Earlier this year, TT Games unleashed its latest LEGO® adventure, returning to Gotham for the ultimate celebration of Batman. Fittingly released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the LEGO Batman theme, the game told an original story but revisited iconic moments from Batman’s long history, including the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan films along with Matt Reeves’ recent take on the Dark Knight. Despite being a LEGO title, Legacy of the Dark Knight is heavily inspired by Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum games. That wasn’t the only departure from the classic LEGO game formula. Instead of featuring masses of DC characters to unlock and play as, the game focused on just seven, each with unique abilities. Now the game has received its first piece of paid DLC in the form of the Mayhem Collection, and this new content continues to mix things up. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect to find in the LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight’s Mayhem Collection DLC.
Product Description
Game Title: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight | Publisher: Warner Bros. Games | Developer: TT Games
DLC RRP: From £21.99 / $24.99 / 24.99€ | Availability: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S & PC, Switch | DLC: Available with Deluxe Edition or Deluxe Edition Upgrade
Similar to how the main game mixes things up, the DLC also tries something unique. You return to Gotham as featured in the main story, but as the Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker. He’s joined by Harley Quinn, and once the pair break out of Arkham Asylum, they head out to cause some mayhem. Despite continuing with the same two-character setup and unique abilities, gameplay is a little different. You aren’t just returning to Gotham as a villain; you are tasked with planning Mayhem Runs. After the opening gambit of escaping Arkham and getting to Amusement Mile, The Joker and Harley set up their own HQ. This is similar to the Batcave and can be decorated with a wealth of unlockable LEGO builds. You can also display character costumes, with many of The Joker and Harley’s various looks from different Batman stories unlockable.
Once you have set up a base of operations, you are sent out on your first Mayhem Run by Joker-mite. Your initial run will probably end in failure, but once you get your head around the basics, you’ll soon be gathering studs and completing various tasks. Those tasks are broken into main quests and side quests. Main quests form the story part of the DLC and see The Joker and Harley building various items to give Gotham a party makeover. There are five sets of items to build, but you only have a limited time to complete them, hence the term Mayhem Runs. But your time in Gotham can be extended by collecting studs, and you can gain them by taking on side quests. These include breaking into cash machines, helping yourself to contents of tills, smashing statues, cracking safes, dismantling A.R.G.U.S. roadblocks and breaking into buildings. You’ll also have to take on various gangs, including those who are guarding Arkham escapees. Rescue them, and you’ll be able to recruit and summon them to assist you on further Mayhem Runs. As the timer nears zero, you’ll need to get yourself to a manhole cover. Failure to extract yourself in time will result in gaining fewer studs.
After a few Mayhem Runs, Amanda Waller gets involved and unleashes Task Force X to bring in The Joker and Harley. A few minutes into a run, five members of Task Force X will be sent to take you down. Defeat them all to activate Chaos Mode. This enables you to move quicker, glide around and smash items instantly. Chaos Mode is great for destroying the roadblocks.
Once you have completed all five of the item build runs, the story part of the DLC is complete. But you can still take on Mayhem Runs to gain more studs and use them to purchase more items for you homebase. You can also purchase power-ups to make each run a little easier, the most useful being the grapple hook.
The Mayhem Runs reminded me a little of the gameplay from the ill-fated Suicide Squad game, but if it was actually fun, and the DLC is genuinely really fun to play. Extending your runs, seeing your stud total climb and getting to a nearby sewer is surprisingly addictive. In fact, it could easily be released as a standalone mode.
The Mayhem Collection is available as part of the Deluxe Edition of the game. So if you purchased that, you’ll be able to access the DLC for free from your platform’s digital store. You can also upgrade to the Deluxe Edition and access the new content that way. It also includes the Sinister DLC pack, which adds additional costumes for Batman and friends in the main game. Plus all previous DLC packs.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight DLC is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The Switch 2 version, along with the DLC, is also available now.
PlayStation 5 | Xbox Series X|S | PC Stream | Nintendo Switch
The version played: PlayStation 5 (digital) Deluxe Edition. WB Games provided access to the game. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or TT Games. Providing a product for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the product.
