Batman Begins (GameCube) Preview

By Nick Cheesman 11.12.2004

If you have been following the movie news of the Dark Night's latest movie offering, starring local Welsh boy Christian Bale (Reign of Fire, American Physco) then you will no doubt be aware that Batman Begins follows the tale of how young Bruce Wayne first puts on the Bat suit. After the murder of his parents Bruce travels the world, disillusioned and seeking justice, and is trained in the deadly arts to become the hero of Gotham City. Returning to his home as his moody alter-ego, Bruce ventures out to clean the streets of criminal scum, including the crime leader, the Scarecrow, using his strength, intelligence and all sorts of expensive gadgets.

As movie tie-ins go, the game will focus heavily on the movies plot, as well as throwing in a few extra levels for gaming sake. Though many will shudder at the thought of EA taking on another DC comic character and giving it the Catwoman treatment, the last game Eurocom and EA made together was the playable James Bond 007 NightFire, so not all is lost. The game follows narrative from the movie, written by Splinter Cell scribe J.T. Petty, and uses cut scenes to move the story, which is based on Frank Miller's Batman: Year One.

Some nice features in the game, include a two player option (a cooperative mission or hide and seek like mode seems likely) and a new fear meter that gauges enemy's heartbeats, allowing you to become the most feared man in Gotham.

Although it is a movie tie-in, this game could easily be the best Batman game since the SNES versions. Which, although isn't a hard task in itself and slightly depressing, does make the anticipation for this game increase slighty. But a super hero can't just beat on thugs all day, in Batman Begins you are required to interrogate gangsters, or just "incapacitate" them with a well aimed kick to the temple. The only way to progress in the game is with knocking information out of people. No keys need to be found, passwords, enemy goals and kingpin locations are the only way to advance. Which is a refreshing change. Flashbacks in the game also take place, where players play as Bruce Wayne as he trains up his crime fighting skills, getting to grips with his Batarang and all of Batman's other gadgets.

Batman Begins will be released along with its cinema release next year, Summer 2005. But for those of you that can't wait, a new trailer is released on Monday;
Batman Begins Official Site

Final Thoughts

Although it is a movie tie-in, this game could easily be the best Batman game since the SNES versions. Which, although isn't a hard task in itself and slightly depressing, does make the anticipation for this game increase slighty. The first batch of screenshots do look very nice, and the whole tone and atmosphere look like a step in the right direction. Now as long as the gameplay is acceptable then we could have another good movie tie-in on our hands. This is becoming a habit, what with Spider-Man 2 and now this.