'LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight' Review: Not So Serious

It's been more than 20 years since LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game first arrived. While it was a breath of fresh air at the time, it established the formula for what we've seen from LEGO titles since-even as the number of crossovers has grown exponentially with Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, The Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, Avengers, and, of course, Batman, all being integrated into the LEGO gaming world of humor and collection-heavy gameplay.

You can still see much of that DNA in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, the first proper title to feature the Caped Crusader since 2014's LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, but there's also clear advancement and innovation. Developer TT Games looked to Rocksteady Studios' seminal Batman: Arkham series to inspire some much-needed gameplay changes while still delivering LEGO's classic humor to become, dare I say, something else entirely.

Legacy of the Dark Knight doesn't focus on one iteration of Batman, instead leaning on multiple versions, from Matt Reeves' recent The Batman going back to Tim Burton's classic with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, as well as plenty of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. As someone who has long enjoyed the franchise, I found seeing how TT Games has woven the films together to be endlessly entertaining.

Beyond the way it integrated the various source material, TT Games also deftly works in the slapstick humor gamers have come to expect from the LEGO franchise. This is a fun game to play, chock full of referential jokes that go beyond the Batman films and plenty of abject silliness that somehow always felt endearing. Few superheroes are as bleak as Batman, which makes him an ideal fit for the unserious treatment he receives here.

Unlike previous LEGO games, which often included loads of playable characters, Legacy of the Dark Knight keeps that number low, featuring one sidekick during each of the extended storyline missions. It starts with Talia al Ghul during a lengthy tutorial and continues with names like Jim Gordon, Robin, Batgirl, and Catwoman.

Each one has a unique set of gadgets or skills, such as Catwoman being able to dispatch a cat into small spaces to open doors or Gordon firing a sludge gun that stops fire or other toxins from spewing out of pipes, which are used to solve environmental puzzles or track down hidden collectibles. The focus on fewer characters works well, though more differentiation in combat would've been nice, as their distinctiveness largely ends with those gadgets.

Speaking of combat, fans of the Arkham games will immediately feel that series' influence, which elevates the usual ultra-simple button-mashing mechanics of previous LEGO games by adding Rocksteady's signature system. Different enemy types will have unique attacks, some of which must be dodged, while others can be countered with the familiar button input appearing above their heads before striking.

It adds a much-appreciated degree of complexity to combat, though make no mistake, this is a LEGO game aimed at players of all ages, so the challenge level is nominal on the default setting-the lower "classic" difficulty aligns with traditional LEGO titles. Choosing the hardest difficulty ramps things up a bit, but as someone who has played all those Arkham games and others like it, I still found it light on challenge.

Stealth is another critical component of Batman's repertoire, and while Legacy of the Dark Knight again apes the Arkham approach, it's less successful in that effort. The layout is spot-on, allowing you to grapple from elevated points, swoop down and take out unsuspecting bad guys. Enemy awareness borders on comatose, however, allowing you to walk up from behind and take out foes nearly right next to each other. Being detected just leads to traditional combat, which is more enjoyable anyway.

There are also exploration and puzzle-solving opportunities aplenty within the game's story missions as well as its open world (more on that in a bit). While those needed to advance are typically obvious in terms of the solution, there's plenty of hidden stuff that's harder to find. I missed several collectibles as I progressed through the campaign, and I'm usually someone who is dialed in when it comes to exploring branching paths.

Although not everything fully connects on the gameplay side, it's worth highlighting just how much variety the game delivers. Having recently played Directive 8020, where the developers recycled the same handful of ideas liberally, Legacy of the Dark Knight is constantly tossing new ideas at you and asking you to do different stuff-one example is an impromptu rhythm-based dance-off at Carmine Falcone's nightclub.

That level of diversity is also present in the game's version of Gotham, which you're free to explore on foot, behind the wheel of a Batmobile, or through the skies. The city itself looks excellent, really highlighting how far the series has come visually in what is the first game released exclusively on current-generation hardware. Driving the Batmobile has a nice arcade feel to it, and I appreciate that it doesn't penalize you for barreling through the city like a complete maniac.

Soaring above Gotham City is ultimately the best way to get around, though. Grappling to a point and launching Batman into the air never gets old, and the city itself is teeming with activities such as Wayne tech boxes needed to upgrade your abilities, Riddler puzzles to solve, crime events to respond to, and more.

As collecting has long been a staple of the LEGO games, it remains an integral part of the experience. Minus dozens and dozens of characters to unlock, Legacy of the Dark Knight instead has you chasing bat suits, allowing you to deck out Batman in whatever era or variant you desire. It's a fun idea and one I'm more apt to pursue than unlocking a skin of some obscure Joker flunky or a Halle Berry version of Catwoman.

I had some minor nitpicks with the game's camera getting stuck, and there were a couple of instances where Batman lost the ability to interact with objects, forcing me to quit and relaunch to proceed, but they were blips from an otherwise smooth performance.

Final Score (8.5/10)

With excellent presentation, improved combat, a striking open world, and a truly clever retelling of Batman's film escapades, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight represents a new high-water mark for the long-running game series. If you've strayed from the LEGO gaming franchise, this is a great time to return.

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This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 6:12 PM.