LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is lovingly made, yet overstuffed

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is an odd duck.

It's lovingly made, densely packed with things to do and Easter eggs for fans both young and (very) old, and it certainly delivers the most bang for your buck that you'd want out of a LEGO property. But it's also surprisingly slow, often unimaginative, and tonally all over the place to the point that it never soars as you'd hope.

During my playthrough of the campaign, which took around 20 hours and was nowhere near close to 100%, I found myself losing interest more than once. Legacy of the Dark Knight is a mix of Rocksteady's open-world Arkham games and the more linear LEGO adventures meant for younger audiences.

Yet neither of these disparate parts fully works on its own. Put together, they work even less smoothly. There's a constant tug-of-war between the open sandbox and the push to follow a ramshackle storyline, which attempts to tie together every single Batman movie ever made into one cohesive narrative.

One of the joys of playing with LEGO is how you can build anything your heart desires. Sometimes an open box of assorted pieces is better than a clearly defined project. In Legacy of the Dark Knight, the moments where you get to build things are the most tedious, unintuitive, and joyless sections of the entire game. They're almost always completely inscrutable, and there's never a clear indication of what the game actually wants out of the scene.

Each time, you're left to scan the environment for the objects that need breaking, and then standing aside as Batman and friends put together a ridiculous contraption that serves as a single-use gag. When it happens the first time, it's a funny throwback to the 60s TV series, where Batman would solve situations with whatever ACME invention he had in his pocket. But when it becomes a repeated thing, the novelty wears off fast.

Part of this is due to TT Games' insistence on throwing everything into Legacy of the Dark Knight. If there's even a tangential relationship to Batman, you can bet you'll find it here. But that leads to a weird campaign that's built for local co-op, whether you like it or not. There's no online co-op option, so unless you can find a friend to come over on the regular, you're out of luck.

If you're playing solo, get ready to constantly switch between characters for tedious tasks like opening doors or pulling grates. Even Commissioner Gordon has a weird blob-launcher that can clog drains and break flimsy boxes. Some combos are fun, admittedly, like going out to town with Catwoman or goofing off with Robin in matching 60s regalia. But there's a reason why the Arkham games had Batman alone for the vast majority of the time. This is an adventure for the Dark Knight alone, not the entire Justice League.

When you finally get to the open world, Legacy of the Dark Knight improves considerably, even if it still insists on pushing you towards the next linear objective at all times. Gotham is lovingly recreated in brick form, even if it has no personality of its own. If you've played Arkham City, you'll recognize where TT has taken most of their inspirations.

Similarly, combat is lifted directly from the Arkham titles, yet somehow feels less engaging and less fast-paced than in the games that inspired it. Bigger ruckuses are almost boring, as Batman has to spend ages pummeling each villain into submission. Things do improve later, as you buy more skills and gadgets, but so much of that is buried under needless busywork that collecting them isn't the most exciting prospect.

Where Legacy of the Dark Knight shines is in presentation. Everything about the game is lovingly crafted, and the licensed music from Batman adventures throughout the ages is a treat. As a 90s kid, I was thrilled to take the iconic Tim Burton-era Batmobile out for a spin, especially as Danny Elfman's epic theme kicked in. The Batcave is impressive, Gotham is hauntingly beautiful, and everywhere you look, there's something interesting to explore.

Likewise, both the effects work and the attention to detail is exquisite. When Batman punches a villain, you can see the sound effects like in the old cartoons. Costumes have intricate details that fans of the films will recognize, while even the most obscure poster in the city has a small nod to some element from the comics. If you just want a trip down memory lane, Legacy of the Dark Knight delivers in spades.

And while the tone shifts are awkward for an older audience, especially as the film tries its hand at the Christopher Nolan films, it's remarkable how well TT Games handles the material. Batman is an inherently silly creation, even if some of his adventures are not. The fact that Legacy of the Dark Knight can make even Burton's gothic fantasy appear kid-friendly is no easy feat, and TT Games deserves credit for that.

Played with a younger audience, Legacy of the Dark Knight evoked numerous instances of joy and wonder. Batman is cool, no matter how old you are, and it is great fun to see which parts resonate with the next generation of fans. But the long levels clearly tested the patience of the pre-teens, and even older fans started to get fidgety, usually around the midway point of any given chapter. Exploring Gotham in your chosen gear was a clear favorite, as were the driving sections.

But, in my experience, the younger crowd kept asking for more LEGO Star Wars, while the older crowd wouldn't stop comparing the game to the Arkham series. In attempting to marry the two, TT Games has hit a weird halfway point where nostalgia only gets you so far. While Legacy of the Dark Knight is never bad, it's also not its own thing. At least not nearly enough to push aside the memory of a genre-defining series.

It's still fun, and it's still LEGO, and it's still Batman. All of those are good things. Together, they could be great. But, for now, the results are merely OK. It's no Batman Returns, but luckily it's not Batman & Robin, either.