If the subtitle to Lego Batman 2 has your inner fanboy yearning to team blocky Bats with his plastic friends in the Justice League, then prepare for disappointment. Sure, the DC superheroes eventually join the party in this action-adventure game based on the DC line of Lego toys, but not until the end of the story campaign, and just long enough to tease a future, probably better game.

Until the last two missions, the dynamic duo of Batman and Robin go it alone or join forces with Superman to defeat the villainous pair of Lex Luthor and The Joker. Batman’s extended rogue’s gallery of villains is mostly ignored, given quick cameos, or dispatched early on like The Riddler, Two-Face, and Harley Quinn are during the first level. Most of the game is spent in confrontation or pursuit of Luthor and Joker, including an extended, multi-level battle with a giant Joker robot that goes on far too long.

The Batmobile is one of many unlockable vehicles that you can drive around Gotham City. As if running over criminals wasn't enough, it's armed with machineguns and missiles, too.

Despite a few fresh ideas, Lego Batman 2 is, creatively, the weakest game in the Lego franchise. On the plus side, the between-level hub area has been expanded to include not just the Batcave, but all of Gotham City as well, allowing you to freely travel between landmarks like Wayne Tower and Arkham Asylum. You can walk through this massive area — sort of a “Lego Arkham City” — smashing objects and enemies until they crumble into “studs” (the currency of Lego games) or commandeering a vehicle to get around faster. Cashing in studs lets you purchase specialty vehicles, bonus abilities, and new characters to use during a story level in Free Play mode. The sandbox element makes the hub a dynamic game world all its own — one in which unlocks must be found and villains defeated before they can be bought.

Compared to previous Lego games, though, the story campaign has little of the spectacular wit, charm, and creative level design that have become the franchise’s trademarks. Part of the problem may be that Lego Batman 2 tells an original story instead of lampooning existing movies, which may also explain why it’s the first Lego game to feature spoken dialogue. In previous games, key events and cutscenes would be acted out in near-voiceless pantomime, except for some vocal murmurs and grunts. Working without dialogue forced the writers to be more clever in conveying the gags and action; here, many jokes fall flat. For example, instead of coyly implying that Superman is a pompous jerk through cheery yet inoffensively acted-out cutscenes, Lego Batman 2 pretty much comes right out and says it. (“I can do anything!” the Man of Brick brags to Batman.)

When not providing free Lasik surgery, Superman's heat vision is great for destroying lots of objects quickly.

Some alternate heroes and villains can be substituted for Batman and Robin’s special suits in Free Play mode. Cyborg (above) can replicate the abilities of Robin’s Magnet Suit, while Man-Bat and Black Canary have the glass-shattering abilities of Batman’s Flight Suit sonic gun. Experiment with other characters once you’ve purchased them to see what they can do.

Due to the Dark Knight’s keen intellect and resourcefulness, it’s plausible in the comics for a non-powered human hero like him to be Superman’s match. But in an action game where a big part of gameplay is breaking stuff, poor Batman and Robin are easily overshadowed by the invulnerable Superman, who has super-strength, heat vision, freeze breath, and (when not weakened by kryptonite) the ability to fly unfettered around environments, while the Dynamic Duo must don special costumes (like a Power Suit and Magnetic Suit) to keep up. In one level set in the Batcave, Superman can quickly fly over a large expanse, leaving B&R to solve puzzles and teeter across thin planks to get to the other side. (To further prove his jerkbag nature, Superman is unable to pick them up and fly them across.) We expect Lego Batman 2 to spark pitched battles in living rooms around the country when it comes time to decide who plays as Superman in co-op games.

Speaking of co-op, it’s awful. What has been one of the Lego-game franchise’s biggest strengths due to its all-ages appeal and a gameplay design that relies heavily on teamwork has been made nearly unplayable by a dynamic split-screen that changes shape depending on the characters’ proximity and relation to one another. Because so many of the environments in the story campaign are huge horizontally and vertically, the effect is disorienting, and worse yet, the constant shifting of the split-screen dividing line interferes with targeting and movement.

If Lego Batman 2 is a test run for a Lego DC Super Heroes game in the future, it’ll hopefully serve as a guide for what needs improvement (the flying controls for characters like Superman are unintuitive and touchy) and what should be avoided (it’s okay to tease, but not insult, your heroes). If so, that should be the Lego game you buy — and not rent like this one.

Lex Luthor's deadly disassembler ray gun is powered by kryptonite, which makes Superman weak as a super-strong kitten.

PUBLISHER: Warner Bros. Interactive  •  DEVELOPER: TT Games  •  ESRB: Everyone 10+  •  MULTIPLAYER: 2 on split-screen  •  ACHIEVEMENTS: Easy  •  COST: $50  •  RELEASE DATE: June 19, 2012

On Xbox 360

+ All of Gotham City is a hub to explore and search for unlockables.

+ The basics of Lego break-it-all gameplay are always fun; crisp visuals and huge playspaces.

– Terrible co-op and lackluster humor diminish the game’s charms.

? Why didn’t Batman join forces with the rest of the Justice League throughout the story campaign?

6.0