Late to the party - SammiiDoogles Review

[SammiiDoogles]

So i'm a little late to this, I Haven't had chance to get the game at all for numerous reasons, But two days ago my friend lent me his copy for me to play untill i get everything i want (which will be a platinum trophy )

Anyway, i just finished it (20/20 Upgrades, 198/240 Riddles, 38/42 bios, 80% complete), and i thought i'd write a few things about it...

I'll go with the Negatives first, so they can be washed away by good


Negatives:

• Dialog and Narrative is extremely off in places, Batman would never have said "I Eat punks like them for breakfast". Also the Riddlers riddle about the mutilated baby is out of character, as fitting to the setting that riddle was, it didnt fit the riddler - Hes intelligent and Egotistical - Not a baby killer. It's more of a thing i'd expect Joker to say...
• Some boss fights (I'm looking at you Ivy) were nothing more than a pain in the ass, Ivy was overpowered to a stupid extent - I know her plants were on Titan but thats no excuse for her SPORES to do so much damage when they clip you as your roll out of the way, Two healthbars made it tedious and sometimes the vines were impossible to escape.
  

Nitpicks:

• Batman can look stiff at times
• Sometimes in the story batman takes a pointlessly difficult way around things (e.g. Why didnt he just call the Batwing to fly through the glasshouse into Ivy's titan plant to end that horrendous fight?)
• The thing on the front of the Armoured suit kinda makes it look like a gimp mask...
• Smoke Pellets?...

Positive Points:

• Riddles are fantastic, most are easy to think of the solution, But finding them can sometimes be tricky, but for ones like Scarecrows secret place to plan - they are satisfying. It's nice to see significant nods to other characters, and done well. Its the first time that finding collectibles in a game has been fun.
• Invisible Predator and FreeFlow combat are both brilliant make you feel like batman
• Walking through the empty asylum before the "party" really feels epic and makes you feel like you've just been through hell and its all over soon, its a feeling not many games can acheive.
• The Gadgets are brilliant, and good fun to play with your food by making them run to a wall covered in Explosive gel, lured by a sonic batarang...
• One of the most fun games overall i have played in a long time

Score:


Graphics - 9
Textures sometimes take a while to show
Sound - 10
Voice acting is brilliant, especially from Conroy and Hamill, Music is great also, so are sound effects.
Story - 8.5
Good story overall, but some bad moments and a slightly anticlimatic ending
Extras - 10
DLC, Challenge Rooms, Riddles, Collectibles, Trophies - Lots to do

Overall - 9.38

Good game, Almost perfect - Misses some things which would've made it 11/10.

-Sam

Hey diddle diddle, Time for a riddle.

What does BATMAN eat for Breakfast?


The answer is....

[Riddling Artist]

hmm... me thinks youre on to something good review sam

oh and i agree with you on a lot of those things. umm... am i forgetting something... oh yeah... as much as i loved the nods i didnt like the limited use of villains. just like 5? really?

[SammiiDoogles]

Forgot to add this little beauty i made....

[Riddling Artist]

Originally Posted by SammiiDoogles

Forgot to add this little beauty i made....

lol its paart of every kickers balanced diet

[The Comedian]

i still think 8.5/10 but i agree with most of your points.

[Solomon Grundy]

I agree but Combat Challenges are a big hassle. I give it a 9/10 and best game of the year so far.

[Prince Daka]

Man, who the heck are you to say what is correct for Batman & Riddler to say?

And Poison Ivy's plants aren't really that tough if you are patient & let the spores come out first. Hit them with the multi-batarangs, then destroy the pod. As for fighting her & her big plant, just use the quick batarangs & the evade button appropriately. Ivy isn't that tough.

[SammiiDoogles]

Originally Posted by Prince Daka

Man, who the heck are you to say what is correct for Batman & Riddler to say?

And Poison Ivy's plants aren't really that tough if you are patient & let the spores come out first. Hit them with the multi-batarangs, then destroy the pod. As for fighting her & her big plant, just use the quick batarangs & the evade button appropriately. Ivy isn't that tough.

Well, if you have actually read any of the comics you'd know that its out of character for the Riddler and Batman to have said those things, and i know of the people i've spoken to agree.

And yes i know how to defeat Ivy, I Was just saying it was an annoying boss fight whereas they could've done more and made something less annoying, more fun and more original.

There's always one...

[Ark Em]

Originally Posted by SammiiDoogles

Well, if you have actually read any of the comics you'd know that its out of character for the Riddler and Batman to have said those things, and i know of the people i've spoken to agree.

Yes, but which comics? It's a pretty broad category- unless we're just going to limit ourselves to the current decade. This seems to be a common complaint online, but it's something that wouldn't have seemed out of place in the Animated Series.

I thought a few of Conroy's other lines were a lot more awkward. For example, after the very first fight when he tells Joker, "If you THINK I'll let you..." There's also a couple of "I will NOT let this happen" type of lines that he delivers to Oracle which seemed off. Sure, they may fit the modern character a little better, but they were still extremely heavy-handed.

"I eat punks like that for breakfast" is a very 80s expression, so maybe that aspect is simply lost on younger gamers? One thing I like about the game is that it does seem to draw upon a wide range of Batman's history. You have hints of everything from Burton's films to the animated series and even Adam West's tv series*.

(*Well...depending on how much you want to read into that Yvonne/Penny comparison or Batman's running animation. )

[thebatman226]

Originally Posted by Ark Em

"I eat punks like that for breakfast" is a very 80s expression

Its not the 80s anymore.
It was a horrible line.

[Ark Em]

Originally Posted by thebatman226

Its not the 80s anymore.

But since the game doesn't limit itself to one particular incarnation of Batman, it's really not that out of place. I could see the character saying it in the 80s or early 90s- especially with Dini's involvement.

I'm not suggesting the line isn't cheesy...just that it's hardly the only line that falls flat in the game. It's not as though Batman is above saying something heavy-handed.

[Prince Daka]

Originally Posted by SammiiDoogles

Well, if you have actually read any of the comics you'd know that its out of character for the Riddler and Batman to have said those things, and i know of the people i've spoken to agree.

And yes i know how to defeat Ivy, I Was just saying it was an annoying boss fight whereas they could've done more and made something less annoying, more fun and more original.

There's always one...

I've read every comic Riddler has ever starred in, & I thought the thing about the mutilated baby was hilarious. It also reminded me of that comic arc when Riddler was possessed by some demon & almost killed a baby by throwing it out of a moving car.

And I'm still asking - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO SAY WHAT RIDDLER & BATMAN CAN SAY???

You are no Paul Dini.

[brodudeman1]

Ahhhhhhhh. I just came back Sammii and i am disappointed in your review. Hey it is your opinion!

[brodudeman1]

Originally Posted by Prince Daka

I've read every comic Riddler has ever starred in, & I thought the thing about the mutilated baby was hilarious. It also reminded me of that comic arc when Riddler was possessed by some demon & almost killed a baby by throwing it out of a moving car.

And I'm still asking - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO SAY WHAT RIDDLER & BATMAN CAN SAY???

You are no Paul Dini.

Wow to much there bud. I agree with the riddler story line but dont bash. I want to here about how the riddles where to easy in the game. Oh yes i belive a person will jump on this saying "there is a foram for that!" Well to late drop it. It was a great game.

[thebatman226]

Originally Posted by Prince Daka

I've read every comic Riddler has ever starred in, & I thought the thing about the mutilated baby was hilarious. It also reminded me of that comic arc when Riddler was possessed by some demon & almost killed a baby by throwing it out of a moving car.

And I'm still asking - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO SAY WHAT RIDDLER & BATMAN CAN SAY???

You are no Paul Dini.

So youre saying because hes not Paul Dini, he cant have his own take on the characters and what they would and wouldnt say?
Thats like saying because youre not Jim Lee you cant draw Batman, kinda stupid.

[Old_BenKenobi]

The "I eat punks like them for breakfast" is either lifted from TDKR or would fit really well in it.

[fatal shadow]

Originally Posted by SammiiDoogles

Sound - 10
Voice acting is brilliant, especially from Conroy and Hamill

Most people mention them only (obvious why), but I think Henry Polic II did an equally good job.

[Ensanguined Walls]

The "I eat these guys for breakfast" was a cringeworthy line. It sounded far too Frank Miller for my liking, and it was simply bad writing. In fact, I wasn't very impressed with much of Dini's storytelling in this videogame, from the dialogue to his stale climax.

[Ensanguined Walls]

Originally Posted by fatal shadow

Most people mention them only (obvious why), but I think Henry Polic II did an equally good job.

Henry Polic II did not voice Scarecrow. According to the official credits, that was Dino Andrade...

[fatal shadow]

Oh bugger. You're right.

Edit: After a bit of investigation, it seems false info in regards to the voice talents' cast had been put up on a lot of websites as "official". Among this was Polic II voicing Scarecrow, and even the small bit with "Poor little Bat!" did sound like him. I didn't catch the actual voice actor during the credits, so thanks for pointing that out.

[Drazar]

Originally Posted by SammiiDoogles

[*]Dialog and Narrative is extremely off in places, Batman would never have said "I Eat punks like them for breakfast". Also the Riddlers riddle about the mutilated baby is out of character, as fitting to the setting that riddle was, it didnt fit the riddler - Hes intelligent and Egotistical - Not a baby killer. It's more of a thing i'd expect Joker to say...

So ye be saying you didn't like Grim, Dark, Edgy, Super-Grim-Dark Riddler? Prepostorius, get the sea rat and make the lad walk on the plank!

Originally Posted by Prince Daka

And I'm still asking - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO SAY WHAT RIDDLER & BATMAN CAN SAY???

You are no Paul Dini.

He be expressing his opinions you capslocker, yarr! He be saying that the lines felt out of touch ye see? Sammi be reading dem Paul Dini comics from the lad's Detective comics and modern comics, ye see?!

[ItsHenry99]

It would be preety hard flying the batwing 4 two reasons

1. It could get destroyed and Batman will not like 2 destroyed lol

2. It seems he has got to put i code in for the batwing to fly to that direction and batman does not have enough time to dodge and put it in =)

[Frontastic]

Originally Posted by SammiiDoogles

Forgot to add this little beauty i made....

Hahaha, classic.

What are talking about smoke pellets? What smoke pellets?

The 'punks' line bothered me on my first playthrough but I noticed on the second that the Joker says it to Batman early-ish in the game and then when Batman says it again later it seems more like hes saying it like a running joke to Joker, as we all know Joker can see him the whole time. Thats how I justify it but otherwise yeah its an awful line.

[Batman The Trailer Hunter]

I round it to a 9.5

[CaptainMcMulla]

Originally Posted by Batman The DLC Hunter

I round it to a 9.5

I'll round it to a 10