Lego for the big kids

The premise of playing with Lego characters may appear child-like on the surface, but the thrills and enjoyment gained from playing LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES is strictly for the bigger kids.  Of course, being a part 2 in a series, means there's certain expectations to meet —strictly it should be better than the original.  There's a lot to like about B2: Superheroes and you realise that right from the opening cut scene.  B2: Super Heroes is the first Lego game in the franchise to feature talking characters, and its that seemingly small improvement, if you can call it that, that makes this release such a stirring performer.  The voice acting and vocal animation is exquisite and the voice suit cast is excellent — each vocal track fits perfectly for each character, from the stoic Batman, through to the crazy, hilarious ravings of the Joker.  If you've ever played a Lego game before, youll know exactly whats in store —plenty of fighting action, coupled with lots of multi-level puzzle solving and collecting treasure (currency) and hidden special pieces.  The storyline is well thought out.  Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne is poised to be named Gotham City's Man of the Year, pipping evil magnate Lex Luthor for the top prize.  But Batman's arch enemy, the Joker, has other ideas when he and his band of merry men (and one woman) storm the awards ceremony, steal the Man of the Year award, and loot the patrons of their money.  Of course, Batman and Robin are close at hand to give chase, and eventually catch the Joker and throw him in the infamous prison for the criminally insane, Arkham Asylum.  Soon after however, Lex Luthor breaks the Joker and all the other bad guys and gals out of Arkham and forges an alliance to rid Gotham City of Batman and all his friends.  Oh and of course, world domination.  From the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Catwoman and of course Lex Luthor himself, there are more than enough baddies to keep you on your toes across the entire 15 chapters that make up the campaign.  On the other side of the coin, the whole cast of the Justice League is on display, including Superman, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin and Green Lantern.  If you take up the offer of buying the Heroes and Villains downloadable content pack, you can add quite a few to that list, including Nightwing, Katana, Shazam, a new Robin, Captain Cold, Black Adam, Black Manta and Gorilla Grodd. If you've ever played a Lego game before, youll pretty much know what youre doing from the opening scene.  The puzzles are unique to Batman games, in that on many occasions youll need to swap your characters into different suits to use their specific powers to blow up a wall, or use Robins magnetic suit to climb a metal wall.  There are a multitude of suits to chance in to — all of which give your character new abilities.  There are also a number of character specific vehicles to drive.  The game world itself is open plan, meaning all of Gotham City is your stage, with plenty of distraught citizens to be saved and bad guys to dispatch.  Graphically, Batman 2 is superb and the way everything is constructed out of Lego blocks is very clever and very creative.  The one major issue with Batman 2 is when you tackle the game solo.  Your sidekick, specifically the AI that controls him or her, quite possibly ranks right up there with one of the worst AIs found in a game anywhere.  It's a much better and less frustrating experience to play with a second human player, although a lack of an online multiplayer option is annoying. Lego Batman2: DC Super Heroes is an entertaining, witty, intelligent and at times mildly challenging experience and easily takes the prize as the best Lego game in the franchise with suit