LEGO Batman 3: level packs, Review

With its 150-strong cast of characters, Lego Batman 3 wasn’t gasping for Dlc. it was arguably over-crammed with Dc lore, blurring distinct characters into a mass of lycra and samey powers. the three add-ons avoid the bloat by offering self-contained scenes: the lorry hijack in The Dark Knight, Man of Steel’s prologue and a skit about the Joker throwing batman a 75th anniversary bash. Sold as ‘whole new levels’ they are much shorter than the real things, taking ten minutes to beat and a quick freeplay repeat to mop up any leftover trinkets.

What they lack in longevity they make up for in laughs, with traveller’s tales reminding us of its keen eye for parody something lost since it strayed from mute recreations of iconic cinema to fully-voiced stories of their own making. So in Man of Steel, we get a wonky Russell crowe sound-alike puncturing zack Snyder’s garbage fantasy vision with aussie slang and the best ‘kneel before zod’ gag we’ve heard in a long time. the trick repeats in The Dark Knight  with an astoundingly awful michael caine impersonator pick any random person off the street and they’d do a better job cramming in quotes from the great man’s cinematic oeuvre. harvey Dent is a big man, but he’s out of shape, etc. Don’t groan too loud.

where were these scriptwriters when it came to penning the main game? and why is tt so insistent on working up its own yarns when it is so clearly at home wreaking other people’s creative visions? at £2.39 a pack - or £12 for all six (three more to come) it’s the price of a big mac for a taste of what could have been. 

7/10