Video Game Review: Batman Vengeance

Batman Vengeance

Graphics:	8.5
Sound:	8
Story:	5
Fun:	6
Controls:	6
Overall:	6

Batman Vengeance is a fun little adventure brought to the Gamecube in full power. It is based on the cartoons rather than the movies, and it has dropped it's silly ness brought by the movies. It goes into dark stories of each of the many popular Batman villains, including the Joker, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy. Some fans may realize that Two Face is not in the game, either that or he is at the very end of the game. Vengeance has you using many of his popular gadgets, popular characters, popular villains, and the popular Bat girl. This sounds like a pretty popular game. There is very few missing from this title that fans will notice. The only thing fans will dislike is the actual game play. Batman Vengeance may be just like the cartoons, but it isn't as exciting as the cartoons. Vengeance is full of short theatrical animations, nearly forty five minutes of it all together. All of them are action packed, and raise the wow factor up a few points. The overall graphics are extraordinary. It looks just like the cartoons, but it is in full 3-D graphics. Batman's cape even has it's own A. I. so it moves realistically. Somehow, Vengeance is able to keep the same style as the cartoons. The buildings have a twisted, cartoony look, but yet all of this stuff looks realistic. The actual people in this game look kind of cheesy. They move smoothly, but they're joints don't seem to move with the rest of their body. A strange thing to criticize on, but if you played the game, you would know what I am speaking of. With awesome lighting effects and other visual effects to make up for the crappy movements, this game shines when it comes to graphics. Unfortunately, the camera seems a little off in some places. Fighting bad guys is hard enough since they don't die, the camera doesn't show what is behind you, so you often find yourself face down without noticing what hit you. The level mapping is simple, but sometimes it is insane. Some levels are just too hard, and others are just too easy. I must give credit for the awesome roof top chases. That is when the game looks the best, and it should. It is too bad it can't look good all of the time. It is fun at some points. You often find yourself being bored when you have to find a switch to open a door after you just got out of a rather fun brawl. What I am saying is, this game isn't balanced out enough. At one point in every level you find yourself bored. The best part about Vengeance are the Bat Mobile chases and the Bat Wing chases. Since you are allowed to go back to levels just to play them for fun, you will always be going back for the chases. The fighting seems kind of stiff, and those stupid enemy's just won't die. You have to tie them up with you Bat Cuffs in order to keep them from coming back. Either that or you push them over a high ledge. You have very limited Bat Cuffs, so you will be fighting many of the same guys over and over again. The only "gun" you have in the whole game is a net shooter (snore) and a tazer like object that electrocutes villains. Fighting villains is the same thing, and you get bored of it. You get so bored you just sneak passed and run away if they find you. With a few major exceptions, Vengeance isn't that fun. The controls are also what makes it not fun to play. Lack of variety in fighting techniques, and nothing much else to do than run around fighting and flipping switches makes it not fun. The controls are sometimes confusing. Fighting is a drag. Sometimes Batman won't turn around when you are faced with a villain, so the villain is able to get a few extra hits on you. Fighting the villains is often impossible, since they don't seem to take a hit. They always get their punches off before you, sort of like Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. While in first person mode, you can't see what you are doing. Looking around in first person mode is also bad, because the camera moves too fast for you to focus on anything. The good points on the controls is that they are basic throughout the whole game. The game is brought up out of the water by its extremely talented voice acting. It features the voice of the original Joker, so that is another plus for fans. There is not a bad moment in the voice acting. The music seems a little too weak to be given credit for. Vengeance is split up into several stories. It doesn't focus on one thing, so it feels like you are playing through the whole Batman series. After you eliminate one villain you move on to the next one as if nothing happened. The only one that doesn't leave you alone is the Joker. Vengeance is split up into levels, so you have to play through many levels. This game has some many levels that I couldn't count them all, and I don't know the actual length of the entire game, but I know it is long. Just spit it out. Is it worth the money? The game is long, but it isn't that fun and it lacks in replay value. Don't buy it, but rent it. "It's long, but not much fun." -Niloc

Archive note: The original publication day is unknown; this review existed by March 30, 2003.