Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Lore & Background

The game's story begins a year after Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Brainiac captures six members of the seven Emotional Spectrum Lantern Corps and heads to Earth to abduct the final one: Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. In Gotham City, Batman and Robin pursue Killer Croc, who has stolen a map of the sewer system under the Hall of Justice, but he escapes and reunites with his accomplices: the Joker, Cheetah, Firefly, and Solomon Grundy. Meanwhile, Cyborg completes the Slideways Teleporter linking the Hall of Justice to the Justice League Watchtower and sends Green Lantern through it as a trial run, leaving the portal open.

Brainiac arrives and reveals his intentions to shrink the Earth with his ray, powered by the combined energies of the Lantern Corps' power rings, and add it to his collection of miniature planets. The heroes form an uneasy alliance with the villains, who want to save the Earth so they might conquer it afterwards. After infiltrating Brainiac's ship and being captured, Robin frees the others using Doctor Fate's helmet. Superman damages the ship's main computer, causing the Lanterns to be teleported back to their home planets. Brainiac escapes to Earth, which has been partially shrunk, and attacks Gotham but is defeated by the combined efforts of heroes and villains.

To restore Earth to its original size, the heroes recreate the shrink ray using crystals from the Fortress of Solitude, shards of the destroyed ray, and the energy of each Lantern's power ring. They recruit Star Sapphire, Indigo-1, and Saint Walker, and confront Atrocitus, Larfleeze, and Sinestro to provoke them into following them to Earth. The combined energies power the replica shrink ray, restoring Earth to its original size. Brainiac escapes and regains control of his ship, using it to mind-control a gigantic Superman. Batman frees Superman with a heartfelt speech, and Superman destroys Brainiac's ship, shrinking himself back to normal proportions.

Reader's Guide

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham was met with generally mixed reviews upon release. Praise was directed at the amount of content, the game's humor, and the characters, while criticism was directed at technical issues, poor AI, underwhelming celebrity cameos, conflicting gameplay aspects, and the game's overall direction. The core gameplay is very similar to the two previous Lego Batman games, with the player controlling any one of over 150 characters from a third-person perspective, fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and collecting Lego studs. Up to two players can play in cooperative mode. Levels are unlocked for Free Play mode once completed in Story Mode, allowing replay with any unlocked characters.

The game features several level hubs such as the Batcave, the Moon, and the Hall of Justice, where players can explore, complete puzzles, and earn gold bricks or character tokens. The six Lantern Planets are more open-world focused, similar to Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Individual characters have unique abilities related to their comic book powers, such as Superman's flight and heat vision, the Flash's speed, and the Atom's shrinking ability. Players can swap costumes for some main characters, each with unique abilities like the sonic suit for breaking glass or the hazard suit for walking through toxic waste. A spin-off, Lego DC Super-Villains, was released on 16 October 2018.

Did You Know?

• The game features over 150 playable characters from the DC Universe.
• Brainiac's goal is to shrink Earth and add it to his collection of miniature planets.
• Players can swap costumes for Batman, Robin, Cyborg, the Joker, and Lex Luthor, each with unique abilities.