Title: Batman Begins .............................................. Developer: Eurocom .............................................. Publisher: Electronic Arts .............................................. Release: Summer 2005 .............................................. Xbox Live: No .............................................. ESBR: ..............................................

Let’s face it, video games based on Hollywood blockbusters or comic books mostly suck. Although there have been a few exceptions in movie based games such as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay as well as Spider-man 2, those two titles alone aren’t going to be enough to redeem games based on movies from being an utter laughing stock. But if you give an experienced developer enough time to work with a game set in a well known comic book universe that stars one of the coolest if not the coolest heros of all time, what do you get? You get Batman Begins, a game based on the new Batman flick to be released in the summer of 2005 in which the game will be released around the same time as the film.

The one thing that surprised me most about Batman Begins is that its not your typical beat ‘em up as most movie games tend to end up being. Batman Begins is actually a stealth/action game in which you obviously play as the beloved Dark Knight we’ve all come to know over the years. Playing as Batman, you’ll be reaching into his utility belt quite often for you can use the cool gadgetry we’ve all come to know over the years, such as the Batarang, to take down Gotham City scum. Batman has a bunch of abilities that haven’t been revealed but so far we do know that you can hug walls (as in every stealth game) and glide in the air by using Batman’s cape (awesome!).

In Batman Begins, you have to gain a reputation among the villains of Gotham City because wearing a Halloween costume isn’t enough to scare somebody. Enemies have a meter that shows their heart rate. Striking fear into your foes as an imposing threat has tremendous potential to be incredibly fun for the player is no longer the victim of fear as in most games that exist today. Players have to plan the right time to pop out and scare the enemies. There is also the option to interrogate enemies to get vital information out of them, such as where to go and what to do to overcome obstacles that you’ll face throughout the course of the game.

Batman Begins features large, detailed environments for players to explore. Levels such as Arkahm Asylum have multiple paths for players to take and trigger different events that happen in passing a specific path. If every map has multiple pathways with different consequences than there is certainty that there will be a lot of replay value in store for players.

Batman Begins could be another installment in the exceptional movie games genre of gaming. But from what I have seen, Batman Begins shouldn’t be a laughing stock among gamers. It may very well be the best super hero game of 2005. Only time will tell and I am eagerly waiting for Batman Begins with high expectations sure to be filled when its releases.