'Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham' Review: New Platformer For PS4 Is Out Of This World!

It's a busy month for gamers as hot new games including "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," "Halo: The Master Chief Collection," "Far Cry 4," the next-generation "GTA 5," are all being released at once. However, you would be making a serious mistake if you overlook "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham" just because it's missing the cliché explosions on its cover art.

If you haven't already noticed, the latest trends in console gaming are mostly geared towards delivering astonishing cinematic experiences with gritty storylines. Take Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us" and "Uncharted" franchise, for example. In particular, "The Last of Us" was so intense that I had to pause the game and put down the controller less than 20 minutes into the game (those who've played it will know what moment I'm talking about). However, there was a time when Naughty Dog created brilliant and simplistic platform games like "Crash Bandicoot" and more recently "Jak and Daxler." However, all these iconic platform games and countless others have essentially retired to make room for sequels to action/survival. Now, it is up to "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham" to carry the torch to the new generation of consoles.

Essentially, "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham" follows the events after "Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes." Now, Brainiac is using the powers of the rings from the Lantern Corps to wreak havoc across the galaxy, shrinking planets so that he could add them to his collection. If Batman and his friends don't stop Brainiac, then our planet Earth will be next! Interesting twists including Brainiac's mind control ability as well as the power of the Lantern rings could cause the heroes to go bad and vice versa. Now, the greatest super heroes and the most diabolical villains of the DC universe have no choice but to come together to stop a common enemy from destroying the planet.

We tested the latest "Lego Batman" on the Sony PS4 console. The appeal of "Lego Batman" is clear from the get-go. It may seem like a joke to praise the graphics and visuals of Lego games (they're all supposed to be plastic bricks after all), but it's so refreshing to see a game that delivers a fluid experience that never suffers from choppy textures, screen tears, and any frame rate fluctuation issues that so often plague top tier games that demand immense processing power from the hardware. What's more, the loading time is relatively crisp and snappy.

Beyond the visuals, the sound and music play a huge role in setting the tone for "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham" as well. Batman levels feature classic Batman music including the iconic theme song from "Batman: The Animated Series." The characters are extremely well thought out as well, as the personalities of the unique DC Comics heroes and villains are mixed with an overall lighthearted and funny theme that is found in all Lego video games.

Gameplay-wise, the interaction and the dynamics between all the characters from DC Comics really makes the game special. What's more, the game manages this subtle way of giving characters the self awareness that they are merely Lego figures to make it all extremely lighthearted to play. Characters like Batman and Lex Luther have access to all their toys and gadgets while others like Superman and Wonder Woman have special powers and abilities including flight. At the same time, very neat puzzles have a way of requiring certain unique abilities in order to open chests or uncover Lego pieces necessary to build ladders or weapons to progress through the levels.

The party piece of "Lego Batman 3" is that the fight against Brainiac will take our DC heroes to outer space, which means will we get to travel into the cosmos as well as through dimensions. If the space theme is a little too sci-fi for your tastes, a retro Adam West Batman can be unlocked to bring the game back to 1966.

While the movement and fighting controls translate very well from character to character in "Lego Batman," certain Lego components in the game can become extremely frustrating. Beyond brute force, "Lego Batman 3" is engineered to require a bit of problem solving to defeat Brainiac. While most puzzles are straightforward, some even laughably easy, others can be extremely frustrating to the point where I find myself stuck in a certain level for a lot longer than I'd like. What's more, Brainiac's endless wave of attacking minions can also distract my efforts in searching for the missing piece of the puzzle. That said, as this game is rated E for everyone 10+, it could also be my lack of patience at fault.

In conclusion, "Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham" is mostly a delightful way to fall in love with platform games all over again. Gamers will get to enjoy a really expansive campaign mode that would make "Lego DC Super Heroes Battle Villains In Outer Space" a more accurate title than the modest "Beyond Gotham." To ensure additional playtime that will make the game worthwhile, "Lego Batman 3" also allows gamers to explore the Batcave, Hall of Justice, the Justice League Watchtower, and to tool around with the hero and vehicle customers.

Check out the "Lego Batman 3" trailer and gameplay videos below!