|
I think there are going to be a lot of people that love this game... I am not one of them :D
The game is played in a third person perspective and I think their intent with the camera is to try and make things a bit claustrophobic, so the camera is very close to Batman but... a lot of the rooms are very big and it really should pull back when it has the room. I found it one of those games where I felt I wanted to be able to see more but could not due to camera restrictions. Make no mistake, the game is stunning visually, that just made the difficulty in looking around all the more annoying.
Graphics - Just stunning. The only bad part to the graphics was Batman himself. He is well done but... because of the camera issue you are mostly seeing his back which is well... a black cape. All the other characters, from the Joker down to the lowest goon are awesome looking and animated extremely well.
Characters - OK, I'm not a massive Batman fanboy, so I'm not sure who everyone I saw and heard was but... As you meet villains or accomplish tasks, you unlock character bio's. There seem to be a crapload of bio's, so those that really dig that stuff will love that aspect of it. I'm not certain if this is supposed to be some specific "version" of Batman or one made entirely for the game. It is not Batman from any of the movies (though the architecture does look like Tim Burton's Gotham). As well, The Joker is neither Ledger's or Nicholsons yet still very "Joker" in looks, manner and vocal. Other characters you will have to decide for yourself (because I don't really know, heh) but all the ones in the demo seem extremely well done, a lot of effort went into making them and it shows.
Fighting - I think this is where the game really lost me as someone who will buy the game. The fights are... good looking... easy to control... and very unsatisfying, also annoying. It kind of reminded me of the old Final Fight, a small environment with a handful of enemies and you pretty much mash one button and the game kind of just... does things that are appropriate for where you are and where the opponent is. Back elbow into the guy behind you, smashing him in the jaw. Roundhouse kick that takes out three guys. Lots of great looking moves that you really don't do much to control. It also goes into slow motion/cinematic view to really show off the maneuvers the game is doing... and there I think is the crux of what bothered me, it really felt more like the game was doing the fighting and not me. Plus the constant slow motion, while awesome the first few times, really got on my nerves quickly... come on dammit, let me control the game a bit here. I found the same annoyance with using the grapple, just look at something you can grapple onto and it highlights, hit the grapple button and watch... very unsatisfying.
Keep in mind, this is not my preferred game genre. If they had made the fighting as detailed as say... Street Fighter, I'd be bitching about that as well :D
Controls - The controls are kept simple, maybe a little too simple yet... They still managed to make some things hard. Like the batarang (or whatever it's called). Hold L1 and use the stick to aim, then double tap L1 to throw it. Sounds simple but you must not be moving to do it, try using it on the move and it is useless. They should have had it thrown when you released L1 after aiming, then you could use it on the move. ehhh, minor nit there, mostly the controls are just fine and I would just need to get used to them.
Story telling method - This is the other thing that annoyed me. The story is told through cinematic using the game engine, which is fine but... Sometimes it goes into story telling mode when I really don't want it to. There is one part near the start where you go into this room and a tutorial message come us telling you to go into "Detective Mode" (a cool little alternate view that is kind of like x-ray vision) to see through some walls. You do this and see that there are guys in the room on the other side of a wall with guns. You look around and just as your deciding what to do... WTF... Batman whips out his cell phone and has a conversation with someone about them now having guns... Well DUH! Gimme back control of the f'ing game dammit! This just seems to happen a little too often.
Other - The main game menu has an option to get DLC so I imagine they are planning on making some. If it will be pay or free DLC there is no indication. The demo weighs in at a little over 1 gig, a good sized download that I let run over night.
Bottom Line - As I said, I think a lot of people are going to love this game and I bet it gets rave reviews but for me... It felt way to much like just pushing the right button at the right time and watching the game rather then playing it. I will probably mess with the demo some more, try and figure out other ways of disposing of bad guys to see what happens but really... I have no intention of buying this game.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
