LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight |

Publisher: Warner Bros. Games

Developer: TT Games

Release Date: 05/19/2026

Available On

One of the key principles of LEGO games (I’m not capitalizing that anymore from here on out) is “fun”. Also, fun with others. Lego games have been a core part of video games since Lego Adventure Island for the PC back in the late ’90s. Lego really took off in the video game sphere with Lego Star Wars. This was a smash hit that created a basic formula and building blocks for every other Lego game to come after it. That’s both good and bad. See, whenever there’s a new generation of Lego games, everyone hopes for something more difficult, more in-depth, and with more content. Lego games shifted to open world with Lego City Undercover for the Wii U and have kind of stayed that way since. I haven only played some games in the series as Lego Star Wars came out when I was a teenager so I was already not the target audience, and my little sister didn’t seem to care for it. It was still fun and something to zone out with and the handheld versions were completely different games.

Legacy of the Dark Knight is the fourth Lego Batman game. The previous three introduced various elements that were borrowed from the tried-and-true Lego formula, but with Batman and DC superheroes. Legacy of the Dark Knight is a “Greatest Hits” of Batman movies and video games. It takes many gameplay elements from Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham series and pulls scenes from various Batman movies, mostly Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan’s series. This is clearly one of the most cinematic and ambitious Lego games to date. The game takes you through Bruce’s early years as a child walking through Wayne Manor while cosplaying as the Grey Ghost with Alfred tagging along behind you. This introduces basic controls and mechanics to the player. Anyone who has played any Lego-licensed game in the last decade and a half will be completely familiar with how this game plays. Most of the same gameplay elements exist for better or for worse. The game slowly introduces Batman and his abilities to you as a player. You also have a single sidekick who is with you. You start out with Gordon but eventually unlock others through the story, such as Catwoman, Robin, and Batgirl. Each character has an ability usually needed for a puzzle. Gordan can use a foam gun to stop objects. Catowman can use her whip to spin objects. Robin can use his homing batarang to target multiple objects at once.

This dynamic is designed for co-op in mind, but sadly, the puzzles in this game aren’t any more sophisticated or involved than any other Lego game. While they seem complex at first, their solution is usually always given to you (using Batman’s detective vision from the Arkham games) or has the difficulty so simple that small kids can solve it. I understand these games are geared towards children, but I figured they would be ramped up some. The entire game plays out like a Batman Arkham game. From the looks to the abilities and even the combat system, it is ripped straight out of those games. Sadly, while the combat system is the most advanced of any Lego game, it does get repetitive really fast. It lacks the more advanced combo moves and takedowns and just has Batman switching from enemy to enemy in any direction. You can rack up a combo, but these can be broken too easily with more than a second pause between dodges or attacks. You can press a parry button that flashes above enemies to keep combos going, and then you unleash a powerful attack once your meter goes up. There’s no switching and comboing between characters like in the later Arkham games, sadly. The combat system is fine, but I beat the game on the Dark Knight difficulty, and all that did was add more enemies and make scenarios take longer to get through, plus introduces a life system that will restart you at the last checkpoint after three deaths.

There is stealth in this game; just like the Arkham games, you can swing around on pillars and objects overhead, but it’s mostly useless. Most areas seem to have poorly laid out enemy patrol patterns, and I always got caught no matter how good I thought it was doing. Most of the main levels are varied and take you through movie scenes. For example, the Joker parade scene from the ’89 Batman movie is awesome. The same song plays (“Partyman” by Prince), and you get to see Joker vandalize a museum with translated Lego humor. Another scene is Mr. Freeze from Batman Forever, and this is the Schwarzenegger Mr. Freeze to boot. Alfred is obviously pulled from Michael Caine’s version, and Lucius Fox is Morgan Freeman’s version. You get a couple of different Jokers here, such as both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger’s versions, and the voice actors do a good job imitating them. We also get Poison Ivy from Tim Burton’s movie as well as Tommy Lee Jones’ Two Face. They all blend together fairly well with a good amount of levels tossed in. Each level is full of platforming, combat, and puzzles and is varied enough with some scripted events to never become boring. The only time things became dull was during combat encounters that did not involve boss fights. Fighting the goon waves over and over again gets pretty dull really quick because all of the upgrades you earn from finding Wayne Chips are for exploration only.

Many other elements from previous games are here, such as busting up objects to build something to advance in a mission. This has always been a cool feature and never gets old. Seeing a real Lego object being built from pieces is always cool. Vehicle driving is strictly limited to the open world. There are a bunch of different vehicles to drive, and each character has their own. I loved driving Batman’s Batmobiles from different eras of the movies. There are also a ton of costumes to unlock by finding every collectible in each level. Red Bricks are used to unlock color schemes too. There are a ton of collectibles to find here, and many are in the open world. Taken from the Batman Arkham games are Riddler puzzles scattered throughout. These are not nearly as complicated as in those games, but they are still fun, and a couple did get me to think a bit. There are various caches, emblems, and objects to discover. Trials, races, and various events to test your skills too. It’s a lot of content, and most of it is pretty fun. I didn’t care for the combat trials, as I think this is the weakest part of the game. Boss fights are the only unique thing combat-wise, and I found them to be pretty fun to figure out.

The game itself looks fantastic with water dripping down glossy Lego surfaces and great lighting, and they nailed the mood of the Batman Arkham games. It seems they mostly went for Arkham Knight more than City, and surprisingly the Batmobile feels better to drive here than in that game. You can’t run anyone over (you just pass through them), and the violence is kept to a minimum. The humour is spot on early in the game, and then it kind of just drops off halfway through. The level of jokes and physical comedy that Lego games are known for is great for awhile. Later on, the game relies on more cheese and slapstick humour that just doesn’t land right. I’m not sure what went wrong here, but it’s not the end of the world. The game just looks and feels like all the best Batman video games and movies rolled all up into one. I just wish the combat wasn’t so mundane and boring. The puzzles are easy but plentiful and always keep you guessing, the scripted events are fun, and the boss fights are at least entertaining. The voice acting is pretty good too, so what you have here is Lego Batman: The Greatest Hits.