LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes - Playstation 3

LEGO Batman 2 is without a doubt the best LEGO game to date. They've taken a well-worn formula, FINALLY shook it up a bit, and added in loads and loads of content. It's also the best Superman, and Justice League, game ever made...which is sort of sad, and sort of awesome. Now, I'm a DC Comics fan, but I'm pretty sure there's enough here to keep "normal" people incredibly entertained for some time whether or not they're a fan of the Dark Knight, Man of Steel or their pals. This is a fantastic game for any gamer, young or old, so long as you love fun games.Like all other LEGO games, the core gameplay here is a great mix of puzzle-heavy platforming and dumb brawling. The brawling combat has never been in-depth, and the platforming has never been super polished, but LEGO Batman 2 manages to make it fun regardless. Mostly because this version of Batman is very 90's. Not only is the version of Gotham City here heavily inspired by Tim Burton's and Joel Schumacher's movies (they even have Danny Elfman's Batman theme in here!), but Batman and Robin are treated as action figures, with loads and loads of impractical suits that grant them different powers. Just like how you'd see $5 action figures on store shelves with names like, "Ice Armor Batman" and "Slime Shield Batman", you'll see crazy un-comic-like variants of Batman and Robin early and often in this game. Every change of suit, from "Power Armor Batman" to "Stealth Action Batman" to "Flight Suit Batman" and more, give you more powers to play with. Power Armor Batman, for example, is obviously much stronger than normal Batman, and can crush foes and objects with one hit. He also fires rockets that destroy silver LEGO material, which is where much of the puzzle elements come from. You'll often find yourself at an impasse, and the only way to proceed is to find a suit platform, switch up your Batman or Robin, and blow away said impasse. The way they combine these are never brain-melting, but it still adds variety to levels and provides for some fun.Of course, Superman factors heavily into the story, and once you start playing as him, you'll find yourself with more powers than you know what to do with! This version of the Last Son of Krypton is easily the best, and most fun, yet in a video game. He has nearly every power you expect Superman to have (with the notable omission of being able to pick up LEGO cars and throw them) - he's invulnerable, even to Kryptonite. If you encounter the rare enemy who IS armed with the stuff, Supes just gets locked into a "backing up away from it" animation, so switch to Batman and beat those guys up and you're good. He obviously can fly, he's got heat vision, super breath which freezes people (hold the button down) or blows them away (double tap), and has Super-strength. With all that, playing as Superman is a blast. He's incredibly mobile and since he can't be destroyed, he's perfect for players tired of the bland combat or dying a lot. And flying around in the open world of LEGO Gotham is a blast, since you can use super speed in the wide-open spaces (double tap and hold it on the second tap).Speaking of LEGO Gotham City, there's the big shake up to this LEGO game, and why the game goes from "cute and fun" to "absolutely addictive". Most other LEGO games have hub worlds, but this is the first time they've implemented a proper GTA-style open world, and it's largely successful. Yes, even though you're a superhero, you can steal cars...but honestly, with both Bat-vehicles and flying Justice League members, you'll probably have little need for civilian vehicles. There are LOADS of activities in Gotham, from rescuing citizens in peril, to finding red bricks that unlock, essentially, cheats, to participating in vehicle races and mini-games. My personal favorite is opening the cages in the Gotham Zoo and racing around on the backs of LEGO Gorillas! But there are also weird RC vehicle games, like in the Power Station District, where you can drive around RC cars with hammers and smash up other cars (Protip: when you win, you unlock the Red Brick for x2 Studs). Everything rewards you with Gold Bricks, which is a form of currency needed to unlock gates around the city. These gates contain new LEGO characters, and if you have the studs to purchase them, you can unlock them. There are, like, 50 playable characters in the game! Including ALL the villains in the game, both super and thug variety. Guys like the Joker, Lex Luthor, General Zod, Hush, Bane, Poison Ivy...all here. The members of the Justice League - Batman, Superman, Robin, Cyborg, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Hawkgirl and Hawkman, and Martian Manhunter - are all here. And they all bring a special game mechanic to play; they are not "palette swaps" of Batman, Robin and Superman. Although they share similar abilities. Example, you could go through a level as "Electro Suit Batman" and use him to carry charges to power up machines, or just use the Joker, whose handbuzzer will shock machines into working without having to puzzle through the level. Because everything you do seems to reward you with tangible goodies - vehicles and characters - or, at least, work your way towards a reward, you'll quickly find yourself addicted to making progress.While I'm giving this a 5-star for all that, the experience is NOT perfect. Like I said, the combat is bland and messy. You just button mash and, unless you're Superman or Wonder Woman (or found the Red Brick that unlocks Invincibility), you'll probably explode constantly when swamped by enemies. Not a huge deal - these games don't really punish death - but you do lose studs, which is annoying. Why is it annoying? Mostly because they take forever to gather up at first (until you unlock the Studs x2, x4, x6, x8 and x10 cheats). You're always with a partner character - the trio of Batman, Robin and Superman are pretty tight in this game -, and you can always switch between them as well to get around glitches (I'm stuck in the wall!) and solve puzzles. The problem is that they're barely functional when you're not controlling them. They don't follow you around a level so much as warp to where you are. They are not interested in fighting, and can't take out ANY enemies (even if they DO begin to play their fight animations). Most annoyingly, they don't smash up the environments looking for studs! And they don't gather them up for you either! They're pretty much pointless, except for the puzzles in the levels. If you can, DEFINITELY play this in 2-player co-op.The streaming technology on the open world of Gotham is also quite bad. Things pop in ALL THE TIME. So when you're looking for stuff, you could be in the right area and see absolutely nothing for 15 seconds before it appears. When you're hunting for villains, it's really annoying. Finding the platforming "building routes" is less of a pain though, because the studs appear in the world all the time. You'll see a row of studs in the sky, going from one rooftop to another, so you KNOW that a zipline will appear there, loading in after about 10-15 seconds. Maybe it's because Superman flies too fast, maybe it's because this game was built for the Wii and "ported up" to the 360, PS3 and PC...I don't know who to blame, but it's less than ideal. There's also no minimap, which is a problem for some - I prefer to explore, so I'm happy with the compass in-game.None of the cons are deal-breakers though, and you learn to live with them very quickly. LEGO Batman 2 is a massive improvement over the last LEGO games, and an ambitious step forward for the franchise - a step that will be pushed forward later this year with the release of LEGO City Undercover for Wii U. It's very fun by yourself, and unbelievably fun with a partner. It's cute, and fun, which is what every gamer should be a fan of. And it's LOADED with content. Tons of characters, tons of vehicles, tons of things to do, great puzzles, fun levels....if you haven't gotten a LEGO game in awhile, this is the perfect one to jump back into the series with. And if you've never gotten one before, you definitely need to get this one. An absolute gem. Now, let's look forward to LEGO Superman or LEGO Justice League!

before i write this review, i would like to remind you that i am not a professional game reviewer, i'm just a regular customer and gamer, this is based on my experience!this game is simliar to the first one but waaaay, first off, the story mode is more interesting and yes! finally the characters are voiced!! the game play is easy but not too easy, it still gives you a challenge. the graphics are so amazing, and i love the Alfred hints! if you don't like getting hints and you want more of a challenge just turn the hints off. the Lego sense of humor is still there, you will love how batman is jealous of superman it's really funny. the story mode is still short but after you play you can still do other missions and replay the story modes. the free-play mode is so fun. you will most likely spend the rest of you're time unlocking characters, collection those stones, gold bricks and more on free play. you also will have to save all of the citizens for more gold bricks. and collect those batman things (sorry i don't know the name of it). unlike the first batman, you can finally travel through the city its finally has a open world setting yaaay! you can unlock almost all of the DC characters from the comics and other batman classics. you get to drive the bat-mobile and other cool vehicles you can also travel in bat boats and jets.superman in this game is awesomeeeee! he does everything! however the female characters such as poison ivy, cat woman, and wonder woman doesn't really do much :( but it's still fun to play them. i give this game 9/10 because it is was cool fun game. if you love to explore this game is it. !!! if you not satisfied with my review, just look on you-tube. do your research and see if this game is worth you're money. my four year old nephew loves it !! and i enjoyed it myself!!:)