TT Games Executive Producer Mike Ellis reveals everything fans need to know about LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight including difficulty settings, nostalgic skins, gold Batmobiles, co-op partners and much more.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is the action-adventure video game from TT Games that will launch next year, with a mix of open world exploration and narrative. The story, inspired by classic Batman films and comics, will follow Bruce Wayne’s journey, from training alongside the League of Shadows, through returning to Gotham with a new bat motif, to teaming up wit Jim Gordon to solve mysteries across Gotham. As well as playing through the narrative, you will be able to explore the open world streets of Gotham, glide between skyscrapers and sneak up on unsuspecting enemies.
The title promises to be the most ambitious video game collaboration between the LEGO Group and TT Games yet. “The most recent game was LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. So this new game is brought to you by the team who did that,” explains TT Games Executive Producer Matt Ellison. “It did amazingly well and we’re excited to build on that with LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight.
“We always look at what you can prove from the previous one. For this one, we’ve moved to Unreal Engine as well. So that’s quite a big change from what we had on The Skywalker Saga. There are also just differences between being Batman and playing Star Wars, of course, and that makes it feel slightly different. This does feel quite a bit different to that game, but quintessentially it’s a LEGO game that. You have the feeling of going through an environment, seeing a box of crates over there, smash that up, loads of studs are going to come out and I’m going to want to collect them all – that’s still there.”
Story in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
Players will have to delve into the story as Bruce Wayne rises to become the Dark Knight in order to unlock the full map. “The story of the game is broken down into about six eras,” says Matt. “It’s not a case of any movie being preferred over the others. It’s just you’ll play through one and the story will move on to the next journey and we’re taking inspiration from all over.
“When we were developing the story for this game, we wanted it to be the essential Batman story. So we put a lot of effort into taking highlights from different Batman media, whether from the films, TV series, comics and other video games as well. We brought all those things together in a story that makes sense in a new way. However, some of the films and storytelling are quite dark and while the story in this game follows those things, we always put that fun LEGO twist on it.”
Bruce Wayne’s origins are infamously tragic and an essential step in his hero’s journey. While the TT Games development team wanted to stay true to the lore, they also designed LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight to be a family friendly game. “As you’re playing through you’ll start as a young Bruce Wayne and very quickly he loses his parents,” says Matt, referencing the moment outside the Gotham opera house. “We’ve made sure to capture this in a family friendly way. So it’s very brief and then Bruce goes off to Nanda Parbat, trains and learns the skills that ultimately allow him to return to Gotham as Batman.”
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Adversaries and allies in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
And the Dark Knight will need such skills to take on the villainy plaguing Gotham City’s streets. In LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, players will be able to face iconic DC villains including The Penguin, The Joker, Bane, Poison Ivy, Ra’s al Ghul and Mr Freeze. “Another improvement for this game is the combat,” says Matt, who is eager for fans to try this completely new system. “We wanted it to feel like you are actually Batman. So you’re controlling this character and you’re as powerful as he is when he’s facing all of these different villains.”
Part of this new combat system will be combining combos and utilising stealth techniques for quick takedowns. “The Arkham games are something that we’ve taken inspiration from,” he tells Blocks. “First and foremost we want to make sure we’re making it a LEGO game. But like the films, we look at the games and think, ‘well, what have they done?’ They did a great job of making a combat system that empowered the player to feel like they’re playing with Batman.
“We’ve got take downs in this game. They aren’t brutal – that’s where we’ve introduced some humor. Some of them are very cool and sort of visually impressive, but then other times, Batman’s taking out frying pan and hitting someone overhead with it, so you’ve got the sdifferent spin on it that way as well. There are also upgrades to the characters as you’re playing through. So you’ll be able to use your gadgets and upgrade them, make them more powerful to enable you to do different attacks, take down enemies in different ways as a result of that.”
Players can team up with a friend or family member with couch co-op to provide backup as Robin, Catwoman, Jim Gordon and other trusty sidekicks. “This is a single player game, but with the option for local co-op, so if you’ve got a second controller then you can drop in and out at any point,” adds Matt. “That’s the co-op we’ve had in almost every single game we’ve ever done. That sort of family experience is something that’s always worked very well for us and something that we focus on in all of our games.”
Excitingly, one of the key co-op characters will be Talia al Ghul, who is a sometimes love interest, sometimes adversary to Bruce in the comics, depending on the point in their complicated relationship. “All of the playable side characters have their own motivations,” adds Matt. “It’s generally anything relating to how they work with Batman. At the very start of the game, Bruce and Talia are training together, similar to The Dark Knight Rises. So you get to see that and how their relationship forms then evolves throughout the story of the game. So it’s Talia’s story and has Talia’s motivations in there as well.”
Each character will also have unique abilities and play styles that capture their personalities or traits. “The playable characters have unique ways of getting around,” says Matt, pointing out how Batman can use a grappling hook, while Jim Gordon has a glider. “Using the grappling hook, you can launch to different buildings and then glide around the city. It changes how it feels to get around Gotham and makes you feel like Batman as you’re sweeping through the buildings.”
Driving the Batmobile in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
For faster modes of transportation, players will need to turn to the Batcave and its eclectic assortment of vehicles. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight not only features classic Batmobiles and the Tumbler, but a whole host of rides from different Batman stories. Because travelling on wheels is going to be such an essential part of the play, the controls had to be enhanced. Fortunately, TT Games have a lot of faith in how they have succeeded with making the cars feel good.
“The way that the vehicles control is really cool,” says Matt. “When I played a really early version of this game there was a road and sort of grey buildings all around – driving around in that was fun. And whenever that happens, you’re like, ‘well, this is going to be good because everything else sort of layers in on top.’ And that was great from the get go.”
Although the three new sets – 76331 Batman v Superman Batmobile, 76332 The Batman Batmobile and 76333 Batman & Robin Batmobile – match what is in the digital Gotham, there are many more Batmobiles that won’t be released as physical sets alongside the new game. Not only do the sets unlock digital versions in the game, but also gold versions of the cars.
“These ones are at the scale that they are in game. So these are 1:1, but obviously a lot of the different Batmobile sets are at a different scale, so they have to be rebuilt or reworked to fit a scale that’s going to be consistent in game. So that is something that we do go through a process of working with the LEGO Group on to make sure that the design language is kept the same.”
Exploring Gotham in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
Using Unreal Engine is allowing the development team to fully explore the details of Gotham City. “The map unlocks as you go through. When you first get there, you can’t instantly go to all of it, but you are able to explore quite a bit at most times,” explains Matt. “Even if you don’t want to go straight to the next story mission, there’ll be somewhere you can go and explore instead.
“Compared to previous LEGO Batman games and builds of Gotham City, this new one is bigger and more immersive. There’s much more to do and there’s much more depth to it. We put a lot of effort into making sure that Gotham feels more layered than what we’ve had in previous titles and there’s a verticality to it as well now.”
The game will give players a helping hand so that they can explore the city without getting completey lost. “Batman has a detect mode, which is a way to help you as you’re playing. There will be a sort of effect that comes out that will highlight the next thing to do. If you’re in the Gotham hub, that will point you in the direction of where there is a puzzle to do, a crime to stop or something to find and discover.”
Hidden in the dark back alleys and hallways of Wayne Tower, there are plenty of references to Batman lore for players to find throughout the game. “There are lots of different things that we reference throughout the game. Obviously, we’ve got LEGO Batman references from all the different sets and minifigures, and things like that,” says Matt, with an obvious one in the trailer being the fiery road chase as seen in The Batman. “But also on the DC side of things, you’ll see the names of the films, the comics, TV shows – there are going to be things that you pick up on as you play through the entire game.”
The many bat suits of LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
One of the most exciting ways that the game promises to dive deep into the back catalogue are the incredible variety of Bat suits and character skins that players will be able to unlock.
“There’s Batman Brave and the Bold, The Golden Age suit based on his initial comic appearance. That initial outfit is unlockable for Commissioner Gordon as well,” says Matt. “We have the Rainbow Batman suit, which is a fun one based on a comic from 1957.
“And because the first LEGO Batman games were made by TT Games in 2008, there are the suits that Batman and Robin had in that game, which we have put into this one. They are obviously not quite as detailed as some of the ones we do now, but it’s nice little nod to where we started. So there are over 100 that you’ll be able to find, collect and unlock. Plus, all the cut scenes will update to whichever one you pick.”
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight difficulty levels
Although a family friendly game at its core, LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will have different difficulty levels, particularly its aptly named Dark Knight Mode. “We haven’t really done much with difficulty levels in previous titles and this time you’ve got three different options,” says Matt. “You’ve got your classic, which is the experience that we’ve had in our previous games. You go through, get defeated by enemies, break apart, but come back together. You may lose some studs, but it’s not a big loss.
“Then we have an intermediate difficulty called Caped Crusader, which basically makes the enemies a bit tougher. You’ll have to think a bit more about how you’re fighting. Then Dark Knight Mode introduces a number of lives – so if you fail three times, you’ll be sent back to a previous checkpoint. It’s definitely a lot tougher. We’re making this game for a broad audience, and while we want it to be family friendly, for those who want a challenge then there’s this experience. And crucially, you can switch anytime it gets too hard!”
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is swooping onto PC and consoles in 2026 and you can pre-order now. It will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and online via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
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