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Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #26/Blog a Day #5

Hello everyone, how are you?

Everyone had a favorite toy when they were kids. One of my all-time favorite toys were LEGO. Who doesn't love LEGO? I loved that you could pretty much build anything you wanted with them. Over the years there have been numerous LEGO games based on popular franchises, basically licensed games but with a LEGO twist. The properties include Star Wars, Marvel, and many more. My favorite LEGO games are the Batman ones obviously and for this we are going to take a look at LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

 

                             Superman: What is the song Batman is listening to?

I remember it was 2015 and my grandparents (my dad's parents) from Mexico came over to visit us. I remember my mom, dad, my younger brother and my grandparents went out to go shopping here in our town. I remember I gave my younger brother some money in case he saw something he wanted to buy as well as to see if there was an amiibo that I didn't have yet. Keep in mind that this was during the height of their popularity so chances are that he wouldn't find any that I wanted.

Everyone came back a hour later and my younger brother came back from Gamestop and he said he didn't find anything I wanted, but he came back with a copy of Lego Batman 3 for the PS3. He said he had to use the money I gave him for the amiibo, I said it was okay and to consider it a gift. He said we could co-op it like the past 2 Lego Batman games, I think he just felt guilty that he wasted the money even though I said it was fine but I said sure, since I loved the co-op in those games. So how is the game?

Lego Batman 3 takes place sometime after Lego Batman 2 and this one follows both Batman and Robin and this time not only do they team up with the entire Justice League but also the Legion of Doom as well as the entire Lantern Corps since it's quite a universal threat. This time a bigger threat not only threatens Gotham, but the entire world and it's up to all teams to form a temporary alliance and unite against a common foe. One thing you should all remember, the first mistake any villain could do is step foot in Gotham or you'll most likely meet the Batman and regret it later and that is no exception here.

                        It may be a Batman game but it's also a game about Robin too

Lego Batman 3 pretty much plays like the last two Lego Batman games so not much has really changed in terms of the core gameplay but there are some tweaks to it. For starters, now you can swap to a different suit at any time once you have access to it. In the past games you had to go a certain station in the levels that allowed you to swap suits to solve puzzles and whatnot, but now all you have to do when you unlock a suit is pull up a menu, select the suit and you are ready to go.

There is no open-world this time around like in LEGO Batman 2. Instead the game has hubs like the Batcave, the Hall of Justice, and many more that serve as hubs when you are not in a level. The hubs have their own side-quests and secrets to find, like unlocking new characters to play as. Eventually you unlock these small planets that are hubs. They have their own sets of challenges and unlockables, they aren't big but I suppose they wanted to try something different. It's here where you can test out the various vehicles you unlock as well.

This game is just full of content, there's over 150 playable characters ranging from familiar favorites like Batman obviously to the wider DC Universe in general, including some obscure characters as well. And some... really interesting cameos. Conan O'Brien is in this game for some reason and he acts like a sort of guide like telling you how something works. His dialogue is neat the first time but it gets repetitive since he says the same thing over and over whenever you enter the same area. And Kevin Smith is in this game as an unlockable character. Thanks? Interesting cameos to say the least.

                               Solomon Grundy looks more happy than menacing

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" It's available pretty much everywhere, from the PS3, 360, Wii U, PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game also has a season pass which grants access to more content based on some of the movies like The Dark Knight and even The CW's Arrow show. There's a digital edition that comes with all the dlc and it goes for less than $10 sometimes so I suggest getting that one instead since it adds more content to an already content heavy game.

Final Thoughts: Lego Batman 3 is considered the weakest entry in the LEGO Batman series of games. Yes it does suck that they went a step backwards and removed the open world. But to me that really isn't a deal breaker. I loved the tweaks they did to the gameplay and the number of content like playable characters was really great. Minus the odd cameo here and there but eh whatever.

It may not be the best game in the series but it is easily my favorite. Mostly because I had such a blast co-oping the game with my younger brother. It was so much fun playing with him and all the laughs we had with many of the funny moments. And to me that's what mattered the most. We even got the platinum trophy and I even helped him it get it on his PSN account too. It doesn't matter if it's the strongest or weakest game in a series, as long as you had fun with it then that's pretty much all that matters. Not bad for an amiibo trade off if I do say so myself. I'm hoping LEGO Batman 4, if it ever happens, is better than this one and all the other games that have released since. And you can bet my brother and I will be playing that together.

                                           Easily the best part of the whole game

Sometimes it might feel like you have the whole weight of the world on your shoulders but remember it's okay to ask for help whenever you need it. We aren't Superman after all. Don't be like Batman when he wants to do everything himself. If you can then that's fine. But if you can't there is no shame is asking for help.

That's it for this one and as a word of warning, DC is going to get a lot of love in these posts. For the next one we are going back to Earth as we roll-up to the greatest amusement park in the world! Or in gaming at least. Tune in tomorrow! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel! Thanks for reading and...