Hot on the heels of Lego Indiana Jones‘s success, developer Traveller’s Tales is set to pump out yet another Lego title set within the world of Gotham City. Lego Batman , set to release this fall for damn near every platform under the sun, will cast players in a more grim environment than they’ve come to expect of the Lego series of games. Not unlike its Star Wars counterpart, Batman will allow players to either take a bite out of crime as Bruce Wayne and his posse of good guys, or as the bevy of classic villains turned Arkham escapees.
Stud collecting will play a huge roll, as will other loot grabbing for unlocking, but mixing it up between tearing up Gotham as The Joker, Poison Ivy, or the recently unveiled and hilariously scary ManBat (among others) and using your Dynamic Duo’s fisticuffs and gadgets to prevent the criminals from reaching their nefarious goals, should provide a pretty awesome, if basic, variety to the world.
Utilizing various bat-gadgets and suits (screenshots show various Batman outfits, from the classic black/grey to the original blue/light grey that creator Bob Kane crafted but it’s safe to assume that a there will be a ton of different big-suits to suit the given situation) it sounds like the gameplay will be have a bit more breadth than the simpleton (but totally fun) platforming we loved in the previous iterations. With a (Bat)boatload of extra content to unlock –details are sparse, but Star Wars includes a horde of great secondary characters, power ups and cheats– the game is sure to retain its addictive quality.
The more dark take on the Dark Knight intrigues us, as Batman is notoriously gritty. Gotham’s depressing atmosphere might wear down on the audience, particularly children, but for fans of the series it’s a wicked batch of fanservice that we’re dying to get our hands on ASAP. With any luck, we’ll get to let you know how it actually plays at the end of August at the Penny Arcade Expo before the game’s “Fall 2008″ release date.
To sate your lust for plastic red and green tights, check out our gallery of the newest ManBat screens in our rad gallery below!
