Customer Reviews

Batman Begins

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

If you loved the movie, you'll love the game. Of course, there's a little bit more events in the game, but they are well worth it. Being able to sneak up on your enemies and basically scare the s*** out of them in the immediate area is loads of fun. I especially liked dropping in from above and taking them out. The interrogations are pretty fun too. Bringing the cast of Batman Begins in to do the voice work (except for Morgan Freeman) and using movie clips as some cut scenes is a treat too. So go out and get this game...at least rent it!

After reading a lot reviews on this game I decided to pick this one up. Now I'm glad I got it. This game keeps your attention the whole time. It is a LOT of fun to play with good graphics, great story line, and I could go on and on. The only negative is the camera angle doesn't want to follow you sometimes when needing to move. Overall I say this a game to buy for a video game player for the holidays or just because.

The visual style of this game, just like the movie, is very good. The inclusion of Splinter Cell "stealth" elements is also a good idea. However, there are a couple of significant problems with this game:

1. WAY too linear. There is ONE way to scare a bad guy in each level, ONE place to throw a batarang in the whole level, ONE way forward and back. Batman is a creative guy! Make it open-ended like GTA, Spider-man, and Superman Returns... Batman is the most creative of all those folks, so his game should match.

2. Fighting and "fear" systems: Semi-broken, not very satisfying.

3. In relation to #1, Gotham feels very small. It would be nice to explore it from the rooftops and in vehicles. So far you are pretty much stuck in a building or two, with one straightforward objective.

Despite these design flaws, the production value of this game is very high. Worth renting, but hopefully the next game is open-ended, darnit.

Very fun to play with lots of items to use. love the reputation spin on the game. A little clumsy on your view as you move around but easy to over come.

Batman Begins is a great game usind stealth ninja like abilities. The batmobile levels are fun too. The graphics in this game really bring it to life with amazing facial expressions. The only reason I didn't give this great game 5 stars is because I think they hould have tried to make more gadgets and more ways to get around obstacles. Another great thing about the game is that once you beat it you get the Dark Knight batsuit the Worlds Greatest Detective batsuit and The Caped Crusader batsuit. You also can drive the prototypr batmobile in the two driving levels. I HIGHLY reccomend playing this game on the challenging mode if you don't you can quickly beat the game in around 6 or 7 hours. Overall I fell that the 40 dollar price on this game is perfectly fair. - Max

I saw Batman Begins and I thought it was pretty good. I was very excited when I heard there was going to be a game based on the movie. When I rented it I was very disapointed. This game is so short that I got frustrated about it. The best thing in this game is using stealth and scaring your emimies. The game is very repeditive. Overall it's a rent.

This game kept my interest for a considerable amount of time considering how short it was. That was one of my few complaints about this game is that it is really short, I basically beat it i twice in about six days. This is really not a game that you should buy because it is so short, I rented it. The graphics for this game are extremely impressive, the game does a very good job of going from an in game cutcene right to the game without any pauses. Batman Begins is mainly a stealth game, where you have to create diversions or scenarios that scare your enemies. When your enemies are scared enough that is the right moment for batman to attack. The more scared your enemies are the worse they fight. The combat system is really easy to figure out and is kinda cool, I would have prefered some different moves cause it does kind of get repetetive. The mission in the Arkham asylum is by far the best, it is a very dark and morbid level. This is a definant must rent game, but I wouldn't buy it.