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Batman Begins Review
Jon Wilcox
21/06/2005
The Dark Knight returns to the consoles in this latest movie tie-in...
In 1997 the Batman movie franchise was in a terminal decline following the release of Joel Schumacherās Batman & Robin. Universally slated it seemed that the dark knight was on his deathbed, never to return to the silver screen, and certainly not to videogames. This month sees the release of Christopher Nolanās Batman Begins, which sheds some light on the origins of the Caped Crusader, and stars a host of British actors including Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Liam Neeson. Darker and merciless, Baleās Batman certainly seems to be a true return for the Dark Knight.
Following the trend of bringing movie adaptations to the videogame market is EAās interpretation of the new movie, and like so many other tie-ins, Batman Begins features the voice-overs by a vast majority of the movie cast. With Spiderman 2 and Chronicles of Riddick both beating the odds to become strong games in their own right, Batman Begins is sure to be under some pressure to continue the somewhat still bizarre trend of being a good tie-in, but does it?
Set across the filmās locations both in the Himalayas and the infamously dark city of Gotham, Batman Begins certainly tries to put players into the story with a non-linear narrative that sees levels take place both in the present and in the past, when Bruce Wayne underwent his training by Liam Neesonās Henri Ducard and the League of Shadows. As the game progresses gamers will also have to face the two main enemies in the game, Raās Al Ghul and The Scarecrow ā“ not to mention the similarly looking henchmen that litter the environments in the game. As well as the prevalent third-person action, Batman Begins also includes levels that sees players take control of the new batmobile just to add a little bit of variety to the gameplay.
Even during the early stages of the game, Batman Begins comes across as an amalgamation of several well-known franchises including Ubisoftās Splinter Cell. Players are able to tenderise enemies with a few deft punches before interrogating them in a way much harsher than Fisherās knife to the throat ā“ Batman pummels them with a series of winding hits to the stomach as he holds them above his head by the neck, which certainly makes the character more of an anti-hero than someone to look up to. Not only that but the gadgets used by Batman are all pretty generic in this sneak-em-up sub-genre (although the fear inducing HT Transponder makes for a neat touch.)
Like the movie, fear plays a strong part in Batman Begins, and the game plays heavily on the emotion with the inclusion of the Area Fear meter. The gauge appears when enemies get close to Batman and represents the amount of anxiety and fear that the player has managed to create in that area. At this point the game feels more like EAās Everything or Nothing and the scripted Bond-moments that were dotted around the various levels. The Fear moments all increase the amount of fear felt by Batmanās opponents but itās just not satisfying. The same description can be applied pretty much throughout the game; whilst it does try to engage players with gameplay taken from various titles such as Splinter Cell and Everything or Nothing, the sheer linearity of the levels leaves it feeling wholly generic.
Players have a range of hand-to-hand combat moves to execute although it still feels rather limited. Aerial and Rolling attacks mix well with standard punches and kicks with Final and Finishing Attacks eliminates enemies with low health. More often than not gamers will find that a quick succession of punches will be enough to takedown opponents, which means that after taking out one group of goons, the combat can feel rather repetitive. Continuing with the facsimile feel of the game is option for players to perform stealth attacks on enemies, which sees Batman crouch quietly behind an opponent before dispatching them quickly. Somebody call Third Echelon ā“ I think weāve found their next recruit!
The environments in Batman Begins are littered with context sensitive objects that form a significant part of the gameplay. Entering a room via a door that was identified by the game as potentially interactive courtesy of a small box layered above it, Batman can then quickly and all to easily identify further context-sensitive objects in the new room such as a crate hanging by a rope (mmmā¦what do you suppose the game is trying to make the player do at this point?). In a lot of games the use of context-sensitive objects is well though through, which leads to an increased sense of engagement and immersion for the player. In Batman Begins however, it just feels as if the player is being guided through the game, and the linearity of the level design only serves to heighten what could be described as a patronising experience.
But wait a second, surely the Batmobile levels must lift the game? Sadly not. As with the rest of the game the driving sections, which has to be said are quite short, borrow from another EA franchise: Criterion Gamesā Burnout 3: Takedown. The levels even include the same road-blocking techniques as the arcade racer, but has little of the satisfying gameplay that Burnout features in droves. The two driving levels (which make up 20% of the gameās total levels) are short, uninspired, and a facsimile of another game ā“ just like the rest of Batman Begins.
Visually the game captures the dark and foreboding nature of Gotham City, and the characters all look like the actors who played them in the film. The animation is fluid and moving from punches to kicks flow neatly into one another. The game also features short snippets from the movie, with the sound quality above average mainly due to the voice work by the filmās cast. Having said that the volume level on the speech does seem a bit on the low side, which means that subtitles are a worthy option to take. Batman fans are sure to enjoy the game, but hardcore gamers, it will feel like a compendium of titles with little of their satisfaction to be found.
