deKay's Gaming Diary

With Mass Effect bagged on Monday, my next game to tackle was this. And what an absolutely outstanding game it was!

I didn’t really enjoy the demo when I played that a while back, but now having played the full game I can see why – you miss some of the first part of the game out, and are chucked into a later bit too early. This means you need to use some slightly more advanced techniques too soon. It also doesn’t give you long enough to get used to the basics before you’re ready.

Another thing that concerned me was the fact it was a licenced game, and they’re generally rubbish. Since this is not actually based on a specific Batman comic or film (as far as I’m aware), I think that helps.

Somehow, Batman manages to blend together several games – Tomb Raider, Watchmen, Gears of War, Splinter Cell and even Metroid without losing it’s own identity, even if a few sections (the clambering round near the sewers and caves, and the Botanical Gardens boss in particular) did make me think I’d swapped games for a minute.

Just two things annoyed me: 1) there’s an achievement you can miss if you don’t fight the goons just before the final boss (they don’t attack you, so I didn’t attack them – oops!), and 2) the entire Killer Croc section was utter pants. Thankfully, the former is just an annoyance and the latter didn’t last too long, so all is forgiven.

And replay value? Well, I’ve only got about 65% of The Riddler’s riddles completed, and I haven’t even started the Challenges yet, so there’s plenty still left to do!

Overall, an excellent game! Next?

100% completed! Hurrah!

This week I’ve been pecking at the remaining minikits, which for some reason were mostly on the Penguin levels – both hero and villain. The last minikit I got was by far the most difficult in the game. Harder than the whole of the rest of the game put together (erm, even though the rest of the game was very, very easy…). You have to slide down an icy slope, through 5 gates. Only you can’t jump, and you can barely veer to either side, making it virtually impossible.

I realised that swapping character after the first two gates made it easier, but that still relied on your CPU controlled partner crashing into a stalegmite or three before you pass the second gate (otherwise they overtake you, missing gates).

Anyway, all done! What next?

92.6% done, apparently.

I’ve got all the power bricks from all the Hero missions, most of those from the Villain missions, all bar about 3 of the minikit pieces from the Hero missions, and about half of those from the Villain missions.

I’ve also got a few people to rescue on various levels, and I just know I’m going to get frustrated on the ice-slide section of one of The Penguin’s levels.

I’ve now played through all the Hero missions again, bar three (I think) and got all of the Power Bricks and Minikit bits in them all. Pretty much, anyway.

I’m still to work through the rest of the Villain missions though, and I’ve also got 200 achievement points yet to unlock too. I think I’ll get most of them all at the same time, though, once I’ve 100%ed the game. Currently I’m at around 85% done!

Of course, I haven’t yet completed it 100%, but I’ve done all the story missions (and got Super Hero/Super Villain on them all) and the two bonus levels.

It really is a great game, and so much bigger than Lego Indiana Jones. I do get the feeling some of the suits for Batman and Robin are a bit of a contrived device, and swapping characters and suits in Free Play mode is a bit of a chore as there are so many to cycle through, but overall it really is very good. Better than Lego Indiana Jones? I think, perhaps, maybe it is. Perhaps.

Yesterday morning, I turned on my 360 and bought some Microsoft Points so I had enough to buy the GTA IV expansion “The Lost and Damned”. I then bought the expansion. Then set about downloading the 1.8GB it takes up. At about 70% through the download, I had to go out to the shops.

While I was out, I saw Lego Batman cheap in the shop and bought it. And that’s all I played all weekend. Lost and Damned be damned!

So how is it? Well, it’s the same game as Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones, only with Batman and Robin in. There are other differences, of course: you get different suits to allow you to do things like glide and walk up walls. The vehicle levels from Lego Star Wars that were (thankfully) missing from Indiana Jones are back, although they’re better than in Star Wars.

Once you complete each episode, you also unlock extra “villain” levels, although I’ve not yet played any of them.

So far, I’ve been enjoying it a lot. It isn’t quite as good as Indiana Jones, but it’s still lovely. And, naturally, there’s the OCD-factor which is keeping me going!