Post by A.G. on Aug 29, 2009 0:23:20 GMT -5
Well, I finished the game and explored the extras. Time for me to speak my mind.
The Good
For the most part the whole game is very well done. It's fast moving and really stays true to the Batman mythology. I think that if you are a fan of Batman you MUST play this game. The graphics were top-notch. The music was very well done; I even heard traces of the "Batman Begins" and the 1989 "Batman" music bits in there. Very cool! Love the gadgets and all the clever uses for them. Voice acting was a huge plus as I'm a big fan of the Animated Series Batman. Great variety and changes to the areas. I like that the island changes as the game progresses. From start to finish, the game is an awesome experience!
The Bad
The game is not without flaws, however. Though I would imagine not everyone would regard some of these things as "flaws". So... it is in my opinion only, guys.
> Character animations were a bit stiff. I'm talking gameplay too, the cutscenes were good for the most part. A lot of the characters had a very lifeless look to them... most guards just didn't look real. There was no emotion reflected in their faces. And Batman running... just looked strange. Comared to MGS4 in this department the game looked way off! Even "Uncharted" did a better job with that.
> Repetetive fights. I'm not a huge fan of heavy-action games... but if it's done right I can deal. This game, much like Uncharted, suffers from repetetive fight sequences. EVERY fight is damn near identical... just more bodies. It gets really old for me. I've replayed MGS4 so many times, but I never get tired of messing with the soldiers. And in MGS4 all areas are different in combat case. In Batman, all fights are the same exact thing and you can't deviate from it no matter what. Group of thugs in the hallway? Only one way to deal with them. That's a minus IMO.
> Saving system sucks. I'm sorry, but I do not approve of the fact that there are no chapters. I want to replay the Killer Crock sewer mission right now.... can I? Hell no! I gotta start from the very beggining and log in a good 8 hours before I get to face Crock! That sucks! Even Uncharted broke it down into chapters.
> Story. It started out great! I loved it! But then it turned into a silly mutan story... Joker's plot was... LAME! The set up was perfect and brillant... the goal was dumb!
> Boss fights. The game really lacks in this department. Most boss fights are ruined by the constant use of the thug fights. All of them have it! You spend more time fighting them instead of the boss! Not to mention all the mutants are just Bane clones in moves... so it's very limiting. The Ivy fight was probably the only one that stood out. The Joker fight at the end was a big letdown as well.
OVERALL
LIke I said, it's a great game for any Batman fan. It's clever and faithful to the Batman world. However, it's repetetive and drops the ball on the plot. Truly, this makes me appreciate the Hideo Kojima approach to gaming. You don't have to replay the whole game from start to finish as the only option! And it's fun to go back and find new ways to deal enemies and interact with the environment. Batman and Uncharted don't have that! Both are great for a start to finish experience, but there isn't much to go back to once you're done. What, go back and find all the trophies and riddles? Get real!
Great game for a single playthough. Not much to really do after that. The extra content is....well.... more fighting! The Joker levels are fun, but does get old quickly. If they took the time to create those lame Challenge levels, they should've made a piece of the story game playable with the Joker. That would've been a better idea.
Single playthrough: 9/10
Replay value: 7/10 (once a year... for the story)
The Good
For the most part the whole game is very well done. It's fast moving and really stays true to the Batman mythology. I think that if you are a fan of Batman you MUST play this game. The graphics were top-notch. The music was very well done; I even heard traces of the "Batman Begins" and the 1989 "Batman" music bits in there. Very cool! Love the gadgets and all the clever uses for them. Voice acting was a huge plus as I'm a big fan of the Animated Series Batman. Great variety and changes to the areas. I like that the island changes as the game progresses. From start to finish, the game is an awesome experience!
The Bad
The game is not without flaws, however. Though I would imagine not everyone would regard some of these things as "flaws". So... it is in my opinion only, guys.
> Character animations were a bit stiff. I'm talking gameplay too, the cutscenes were good for the most part. A lot of the characters had a very lifeless look to them... most guards just didn't look real. There was no emotion reflected in their faces. And Batman running... just looked strange. Comared to MGS4 in this department the game looked way off! Even "Uncharted" did a better job with that.
> Repetetive fights. I'm not a huge fan of heavy-action games... but if it's done right I can deal. This game, much like Uncharted, suffers from repetetive fight sequences. EVERY fight is damn near identical... just more bodies. It gets really old for me. I've replayed MGS4 so many times, but I never get tired of messing with the soldiers. And in MGS4 all areas are different in combat case. In Batman, all fights are the same exact thing and you can't deviate from it no matter what. Group of thugs in the hallway? Only one way to deal with them. That's a minus IMO.
> Saving system sucks. I'm sorry, but I do not approve of the fact that there are no chapters. I want to replay the Killer Crock sewer mission right now.... can I? Hell no! I gotta start from the very beggining and log in a good 8 hours before I get to face Crock! That sucks! Even Uncharted broke it down into chapters.
> Story. It started out great! I loved it! But then it turned into a silly mutan story... Joker's plot was... LAME! The set up was perfect and brillant... the goal was dumb!
> Boss fights. The game really lacks in this department. Most boss fights are ruined by the constant use of the thug fights. All of them have it! You spend more time fighting them instead of the boss! Not to mention all the mutants are just Bane clones in moves... so it's very limiting. The Ivy fight was probably the only one that stood out. The Joker fight at the end was a big letdown as well.
OVERALL
LIke I said, it's a great game for any Batman fan. It's clever and faithful to the Batman world. However, it's repetetive and drops the ball on the plot. Truly, this makes me appreciate the Hideo Kojima approach to gaming. You don't have to replay the whole game from start to finish as the only option! And it's fun to go back and find new ways to deal enemies and interact with the environment. Batman and Uncharted don't have that! Both are great for a start to finish experience, but there isn't much to go back to once you're done. What, go back and find all the trophies and riddles? Get real!
Great game for a single playthough. Not much to really do after that. The extra content is....well.... more fighting! The Joker levels are fun, but does get old quickly. If they took the time to create those lame Challenge levels, they should've made a piece of the story game playable with the Joker. That would've been a better idea.
Single playthrough: 9/10
Replay value: 7/10 (once a year... for the story)
