image credit: TT Games / Warner Bros) Fights such as these are a dime a dozen in both the overworld and in-level, and while they can be a little repetitive towards the late game, its still a marked improvement over older Lego titles. That being said, it feels like a lot was added in half measures to keep
things simple; for example, I was a little disappointed by the skill tree for weapons, which offered a rather uninspiring array of movesets and upgrades, especially for the wider Bat-family.

A lot of fights are entirely avoidable if you opt for the stealthier
approach; the game is littered with rafters, tunnels, and alcoves you can traverse or use to surprise enemies with a sneak attack. I got a lot of fun out of this, but again, it does make things a little too easy in places, especially when paired with the Detective Mode-like area scan that will help you locate intractable items and enemies.

Thanks to new difficulty settings, you can choose to make these encounters a little more consequential in play; I played mostly in the medium difficulty Caped Crusader mode, which still has infinite health but with more enemies. Thats more so because, for some reason, enemies could see me through walls on a few levels when Id switched up to the more difficult Dark Knight mode. Im hoping thats a bug well see fixed soon, because I enjoyed the higher stakes
of having a finite number of lives even if it was still pretty easy. (Image credit: TT Games / Warner Bros) A feast for Bat-fans So, how does Lego
Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight distinguish itself from Arkham and the original Lego trilogy? Well, the game is packed to the brim with trivia, old and new, parodying everything from more obscure comic book references like Bat-Mite right through to The Batman (2022) , laced with ample pop culture references to tie in the humor of Will Arnetts portrayal in The Lego Batman Movie. As a lifelong fan of Batman, its a real joy, and the hits just keep coming.

This mashup of references could well have led to frequent tonal whiplash between bleaker Gotham skies and campier retellings of the Caped Crusaders escapades, but TT Games has sewn together these disparate storylines wonderfully through the power of parody. Still, over the course of its six chapters, the story does, in places, lose its way, but I was too enamoured by the imaginative level design, slapstick humor, and endless reel of references to really care about whether or not a game built around kids' toys is delivering a powerful narrative experience.

For me, Lego games have always scratched my collectathon itch, and this new Batman adventure is no different; youll collect everything from driveable vehicles, wearable costumes, and props inspired by the franchise, which you can proudly display in your customizable Batcave between bouts of pummeling through mindless hordes of henchmen. Review info (Image credit: TT Games / Warner Bros) Throughout the game you see many characters origin stories, good and evil, but my favorite was Harvey Dent, where through a slapstick set of chaotic events hes pummeled by ambulance doors, pie and then dragged along
the pavement. Pure, unadulterated Lego nonsense. Exploring Gotham City is
also great fun as you zip and glide between the looming skyscrapers, scoring Wayne Tech and hidden loot from the rooftops and alleyways. Its teeming with life and, despite the gloomy backdrop, theres a real vibrancy to the game
not to mention the somewhat excessive levels of detail. You can literally see the texture of the Lego character paint as though they were real toys, and Im not sure I even liked it as much as I was impressed with it.

On that note, I had never imagined or hoped a Lego game could be one of the more demanding games in my library, and had to drop a fair few settings to
eke out the best performance from the game, especially when playing on my Steam Deck. Plus, Im slightly disappointed to see that the same wall glitches I found in my demo playthrough are still there in the pre-launch software Ive been reviewing, and I also found a fair few more bugs in the overworld. I was rewarded for completing encounters without ever going near them, the
Sub-Wayne entry points frequently reset mid-solution, henchmen didnt always spawn, and when they did, as aforementioned, they were sometimes X-Ray visioned.

All that being said, its undoubtedly up there with my favorite Lego games,
and the magic is in how much love and appreciation the developers clearly
have for both Lego and Batman. I doubt the new additions to Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight spell too much about the future of Lego games overall; in fact, it tells me that TT Games might just be itching to do more new and exciting things with each franchise, and thats never a bad thing. Theres still plenty of fun to be had with the Lego formula, though, and
Legacy of the Dark Knight stands as a fantastic example. Should you play Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight? Play it if... Youre a huge Batman fan This one is truly a love song for fans of all ages, incorporating a little something from almost every form of Batman media over the past century. Youll delight in finding some of the more obscure Easter Eggs and roll about laughing at iconic scene parodies. You enjoyed the Batman: Arkham series Especially if youve got a younger gamer at home who hasnt had the joy of playing the action-packed trilogy, its a great way to show them just how much fun a Batman game can be. You love a collectathon Theres so much almost too much to see and collect around Gotham, and good fun to be had while doing
so. Don't play it if... You want Arkham-grade action This is, fundamentally,
a game for all ages, so you wont get parity with more complex combat systems like those found in the Batman: Arkham series. Accessibility features Theres great attention to accessibility options within Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight; on first launch, players can select from Vision, Hearing, Motor, and Motion Sickness accessibility presets, as well as between the three difficulty levels, two of which have no fail state (Classic and Caped Crusader).

If these presets arent quite right, theres a litany of settings to customize; for visual needs, you can toggle audio description, high contrast mode, color blindness, full screen effects, text size, HUD visibility, marker display, camera shake, persistent center dot, and third-person camera reset, set up customizable subtitles, and choose between adjustable and dynamic field of view. For auditory accessibility, there are volume controls, closed captions, voiceover icons, night mode and audio output settings, and for any motor
needs you can remap controls including sticks, invert the camera and tweak sensitivity, adjust controller deadzone and held or repeated button inputs, toggle aim snap and lock-on assist, adjust the game speed, aiming mode,
gadget rapid fire, and skip quick time events or simplify them.

You can also toggle stud loss so the game is less punishing, it auto-saves
for ease, and you can review text logs and tutorials at any time from the pause menu. Certain events are skippable via the pause menu (indicated on the HUD), and you can pause any time, even during cinematics. How I reviewed Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight I spent over 20 hours in Lego Batman:
Legacy of the Dark Knight, playing on my custom-built gaming PC with a Dell S3225QS monitor, 8BitDo Ultimate controller, and Razer Kraken Kitty headset, but also on my Steam Deck.

I covered a majority of the main storyline, explored Gotham to complete side quests and unlockable content, and played in all three difficulties to assess their impact on play. I compared my experience to other recent Lego games
like the Skywalker Saga as well as my fond memories of playing the original Lego Batman trilogy.

First reviewed Mat 2026. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight: Price Comparison 59.99 View 59.99 View 79.99 Preorder We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices powered by



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/lego-batman-legacy-of-the-dark-knight-review


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