| Batman Begins review |
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Dunna dunna dunna dunna duh… BATMAN!
It comes to something when almost 40 years since the camp TV show, with a slew of animated adventures and a handful of films featuring stars ranging from the brooding Michael Keaton to George “is he playing it for laughs?” Clooney in the interim, that the first thing that pops into most people's heads when someone mentions Batman is that shrill, childish '60s theme.
Fans of the Dark Knight cringe at the thought of that TV show and every gaudy Biff!, Pow! and Kablam!, knowing that their beloved comic-book hero was always much more multilayered than tubby Adam West could ever muster by running around in a tight lycra suit and a cowl with pencilled-on eye brows. Thankfully 2005 sees the release of another Batman film and with critically acclaimed director Christopher Nolan at the helm, it harks back to the hero's darker comic-book roots.
As one of DC Comics' longest-running characters, Batman has certainly not been short of the videogame treatment either, with a mixture of good and bad titles for fans to get to grips with over the years. Batman Begins has the unenviable stigma of being a movie tie-in, the dreaded lifeblood of the industry since gaming began.
There’s no denying that Batman Begins looks far richer and graphically accomplished than any other Bat-title that has come before it. The game's powerful engine is put to good use generating some impressive character models that look like their onscreen counterparts, along with a number of indoor and outdoor environments, all of which are sumptuously lit. Being a modern-day movie tie-in, the stellar cast of the film is present to lend their ample talents in bringing their digital personas to life.
Nolan’s big-screen interpretation of Batman is certainly darker than any before it. While intimidating by reputation, Batman is still only human, preferring to stick to the shadows rather than ploughing in with perfectly choreographed fighting moves. The game attempts to incorporate this, forcing players to lurk in the shade in a bid to scare and intimidate their opponents before taking them down. Even a single opponent armed with a handgun is enough to make short work of the player and so it is essential to neutralise them first using stealth, before even attempting to tackle any others in the immediate area. This can done in a number of ways which can vary depending on the environment at hand. Players can opt to try and creep up from behind before disarming them with a faceplant into the floor, drop down on them from pipes, or even tamper with the surrounding area in an attempt to scare the bejesus out of them, dropping their weapons in fright. Actions include being able to tamper with steam valves, conveyor belts and even scaffoldings in a bid to put the willies up your enemies or even wipe them out in one fell swoop. Thankfully actions are context sensitive, making the controls and various actions easy to manage. By scaring enemies before takedown, Batman’s Reputation and Area Fright levels are increased, meaning others are easier to subdue.
Combat is a mixture of close-combat kicks and punches, in a simplistic and limited system that doesn’t leave much room for improvisation. The idea of context-sensitive actions has also been applied here, with attacks consisting of little more than the player jabbing the button for kick or punch until the enemy either falls over or remembers to block you. In the event that happens, by simply powering up the Block Breaker move, Batman is quickly able to counteract and continue to bash them around.
Ever the gadget nut, Batman has his own set of tools, including the grappling hook, smoke grenades and even Bat-shurikens which can be used with parts of interactive scenery from a distance. Unfortunately all these options feel limited, and the false sense of freedom is quickly washed away with the level design pushing the player into a set way of tackling a situation rather than allowing a choice of solutions.
From its opening stages it is evident that Batman Begins is an almost direct rip of Ubisoft's Splinter Cell series. All the signs are there, from the basic gameplay elements and the animation when Batsy hunkers down to move stealthily, through to the Optic Cable used to check under doors, the ability to interrogate certain enemies, and even the lockpicking system. However unlikeSam Fisher's exploits Batman Begins feels like Splinter Cell-lite, lacking the real depth and feeling of the Third Echelon superspy. This is aptly displayed by the faux sense of stealth provided during parts of the game. Regardless of the level of illumination of the player, enemies will only spot you within a set distance, making all that aforementioned pretty lighting and shadowing nothing but window dressing. Noise levels don’t really factor into the equation either, meaning you can pretty much tromp around at full speed to your heart's delight. By providing only limited set times where the player can hug the wall, or peek around corners and obstacles, the game misses a whole bountiful area of potential gameplay which could have dramatically enhanced the experience.
Later stages see Batman taking to the streets of Gotham in his love-it-or-hate-it new-style `Tumbler` Batmobile. A speedy craft, the Tumbler can be given extra pep by driving over the Boosting Vials left scattered around the streets. Pressing the boost button does what it says on the tin, with everything taking on a blurred effect as cars and scenery whiz past. Players can even smash enemies off the road as they tear around, all done in slow motion and allowing them to revel in the carnage… hmm, is any of this starting to sound familiar too? Yes, these sections are an unashamed rip off of the Burnout series; most notably Number Three. The game's use of familiar sounding Thug Takedowns, (complete with the slow motion and particle effects as enemies are catapulted off the road) once again gives the player the feeling that they’re partaking in a loose and incomplete version of another recent title. That said, these sections do act as an effective break from the third-person levels that make up the majority of the game.
Despite trying to combine two recent best-selling titles, ultimately Batman Begins falls flat, landing in a big puddle of movie tie-in mediocrity. What was shaping up conceptually to have been the definitive Batman game to date, simply ends up being little more than a disappointing cash-in, complete with spoiler-laden (and bafflingly unskippable) clips of the movie between levels, film trailers, and even some unlockable costumes for good measure. However none of these warrant any serious replay value, making the title one for only die-hard Batfans or those that left the cinema besotted with the film and wanting that little bit more to tide them over until the DVD release. |
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System: Microsoft Xbox
Genre: Action
Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software
Publisher: EA
Players: 1
Version: European
Reviewed: Jun 2005
Writer: Jamie Davies
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Pros:
- Rich visuals and environments
- Nice voiceover work by the film's cast
- Some great gameplay ideas...
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Cons:
- … which are poorly executed
- No real point to the stealth aspects
- Limited combat moves and skills
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