Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight review: fan service at its finest

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is best described as a Batman: Arkham game for all ages. Taking heavy inspiration from this video game series, it’s a more comedic take on the entire Batman franchise, pulling in all sorts of references from the film series, the comics, animated shows, real-life Lego, and beyond (and Beyond).

Legacy of the Dark Knight is jam-packed with fan service, in a way that makes you want to giggle and kick your feet. And while the game is tailored more towards younger audiences, there’s plenty here for older players too, with a nice balance of challenge and exploratory rewards, as well as sharp references that only older audiences will fully understand.

A unique blend of Batman mythology

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight tells recognisable tales within the Batman mythos – but it’s as if that mythos has gone through a blender. There are siloed story segments that are recognisable nods to chapters like Batman Begins and Batman Returns, but with all their disparate parts mixed together to create a more coherent story.

It’s a unique twist that makes the game both familiar and new.

Here, the game retains the plot that Jack Napier, aka the future Joker, had a part in the deaths of Bruce Wayne’s parents. This fact weaves itself into the plot of this new Batman Begins, which then weaves into a Batman Returns interpretation, where Jack operates in the background as his comics-only persona, the original Red Hood.

There’s also a neat through line inspired by The Batman, where the game’s version of Selina Kyle works in a nightclub in disguise, and then goes on to partner with Batman for a caper against The Penguin.

This is a reimagining that threads together the narratives of many Batman properties. It means there are some sacrifices to established details, but also that there’s a wild coherence across the plots of multiple films, games and comics.

To see how the individual plots are twisted up and recreated is part of the joy of this game. Around every corner, you’ll find some neat conjoining detail, connecting in a way that makes the whole picture make sense.

Playing loosey-goosey with the canon also allows other threads to grow, with references to characters like John Constantine and Madame Xanadu appearing early on, and characters like Black Canary and Bat-Mite also getting their due.

Older players may also recognise some other, weirder linkages – like a reference to American Psycho that’s clearly a nod to Christian Bale’s film career, the Wilhelm Scream making an appearance, and so much more. It’s a game clearly created with a love for Batman and his place in modern culture, as well as the wider world of cinema.

This approach lends a surprising maturity to the game, despite its overarching ‘lowbrow’ tone.

A genuinely funny adventure

What’s most striking about this exploration, and how the game adapts its source material, is that while it occasionally descends into slapstick – most notably in silly dance sequences – Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is often genuinely funny.

It leans into franchise lore for its humour, pointing out fun narrative inconsistencies, or the wild nature of comics. There’s also a good dose of Lego-fied physical humour that will appeal to the universal childishness in many of us – fish that appear from strange places, light-hearted double entendres and plenty of memes.

For the chronically-online, it’s also very funny to see an array of popular memes mentioned, including Michael Caine’s ‘Batman Begin’ typo which swiftly became legend.

A common mistake in all-ages games is developing a humour that’s too silly, in a way that cuts off older audience. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, for the most part, knows when to curtail its antics, and when it really should be clever with its jokes. There’s an well-struck balance here, and one that elevates the overall narrative.

The bones of Arkham hold this robust journey together

Beyond the humour, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight succeeds through its focus on action gameplay and exploration. This is a Lego video game, with everything that entails. You spend your time smashing through Lego bricks and collecting various items, as well as building objects to advance.

But in leaning into Arkham mechanics – from gliding exploration to Arkham‘s tools system, discoverable Riddles and location-based open world – this is a Lego game that feels grander and more ambitious than what we’ve seen before.

There’s a strong, lore-heavy story quest to explore, with plenty of clever ideas about Batman canon and how it unfolds. There’s also an open world to explore freely, complete with an array of combat, puzzle and driving challenges. All the while, you can collect various items to your heart’s content – including special Batman costumes, like my personal favourite Red Rain suit.

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is quick to defy expectations. As a Lego game, you’ll likely have some idea of what to expect. But in short order, the game proves itself an entirely sharp, clever adventure that brims with cool ideas and fantastic execution. Even in moments where the action threatens to go off the rails with silliness, the narrative always manages to right itself, leaning into the fun without undermining the game’s more serious stakes.

Whether as a first Batman game or a revisit of franchise lore, Legacy of the Dark Knight presents a rich adventure of layered twists, complete with solid and approachable gameplay, along with that well-balanced, laugh-out-loud humour. As an ode to such a prolific franchise, there’s so much the game gets right.

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight launches for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 22 May.

A PlayStation 5 code for Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight was provided for the purposes of this review.

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