NEWS - Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Batman Begins: First Details
While EA and Eurocoms first partnership didnt exactly warrant much trust with the horrid Catwoman, the recently released Batman Begins could, and very well should, be a different story. We know that because of our paid subscription to Game Informer, which has given us new details behind the upcoming action-stealth game. Due to ship on Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube in summer 2005 simultaneously with the Warner Brothers movie, Eurocoms Batman Begins is a one- to two-player action-stealth game shaped along the lines of Ubisofts Splinter Cell. The game follows the narrative of the movie, which is re-written by Splinter Cell writer JT Petty. It follows the main points from the movie using cutscenes and scripted events. The movie is based on Frank Millers 1980s excellent Batman: Year One. So its natural that players take on the role of a young Batman at the beginning of his superhero career. Theyll prowl the streets of Gotham City, crawl up water pipes, and swoop down from skyscrapers (using Batmans cape) to strike fear into the hearts of the citys rank criminals. Eurocom has designed a fear meter that measures enemies heartbeats, giving players cause to earn a reputation as a frightening figure throughout the course of the game. A little like THQs The Punisher, Batman can incapacitate or interrogate, though Batman doesnt kill. Instead, he threatens and applies force, knocking enemies unconscious. Interrogation gains the night-prowling detective information but it doubles as a way to upgrade your reputation too. Instead of key and lock level progression schemes, players find passwords, kingpin locations, and acquire enemy goals to further the story. Although players will primarily play as the Dark Knight, following the arch of the movie, theyll also get a chance to backtrack in time and take on the role of Bruce Wayne in training. Batman sports the trusty Batarang, Eurocom is likely to announce more weapons and gadgets as time progresses. Hell use stealth as his primary weapon, though Batmans natural athleticism enables him to throw elbows, knees, head-butts, punches, kicks, and sweep kicks to defeat enemies. He can also use environmental objects to scare enemies, including the ability to hang from pipes and fire escapes to quietly snatch and interrogate guards. Well have more on Batman Begins, due to ship in summer 2005 on Xbox, PS2, and GameCube, shortly.Source: http://xbox.ign.com