Danish construction goes Bat-potty for the third time and fails to mess up the successful formula. Much.

We’ve had nine years of Lego titles from blocky experts TT Games and, apart from a slightly Spartan Lego the Movie offering,  the results have been consistently tremendous.

LB3 has a lot to live up to. Its predecessor was a rollicking adventure with the whole of Gotham opened up for between-level playtime. Beyond Gotham doesn’t quite reach those levels. Hell, she’s still a beautiful thing, but the absence of the city as a playground is keenly felt.

Beyond Gotham’s principal villain, Brainiac, also doesn’t quite have the same gravitas or menace as the Joker. Laughing Boy is still here, and he’s just as amusing as ever, but he, along with his fellow ne'er-do-wells, fight alongside Batman and his do-gooder chums for the greater good of Earth.
 
The story also pulls together Green Lantern’s intergalactic power brethren from the emotional spectrum (rejoice comic buffs!), gathered and imprisoned by Brainiac’s primal need to be a thoroughly naughty boy and shrink planets for his own amusement.

Curiously, Beyond Gotham is the first Lego title where progression can be mystifying. At times there’s no obvious pointer to what the player should be doing next, and the sheer amount of different suits available for some of the minifigures really doesn’t help.

Influences from previous titles include The Flash assuming Master Builder abilities, nicked wholesale from Lego the Movie, and Adam West standing in here for Lego Marvel’s perpetually in-trouble Stan Lee.

As with previous Lego titles, you’ll be spending the best part of two days’ constant gaming if you fancy finishing the thing to capacity. Collectibles and side missions are through the roof, and pummelling the Lanterns’ miniaturised planets is an amusing distraction.

If this is a sign of Lego games to come, TT Games needs to watch itself. By and large these are titles aimed at the younger gamer, but Beyond Gotham rides a technical level  that may be too advanced for many in its primary market.

Out on PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, 3DS, Wii U