Please login to submit a screenshot

"This is a Batman game?!?!"

I rented this game about a week ago, thinking it would be worth the $5. I soon learned I was in for a horrifying shock: it wasn't worth the price of the Kit-Kat I bought when I rented this game. But, I'll start from the top of my list.

GRAPHICS
Well, they could be a whole lot worse, but they're still pretty bad. For example, when you're ''swinging'' above the rooftops of Gotham City, it almost looks like you're about to double-fist punch yourself in the forehead instead of actually holding on to a visible piece of rope (oh, excuse me, ''batcable''). On the other hand, the cutscenes are done fairly well, some far greater than others; but that's a darn shame when a game uses cinemas to try and make up for the gameplay, speaking of which...

GAMEPLAY
is ridiculously terrible. Once the game starts out, after the first cinema, you, the Dark Knight, protector of Gotham City, find yourself surrounded by three hoodlums in a small alley, and if you don't figure out what buttons to kick and punch with in time, you get your arse handed to you. The game doesn't tell you beforehand what the controls are, you progress through the seemingly pointless and confusing levels constantly trying to figure out and REMEMBER how to do certain actions.

STORY/PLOT
As far as the story goes, I guess it's not half bad. I've always been a fan of the comics and the cartoon(s), so naturally when this game came out I was aching to play it. It seemed pretty interesting; it has close ties to its comic roots, it features some of the Caped Crusader's deadliest and most twisted foes (including Zsasz, one of my personal favorites) and his most famous gadgets, and the plots of the levels are somewhat true to the comic's form. The above reasons are the only reasons I gave it a 3, instead of a lower score.

SOUND
I didn't pay too much attention to the sound, mainly because I was too busy falling off rooftops and getting blown away with machine guns. Sorry.

Overall, I think this game is a complete waste of software. If you're a true (or even partial) fan of Batman, you might want to give this game a try, but if you are not, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time and/or money.

Credits:
My lovely Peanut, Microsoft, and last but certainly not least, Bob Kane.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/03, Updated 04/20/03