Playstation 2 - Batman Begins

Format
Playstation 2
Publisher
EA Games
Developer
Eurocom Ent.
Country of origin
UK
Genre
3rd person adventure

Batman Begins

By David Rasmussen
17th Jul 05

“Why do we fall? So we can pick ourselves back up again.”
Not word for word, but the general gist of the main point of Batman Begins.
And, oddly enough, it also speaks volumes of the struggle DC Comics/WB has had in reviving their comic based movie franchises.

Ever since DC/WB fell on harsh times post Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, the studio and the comic company have been in exile from the theatrical world. During that time MARVEL Comics fixed it’s failings (lest we forget such things like Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four or the god awful Captain America movie which made The Red Skull… eck… Italian!!) and became a force in the theaters.
With the success of movies like Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, X-Men and X2 the MARVEL movie franchise was on full speed ahead. Yeah. There was less than shining examples of MARVEL might like The Hulk (which wasn’t as universally appreciated as one might have thought), Daredevil and it’s “sequel” Elektra, and the middle of the road effort that was The Punisher… well, at least it was way better than the Dolph Lundgren version and the game rocked.
And with upcoming movies like Iron Man, Ghost Rider, X3 as well as Spider-Man 3 for starters there’s a lot of fuel in MARVEL’s tank to carry them for years to come.
Long story short - MARVEL was blasting away like mad and DC needed to stop feeling sorry for itself and climb back on the saddle again to get into the “battle”, which it has only recently done.

Yes, even DC/WB could not stay out of this forever. Finally overcoming their Batman & Robin phobia the studio began to work on it’s first “charge” back into theaters with it’s first wave of movies… which was kind of a mistake if you think about it. Yes, things were getting more hectic (with Dark Horse entering the fray with Alien Vs. Predator, Hellboy and the recently released Sin City) but their first choices for a frontal attack wasn’t exactly what I call very… well, inspired. It could have used more thought and consideration.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Yes. Believe it or not you could count this as a part of their first wave since, technically, Wildstorm is a part of DC, which makes their first movie release League technically part of the DC roster of releases (on a technical glitch). Then again since the movie didn’t take off as well as people hoped maybe DC doesn’t want it on their roster of “hits” for their first wave of releases.

Catwoman - The godawful Halle Berry movie based on a character that was NOT well known Catwoman Selina Kyle. What was she thinking? I don’t know… but it wasn’t a good thought.
Replacement - Maybe it’s me but they should have kicked off with Batman Begins and worked their way from there with good movies.

Constantine - Constantine. Not so much as a complete failure, since some of our fellow members have noted that they liked this movie, as it was… well… NOT universally loved by audiences. Constantine WAS supposed to be called Hellblazer, if it was not for the efforts of one of Hellblazer’s well known scribes which kept DC/WB from dubbing the movie “Hellblazer”. And considering most everyone knows that Constantine was based on Sting, you’d wonder why they cast Keanu Reeves in the role… I don’t know. Still, some people did like his work in the movie so I can’t complain, especially since I have never seen the movie in question so I can‘t voice an opinion on something I haven‘t seen myself! Bottom line is the reviews are mixed, but at least some people have kind words for the movie, so it did reach some viewers.

Batman Begins - Then we come to this movie. The only real home run hit of the trio (or is it foursome?). Batman Begins takes a shovel to the Batman franchise’ grave and digs it up from it’s Joel Schumacher inspired premature burial, even going so far as even outdistancing the original two Tim Burton movies which weren‘t bad… but weren‘t excellent either. Throwing away everything that made the first four movies less than perfect (even the first two Tim Burton movies which did well, but not excellently), Batman Begins starts fresh and makes a whole new movie that wins audiences over with it’s stronger (darker) imagery, well defined characters, villains who are truly interesting and not just flash and smoke, and overall storytelling that is just a joy to watch.

But the movie was only the beginning. It would get worse with the creation of… a game.
Yes. There is still the matter of a game. Movie based games are not exactly the best, with a lot of these “games” falling short of the splendor promised in trailers, disappointing more than satisfying. So that means Batman Begins is only halfway through the “woods”. The movie is good, but how will Batman Begins the game fare when put under intense scrutiny?

Batman Begins, in my opinion, keeps from falling into the bad movie game trap with a strong effort that surpasses even the effort of previous Batman games! And, yes, it also surpasses previous DC movie games like Catwoman. Catwoman was awful as all heck, and playing it is like playing a bad Prince of Persia clone (which it is), but playing Batman Begins is a completely different experience altogether! It’s actually playable! Really! It’s playable!

You know the drill. The game follows the story of the movie from beginning to end, pitting you against the forces of darkness and evil (as well as bat villains Ra’s Al Ghul & the Scarecrow)! Starting briefly in Gotham, you bounce to Asia where you’ll learn the ways of the Bat from Liam Neeson, where you’ll move on back to Gotham where you’ll find crime boss Falcione, before you tangle with the forces of the Society of Shadows (Ra’s Al Ghul & Scarecrow)! But first, before you get into this game you need to learn how to play the game in question now don’t you! That’s what Liam Neeson’s level at the start is for, teaching you the ins and outs of using Batman to the best of your abilities.
Then again maybe it’s NOT that hard! I mean how hard is it compared to previous Batman games?!? I mean all of those games WERE just mindless button mashers so why not follow that example now! Just rush right in swinging at those villains left, and right, and… (sound of gunfire)… ouch… ouch… ouch! Er… yeah, right. Apparently running in without thinking was not the smartest thing to do, especially since the bad guys of this game seem to be on top of things! In this game it’s not so much about the smackdown but the means by which you deliver said smackdown, mainly stealth techniques.

Stealth in this game is sort of like stealth in Splinter Cell, where silence is golden. And yes, this is NOT a Splinter Cell clone (unlike Catwoman and it’s brush with Prince of Persia gameplay) because the action is entirely Batman, and all the moves are uniquely Batman (and don’t feel as if they were meant for Sam Fisher but just graphed over Batman’s polygons). Yes, you can still beat down the bad guys, but getting to that point sometimes requires active thought. Some of these thugs carries guns, and while in previous games Batman has rushed in swinging to bring them down the same can’t be done now, lest you get shot down and it’s Mission Failed. You need to find a way to disarm your opponents, and that’s where the game’s unique “Fear Area” and “Reputation” meters comes into play. Reputation represents the amount of rep you have with the bad guys. The higher the rep meter, the easier it is to fight these guys as they’ll slip up more (and fumble under your fearsome form) making the battles easier as you build up rep (which you need to do every level).
The second unique meter is the Fear Area meter. The best way to disarm opponents is to strike fear into them, and to do that you’ll need to manipulate the environment around the criminals (dropping heavy objects, throwing theatrical grenades to shock them, or manipulating other parts of the background around them to generate fear in them) or affect them in someway like throwing smoke/flash grenades at them to shock them. The background in some areas are not for show, sometimes you can manipulate them through either the pushing of buttons, or the application of batarangs, to make them do things to instill fear in your targets. The more fear you generate in them, the easier it is to take them down (and they’ll drop their weapons which makes it easier to nail them -- and they‘ll also hallucinate about you if you have a full fear area meter when going in for the takedown).

It’s the use of the Fear Area/reputation meters which sets this game apart from this week’s other review, Star Wars Episode III. Unlike Star Wars Episode III, which is all hack/slash, Batman Begins instills the need for the player to think tactics through and to think before they rush into situations. Careful thought, planning, and manipulation of your enemies through fear will greatly increase your chances of success in this game, while your chances of success in Star Wars Episode III greatly depend on your ability to rapidly push buttons. Thus in this sense (as well as others) Batman Begins excels over Star Wars Episode III. With a more thought out gameplay, gameplay that requires some actual thought in terms of execution, and more depth to your combat other than bash bash bash, this is a more well balanced game than Star Wars Episode III. Yes, it is short like SW Episode III, but it has better gameplay which is a plus.

Another plus is the quality time you spend with the new Batmobile, aka the Tumbler. Yes, I know some of you are not enamored with the new vehicle, but once you sit down in that theater and see the Tumbler in action you’ll forget the looks and realize it’s the way the vehicle does it’s job which is the most important. Once it hit’s the road that’s when it really starts to shine. It works like a dream, and does some pretty nifty moves to boot which makes it a solid Batmobile. And, not to disappoint, the Batmobile you use in this game also has some sweet moves. In two levels you’ll get to drive the Batmobile, the first to chase down a truck that might be holding a vital component of the movie’s big ending to the Black Market of Gotham (which you get to explore next level), while the second is the race to save Rachel (Katie Holmes) as she lies dying from Scarecrow’s toxins.

Previous Batmobile driving sequences (Batman Returns) has not lived up to snuff. Driving and shooting things at vehicles, big whoop. This time however there’s only shooting of rockets at the end, the rest is all high speed driving with high speed crashes! Yeah, no shooting but you CAN slam it with your enemy cars and send the flying with hard crash damage for their troubles… that and you can also slam innocent cars but don’t worry, nobody dies in these sequences. Maybe the Matrix style slow-mo sequences for every enemy vehicle crash might annoy after awhile for some, but I never tire of it! Damn! And once you beat the first Batmobile sequence you unlock a Batmobile Bonus in which you can race the level again in either Mission mode, or Time mode (which is VERY VERY VERY HARD!!) and you can choose between the Batmobile black or Tumbler camouflage paint jobs in this race!

Speaking of extras there’s quite abit! We have interviews (though I wish they were unique interviews with each voice actor/actress instead of group montage interviews), we have movie galleries (the only downside is that the cutscenes are not scenes from the movie but montages of scenes put together to push the story forward), Alternate costumes (unlock four different classic costumes), the aforementioned Batmobile Extra and a Gallery of Fear (where your defeated enemies are locked away for you to learn more about them via info given as you click on their cells). I think there’s another extra but I can’t remember what it is at this time. The extras are nice and all, but I wish the interviews were more detailed (like Buffy : Chaos Bleeds interviews) because, yes here it comes… this game lives up to the Golden Rule in aces.

For me the Golden Rule is that games like this should have the participation of the actual cast who made the movie. After all if they couldn’t be troubled to be in this game why should you be troubled to play it.
Which is why you should be troubled, because they took the time to do this… all of them!
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson (sadly however he didn’t participate in the cast interview segment), Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, etc.! You get exactly what you came for when playing a movie game like Batman Begins, quality time with the people who made the movie what it is! And they all do a bang-up job! Not leaving their respective roles to lesser voice actors, the actual cast takes on their own roles and delivers a nicely done job! And really, if that isn’t additional incentive to jump into this game then I don’t know what is.

There are a few downers though.
While you can pick locks and hack computer locks in this game both hark back to the simplistic hacking job of Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex for the PS2. The lock pick thing, in fact, is the same simplistic one push match the sections to “pop” the lock sequence as the “hacking” sequence of GITS : SAC, which is kind of lame if you ask me. At least the GITS : SAC hack job had a little variety, while the lock picking of Batman Begins is the same “lock” over and over again.
As for the hacking in Batman Begins? It’s simply line up four glowing “0”’s in a row… sigh.

The cutscenes are all done in montage sequences, which is several scenes from the movie strung together to form a single cutscene to introduce a sequence in the game. I wish they just showed scenes from the movie (in order) to move the game along, ala Star Wars Episode III, but this is still good since the exchange is that you get to spend quality time with the stars of the movie (unlike Star Wars Episode III) so I guess I can live with the cut scenes of this game.

I wish the interviews were more specific. Like an interview for Christian Bale, one for Michael Caine, one for Liam Neeson, etc. instead of having them all lumped into Actors, Producers, Game makers, etc. which was nice but not as great as it could have been. And there could have been a few more extras or a few different ones (instead of showing movie trailers you could have shown us behind the scenes outtakes and blooper reels from Batman Begins). But that is, yes, once again casual nitpicking and nothing to be overtly concerned about in my opinion.

My last minor complaint is the fact that you can’t use some of your equipment whenever you want. That’d be mainly the batarangs and thrown grenades and other devices used for fear. Sometimes I wanted to use something on a near bad guy but found my options limited (apparently batarangs and other things are situation sensitive things which can only be used for certain situations). But again that’s a minor thing since I am sporting a quick one hit takedown move that can be used when you sneak up behind guys so that even things up nicely… oh, and did I forget to mention the overhead take down move? When your hung up on your grapple and somebody walks underneath you you can perform this takedown which is you lowering down (cinematic moment) to grab the unsuspecting perp in dramatic manner. Nice.
Ok. Now before somebody grabs me in a dramatic manner I better break this down nice and easy.

Batman Begins to Breakdown… NNNOOOOOooooo…. Oh, wait, that’s Star Wars Episode III. My bad.
What’s Hot?
While I’m sure some will claim it’s not the best game out there, it is solid enough to at least be one of the best Super Hero games you’ve seen this year. As far as theatrical super hero tie in games? I think Batman Begins has a good chance of being the best of the year. Yeah, yeah, I know. MARVEL is cranking out a whole boatload of games this year ain’t they! But the only one that should count when it comes to theatrical super hero tie in games is Fantastic Four since it’s the only one to have a movie this year!
Spider-Man and Hulk be damned as far as I’m concerned (they don’t have movies out this year)!

And while the Fantastic Four is probably going to be big, I’m going to stick to my guns and say Batman Begins is the one to play. The gameplay is more intelligent than any previous Batman game to date, has Splinter Cell elements without becoming a bad Splinter Cell clone, sports some impressive moves in gameplay, and has the full monty of movie cast providing their voices for voice over talent which is an added bonus in my opinion. Add to that the alternative costumes you can unlock, the Batmoblie extra, as well as the overall fine gameplay and you have yourself a winner here.

It’s short, yes, and it has a few flaws, but it’s better than that damn Catwoman game and is going to be one of the super hero games of the year to watch for (the other being, yes, that Fantastic Four game as well as the sequel to City of Heroes, City of Villains for the PC).

What’s Not?
There are a few minor complaints I have, but nothing that should drag this game down to the point that it is not worth playing (or owning). Certain sequences could have been better. There could have been more extras (more interviews) or different extras (behind the scenes and blooper reels). I could have had more use of some of my “wonderful toys”. But again all that is mere nitpicking. And hey, you can even interrogate perps in this game… no, not to the level of a certain Mr. Castle and his Garth Ennis approved techniques, but it’s all Batman when he does his interrogations so that’s good.

Moments to Remember?
The game does have it’s moments, mostly provided with the wit of Michael Caine (Alfred) who walks you through some levels of the game. He did a bang up job, like in the movie, and that’s a memorable thing.
There are other memorable things but I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you. You’ll find them yourself.

What to Ignore?
Hmmm…. Ahhh…. Nothing really. Maybe how the hacking/lock picking sequences could have been fleshed out more to make them more challenging, or how the cut scenes could have been cut scenes (and not montages of cutscenes put together to move the story forward) but again that’s nitpicking.
I know! Ignore me.

Overall?
It’s no City of Villains but I dare you to ignore this one.
A Batman game that actually plays well, and has an element of challenge to it that requires actual thought to surpass? That has to be a miracle since previous Batman movie based games (and I suspect a few of the Animated Batman tie in games) have not exactly been extolling the virtues of actual thought during gameplay, so having a game that makes you think as you play must be a good thing. I think it’s a good thing. Anyway it’s short, but it’s good. It’s not Game of the Year, but it’ll give other super hero games a good run for their money in the Super Hero categories, or at the very least the Theatrical Super Hero Game category since there isn’t much competition in that category (and I figure for straight out super hero only category there’s stiff competition from City of Villains and the newest Spider-Man game as well as the aforementioned Fantastic Four game).

Bottom line? I liked the movie, and I liked the game. It’s not the best, but it’s not a god awful horrible game that makes you regret even the act of thinking about playing said game!
If in doubt? At least rent it out and give it a chance before you declare it obsolete! You might find that it is a good game, though I figure only die hard fans of the movie will actually want to own this one since you should be able to finish it in a week of solid playing (which makes it ideal for rental).
Still, if you were as impressed by the movie as I was? It might yet find a place in your collection. It will find a place in mine… after it’s knocked down to $20 or so… then I’ll go buy it.
Yeah. I know. I’m cheap. But it’s short and all so… well… there you go. $20 or bust. Nuff said.

-- David Rasmussen 17th Jul 05

Playstation 2 Batman Begins Images