'The Lego Batman Movie' Set for 'Dimensions' Finally Cracks Its Co-Op Conundrum

Lego games have long been about player co-operation—even when experienced alone. Whatever the attached license, from Indiana Jones to Harry Potter, solo play has always necessitated switching between recognizable characters rendered as square-shouldered and block-booted mini-figures.

If you've played one, you've pretty much played them all, in regards to this avatar-swapping aspect. This character can use their whip to hook onto that part of the environment, to pull something down or clamber on up; while that one's magic can lift that obstruction right out of the way, or smash it down over an enemy's head. A hold of the top of four face buttons and there's your radial menu: select your hero, up they pop, and on you go.

But Lego Dimensions, the toys-to-life branch of the Lego games—riffing on the Skylanders series—pioneered placement of figures on a USB-connected pad, transporting them from right in front of you to into the game—has had something of an identity crisis when it comes to co-op coherency between on-screen characters.

The original Dimensions, the "starter pack" with its lengthy campaign spanning several different Lego worlds (i.e., licensed franchises), made sense on release in September 2015, given its oddball collection of contrasting fish-out-of-water figures exploring alien-to-them terrains. That Batman and Gandalf could find themselves fighting against a Gary Oldman-voiced bespoke bad guy while environments and characters from The Simpsons, Back to the Future and The Wizard of Oz dropped in for both helpful and confrontational cameos against a Wild West backdrop was fine, in the context of a compellingly jumbled narrative.

But when story packs—the most expensive extra content expanding the starter pack, featuring new builds for the Dimensions toy pad and full campaigns based on (to date, at least) a movie of the moment—began to roll out, that comfortable connection to the license in question was lost. It was still cool to play through the events of 2016's Ghostbusters and Fabulous Beasts and Where to Find Them—albeit more so the latter than the former, no doubt to some degree because of the quality of the source material—but as each set only featured a single mini-figure, pairing Abby Yates and Newt Scamander with starter pack characters was pretty jarring.

There was still a ton of fun to be had, don't get me wrong. And if you have the money, you can team Newt up with Tina Goldstein, who's available in a Dimensions "fun pack". And with a 1980s Ghostbusters-themed "level pack" out there, Abby could conceivably partner with Peter Venkman (or any of the other original characters), Slimer or the Marshmallow Man to take down the evil… um… who was the villain in that one, again? [Editor's note: Gozer. (Author's note: no, no, I meant the new film… I'm, like, totally fluent in 1984 Ghostbusters.)]

But Dimensions can be an expensive hobby to get into, with the smallest fun packs usually retailing for between £10 and £15 in the UK. So, inevitably, many players weren't approaching these story packs with franchise-relevant supporting characters already in possession. I'm in the privileged position of owning several of the Dimensions packs released so far because of this job, and never lose sight of that when looking at the numerous mini-figures I've got access to. But I totally appreciate that most aren't so lucky, and will be brawling and building their way through MACUSA or an all-right-angles New York with The Lego Movie's Wyldstyle for company.

Which is why it's so belatedly awesome that to tie into the second big-budget Lego movie, the out-now Lego Batman Movie—which comes recommended, although, IMO, the jokes rather thin out in the second half— Dimensions has solved its co-op conundrum in the simplest possible fashion. It includes two mini-figures in the story pack. It really was that easy.

And given that Batman himself is a starter pack inclusion (pictured directly above), acquiring the new story pack gives players The Dark Knight decked out in his all-black Movie getup, plus the new additions of Batgirl and Robin (as seen in the top screen). So when you need to call upon a second player, or shift control in a solo run, there's the perfect candidate, from the correct universe and rocking the right costume. As a bonus, Robin doubles up as Nightwing, who has his own unique abilities that you're going to need to defeat the Joker and his gang of, no spoilers, unlikely allies.

Playing the story pack off the back of seeing the film, with a six year old in control of the second character—a challenge in itself, because Xbox pads are very much made for adult hands—is eminently more satisfying, for the six year old, when the protagonist roles are appropriately filled. When you're that young, you want to role-play with the right gear, and the Lego Batman Movie story pack finally gives Dimensions owners that, off the bat (no pun intended).

The old, first-series Batman gets more than a visual upgrade, too, reflecting the arsenal of gadgets he pulls out in the movie. Foremost amongst these, in-game, is the merch gun—point it at an enemy and they'll become immediately clad in Batman-branded clobber. Because why not. But also because it reflects a scene in the film, where Batman first sort of meets Dick Grayson. And yes, kids can be so cruel.

There's also a new vehicle, the Batwing, which is essential for carrying heavy loads, and you can throw the Batmobile from the starter pack into the fray, too. The Batwing's also a handy means for less-nimble players to get across tricky, timing-is-everything areas of the environment, since it can fly; and it comes into its own against select bosses that necessitate aerial maneuverability.

With its multi-license villainy—okay, that's a spoiler, sort of, sorry—The Lego Batman Movie is reflecting Dimensions' core, beyond even the building aspect, as much as it is the preceding (and for my money that bit funnier) The Lego Movie. And in turn, the Dimensions adaptation proves a successful translation between mediums. Indeed, it's one of the best licensed games I've had the pleasure of in recent years.

We're used to lackluster games based on films, and even the usually consistent Lego attempts haven't always delivered (Lego Marvel Super Heroes, very good; the later Lego Marvel's Avengers, not so much). But, by taking key scenes from the movie and, rather than simply playing them straight, adding to the situations with deeper puzzles and greater (albeit still harmless, this being Lego) stakes, Dimensions introduces interactivity to a property that's foremost linear, without sacrificing plotline bounce or testing player attention spans.

Its six levels will be cleared inside three hours if you know what you're doing—and add a couple more if you're patiently carrying a lesser-skilled participant (he's getting better, but as any other gaming parent will tell you, it's a marathon, not a sprint). That mightn't sound like a great return on the asking price—just north of £30 in the UK—but remember, too, that there's the adventure world to explore, and I'm yet to do everything in any of those, despite owning Dimensions since it launched. We've all played full-price games that offer "less" content, give or take your individual definition of what constitutes paucity. I think it's more than reasonable, certainly—and the campaign is the best of the story pack offerings yet.

Chronologically, the game follows the movie's plot—but there's a lot of additional stuff going on at Gotham Energy, Arkham Asylum and Superman's Fortress of Solitude, to name but three of its level locations. You'll need your Mission: Impossible, Ninjago and Jurassic World mini-figures, and more, to find absolutely everything in each stage, all the little in-jokes and gold bricks and in-a-pickle characters that need rescuing. But the "hire a hero" feature—introduced to Dimensions post launch, to a chorus of relieved sighs from parents everywhere—at least saves on the real-money spending.

There's much more to mention, but it's better that some surprises remain—because, even after playing so many hours of Dimensions before now, the Batman Movie story pack managed to spring a few on me. Not least of all: how good it is. It's a shame, in a way, that it's not a standalone release, Dimensions-free, as it'd be up there with 2008's Lego Batman: The Videogame. Even without a proper voiceover, that game captured, in brick form, everything that Batman was—narcissistic, selfish, unlikely to ever ask for help, the world's greatest detective, an iconic hero, an idiot and a genius all at once. The Lego Batman Movie and its Dimensions companion do the same—but now the jokes are sharper, the visuals crisper, the characters more alive, and you get to hold the Lego, too. Look at it, on the glowing pad there, all posable and brilliant.

Which does mean the cat can come by and totally ruin your game with the slightest touch of tail on toy pad. But keep the mog away and you've got yourself quite the excellent adventure, made all the better by its co-op cast being present, correct, and entirely in character.

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