Batman Begins Review (Playstation 2)
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Eurocom
Genre: Third-Person Action
Intro:
Batman Begins the third person action game from publishers EA and developers Eurocom follows the dark knight’s escapades through the gritty and dark city of Gotham. I was actually excited about this game because Batman happens to be one of my favourite superheroes and it was after a long time I was getting to play the dark knight in a video game. I was secretly hoping that EA and Eurocom had gotten the game right and that it would turn out to be a great game. However 2 hours into the game it was a mixed bag. Trying to copy the stealth elements of popular games like splinter cell (however Batman relied on stealth quite long ago then Sam fisher did
) and the bat car chases reminded me burnout series. However, the over the top simplicity and “cinematic combat†moves take away the charm from what could have been a great game. In Batman begins players have to make use of stealth mechanism and fear to complete objectives. An all out face to face confrontation with the baddies will have you returning to the load screen more than you can count. The game also involves a lot of acrobatics and the gameplay is actually vertical wherein you normally have 2 get to high point to avoid detection, get to some place, etc. The game follows the movies’ plot religiously; too bad it doesn’t quite match up to the cinematic counterpart.
[break=Graphics and Gameplay]
Graphics and sound:
The game looks good for the ps2. The graphics are good and so are the textures. However batman begins is one game that could have immensely benefited from AA. In game animation is also upto the par with most modern games. The actions and the fight moves have been motion captured to perfection. The character modeling is perfect and the characters resemble a lot to their movie counterpart. The feeling of the Gotham and its dark alleys and pathways has been captured very well. The atmosphere is quite in sync with the movie. The initial levels in the Himalayan mountain ranges also look great. The voice acting is highlight of the game with actors from the movie voicing their game counterpart. The voice acting by Christian Bale and Michael Caine is worth a mention. That makes the atmosphere and the scenes even more realistic. For those who haven’t watched the movie, cutscenes and trailors are unlocked as you progress in the game. One more unique thing is the picture in picture mode where the player can see what happening at the scene of action, or the camera’s view. This however caused massive slowdowns in the game.
Gameplay and misc:
You get to fight Ra’s Al Ghul, Carmine Falcone, Dr. Crane Aka Scarecrow and their goonies. The fight sequences are very simple and foes fall to their feet easily. This applies to the bosses too. In order to make the game a bit more realistic the game bosses were not made more powerful or intelligent then the rest of the ninjas or berserker prisoners in the game. This takes the joy out of button mashing when fighting a boss enemy. Most of the game relies heavily on stealth mechanism. Batman has to use the surroundings to his advantage and create panic and fear in the hearts of his enemies. There is something called the area fear meter which indicates the amount of fear that Batman has managed to instill in his foes. However there could have been more creative uses for this fear meter which has not been exploited in the game. The game has indicators all over the place to guide the player as what to do next which takes the joy out the game making it very simple. Gun fights are a total no-no since batman doesn’t carry any and players are forced to use the stealth mechanism. The gameplay also involves a lot of jumping, shimmying, gliding (yeah batman can glide using his cape) etc to get to unreachable places. However all this only onvolves looking arnd and finding an indicator and press the r1 button. Same goes for the foe fights where u need to weaken them by placing a few good jabs and kicks and then press circle to make the finishing move. However the combat finishing moves are done slickly but still it takes the joy out of finishing the enemies in your own trademark style. Also like I mentioned earlier the gameplay is vertical, wherein batman might have to get to a higher point to fulfill his objectives. The batmobile handles quite well, for a car that size. The batmobile missions remind you of burnout 3 with the same slow motion effects when you run down or damage an enemy vehicle. Mini games include lock picking. :|
[break=Final Thoughts]
Final thoughts:
After completing the game the bonuses include extra batman costumes which you use if you plan to play again. Other bonus material includes clips from the movie, interview with the cast, EA etc. The Batmobile levels are also included in the bonus stuff minus the time limit so players can blast through Gotham in the batmobile to their hearts content. Although the game has a great concept which involves the fear and stealth mechanism it however lacks a single reason to deserve a replay. However the game might be a great for someone who has played console games for the first time. The game deserves one look though simply for the fact that it isn’t as bad as the rest of the comic/movie based game franchises and it’s after all a Batman game. Maybe a sequel might fix all of the current downers and give us all Batman fans a reason to cheer about.
Pros: Great concept, Great presentation, Good voice acting, Sticks to the Movie plot.
Cons: Poor implementation, Very simple gameplay, Slowdowns in some areas.
Rating: 3/5
Screenshots:
Edit: Added more Screenies.
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Eurocom
Genre: Third-Person Action
Intro:
Batman Begins the third person action game from publishers EA and developers Eurocom follows the dark knight’s escapades through the gritty and dark city of Gotham. I was actually excited about this game because Batman happens to be one of my favourite superheroes and it was after a long time I was getting to play the dark knight in a video game. I was secretly hoping that EA and Eurocom had gotten the game right and that it would turn out to be a great game. However 2 hours into the game it was a mixed bag. Trying to copy the stealth elements of popular games like splinter cell (however Batman relied on stealth quite long ago then Sam fisher did
) and the bat car chases reminded me burnout series. However, the over the top simplicity and “cinematic combat†moves take away the charm from what could have been a great game. In Batman begins players have to make use of stealth mechanism and fear to complete objectives. An all out face to face confrontation with the baddies will have you returning to the load screen more than you can count. The game also involves a lot of acrobatics and the gameplay is actually vertical wherein you normally have 2 get to high point to avoid detection, get to some place, etc. The game follows the movies’ plot religiously; too bad it doesn’t quite match up to the cinematic counterpart. 
[break=Graphics and Gameplay]
Graphics and sound:
The game looks good for the ps2. The graphics are good and so are the textures. However batman begins is one game that could have immensely benefited from AA. In game animation is also upto the par with most modern games. The actions and the fight moves have been motion captured to perfection. The character modeling is perfect and the characters resemble a lot to their movie counterpart. The feeling of the Gotham and its dark alleys and pathways has been captured very well. The atmosphere is quite in sync with the movie. The initial levels in the Himalayan mountain ranges also look great. The voice acting is highlight of the game with actors from the movie voicing their game counterpart. The voice acting by Christian Bale and Michael Caine is worth a mention. That makes the atmosphere and the scenes even more realistic. For those who haven’t watched the movie, cutscenes and trailors are unlocked as you progress in the game. One more unique thing is the picture in picture mode where the player can see what happening at the scene of action, or the camera’s view. This however caused massive slowdowns in the game.
Gameplay and misc:
You get to fight Ra’s Al Ghul, Carmine Falcone, Dr. Crane Aka Scarecrow and their goonies. The fight sequences are very simple and foes fall to their feet easily. This applies to the bosses too. In order to make the game a bit more realistic the game bosses were not made more powerful or intelligent then the rest of the ninjas or berserker prisoners in the game. This takes the joy out of button mashing when fighting a boss enemy. Most of the game relies heavily on stealth mechanism. Batman has to use the surroundings to his advantage and create panic and fear in the hearts of his enemies. There is something called the area fear meter which indicates the amount of fear that Batman has managed to instill in his foes. However there could have been more creative uses for this fear meter which has not been exploited in the game. The game has indicators all over the place to guide the player as what to do next which takes the joy out the game making it very simple. Gun fights are a total no-no since batman doesn’t carry any and players are forced to use the stealth mechanism. The gameplay also involves a lot of jumping, shimmying, gliding (yeah batman can glide using his cape) etc to get to unreachable places. However all this only onvolves looking arnd and finding an indicator and press the r1 button. Same goes for the foe fights where u need to weaken them by placing a few good jabs and kicks and then press circle to make the finishing move. However the combat finishing moves are done slickly but still it takes the joy out of finishing the enemies in your own trademark style. Also like I mentioned earlier the gameplay is vertical, wherein batman might have to get to a higher point to fulfill his objectives. The batmobile handles quite well, for a car that size. The batmobile missions remind you of burnout 3 with the same slow motion effects when you run down or damage an enemy vehicle. Mini games include lock picking. :|
[break=Final Thoughts]
Final thoughts:
After completing the game the bonuses include extra batman costumes which you use if you plan to play again. Other bonus material includes clips from the movie, interview with the cast, EA etc. The Batmobile levels are also included in the bonus stuff minus the time limit so players can blast through Gotham in the batmobile to their hearts content. Although the game has a great concept which involves the fear and stealth mechanism it however lacks a single reason to deserve a replay. However the game might be a great for someone who has played console games for the first time. The game deserves one look though simply for the fact that it isn’t as bad as the rest of the comic/movie based game franchises and it’s after all a Batman game. Maybe a sequel might fix all of the current downers and give us all Batman fans a reason to cheer about.
Pros: Great concept, Great presentation, Good voice acting, Sticks to the Movie plot.
Cons: Poor implementation, Very simple gameplay, Slowdowns in some areas.
Rating: 3/5
Screenshots:
Edit: Added more Screenies.
