Batman: Vengeance for GameCube
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Similar in GameCube Games
- ESRB Rating: T - (Teen)
- Publisher: Ubi Soft Entertainment
- Genre: Action Adventure
Similar in GameCube Games
Batman Vengeance
$35.95
Batman Vengeance (game Cube)
$49.95
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67
Batman on PS2!
Pros
Excellent Graphics, Good Sound, and Voice Acting
Cons
Poor camera view controls, controls are confusing at first.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you can overlook it's few flaws, this game can provide many hours of fun.
I admit it, I'm a hardcore Batman fan.
I loved the animated series and have missed it ever since it was canceled. This game however came as a complete surprise to me. I had not heard that it was being produced and was very happy to find it on the shelves at Best Buy.
In this game you play the role of none other than the Batman. Not the cheesy, Adam West Batman of the 60's mind you, but the grim Dark Knight of Gotham as he has been presented over the past several years in Batman: the Animated Series.
Our Story 7/10
In this adventure Batman is faced with a city in Chaos. His arch nemysis, The Joker, has appearantly met an untimely end. You see, during the first chapter of this story Batman and the Clown Prince of Crime have a bit of a scuffle on the city's tallest bridge and in the course of this battle, well... The Joker seems to have taken a dive.
Now, every other villain in Gotham City is out to make a name for himself as the new "top dog" of Gotham's underworld. Ultimately things take a bad turn for the Dark Knight as he is framed for a crime he didn't commit and then everyone in Gotham is after him, police and criminals alike.
The plot which develops from there on out is fairly straight forward (if a bit predictable) and even if you wonder at times why Batman can't see the obvious direction things are headed toward, the story is still interesting enough to keep you following the game from scene to scene.
Graphics 9/10
The graphics are excellent. The style of the animated series translates very well onto the PS2 platform. The images convey the dark, gritty environment of Gotham perfectly. Motion is fluid and Batman's cape is amazing in how it moves and flows. The characters are very well drawn and look just as they should. Gotham City is shown to be a large place indeed and the many maps in which Batman travels in this adventure are very well rendered.
Sound 8/10
Sound is very good. Many of the voice actors from the cartoon are present (including Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hammil as the Joker and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred) and while the acting seems a little "phoned in" at times it still comes in several notches higher than the acting you hear in many games.
Sound levels do drop out a bit at times so carefully adjusting the volume is a must.
Gamyplay 8/10
The game itself is played in the third person "Tomb Raider" style which does lend itself well to the cartoon nature of the game.
All of the things you would expect in a "Batman" based game are here, Punching out bad guys, Using Batarangs to injure or disarm foes, swinging through the city of Gotham on the batline, calling in Batgirl for back-up on some missions (I guess Robin is in school).. and it is quite a bit of fun acting out the role of the Dark Knight.
You even have the ability to use stealth at times. Batman is able to both move unseen through some of the deeper shadows in the game as well as flatten himself along walls to sneak past thugs and squeeze into certain areas.
Controls 6/10
The two serious short comings of this game are in the camera angles and game controls. A third person game such as this should allow you some way to control the camera at all times, which this game unfortunately does not. This can lead to your having to make some "leaps of faith" into areas blind which can cost you at times. This is a serious issue which caused me considerable frustration at times.
The other issue are the controls themselves which are far from intuitive, taking a fair bit of time to adjust to. One other minor difficulty is in that many times you are required to fire grappling hooks at very distant targets and it can take a bit of practice to master the art of quickly zeroing in on what to shoot.
Conclusion
Despite the flaws I still enjoyed the game quite a bit. The fun of playing the Dark Knight combined with what amounts to a computer animated episode of Batman: The Animated series was enjoyable enough for me to overlook the game's flaws. However, I can see the camera view and control issues being showstoppers for some people. But if you are a fan of the Batman:Animated series then you really should check this one out.
Final Score 7/10 (or 4 Epinions stars)
# of Players: 1
Memory card Req: Yes
I loved the animated series and have missed it ever since it was canceled. This game however came as a complete surprise to me. I had not heard that it was being produced and was very happy to find it on the shelves at Best Buy.
In this game you play the role of none other than the Batman. Not the cheesy, Adam West Batman of the 60's mind you, but the grim Dark Knight of Gotham as he has been presented over the past several years in Batman: the Animated Series.
Our Story 7/10
In this adventure Batman is faced with a city in Chaos. His arch nemysis, The Joker, has appearantly met an untimely end. You see, during the first chapter of this story Batman and the Clown Prince of Crime have a bit of a scuffle on the city's tallest bridge and in the course of this battle, well... The Joker seems to have taken a dive.
Now, every other villain in Gotham City is out to make a name for himself as the new "top dog" of Gotham's underworld. Ultimately things take a bad turn for the Dark Knight as he is framed for a crime he didn't commit and then everyone in Gotham is after him, police and criminals alike.
The plot which develops from there on out is fairly straight forward (if a bit predictable) and even if you wonder at times why Batman can't see the obvious direction things are headed toward, the story is still interesting enough to keep you following the game from scene to scene.
Graphics 9/10
The graphics are excellent. The style of the animated series translates very well onto the PS2 platform. The images convey the dark, gritty environment of Gotham perfectly. Motion is fluid and Batman's cape is amazing in how it moves and flows. The characters are very well drawn and look just as they should. Gotham City is shown to be a large place indeed and the many maps in which Batman travels in this adventure are very well rendered.
Sound 8/10
Sound is very good. Many of the voice actors from the cartoon are present (including Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hammil as the Joker and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred) and while the acting seems a little "phoned in" at times it still comes in several notches higher than the acting you hear in many games.
Sound levels do drop out a bit at times so carefully adjusting the volume is a must.
Gamyplay 8/10
The game itself is played in the third person "Tomb Raider" style which does lend itself well to the cartoon nature of the game.
All of the things you would expect in a "Batman" based game are here, Punching out bad guys, Using Batarangs to injure or disarm foes, swinging through the city of Gotham on the batline, calling in Batgirl for back-up on some missions (I guess Robin is in school).. and it is quite a bit of fun acting out the role of the Dark Knight.
You even have the ability to use stealth at times. Batman is able to both move unseen through some of the deeper shadows in the game as well as flatten himself along walls to sneak past thugs and squeeze into certain areas.
Controls 6/10
The two serious short comings of this game are in the camera angles and game controls. A third person game such as this should allow you some way to control the camera at all times, which this game unfortunately does not. This can lead to your having to make some "leaps of faith" into areas blind which can cost you at times. This is a serious issue which caused me considerable frustration at times.
The other issue are the controls themselves which are far from intuitive, taking a fair bit of time to adjust to. One other minor difficulty is in that many times you are required to fire grappling hooks at very distant targets and it can take a bit of practice to master the art of quickly zeroing in on what to shoot.
Conclusion
Despite the flaws I still enjoyed the game quite a bit. The fun of playing the Dark Knight combined with what amounts to a computer animated episode of Batman: The Animated series was enjoyable enough for me to overlook the game's flaws. However, I can see the camera view and control issues being showstoppers for some people. But if you are a fan of the Batman:Animated series then you really should check this one out.
Final Score 7/10 (or 4 Epinions stars)
# of Players: 1
Memory card Req: Yes
