Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight aims to be the "definitive Batman story," meaning we'll see "many memorable moments" from the hero's history

Ask somebody what their favorite Batman game is, and Rocksteady's Arkham series is likely to come up. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight aims to become their new favorite – and yours – by providing the definitive caped crusader experience. Drawing from several decades of stories across multiple media, it squeezes all that juicy Bat-goodness into one game.

The story is original – encompassing Batman's origins all the way up to protecting Gotham City alongside and against a huge cast of iconic characters – but it's crammed full of places and people that fans know and love. "We wanted to create the definitive Batman story and really focus on the character," executive producer Matt Ellison tells GamesRadar+. "There are so many memorable moments that Batman fans will recognize in this game, and we wouldn’t have been able to include as many if we’d been recreating, for example, the Dark Knight Trilogy only."

A Lego game is the ideal way to present and celebrate Batman's history in this way. Lego titles have a rich history of shining a new light on beloved franchises, with the digitized toy figures immediately invoking a sense of play and making the mixing and matching of ideas and events from different eras and different media feel natural. Some things must always stay the same, however, and that includes Batman beating up bad guys.

Knight club

Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight introduces a new combat system. The Arkham games are one influence, Ellison notes, but this has to be something that is both fun to play and fitting for a Lego game. "[We are] evolving the combat system and offering an experience that is different from previous Lego and Lego Batman games," he says.

"This is a Lego game, so our combat needs to also have lighter moments, more comical takedowns for example, and we also need to make sure it’s designed with two player co-op in mind. We’ve been able to make it work in our own, unique way, incorporating gadgets, combos, and cooperative elements, along with accessibility, humor, and fun gameplay at the forefront." One look at Batgirl thumping a bad guy with the word THAKK popping into existence above his head suggests that they're on the right track.

As fun as punching people in the face is – in games, that is – it would be a poor Batman adventure that concentrated solely on this. So, in addition to the gadgets already mentioned, there will also be stealth and detective elements. These will come in handy during the campaign, but can also be used while exploring Gotham City to uncover secrets and rewards. TT Games is going all-out to ensure that you feel like you're wearing that cowl and cape for real.

As well as an exciting list of heroes and villains – including, but not limited to, Nightwing, Catwoman, Two Face, Joker, Mr Freeze, and Bane – there's Gotham City itself to look forward to. It's present not merely as a backdrop but as an open world, with a variety of batmobiles and batcycles from series history to zoom around on (or you could just jump and grapple around if you prefer).

If you were worried that this might be a Gotham made up of generic buildings that could be anywhere, fear not. It's packed full of locations that will delight the casual fan and deep cut connoisseur alike, with Ace Chemicals, Gotham Museum, the Iceberg Lounge, Shreck's, and more to explore and kick costumed baddies around in. There are also, Ellison says, 100 suits and outfits to unlock for the playable characters, taken from the various comics, movies, TV shows, and games across the years.

Bat influence

Although this will very much be a Lego game, concentrating on a smaller number of characters will allow it to tell a strong Batman story. "We have far greater depth to each playable character in this game than we’ve ever had before," Ellison explains, "all with unique skills, progression tree, combos, and gadgets that have multiple purposes and can be upgraded. For example, Batman has his signature Batarangs and his Batclaw, Catwoman will have her whip, and Jim Gordon will have a foam sprayer, which will come in very handy to complete certain challenges."

The use of the Dark Knight moniker in the title reminds us that Batman isn't the cheeriest of fellows, but Ellison is confident that they've managed to incorporate laughs while staying true to the character. "We pride ourselves here on making games that have a sense of humor and put smiles on the faces of players of all ages. Batman is generally a serious character, but we’ve often found that we can inject humor into the darkest moments, and it creates a unique spin on situations that players love."

Hands-on preview: The stealthy spirit of Arkham Knight returns in Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, and I never believed a Lego game could pull this off