Batman Begins

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Fight against dangerous enemies like the Scarecrow, Ra's Al Ghul and Carmine Falcone
• Stalk criminals from the shadows, discover ways to paralyze thugs with fear before fighting or interrogating them
• Use the environment to turn enemies against each other - take out an enemy with an attack from above and watch the fear level of his fellow thugs increase
• Scale buildings and soar between rooftops as you explore an interactive Gotham City and pick off prey, one by one
• Use the Utility Belt's high-tech crime fighting gadgets -- the Batgrapple, Batarang, Optic Cables, Lock Picks and more -- combined with mixed martial arts combos to dominate Gotham City

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000809PA8
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches ; 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: June 15, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,307 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Xbox

From the Manufacturer

Step into the shadows of Gotham City’s perilous criminal underworld as DC Comics’ legendary Dark Knight in the Batman Begins video game. Batman Begins challenges players to use fear as their ultimate weapon. The game explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight’s emergence as a force for good in Gotham. Gamers will play as both Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego, Batman, hunting evil-doers from the shadows, using strength, intellect, and an array of high-tech gadgets to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city, including classic villains the Scarecrow, Ra’s Al Ghul, and Carmine Falcone. Turning traditional stealth-based gameplay on its ear--by allowing gamers to play the hunter, rather than the hunted--Batman Begins delivers the Batman universe as never before. Stalking criminals from the shadows, gamers will discover new ways to paralyze thugs with fear before engaging in hand-to-hand combat, or interrogating them. From the halls of Arkham Asylum and the alleys of Gotham City to an ancient monastery high in the Himalayas, Batman Begins the video game delivers a thrilling interactive companion to Christopher Nolan’s reinvention of the Dark Knight in Batman Begins.

Features:

• Fear is your weapon: Stalk and terrorize enemies, or strike from above to pick off prey one by one. Use the environment to turn enemies against each other and defeat them before ever joining the fight. Take out an enemy with an attack from above and watch the fear level of his fellow thugs increase.
• Interactive environments: gamers must use their environments, from scaling buildings and gliding between rooftops, to triggering explosions and unleashing the insane inmates of Arkham Asylum against their enemies, to bring justice to Gotham.
• Cinematic combat: mixed martial-arts combat and devastating finishing moves developed exclusively for Batman Begins are faithfully recreated in the game with the assistance of the film’s stunt coordinator.
• The bat utility belt: delve deep into the ultimate arsenal of high-tech crime fighting gadgets, including the batgrapple, batarang, optic cables, and lock picks.
• The batmobile: Tear up the streets and rooftops of Gotham in the batmobile. Fight crime in multiple levels of lightning-fast vehicular combat.
• Experience Gotham City: Batman Begins brings gamers into the Batman universe, allowing them to experience the origins of the Dark Knight as both Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego Batman--from the alleys of Gotham City and depths of the Batcave to the twisted halls of Arkham Asylum.
• Epic storytelling: featuring a game script by JT Petty, the acclaimed writer of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Batman Begins allows players to delve even deeper into the universe masterfully depicted in Christopher Nolan’s film.

Product Description

Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and his emergence as a force for good in run-down, crooked Gotham City. You'll have to take the roles of Bruce Wayne and his vigilante alter-ego, the Batman. Use strength, intellect and an arsenal of cutting-edge gadgets to face dangerous villains. Just remember, criminals are superstitious and cowardly -- Batman Begins challenges players to use fear as their ultimate weapon. Tear up the streets and rooftops in the Batmobile, in lightning-fast, no-holds barred vehicular combat Expands on the story introduced in the film Voiceovers by the cast of the movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this now!, June 17, 2005

By 

S. Enback (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Batman Begins (Video Game)

I've just finished the game and i have to say this is really great!
It really fits in well with the film, using the same actors voices and the characters look very similiar to their real-life counterparts.

As well as Batman, you get to play as Bruce Wayne in training before he becomes batman and also as Bruce in a tuxedo in a level which has the Wayne Manor in flames. Very cool.

The driving bits are great fun as well, very Burnout, with extra racing modes being unlocked after you beaten those levels.

The main gameplay consists of a mixture of combat and stealth. If Batman comes accross a group of heavily armed enemies, he will end up dyingh if he tries to tackle them directly. you need to use stealth to sneak up on them or even beter use your fear-gadgets or a batarang on your surroundings (e.g throw your batarang at a gas-pipe to burst it), to scare them a bit beforehand, making defeating the enemies easier.

The game isn't too difficult (though the combat seems to be a lot tougher in Challenging mode) and took me about 9 or 10 hours to beat in Normal mode.

The graphics are simply amazing. The levels graphics are some of the best i've seen on a XBox game and the Batman charcater looks very cool in his bausuit and cape.

The game could have had a bit less linear with more ways of solving the situations that you come accross but at least it means you never get stuck for too long.

The controls are pretty straight forward, with 2 butons for combat (punch & kick) as well as another button for soing special finishing moves and other buttons for batarang and fear gadgets.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Batman Begins to a decent start on the X-Box, June 16, 2005

By 

R. Busby "Reader/Gamer" (Knoxville) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Batman Begins (Video Game)

This review will be brief,the more time spent reading this,means less time playing the game. As most of us read these reviews to see what others are saying about items we are interested in,before we shell out our hard earned $. First as a movie based game this one is superb. Graphics,voice acting,and character likeness are all top notch. The levels range in length and difficulty. The games greatest weakness is its overall gameplay. You cant really control Batman the way you would like to. His weapons,enemy targeting and stealth ability are confusing at times. At least on the X-Box version. The control set up is akward and really takes away from what could have been a great game. These are minor complaints and for a movie tie in game with a price under 40.00,you could do a lot worse. Overall this Batman is leaps and bounds superor to other Batman titles of the past,and should satisfy the fans until developers finally get it right.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good play but not much depth, July 28, 2005

By 

D. D. Fulton (Los Angeles, CA. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Batman Begins (Video Game)

Initially my review of Batman Begins was going to be a lot harsher but then I remembered my past Batman gaming experience - that would be Dark Tomorrow. The three hours I lost attempting to play that maddening, unrewarding, poorly animated game were among the least satisfying of my life... I'd have to say it was more disappointing than playing Pac-Man on the Atari 2600 back in the day.

But Batman Begins is a galaxy removed from Dark Tomorrow and, indeed, any other super hero-based game I've ever played. The visuals are superb, smooth and life-like. Backgrounds are rendered with great care and sensitivity to the Blade Runner-aesthetics of the source material (the film). The audio also is top notch. The game producers managed to get nearly every cast member from the movie to voice their characters which, to their credit, they perform with aplomb.

The problem arises with the game play itself. It is a terribly easy game; it seldom allows you to really screw up. For example, when on a ledge, Bats automatically goes into "careful mode", creeping along the ledge until he gets to a point of safety and you have to hit a release into order to resume a normal posture.

Another oversight has to do with the weapons. One of things that makes Batman Batman is, in the words of the Joker, all those "wonderful toys" he carries in his utility belt. Indeed, this was an element I figured would have been a slam dunk for the producers. Even the god-awful Dark Tomorrow allowed the player to access an array of offensive and defensive weapons whenever he or she desired to use them. In Begins, the "toys" are few : smoke bombs, flash bombs, throwing stars (well, "bats"), a "batarang" (used once during the whole play), a hacking tool, and a grappling hook. But the relative poverty of the utility belt is not the problem. The problem is access to the tools themselves. The game only allows the player to use them during scene-specific moments. So if you had the thought that it would be good to throw a smoke bomb before you entered a room in order to disorientate your foes, forget it. You have to go into the fight first before you are given the option of using an item from the belt.

And this is the general problem with the game. There isn't a lot of agency on the part the player. You intuit where you need to go within a very minimal geographical perimeter. You can never get "lost" because the game subtly pushes you forward and lets you know what you are to do next. Everything is laid out of you.

There is some strategy involved with figuring out how to get the drop on your opponents, but usually there is only one way to do this - spooking your foes to get them to drop their guns, then fighting them hand to hand. The actual fighting is fairly fun as Batman has a good array of attacks and combinations.

The Batmobile missions are pure candy. Anyone who has played Grand Theft Auto, or even Simpson's Hit and Run, will not need too much practice to get the hang of the car. But the geography is even more limited than the "walking around" world. The player essentially follows a "track," drives real fast, occasionally smashes into cars (where, inexplicably, no one seems to get hurt - perhaps its a difficulty-level thing), and does the Speed Racer jump over the occasional obstacle. Again, fun, but not necessarily challenging.

The thing about living in the post- Grand Theft Auto III world is that players are now expecting a lot more versatility with the worlds their digital counterparts inhabit. One of the supreme charms that the GTA3-generation of games offers is the ability to do things before, during, and after missions. In fact, while in my own play of GTA Vice City, I have spent so much time scooting around the airport doing jumps on my motorcycle that I haven't really picked up a mission in weeks! Sadly, Batman Begins offers no such off-mission fun whatsoever. This is a shame considering Bat's detective persona. He could bop around Gotham fishing for clues, hooking up small-time criminals, or even having Bruce Wayne moments at a basketball game. Perhaps the makers have this in mind for the sequel. There is obviously a lot room to grow. Might I suggest a RPG modality?

Final verdict, if you are not already a hard-core gamer, or if you are and would like to play something just for the visual thrill, then Batman Begins will provide at least two or three hours of fun.

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