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Terrible!! A huge let down.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

There are somethings I'll never understand. Basic Geometry, how Michael Bolton became successful.....and how a great and iconic character like Batman can never have a decent video game. The first Batgame for Playstation 2, Vengence, had it's moments. Though it wasn't "great" it at least felt like a Batman game. Batman Dark Tomorrow was an outright disaster. And now it looks like Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu continues the downward slide for the Dark Knight.

Rise of Sin Tzu's biggest downfall is it's gameplay. Where as Vengence attempted to be more of an adventure oriented game, Rise of Sin Tzu takes an entirely different approach. It's pretty much a straight forward beat 'em up game. But unfortunatley it doesn't know how to keep you interested in it to make you keep wanting to play. The game descends into punching and kicking your way past various non-descript bad guys and the occassional gas bomb lobbed in to the fray by the villain the Scarecrow. Two players can play in a co-operative mode simultaneously but it does little to change the gameplay. The game is interesting for about ten minutes then boredom quickley sets in. After the first few levels I could see that there was pretty much nothing else this game had to offer.

The graphics on this game are decent. Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing all move with convincing ease and fluidity. But the environments are rather plain and sterile. They look like they could be just about any street anywhere. There was nothing to indicate that this was Gotham City. It could have been Cleveland for I knew. The sound was also very generic. Sure Batman and company uttered some pretty good "one liners", but it got old fast.

The controls are very easy to manage. They are however wasted on a game like this. The time it will take you to become accustomed to the controls is maybe about five to ten minutes.

This game managed to let me down on just about every level. I'm not even sure if a hardcore Batfan would even enjoy it. Ubi Soft has shamelessly squandered the potential for this licence. At this point the only thing that I think would inject new life into the franchise is if the game license changed hands and went to a company like Activision, Electronic Arts, Eidos or anyone else. If you can track down a copy of Batman: Vengence, you would be better served playing that. Though not perfect it's the better of the two Batman games.

Useless

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: December 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ho-hum,another Bat-game. Well,at least I got this with an Amazon gift certificate. So,at least I didn't have to actually purchase this myself. If you play one level,well,you've played them all.
Do yourself a favor,and rent this game. You do not want to purchase it.
Maybe someday we will get a really good Batman game.

bugs !!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game has great graphics, great moves on the characters and it looks and feels like the animated show. Too bad it has wasn't really finished.

First, the voices don't always comes out, second the music either sounds like an old scratched LP or doesn't sounds at all, and third and most important, it freezes.

This game is hard to play and there's nothing wrong with it but having the game freeze several times while playing making you lost your progress it's frustrating.

Too bad this game was not better debugged before release, don't buy it.

Too mmmrepititive

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game is too repititive.In the first 3 levels you only rescue civilians.then you get to fight scarecrow.then you get to defuse bombs for 3 levels then fight clayfaceThen in the next level you again rescue civilians.after that i stopped playing.dont buy it

THE ONLY RISE IS LEVEL OF BOREDOM

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: November 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Another Batman game for the PS2. Can you tell I'm excited. That's because I'm not.

This is UBI Soft's second game based on the Batman animated series. The first, "Batman: Vengeance" had it's problems, but it had a great storyline, beautiful cut scenes, and some genuinely exciting levels. While "Vengeance" was a third-person adventure in the same vein as "Tomb Raider" or "Enter the Matrix" with its puzzle solving and switch hunting, this follow-up is a straight beat 'em up action brawler like "Final Fight". Players can choose to patrol the streets of Gotham as Batman or one of his "family" members: Robin, Batgirl, or Nightwing. It doesn't really matter who you pick though, because all the characters have the same moves. Variety is not this games strong point.

"Rise of Sin Tzu" loses it's fun value after about 5 minutes. After that, it's just level after level of fighting the same guys over and over and over and over again. A rewards system allows you to purchase new abilities, a la "The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers". While you would think this would add more replay value, it doesn't because the special moves aren't that great and are the same for all 4 characters.

The cut scenes mostly consist of Batman talking to various Gotham characters through a two-way radio. The colors in the cinematics are much brighter than the ones from "Vengeance", making them seem much more cartoony. And then there's the plot. Anyone who's read Batman comic's "Hush" or "Knightfall" storylines won't be impressed with this game's story. A new villain uses members of Batman's rogue's gallery to tire out the Dark Knight before a major strike.

The new foe is Sin Tzu, a warfare, general, conqueror, genius type of guy. He was unenthusiastically created by Jim Lee. He has a Yin-Yang figure on his forehead and he's Asian. Real original. On a positive note, the game uses other villains such as The Scarecrow, Bane, and Clayface instead of such overused characters like The Joker or Mr. Freeze.

And back on the negative side, the dialogue in this game is horrible. The original cast from the Animated Series can be heard mumbling some of the worst lines in the franchise. At one point Batman proclaims that, "Bombs are for cowards!"

Overall, a boring waste of money. I rented this for only $5 and I'm disappointed. Don't make a mistake and pay a full $40 to own this dribble.

Batman of the Rings

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: July 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Batman of the Rings.

This has got to stop. Given the sheer quality of the Batman animated series, it blows me away that the games can be so sub-par. The games appear to be made for six year olds while the series itself often deals with concepts and ideas that are beyond them. How many other animated series have people dragged into drug rehab centers to see what drugs do to their kids or the level of sexual tension between Batman and Catwoman? There is no reason that I can see that a Batman or Superman game cannot approach the level of quality in game play that can be achieved by such titles as the Legacy of Kain series, Spider-Man or even SOCOM.

In playing through Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, it dawned on me that I was probably going to wear out my Xbox controller given the sheer number of times I had to mash the buttons just to beat up wave after wave of bad guys. Quite literally, you are a one man (or woman) army against a never ending parade of thugs- Batman never beat up this many guys in an entire season of the cartoon! And it's always the same- work your way through some goons before you can move to the next area, (you cannot progress down a hallway thanks to invisible force fields that fade once you whack the previous area's bad guys), and pray you do it fast enough before the civilian dies or the bomb explodes. I hate artificial limitations in games- it smacks of bad design. I expect obstacles, but not overly obvious time wasters.

Either this game uses the Lord of the Rings game engine, or its an incredibly accurate copy. The game play is the same- earn XP to buy combat moves and special abilities or coins to unlock trophies to view. I wouldn't mind that so much, but the game play never changes- rush into an area, follow-the-path, and pound bad guys- that's it, that's all. In all honesty, it should have been more like the Spider-Man games- more three-dimensional movement and the ability to gain ground from opponents and search out health power ups if you get too low. Graphically, it is one big piece of eye candy as areas are beautifully detailed and effects are lively while the colors are vibrant, just like the animated series. All the voice actors are there as well, making pithy one-liners as they punch out the villains. The music is superb all around, and Carey Tagawa does an awesome job voicing Sin Tzu.

The combat system is neat, but too limited by its design and game premise. Earning more powerful attacks and combos is a great idea, but you are hampered by your environment, even though you're meant to use it against your foes, as they will against you. You can't explore- it's all combat. No ability to jump on to objects or climb, no real use of what Batman is known for- he's a detective! He solves crimes, but in this case his methodology involves beating up every scumbag in Gotham until he gets the right ones. The cut scenes are all Batman-based, so it's a little disconcerting when you defeat Clayface as Batgirl only to swap to Batman for the movie.

This game loses so many points for its annoying features- artificial impediments, being a fighting game masquerading as an adventure game, stupid mission goals that only vary between protect the civilian, protect the door, and disarm the bombs. And don't give me one way and only one way to beat the end-level boss, let me devise my own or pick from a list of possibilities. Make me think, let me solve puzzles, not just bash things, it gets old very fast. So mega points for the look and sound of the game, but minus loads of kudos for everything else. Let me jump, swing, climb, swim, explore, drive, and fly, not just follow the game designer's whims and the path they have laid out for me. I expect more for my money and so should you.

Don,t buy this game!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: May 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is A OK when you start playing the game .BUT........beware this game SUCKS!all you have to do is save civilians, defuse bombs and defeat a bunch of bad guys.Buy better games like "Lord of the rings : The return of the King OR WWE Samckdown Here comes the Pain"C, mon save your $19.99. And this game is also too short. I mean only 12 levels.But if u wanna buy this game fine , BUT IT,S YOUR BAD LUCK.

Poor excuse for a game sequel

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The review titled "Batman of the Rings" puts it best as far as my qualms with this game so I won't bother to repeat them. I would like to say that I am very disappointed in what this game had to offer. In Batman: Vengeance. You got to explore, glide, fight, be strategic and be a detective, with Batman's entire arsenal from the TV show that we have come to know and love. None of this takes place in "Rise of Sin Tzu." You just fight and you fight an ungodly amount of thugs which just seems that the whole city of Gotham has strapped on their roughest clothing and a machine gun just to get Batman. If this game had come out as a new Streets of Rage game, I would have been much more impressed. In my opinion, the new villain, Sin Tzu was a horrible make up. I believe they should have picked from the other villains already created by DC or the Animated Series. I personally would have liked to have seen Red Claw (the international terrorist from Batman TAS) in the place of Sin Tzu. They wouldn't have had to think up a new story for her and she would be cold and calculating, also taking over Gotham City with an iron fist. The designers could have made a much more interesting storyline with her as the lead villain.

To wrap this up, the designers should have followed the trend of the Onimusha trilogy; subtle changes in each game and each story (using the smash hit game as a template) to keep the player excited, guessing what's next and wanting more, instead of trying to fix something that ain't broke. It should have been similar to its prequel, Batman: Vengeance, which was a great game. This game will continue to collect dust because the replay value stinks, the storyline stinks, and game play is absolutely raunchy compared to Batman: Vengeance. Fellow fans, they dropped the bar WAY LOW for this one. Caveat Emptor!

what kind of batman game is this???!!!!!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok,what kind of batman game have you heard about,whear you can"t move freely? I don"t know why pepole don"t say stuff like that in there reviews but come on!!!!!! all the space you have is a tiny road to folow. and there is only like three or four gagets,and you can not jump good at all,the camera dosen"t even folow you some times.If you are a true batman fan then this game is a waste of money.

Batman returns with the gang

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: November 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The premise was so promising: Play not only as Batman, but as Robin, Batgirl, and (finally!) Nightwing! Put them doing some amazing moves, and throw in a villian created by Jim Lee (of the "Hush" storyline earlier this year). How could you lose? Well, they somehow found a way. Fighting is cool at first, and as you "buy" the more impressive moves, it looks better at each turn. Unfortunately, the game's levels are identical. You either rescue the civilians or diffuse the bombs before they go off. After doing that for an eternity, you are rewarded with a boss battle, then it's back to the timed events. Unfortunately, the cooler moves you purchase take a few seconds to execute, and when you're timed, you can't afford to use those precious moments to look good. If they'd removed the timer, it would have been ok. If they'd scored on style and finesse, it would be ok. If they'd just give you a little free movement here and there rather than "go down this hall, now turn right", it would be ok. Instead, we are given the same basic level a hundred times and are penalized for doing fancy stuff with it. If they'll keep the premise and redo the game completely, they'll have a winner on their hands. As it is, it's a rental that you'll bore of long before it's due back.

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