Batman: Vengeance

Man alive, is this game bad or what? The graphics are way below par, even if it were on a playstation 1, never mind a Gamecube. The gameplay is pathetic and the camera movements disorientating. What a worthless game!

I totally love Warner's Batman animation and it's cool that they do all the games in this way. Batman: Vengeance could well have turned out great as they got off to a good start by keeping all the Gothic visuals and voice actors but they seriously stumbled when it came to playability and graphics. The result is a boring game that looks incredibly cheap and is no fun to play whatsoever. I really must stress how bad the graphics are. Don't let the color schemes fool you. I've seen better stuff on a Commodore 64.

Before I get into everything that I love about this game, I want to get my problems with it out of the way. First of all... the music was alright.. but I missed Danny Elfman's theme from the animated series. it was nowhere to be found. I can understand that it was probably missing because of licensing issues or something like that, but I still would have much rather had it than the music that was there. my other big problem was the design of the joker... when batman the animated series first came out the joker looked fine. he actually had eyes, and his red lips. then he got redesigned when the show moved from the fox network to the wb saturday morning lineup along with all the other characters. while I liked all of the other redesigns I did not like the joker's at all. he has empty eyes for some reason. and his lips aren't red. and something about his hair doesn't look right at all. then when batman beyond: return of the joker came out, they again redesigned the joker for the flashback scene. this was my favorite animated design of the joker yet, and when I saw him in this game I was disappointed to see that they instead used the first redesign... it just doesn't look right to me.

other than that, this game was amazing. the plot drives the plot of the last two live action movies into the ground. the voice talent is the same from the cartoon which was great.. especially kevin conroy, michael ansara and mark hamill. these guys really bring the characters to life in a way that I don't think any other voice actor could. the controls are simple enough to understand and use. I would have liked a few more gadgets in batman's arsenal, and the sound effect for the batgrapple just wasn't right. it was just kind of a "click" and that was it... in the cartoon it has more of a punch to it. these are just a few minor gripes... nothing that really kept me from enjoying the game. two things that almost did were the length and the challenge. it felt like it ended too abruptly and it was pretty easy for the most part. I would have liked a few more in depth hand to hand boss battles. oh well.. all in all I LOVED this game and I can strongly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of batman. I played the gamecube version, so I'm not sure how other versions may compare.

Batman: Vengeance was one of the very first PS2 games I ever got. And though it does hold a special place in my heart, as a critic I'm more aware that while the game is good my diet for video games has come to understand, appreciate and demand far more than what Vengeance could have offered me at the time. That's not to say anything against the game though; the product itself is fun to play, getting t kick ass as Batman is immensely satisfying: though it's somewhat sloppy because of the sometimes rigid controls that don't really offer you complete flexibility while in play. It's not entirely surprising because this historical nugget paved the way for the likes of the Batman: Arkham games and that's saying something special about it. And the voice-cast of course reprises the actors in their respective rolls: Kevin Conroy's Bats, Mark Hamill's Joker, Arleen Sorkin's Harley, Michael Ansara's Freeze, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.'s Alfred: everyone's at the top of their game delivering a script that may have made for some truly compelling Batman: Animated Series episodes.

All said and done, this game's worth it if you're a Bat-fan and/or gamer into the history of the medium and are into seeing how franchises have evolved over the generations.

All I can say about this batman game is that it is awesome and that I can never get enough of it. The reasons what make this game so awesome is that the gameplay is awesome because it has lots of action in it the storyline is really good the computer generation is good The way they look in the game is really good because they looked just like what they looked like in the TV show. The levels are really good and they are really fun they can get a bit treakier as you get hire up in the levels but that just makes it more fun to play. Also the voice over actors are really good such as Kevin Conroy as Batman, Tara Strong as Batgirl, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred, Bob Hastings as Commissioner Jim Gordon. The villains are really good such as Mark Hamill as The Joker, Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, Michael Ansara as Mr. Freeze, Diane Pershing as Poison Ivy. So I am sure that you will not be disappointed with Batman Vengeance because it is an awesome batman video game. So make sure that you rent or buy Batman Vengeance because it is just so great.

Overall score: ********** out of **********

***** out of *****

The fact that Batman: Vengeance is purley based off the hit cartoon series does give the game some chance to actually appeal to some people.With the recent attempts to make a good Batman game,and the recent failures,some fans look at Batman: Vengeance and think that its gonna be really bad,but when you exclude all the flaws that Batman: Vengeance has,you would actually see that its a good game.Hopefully this review is helpful to you.

Visuals:9/0 The graphics are just plain beautiful,all the cinematics look wonderful and rich.What I liked most about the graphics ,is that it maintains the cartoonish feel,Batman the Joker,and Batgirl dont look like they're serious,they look like they just came right out of the cartoon.The graphics deserve an eight because the character models are a bit jaggy,but nonetheless,the CG scenes look outstanding.The animations are really good,mostly because all the mouth movements look very realistic,and the movement of Batmans cape is pretty cool.I should also add that explosians,gun effects,and stuff like that look really good,but the explosions is really what got my attention.Take my word for it,the graphics are really good,except for the fact that the character models suffer from some jaggies.

Sound:10/10 I probably like the sound most of all,all the stuff like shootings,explosions,and Batman's wird tools sound really great.The people who made this game seemed like they wanted to keep the cartoon quality alive in this game,and it they did,what I mean by that is,is that Batman has different tools and weapons,and one of his weapons is the hammer,when he smacks the enemy in the back of the head,it makes a loud,unrealistic ''DING!'' sound,but thats not a bad thing,its a good thing.Another thing that was really great about Batman: Vengeance,was that all the voice actors from the cartoon series returned for the game,and all of them did a great job,they havent lost any of thier talents from the cartoon series,they can still do the voices after all this time.Like I said,some of Batman's weapons sound cartoony,but the only one of his weapons that sounds realistic is his handcuffs,I dont know why,but I love the sound of the handcuffs.

Gameplay:7/10 People may think that this game is the same ordinary Batman game that has the same type of gameplay as all the others,but it doesnt.The gameplay is just plain fun,and whats also fun about the gameplay,is the fact that you can explore the big environments,even though there isnt much interactivity to go along with the game.The one thing that I dont really like,but I dont care for it,is that you cant really do all the stuff that Batman does in the cartoon series,like you really cant drive the Batmobile,you cant use the batgrapple anywhere you want,and so on,but tell you the truth,I dont really care for the Batgrapple,and the Batmobile,the game could have been more fun if you could use the grapple whenever you want,but the game is fine the way it is.I would have probably given the gameplay factor an nine,but I took two points off because the game was so hard and frustrating,that I nearly broke my Gamecube controller.I hated the fact that if your kind of far in the level,that if you lose,you have to restart,that really pushed me to the point to where I hated the game for a short time.

Story:9/10 The fact that this is a Batman game saves the story,but I dont really like the fact that theres some plot twists in the story.There are a couple different storys in the game,depending on which villain you have to find.The storys in the game seems like there all just cartoon episode,because again,Batman is dealing with the Joker,and the Joker has kidnapped a small child,Poison Ivy has poisoned I think the Mayor,and storys like that.Long story short,the storys that are in the game seem like they have been taken out of the cartoon.

Fun factor:8/10 How fun is this game?well,that depends,if your a person who doesnt get mad easily,you will find this game very fun,but if your a person like me,you will find this game just plain fun,but not very fun.I think this game delivers lots of fun gameplay,but the difficulty somewhat bogs the fun factor down a little bit.I think that the fun factor is the biggest part of a video game,and this game is pretty fun.The fact that you can handcuff villains,and blind them is pretty cool.I think that Batman: Vengeance is a very fun game,but it does get a bit repetitive if you have already beaten it.

Replay value:5/0 If you have already beaten Batman: Vengeance,but you didnt get all the ''envelopes'',you might go throgh the game agian.Once you have gotten all the envelopes,and have tested all the secret stuff out,you will most likely not play through the game again,since there is nothing else to do.I gave the reaplay value a five because the only unlockable thing is the envelopes that contain stuff like infinite health,and infinite items/weapons.

Difficulty:10/10 You could literally destroy your Gamecube console because this game is so hard.The first couple of levels arent really much of a challenge,but the later levels are.In some levels,there are so many enemys,to where you dont stand a chance.Some of the boss fights arent really hard at all,but I'd say that the Mr. Freeze fight is the hardest.What I hated most about the dificulty,(I mentioned it before in this review) was the fact that if your far in the level,and you lose,you have to start from either the beginning of the level,or far from where you were. Please people,do not take the difficulty level as a joke. The only thing easy about this game,is that its not hard to find your destination.

Visuals:9/10 Sound:10/10 Gameplay:7/10 Story:9/10 Fun factor:8/10 Replay value:5/10 Difficulty:10/10

Best feature:Great graphics,and outstanding voice acting.

Worst feature:TOO DAMN HARD!!

Also try:Batman Returns on SNES.

Final statement: Despite the fact that this game will nearly make you break stuff,its still a good game.

Overall score:8 out of 10.