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The Plot: I was rather looking forward to "Batman: Dark Tomorrow". The hype around the game would lead one to believe that this would actually be a good video game built around the "Batman" character. The whole "Batman" franchise certainly seemed dark and cool enough that making an enjoyable video game out of it shouldn't be that tough. Yet, the last game was the very mediocre "Batman: Vengeance". I didn't think it would be too tough to improve upon that title. Apparently, I was wrong about that. This is truly one of the worst video games I've ever played. It's just a hair short of falling over the line into being simply unplayable. It's one of those games where I'm truly amazed that not only was it released at all, but that someone could actually charge $49.99 for this piece of garbage. The first level is an indicator of the serious flaws that players will encounter with the game. Batman has to swing from building to building (for no particular reason, it seems). This keeps going...and going...and... That's tedious enough, but imagine a camera that not only can't be adjusted at all, but one that's often in the worst possible place. I'm trying to get Batman to swing across to a building that I'm not even facing, and only able to know where to go via a map in the upper corner that's difficult to work, as well. If you do swing in the right direction, it's difficult to let go at the right time to land on the ledge. There are times when you're running one way and the camera angle changes - due to the bland, repetitive level design, players may suddenly become confused on which way they're supposed to go, and go in the direction they were just running from. Sometimes it's just plain difficult to know where to go in the game. Fighting between Batman and his various enemies is also difficult thanks to the terrible camera, but it also suffers from other problems. One - it's too simplistic. Two - Batman doesn't knock out his enemies. You knock them down and have to put Batcuffs on them. If you don't, they'll get up again. Every time you put Batcuffs on, you get a cutscene. While you're going through this cutscene of putting the cuffs on, another bad guy may have gotten up. This proves to be very annoying when you're fighting more than a couple of villians at the same time. Every time Batman runs, I almost laughed, because the character runs in such a strange, awkward way that it looks like he really has to go to the bathroom. Batman does have a few of his cool Bat-gadgets along for the adventure, but they're badly handled. I've previously mentioned the batcable's problem when trying to swing around with a poor camera, but there's just nothing neat about any of the others, either. When you want to throw a batarang, you go to a different screen where you try and target your enemies. Meanwhile, they're coming after you while you try to target them. The game does save often, however, which would make it easy to continue, if there was any reason to waste more time playing this game. Did I mention the game pauses quite frequently to load? There's simply nothing fun or remotely enjoyable about "Dark Tomorrow". Just about every aspect of this game is a total disaster. Rating: 1.5/10 The DVD Graphics: "Batman: Dark Tomorrow" doesn't look like an average XBOX game. It doesn't look like an average PS2 game. It doesn't even look as good as some PS1 games. Although "Dark Tomorrow"'s cutscenes do look pretty good, the in-game graphics are terrible, and almost remarkably dated. The difference between the quality of the cutscenes and the game itself is so great that it's almost strange that these two parts make up the same game. The game's developers were obviously seeking that dark, shadowy Gotham City look of the Batman comics. They got it half right - the game just looks dark. Textures, lighting and character models are poor, and some of the environments are just plain ugly looking. Given the darkness, it's occasionally difficult to even see what you're doing. I've already mentioned the animation of Batman running earlier in the review, which looks embarassing. A game that looks like this should not be released on any of the three major video game systems out right now. Rating: 2/10 Sound: The game's soundtrack is the only halfway decent aspect about it. Voice acting from the entire cast is above average, but the problem is that some of the dialogue is almost laughable. Sound effects are very plain and lack any sort of impact. Worse yet, the game is really only in stereo, not 5.1. Rating: 6/10 Gameplay: To summarize - the controls are clumsy and the fighting lacks depth; the camera is so bad that it not only makes the game nearly unplayable, it may make some players somewhat nauseated. Rating: 0/10 Rating Issues: The game is rated "T" (Teen) for animated violence. There's nothing about it that's too graphic (mainly because the game is so dark you can't see much of what's going on). Final Thoughts: This is a game so amazingly poor that I can't believe it actually made it to store shelves. The game offers absolutely horrible camera, poor graphics, weak sound and no entertainment value. Absolutely, positively not recommended. Not even recommended in the $9.99 bargain bin where it will be found within a month. |