Here, though, much like in story mode, there seems an obvious need to provide a sense of scope for the player as most of the LEGO titles feature large and complicated set pieces. The Twisted Metal series featured co-op split screens for years and the default was always two horizontal areas. In the open world Gotham, though, the split screen is always just two vertical areas, and not being able to see much to your right and left (only largely up and down) is really, really tough when you are trying to drive or fly. Other characters, like Superman, can fly around the city. Since there is a lot more space to traverse in the open world, Batman travels by Batmobile and Robin travels on his motorcycle. However, that split screen mucks things up even more here. In this instance, playing a LEGO Dark Knight Detective, I love the idea of going one step further to track down Batman’s usual assortment of anatagonists. LEGO Indiana Jones, for instance, features far more puzzle solving through LEGO building than the LEGO Star Wars games do - appropriate enough given the nature of those two media properties. While the core gameplay of LEGO games, participating in crazy beat ’em ups and building gadgets and doodads with LEGOS to proceed, is pretty much the same from game to game, they do still consider the franchise that they are working with and tailor bits of those core elements around the intellectual properties that they are playing with. This is a neat idea and much related to what is good about Traveller’s Tales approach to these various franchises. Since Gotham City is populated with Batman’s rogues gallery, you have to track each of them to various lairs around Gotham, beat them up, and then pay the fee to unlock them. Unlike those previous installments, though, there is no hub world that exists between levels in which you can just buy these new figures. Like the previous installments of these games, LEGO Batman 2 offers a great many additional characters from the Batman universe to unlock by collecting LEGO studs during Story and Freeplay mode. Worse, though, is the experience of the franchises first LEGO open world, which offers a LEGO version of Gotham City to explore, finding new puzzles and unlockables spread throughout what is a pretty robust game space. The yelling has been replaced with a lot of “I don’t know where I am,” “I don’t know what I’m doing.” As a result, the general chaos that ensues in a LEGO game, which consists largely of madcap punching and shooting, LEGO blocks bursting in showers of LEGO studs, and other visual insanity is made all the more difficult to respond to. Throughout story mode the line moves pretty constantly. Saying “at times,” though, is a bit of an understatement. The dividing line that exists between the two sides, though, can rotate at times, so that players can see more to their right and their left by sometimes moving almost to a diagonal position between the two. However, the screen is split into what is basically two vertical segments. No more dragging someone into a bad guy or over the side of a cliff and no more getting caught behind LEGO scenery. LEGO Batman 2 is a game that features split-screen play. This new Batman game, though, sees the first effort in the series to resolve the second part of the problem, the limitations of a single screen for co-op play. Luckily, the first part of the equation, enjoying the funny LEGO versions of much beloved super heroes, is present in LEGO Batman 2. Much anxiety and ire is raised when my kids play as they shriek at one another to stay close to “me” so that “I” don’t get trapped at the edge of the screen or “I” don’t fall into a pit as a result of the other one “pulling” the screen too far to the right or the left. The second part, of course, is less thrilling, and the yelling is unfortunately due to a problem that has existed since the beginning of the series, specifically the problem of having two players playing co-op together, both of whom that need to see themselves on a single screen. For them, it is fun to collect the chubby little versions of that same media that I have also shared with them through DVDs, old television episodes, and even my old comic book collection. For me, the Gen X gamer, many of the franchises ( Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman) are loving tongue-in-cheek homages to the media that consumed my childhood. While I am not in love with the LEGO games as games themselves, they bring me and my kids together around the television, uniting two generations with a game that offers a little something for everyone. The first part is much appreciated and much of the fun that I derive from the series. In the past, two things have occurred when one of the LEGO franchise games appears in my house for review: 1) my daughters suddenly also appear to help Dad out with his review and 2) there’s usually a whole lot of yelling.
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