Format: Advance
Genre: Action platformer
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Movie Game. This is a part beat'em up, part stealth, 2D platformer. The basic goal is to find the end of each level and usually beat up some type of boss. Since this game follows the story of the movie, that means that it's more of an "origin" game I guess? You place Bruce Wayne for some reason. Don't know why you play as the richest man in Gotham in a story about Batman, kinda weird if you ask me. You learn the art of ninjutsu by some Siberian terrorists or something. I wasn't paying much attention. But basically you become a ninja in order to DESTROY Gotham City. At some point Bruce decides he would rather dress up in a giant bat costume than burn the city to the ground. Since this follows the movie of the same name, that means that the scarecrow and the Tibetan ninja mafia are the evils in this game. There's a lot of sneaking in this game, even in the non-sneaking parts. That is to say, if you try to go 1-on-1 with the enemies, they will often hurt you enough to cause problems by the time you reach whatever boss you're heading towards. The bosses themselves are pretty mundane.. not too different than normal enemies, maybe with a bit different AI, but all the same you just use the same leg sweep tactic that you would for normal enemies. Speaking of enemies, there are a few enemy types in this game to keep you on your toes. Some types of enemies will counter-attack. Some types out range your leg sweeps, and others will punish you for trying to jump kick them. I found, personally, that figuring out which enemies you're dealing with and using the proper moves against them is the best way forward in this game. Brute force will definitely lead to Brute tears. Along with your ninja moves, you also get a double jump as well as wall climbing abilities AND a few classic bat gadgets to help you out. You have infinite batarangs which stun enemies and knock guns out of their hands, a grappling hook, flash grenades, smoke bombs, and the ability to summon a horde of bats which can do severe damage to enemies in a large area. The horde of bats is specifically useful for bosses. Batman also has his strongest weapon, the power to be Batman. In darkened areas he can blend into the background by holding the 'up' button. This will allow enemies to walk past him while he goes unnoticed. He can also avoid enemies in this way with the grappling hook by hanging from the ceiling. While the game has a neat aesthetic going for it, it's not really fleshed out that well. For one, the controls feel a bit jenky, and some actions like swinging from chains require precise placement. Then there's the stealth parts of the game. I've been mostly talking about the non-stealth parts so far, but the FORCED stealth parts are ridiculously bad. Simply put, if you're seen you lose. To add onto this fact, the game implements the concept of "hearing" as well. That means if you're moving too fast, enemies will turn around to spot you. You can't use your batarangs to stun and run past them either. Most of my playtime was trying to get through these stealth levels. There were also 2 other bad mechanics this game did. The FORCED duckroll and doubletap to run. There are also some bonus items you can find throughout the levels that, I think, lead to a good ending maybe? I don't know, I beat the game, it told me to do better. *shrug* Credits after you beat the final boss. It was a game, just not a fun one, more of a chore to complete type.

All in All, Batman Begins earned a 4.5 on the batascoring system. Clunky movements, FORCED DUCKROLL, sub par combat, stealth levels, and a general feel of a true k-mart game. Movie game. One Play and Done. Forgettable.