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Gaming
Lego Batman 3 - Hands on Preview

Last weekend I made my merry way down to EGX at London's Earl's Court to check out the next big things in gaming, and being the big kid I am was more than excited at the prospect of checking out the upcoming iteration of Traveller's Tales' Lego games. Check out the hands-on preview below and see if you get bitten by the excitement bug as much as I did.

 

As you probably expected, it's the usual drop in, drop out single and two player affair with the usual humour and silliness you expect from the Lego franchise with the usual emphasis on fun, building, team play and much like the other games, character collection, costume collection and of course the building, dismantling and digital recreation of the Lego experience.

 

This time around, it's DC Comics based, and in this, the third game in the series Lego Batman 3, Beyond Gotham promises not only a 150 character roster which will include Deathstroke and the original Batman himself, Adam West. The game features a voice cast including Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad, The Boxtrolls) as Brainiac, Travis Willingham (Bleach, Regular Show) as Superman and Laura Bailey (Super Mario Smah Bros, Wildstar) as Wonder Woman and Catwoman.

 

 Also confirmed are various character versions including Rainbow Batman and Nurse Joker which are accessible through the wheel system seen in Lego The Hobbit and Cyborg who has the wonderful ability to disguise himself as a washing machine.

Coming later down the line, it's been announced there will be 6 DLC packs which add over 40 characters to the game and mission levels complete with their own achievements, characters and vehicles. All themed they promise to add quite a few extras to the game, but prices and the release schedule for these have yet to be announced.

The level I played saw the familiar gameplay with Batman and Robin teaming up to build a rocket to go into space. The action switched to a second portion where Cyborg was added to the roster in a space station environment and finally into vehicular based shooting which yes, we've seen in the Lego Star Wars games but again, has been cleaned up and improved just enough to stay familiar yet move with the times and the technology of current-gen consoles.

 

 There was the usual stud collecting, melee and gadget fun. And there was a feeling of improvement and tweaks that have improved the style of the games, but still kept the flow you'd expect from a Lego game. Traveller's Tales have pulled out the stops and kept the core mechanics, it's like they've reconditioned and refurbished what was there and improved what needed improving and really did thake the “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” mantra and done it in a way a lot of other game developers could learn and benefit from. 

Due for release on November 14th, the game will be released on all the current and last gen consoles just in time for Batman's 75th birthday celebrations.