Weekly Penguin

Weekly Penguin 382

I'm fairly sure no-one is surprised that this one is being featured, right? Yep, the final part of the Lego Batman trilogy, Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, has arrived and it, too, features The Penguin. No, scratch that; there are TWO Penguins! The first one is an upgraded version of the plastic Cobblepot we've seen in the two previous games, now donning an Arkham City inspired fur-lined coat. Sadly, though, given the absolutely insane character count in this entry, he doesn't appear in the campaign at all. Instead, he is only seen as a Freeplay character.

But fear not! Possibly the best part of the game is the bizarre little easter-egg-of-a-level, where you end up in the 1960s Batman television show, complete with the Batusi, Dutch angles, Neal Hefti's theme song and, of course, Adam West himself. All this also means we get the Burgess Meredith version of the Penguin in Lego form!

This level is every bit as fantastic as it sounds; as I wrote about the very first Lego Batman, the tone of this game series is very close to the classic TV show, so marrying the two together is pretty much a perfect match. So perfect, in fact, that I now want a full Lego game based on West-Batman!

How about the game overall, then? Lego Batman 3 is insane in the best ways possible. The closest thing I can compare it to is, for real, Saints Row IV; as it has an excuse to plunge the cast into space and other dimensions, it can kiss all restraints goodbye and throw everything in to the blender. You never know what the heck is going to happen next or who is going to pop in for a celebrity cameo, but you do know that whatever transpires, it will be so creative and mad you can't help but to find your inner child giggling.

Remember though, this game isn't just for the kids, as there are plenty of good gags for older generations; there are many references to past comic storylines, classic superhero TV series and Christopher Reeve era Superman films. That, and it openly mocks Batman & Robin in a Warner Bros. release, so it's all good.

Added: 2014-12-09