After watching the amazing action packed movie directed by Christopher Nolan and written by David Goyer, I was like a child on Christmas morning when I received the game to review.
Who wouldn`t want to be the face of terror, have all those cool gadgets AND get all the girls?
I would suggest watching the movie before playing the game, just so it doesn`t spoil the Batman experience. And not to worry, I`ve made sure this review won`t spoil anything either.
Get ready to take on the role of Bruce Wayne, the vigilante destined to right the wrongs in Gotham City. Batman Begins exhibits darker overtones than in previous pathetic attempts at Batman movies.
The gamer will be taken back to the beginning, when Bruce Wayne received his training in the Himalayas and learned how to be a stealthy crime fighter. He emerges the saviour of Gotham City, striking fear into the hearts of his enemies.
The game follows the film closely, with a few extra trimmings thrown in here and there to add a little diversity. The story is told with silent clips from the movie, narrated by Bruce Wayne.
Batman Begins is a fighter game as well as a stealth-action. It involves sneaking, crouching, knocking platforms loose with your baterang, hanging from girders, picking locks, grappling up to high places, climbing chains, fences and pipes.
I thought the optic cable was a nice touch - it allows the player look through doors to see what`s on the other side, helping to avoid ambushes.
Batman runs, fights, walks, glides and jumps just as you`d expect him to... like a real superhero, with true superhero style. I just love the spin-kick executed when surrounded by bad guys. It sends them flying. But this is no match for enemies with guns. When out numbered by a gang of heat-packing opponents, another way around the problem must be selected.
A handy radar is located in the bottom left corner of the screen, helping pinpoint the location of objectives and the position of all enemies in the area.
The game`s controls are pretty straight forward and it shouldn`t be a problem mastering them.
And what would a Batman game be without the Batmobile? This part of the game reminded me of Burnout3. The gamer rips through the streets of Gotham like a hotmobile through butter, taking out enemy vehicles and obstacle in the way. It`s so similar to Burnout`s "road rage" I could even go as far to say it`s a bit of a rip off - the move is even called a "takedown". Yet, while not being totally original, it`s still tons of fun.
Enemies, sadly, are brainless and won`t attack until Batman is right in front of them. They didn`t even notice when Batman was shuffling across a pipe with his cape dangling right in front of them.
The idea of terrifying enemies is taken to the max! Enemies even have a fear metre which, when in play, causes them to cower before the mighty batman, dropping their weapons and becoming easy prey. This is even more effective if Batman`s reputation metre is high. High rep = more fear and quicker fights.
Fear can be triggered by causing explosions, dropping crates or throwing smoke grenades. I think the game could have enhanced this feature more, allowing the player to toy with enemies until they were ghosts of their former selves. Sadly it is never developed and barely scrapes the surface of possibilities.
Enemies can be interrogated, although this is a very drawn-out process and gets boring quickly, especially if numerous enemies require interrogation. It`ll be something along these lines: Batman gets the baddy in a choke hold, gets some info, punches, gets some info, head butts, gets some info, punches again, gets some info and on it goes.
The character models and facial designs are so realistic it`s scary. During the game there will be no problem recognising the faces of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson.
The game is taken up a notch as the actors do the voice acting too. It`s great kicking enemies around while Christian Bale`s voice is coming through loud and clear. It allows the player to become totally immersed in the game`s story.
The soundtrack, taken right from the movie is awesome. It`s dark and fills the game with atmosphere.
But while this game is great on most aspects it failed to grab me 100% of the time. I don`t think there is much replay value, but I do recommend it for all Batman fans out there. Don`t get me wrong it`s a good game, just not the best I`ve played.
I give it a 5/10
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