Video Game Blog 013: The Brick Knight

Today I’m going to talk about a game that’s actually on my 2022 game list! I know, I’m shocked too. Don’t worry, I’ll talk about EarthBound soon, which is most definitely NOT on my list.

I’ve loved the Lego licensed video games ever since I played the very first Lego Star Wars on my old PlayStation 2. It caught my attention and affection immediately, and not just because it was Star Wars. It was quirky, easy to play, and a hell of a lot of fun. They’re just nice, relaxing games where you can’t die, the controls are easy, and the point is to just collect things and accumulate currency. There’s something to be said about uncomplicated and wholesome. Over the years I’ve been playing the Lego licensed games and having a blast with each of them. I’ve completed 14 so far— some more than once— and I’d be hard-pressed to identify a favorite among them. Not just because they’re all very similar, but because they’re all well-done and enjoyable. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is no exception to this.

Power up! (Credit: Traveller’s Tales)

Lego Batman 2 is (obviously) the sequel to Lego Batman: the Videogame. This game, while like its predecessor in many ways, marked a departure for the Lego licensed game series. Prior to this game, they all included a hub world but this game features an open world… Gotham is vast and can be fully explored. Also, instead of the grunts, miming, and body language used in previous Lego games, this one includes full voice acting. Just like in the previous Lego Batman game, instead of following the plots of the movies (like they did with Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, etc.) Lego Batman 2 has an original story. This one also features characters outside the Batman franchise, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and everyone’s favorite fish wrangler Seaman. No wait… his name is Aquaman. There is a decent roster of DC characters in this game— 50 characters in the base game and 10 in the DLC.

Why so many characters? See, with each Lego game you need to acquire certain characters to serve various purposes. One that flies, one that explodes silver Lego pieces, one that melts gold pieces, one that can destroy the black pieces. One that can talk to fish. The Batman games shake that formula up by featuring a variety of specialized suits for Batman and Robin to wear. These suits are only obtainable through special platforms and are used to grant Batman and Robin special powers. These are used to solve puzzles both in the levels and in Gotham. The Power Suit can pull orange handles and fire missiles, the Stealth Suit can turn invisible and see through solid objects, the Hazard Suit can spray water to clear toxic waste… and so on. So, even though some of the things can be done using your unlocked characters, you also need the suits to get through some parts.

Try to pay attention here Superman. There’s a boss battle happening. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales)

Lego games typically have a set number of levels to complete using specific characters. This one has 15 levels. Each level has 10 Minikits that you can find which build a vehicle for use in the game. The currency in this game is studs, which can be used to purchase characters, vehicles, and Red Bricks. Getting a certain number of studs in a level fills your stud gauge (resisting the urge to make a joke here) and gives you Superhero status. Every level also has a Citizen in Peril that you can save. After beating a level you can unlock Free Play mode in that level, which lets you select any of your unlocked characters as you play through it. You can only get some collectibles by going back in Free Play and using other character’s powers.

Outside of these levels, there is a hub world, in this case Gotham City, that can be explored to gather more items and characters. To unlock characters you have to complete the level they’re found in, or find them in Gotham. Henchmen are purchased with studs after defeating a certain number of them. When you activate Batcomputers around the city, Boss battles trigger after which you can purchase villains. Also hidden in Gotham are 20 Red Bricks. Red Bricks are the cheat codes that give you stud multipliers, extra hearts, invincibility, and more. The most useful of these are the Minikit Finder, the Gold Brick Finder, the Red Brick Finder, and the Peril Finder. This makes getting the rest of the items easier, since they show up on the map and arrows appear indicating where they’re hidden.

Batman enjoys some vigorous sailing. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales)

One of the main objectives of the game is to collect Gold Bricks. These are used to access more characters and bonus levels, along with adding to your percentage of completion. You earn bricks in levels by filling out your stud gauge (resisting the urge to make a joke here), saving the hidden citizen, getting all the Minikits, and finishing the level for the first time. In Gotham there are more Gold Bricks hidden that can be attained through rescuing Citizens in Peril, doing races, and solving puzzles. There are 250 gold bricks in the game. After collecting 175 gold bricks you can build a doorway to a bonus level where the objective is to earn 1 million studs. (These levels are my favorite part of each Lego game.)

Collection is at the heart of the Lego games. To get 100% you have to unlock all the characters and vehicles, gather all the Gold Bricks, Red Bricks and Minikits, and complete each level fully. Collecting everything and seeing my percentage go up is the best part about these games for me. There’s always been something satisfying about doing everything you can in a game, and this is made fairly easy in Lego games.

Batman thinks longingly of the Flash. Well, at least it’s not Aquaman. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales)

Now we should probably acknowledge the elephant in the room. Everyone knows I’m a Marvel guy. DC is okay, and I do have some Superman and Batman comics. I’ve seen some of the Batman movies and enjoyed them. (Although my favorite Batman will always be Adam West and no one can change my mind on this.) And Super Friends is hilarious in directions that were unintended. But for the most part DC is just… meh for me. I know a lot of people love it but I’ve just never gotten into the DC universe in the way I have with Marvel. That’s just me. Still, I really enjoyed both the DC Lego games I’ve played so far and I appreciate getting exposure to properties I’m not completely familiar with. I think all in all, Lego Batman 2 was a solid addition to the Lego series. This one, like all of them, had good points and bad points.

Pros: It has the tried and true Lego formula— build things to advance, solve puzzles, and collect everything. The different suits were fun and added some good strategy. It was nice being able to play as different superheroes with different powers. The voice acting was fine and the story was passable. I will admit, there were a few laughs to be had in the cut scenes. (“Do you like pies Batman? Because I think they’re going to like you!“)

Cons: The controls are somewhat clunky and awkward. Lego has never been that great at flying mechanics, and in this one it was especially wonky. Especially when Superman is flying… I yelled at Superman way too much playing this. (He has a tendency to swoop when you’re trying to land.) The game was also a bit glitchy. At one point it locked up twice in one play session. (Once I was able to recover by disconnecting/reconnecting my controller.) The different suits also are a con because it can be a bit of a hassle to use a suit for one thing, switch to a new suit for something else, and then backtrack through most of the level to get back to your old suit for the next puzzle. Some levels had a lot of backtracking. Also in that vein, the levels take a long time to complete, even when you’re not getting all the Minikits. That’s a time investment I don’t always have. The Lego levels have always been a bit long, but the levels in this game seemed especially long to me. I was super annoyed to get most of the way through a level only to find I needed Aquaman of all people for one of the puzzles and I hadn’t bought him yet. (That’s mostly why I’m shitting on Aquaman so much on this post. Having to replay a level just so he could spit on the wall for me. Ugh.)

At first Gotham seemed unnecessarily huge and overwhelming, but as I got more into the game and unlocked the Red Bricks it became a bit more manageable. I had the same feelings in the other open world Lego games… New York in Lego Marvel Superheroes and Middle Earth in Lego Lord of the Rings come to mind. It just stresses me out to see such a huge, sprawling city to explore and think about how I’m going to find those small Lego Bricks and character Minifigs in all that open space. I really doubt I could do it without the cheat codes, and anyway that’s why they’re there. Lego games are supposed to be fun, not stressful. They encourage you to cheat so you don’t get too annoyed!

I am a collector and a completionist. The Lego games are very satisfying to those aspects of my personality. It’s fun to search out all the Bricks, characters, and other things in the game. Plus it’s nice to just kick back sometimes and play a chill, wholesome game with no stakes other than seeing the percentage go up. Traveller’s Tales has been putting out fewer Lego licensed games as the years go by, and that’s sad to me. I’m always happy to see a new Lego game come out and it feels like the next one may be the last one. But I still have 9 left to play and these are the sorts of games that I really don’t mind replaying. When I run out of new Lego games to play I may just start back from the first Lego Star Wars and casually replay them all. (And maybe cover them here? We’ll see.)

This poor guy was being tormented by a penguin wearing a missile launcher. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales)

Thank you for reading my post on Lego Batman 2. This is my 15th Lego licensed game and although I haven’t finished it yet, it’s been a lot of fun and I wanted to share it with you. Also on my list for this year is Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. (Which is finally coming out after years of delays… seriously, I’ve had it preordered for a year and a half!) I’m sure I’ll write a post on that one after I play it. Thanks again for reading, I appreciate you all. I’ll be back soon with more video game fun!