by:	July 05, 2005

When it comes to games under the Batman license, one would usually shudder with mere thought that a Batman game was being made. This holding mostly true because there has never been a quality Batman game worthy of the Dark Knight. Also, one might shudder from hearing mention of a game being created based off of a movie. This holding true because making a “good” movie-to-game transition, as everyone knows, can be next to impossible. In the case of Batman Begins, both of these demeaning factors are pushed against the title. But do not let those factors turn your head away from this game, because Batman Begins is a perfect example to show that there is hope for movie-to-game transition titles after all. While not a really good game, Batman Begins brings a lot to the table that many would find satisfactory or slightly above average.

Story
The story played out in the game version of course pretty much follows the same story that is told in the movie. However, not every part in the movie can be translated into the game where that part could be “playable” or “interactive”, so the game’s story is twisted and stretched in certain areas allowing for new parts of the story, not told in the movie, to become “playable.” As stated though, the same story is pretty much told the exact same way in the game. Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered in an alley and Bruce is left an orphan. He travels the world to find answers and to gain the ability to fight the injustice that thrives in Gotham City. He eventually meets someone named Henry Ducard who is a member in a group of secret warriors called “The League of Shadows.” Bruce Wayne trains under the League of Shadows and eventually gains the strength and abilities he will use as Batman in the future. After learning the League of Shadows true intentions of destroying Gotham City, Bruce defeats their leader, Ra’s Al Ghul and flees back to Gotham where he finally becomes Batman with help from his butler, Alfred, and a man named Lucius Fox from Wayne Tech. Enterprises. Batman eventually gets word of a drug smuggling ring in the Gotham Docks and quickly learns that these drugs are hiding a chemical agent that uses fear-inducing toxins and is planned to be unleashed upon all of Gotham!

Gameplay
For the most part, the gameplay is quite good but it’s nothing too special to gawk at. There are only two different types of gameplay you get to play with throughout the entire game. One is where you control Batman through a series of levels and stages. The other is where you control the Tumbler (Batmobile) and drive it through the streets of Gotham completing certain tasks and/or beating the clock to a certain area in the city. Being able to control Batman is the best type of gameplay you get to play, while controlling the Batmobile gets rather boring and is quite repetitive in the only two different levels you actually get to drive it. Unlike the actual Batmobile in the movie, the Batmobile in the game is seriously lame because you never get to use any of its special gadgets at your own will. The only features that you can use all the time are a “jump” ability and a “boost” ability. Only once do you ever get to shoot the Batmobile’s missiles and you still do not have 100% control over when to shoot them. You will encounter enemies along the way and the only way to destroy them is to ram them or have them destroy each other in the same way. When an enemy is destroyed the camera cuts away to their car being totaled in a sort of slow motion “Burnout” style of crashing, but nowhere near as impressive.

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