Loving LEGO Batman: The Videogame

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Even though the incredible LEGO Star Wars saga and equally worthy LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures were serious video games for serious players, they maintained enough levity that kids and casual gamers alike could still giggle their way through the games' more intense levels. But what happens when you bring Batman to the series -- can the Dark Knight (especially the Christian Bale version) retain his brooding edge in a world made of block-people and visual punchlines?

The answer, I'm happy to say, is sort of: LEGO Batman: The Videogame's visuals are sufficiently dark and gritty, and the Danny Elfman soundtrack is a great mood-setter, but come on, this is still a LEGO game: Don't expect to see the Joker's magic trick done with minifigures.

Like its predecessors, LEGO Batman offers a ton of cutscene goofiness, and the game's cartoon violence, while intense enough to keep things exciting, is likely no worse than what your kids are already acting out with their own minifigures (at least if they're like my boys): Stuff flies around, minifigs break apart, and the villains (including some lesser-known ones -- Clayface and Man-Bat, anyone?) stay on your trail. That is, if you're not being a bad guy yourself.

You begin your journey through Gotham City playing as Batman and Robin, but the heroes only account for half the action in LEGO Batman's 30 levels: The remaining 15 levels find you completing the story as villains -- from Joker and Riddler to the aforementioned lesser baddies -- in a nice twist on the way LEGO games usually force you embrace your dark side in Free Play mode.

The game's core features, on the other hand, will be pleasantly familiar to anyone familiar with LEGO Star Wars or Indiana Jones. Besides having the new ability to buy vehicles and actually play them (hands down, one of the game's best breaks with formula), you collect studs, including pieces of minikits, as you move through the levels fighting bad guys.

The AI, unfortunately, is a bit weak, so there are times when you're playing alone as one character while your buddy just sort of lags behind you. As an older, more patient gamer, I was mildly put off by what's now an expected element of any LEGO game, but my kids (5 and 8) often got frustrated when playing the game alone, especially during puzzles and other challenges that require two characters to interact. Definitely plug in a second controller for this if you've got one -- it makes the game all that much better.

Rated "E10+," LEGO Batman: The Videogame is available everywhere for PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PC, Sony PSP and Nintendo DS, and if you pick up an Xbox 360 Core Arcade Bundle at Amazon (click for offer details), they're also throwing in a copy of the game free.

Video Games: Crash of the Titans Ships for Multiple Platforms

Aaron Burgess — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:32:00 GMT

Crash Bandicoot made his debut 11 years ago on the Sony PlayStation, which means that, assuming my math is right, many of us hadn't started breeding when we first got down with the mischievous, planet-saving marsupial. Today, 14 games into the Crash series, the game's developers are still writing code with us in mind: See the Clash of the Titans and (in the game itself) Brokeback Mountain references in the new Crash of the Titans, both guaranteed to soar over our kids' heads while we giggle into our cupped hands.

Crash Of The Titans still finds our hero facing off against the evil Dr. Neo Cortex, who this time has discovered a mysterious substance called "mojo" (another term that'll be fun to explain to kids) and is using it to build an army of mutants out of the Wumpa Islands' peaceful inhabitants. As Crash, you spend the game battling the mutants, a.k.a. Titans, while collecting mojo and showing off your new acrobatic fighting skills; and this time, you've got an added skill called "jacking" that lets you take control of the Titans. (In two-player mode, you can even, er, jack yourself as the mutant-hero Carbon-Crash.) A learning game this isn't, but kids will eat it up -- as will the more slapstick- and action-loving parents among us.

Rated E 10+, Crash of the Titans is available for PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, GBA and PSP.

droolicious : game reviews

Loving LEGO Batman: The Videogame

Video Games: Crash of the Titans Ships for Multiple Platforms