Summary
- We played Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, the upcoming fourth Lego Batman game from TT Games.
- We were charmed by its humor, impressed by its scope, and delighted by its integration of familiar mechanics from the Arkham series.
- Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight hits Xbox Series X|S on May 22, or May 19 for the Deluxe Edition
After sneaking and brawling their way through an entertainment facility full of Carmine Falcone’s goons, Batman and Jim Gordon tumble down from the ceiling into the middle of a crowded discothèque. Everyone stops and stares. “This is how Batman begins… to dance!” he quips as they start a cute dance-off culminating in Batman and Gordon doing the climactic lift from “Dirty Dancing.” Then they proceeded to smash everyone to pieces, of course.
This exceedingly goofy little bit brought me the first of many grins throughout my several hours with Lego Batman:Legacy of the Dark Knight, the upcoming open world action-adventure videogame that invites players to embark on Bruce Wayne’s epic journey to become the hero of Gotham City from TT Games. The studio’s franchise-spanning LEGO games are always silly and charming, but that tone is an exceptionally good fit for Batman, and I enjoyed my time with it.
Arkham Nightclub
Legacy of the Dark Knight starts at square one, telling Batman’s whole story from tragic origin on. My session picked up a few levels in, after he’s already trained with Ra’s al Ghul and put on the cowl. First was the aforementioned infiltration of Falcone’s nightclub with Jim Gordon (though it had an awful lot of ball pits for a nightclub), followed by a little puzzle-solving heist alongside Catwoman, a trip to the circus to meet Robin and the Flying Graysons for some death-defying platforming challenges, and a boss battle against Poison Ivy and her plant dragon.
If you’ve played any of TT’s many Lego games, you know broadly what to expect: a little platforming, a little brawling, some light puzzles, levels brimming with smashable Lego objects, and a surplus of silliness, puns, and general goofery. Legacy of the Dark Night enhances that formula with fluid combat that feels right out of Rocksteady’s beloved Arkham games. Like in those, an indicator will appear over any incoming enemy’s head that you can counter, and likewise when they are vulnerable to a takedown attack, allowing you to smoothly juggle whole crowds of goons. You can also weave your batarangs and grappling hook in, and take baddies out stealthily from behind and above, thinning the crowd before making your presence fully known—it really does capture the feeling of the Arkham series.
There are three difficulty settings for combat, which keeps the game accessible to younger and more casual players at base while also giving those that want more of a challenge a reason to utilize the full toolkit. Button-mashers and try-hards are both welcome here, and the game does a good job of making sure it all looks and feels good.
It also looks fantastic. Especially when you compare it to the textureless visuals of the older Lego games, this looks much more in line with the Lego movies, really wonderfully capturing the material qualities of the Lego world, particularly on Batman’s matte, plastic cowl and fabric cape.
The Whole Bat Enchilada
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Night is absolutely brimming with stuff. Between linear missions I got to spend a little time exploring the massive open-world Gotham City, dotted with side activities like races or puzzles, as well as the Batcave, which is so big that I kept getting lost in it. Just like in Arkham Knight, I navigated the city by grappling up Gotham’s towering skyscrapers and then gliding across the night sky, or cruising around in one of numerous Batmobiles and Batcycles parked back in the Batcave. There are seven playable characters in the Bat-Family (Batman, Jim Gordon, Robin, Catwoman, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Talia al Ghul), with 100 unlockable outfits between them.
The deep bench of outfits and vehicles from across the franchise’s entire history of comics, TV, movies, and games spans from the most iconic to the deepest of cuts. These flagship collectibles are microcosmic of the game’s overall approach, pulling widely and deeply from the decades of available Batman media. This applies on the surface with the wide cast of characters showing up, as well as in countless background jokes, like a billboard for “Phantasm of the Opera” with the iconic grey skull mask.
Batman is a perfect fit for the Lego games, because its sense of silliness and humor is close to the heart of the franchise. Although the more self-serious iterations of creators like Frank Miller and Christopher Nolan have been ascendant in the 21st century, the majority of Batman’s history has had strong streaks of camp and silliness. You’d be hard-pressed to come up with sillier parody villains than ones it already has canonically like Polka-Dot Man or Condiment King. Batman already contains its own parody, and my favorite iterations (like “Batman Returns” and the current “Harley Quinn” show) embrace this with style and wit.
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a delightful synthesis of TT Games’ sense of play and humor, and the inherent fun of the Batman franchise, pulling from decades of developer experience and even more decades of IP source material. I look forward to seeing how many jokes and references I can catch when it arrives on Xbox Series X|S on May 22 (or May 19 if you pre-order the Deluxe Edition).
LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight Deluxe Edition
Warner Bros. Games
$89.99
Pre-order and get “The Dark Knight Returns” Batsuit inspired by the legendary comic series and 3-day launch early access
Suit up with new gear, vehicles, and more, to expand your experience with the LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight Deluxe Edition
Includes:
• Full Base Game
• Legacy Collection:
– Over 30 launch-day items included across 3 Themed Packs: Arkham Trilogy Pack, Batman Beyond Pack, Party Music Pack
– Each Themed Pack includes 7 suits (1 for each playable character), 1 Batmobile, and a set of 5 Batcave customization props
• Mayhem Collection*:
– Includes new Story Mission and Mayhem Mode featuring The Joker and Harley Quinn, along with a villain-themed Sinister Pack
– Break out of Arkham Asylum as playable characters The Joker and Harley Quinn in an all-new Story Mission
– Cause chaos on the streets of Gotham City in the all-new Mayhem Mode
– Sinister Pack includes 7 suits (1 for each of the original playable characters), 1 Batmobile, and 1 Batcave prop set
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a narrative led action-adventure from TT Games, creators of LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga.
*Mayhem Collection is a separate post-launch DLC releasing September 2026 and will be included in the LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight Deluxe Edition (full base game required)
LEGO® Batman™: Legacy of the Dark Knight
Warner Bros. Games
$69.99
Pre-order and get “The Dark Knight Returns” Batsuit inspired by the legendary comic series
Full base game includes:
• Main Story
– Bruce Wayne’s journey from origin to legend as he trains with The League of Shadows, becomes the hero of Gotham City, and forges a new family of allies with Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl. Confront an ever-growing threat from across Batman’s Rogues Gallery as you face The Joker, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane, and more.
• 7 Playable Characters
– Batman, Jim Gordon, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Catwoman, and Talia al Ghul each bring unique skills and signature gadgets as you uncover crimes, complete challenges, and explore an immersive Gotham City full of secrets and surprises.
• 100 Suits
– Inspired by Batman’s 86-year legacy, you’ll find an array of Batsuits alongside individual outfits for every playable character.
• 20+ Vehicles
– A range of Batmobiles and Batcycles to drive around Gotham City’s open world in style. Including iconic rides like the legendary Tumbler.
• 250+ Batcave Props & Trophies
– Customize and display a wide range of items to personalize your Batcave and celebrate your achievements.
Are you ready to build the legacy of the Dark Knight?
