When LEGO Star Wars first came out in 2005, it was obvious that TT Games had developed a game that would really leave a mark. Over the years, and quite a few variations on the theme, TT Games has not broken too far from that original mold; that is, until LEGO Harry Potter, where an attempt to add an open-world element introduced some pacing issues. Well, the developer has not only gotten the open-world aspect right in LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, but it once again captures that same feeling that was felt back with its previous game in this series.

Visually speaking, LEGO Batman 2 looks as good as its predecessor. Both characters and vehicles look like their toy counterparts, while Gotham City itself feels appropriate in both scale and dark grandeur. Some of the game’s more impressive sights happen when you take one of your characters up to the rooftops of some of Gotham’s tallest towers and just look down upon the open-world from on high. Couple that with the constant darkness, even in daytime, and ever-present rain and the feel is perfect.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is the first TT Games LEGO title to feature voice-acting. Before this game, all of the characters’ communication was done via pantomime, but with the exception of the last LEGO Batman title, the stories were all backed by movies. As a result, you knew what was going on. Unfortunately, the story for the first LEGO Batman wasn’t the easiest to follow without the external reference that the other games have had. That’s why DC Super Heroes goes all out with actors portraying each hero, villain, and random character on the street, and quite frankly, it works really well. I especially like Superman’s over-the-top do-gooder voice that is too proper to be real. Coupled with Batman’s rough voice (though it’s no Christian Bale), and Robin’s younger voice, the vocals alone gives Batman 2 high marks in the audio department.

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes takes the basic LEGO gameplay that has been refined over the years and adds just the right amount of open-world environment to make the game feel right.

LEGO Harry Potter had you exploring several major locations in the movies, and occasionally, you would find yourself in a traditional LEGO level, but you never really knew when that would happen and you spent most of your time running around feeling a bit lost and aimless.

LEGO Batman 2, on the other hand, lets you know where your next story mission is, but there is nothing really forcing you to go to it right away. Instead, you can wander around the Gotham area taking part in tons of open-world exploration and encounters.

In the city, you will find gold and red bricks, vehicles to buy, and even enemies to track and beat. Interestingly enough, where other LEGO games had you unlock enemy characters by buying them in a store, here you have to find them in the city, beat them, and then purchase them. This adds a nice twist to the game and an added challenge as well.

Throughout the city, there are Remote Batcomputers that you can activate. These act as areas where you can call for vehicles as well as a way to dispel the fog-of-war that covers the city in your map. Once you’ve activated a Batcomputer, you can then view your map and scan the area to see what is around you. You will typically find a villain, citizens in peril, and several red and gold bricks in the area.

As for the story missions themselves, the game starts off when the Joker crashes a Man of the Year award ceremony. While Bruce Wayne gets the award, a put-off presidential candidate, Lex Luthor, sees the attack as an opportunity to join forces with the Joker as he shows off his new Kryptonite-powered gun that can deconstruct objects built with shiny black pieces (which is what a lot of Batman’s vehicles are made of).

At first, Batman insists on taking on the pair together, but it isn’t long before he reluctantly asks the Justice League for help and characters like Superman, Flash and Green Lantern appear to help the Dynamic Duo out.

While LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes isn't a difficult game, it is a long one and the levels in DC Super Heros are bigger than I've seen in any of the other LEGO games before.

Because of their length, the developers have added save points to levels so that players who want to go run around the city a bit can do so without having to start the whole level over again. Unfortunately, the save points are not kept when you leave the game. In other words, while you can save your spot in a level and run around the city, if you turn off your Xbox or leave the game, when you go back, you will have to start the level over again. It took a couple of times restarting a level for me to realize this, but even with that caveat, I find it to be a really handy feature.

So, while the levels aren't all that tough to get through, where the game's difficulty comes in is the need to fully complete it. With 250 gold bricks scattered throughout LEGO Batman 2, and a plethora of characters and vehicles to buy, it will take all of the skills you develop in the story in order collect everything and truly beat the game.

I hate to harp on this aspect of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes too much, but I feel that the biggest aspect of the game is the open-world Gotham City and how well TT Games was able to refine this feature from the LEGO Harry Potter games. In those, you would follow a ghost from room to room until you found yourself in the next place you needed to go in order to continue the story. While DC Super Heroes will guide you to the next mission in a similar manner, you already have a good idea of what your next task is. This, plus the amount of freedom you feel like you have in exploring the city really gives the game the feel that it has. Sure, in Harry Potter, you could explore the castle, but it felt very confining and more or less a side-scrolling world. In LEGO Batman 2, the whole city is sprawling in all directions.

If you've enjoyed any of the LEGO games so far, then you will find LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes a worthwhile purchase. While being a fan, or at least familiar with the DC characters will help a lot, I really feel like most gamers will be able to pick this title up and enjoy it all the way through, no matter the gamer's background.