Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu

Written by Chris Reiter  on December 02, 2003

Full Review: Defenseless woman: УSave me, Batman!Ф
Batman swoops in to the rescue: УWhy, what's the matter?Ф
Defenseless woman cries out: УI bought your latest game!Ф
Batman frowns.

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Riddle to the night. A mystery to anyone who has or hasn't met him. Batman, the super hero driven by revenge and feared by every vigilante who dares to challenge the Caped Crusader, is but a man in a pair of black and gray tights. From comics, cartoons, cinematic features...trading cards, toy figurines, and video games: the one known as the Dark Knight has seen his share of iconic mediums many times over the past 50 years, even more so than any other of DC Comics' greatest known men of action, drama, and sheer suspense. Ubi Soft, the company also responsible for this gaming generation's Batman: Vengeance action title two years ago, have thought, thinked, and thunked up something totally different this time for a newly polished Batman idea. Unlike your typical Batman actioner, the man who knows no fear and instills that into everyone else is now spreading his wings for his first-ever next generation brawler based on the WB's Batman animated series, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.

Every hero has his or her arch enemy. Equals until the one of them has dealt his or her last blow. The Joker for a long time was known as Batman's evil twin. Insane with relentless malicious laughter, this clown is responsible for the death of the Bat's parents after all. But no, now a greater foe than any Batman has ever faced surfaces from out of nowhere. Over seas on the shores of China, Sin Tzu was once a brilliant war strategist, well-endowed in martial arts and able to mature masterful tactics that became infallible whenever mobilized. Eventually growing weary of conquering those opponents who were no-match for his uber statistics to begin with, Sin set out to find any who could match his will for an even fight. As a mere man who's guarded an entire Gotham City from many nemesis encounters undefeated, Sin now conjures up three of Batman's most malignant challengers -- Scarecrow, Clayface, and Bane -- in a dangerous conflict where brains and brawn will collide.

As cool a character Batman has always been, few strong suited moments in video game history have ever been kind to the masked legend. If not for basing its Batman: Vengeance game on the popular animated WB Batman series of the past, Ubi Soft's last moments spent with the justice dealer might not have turned out as possibly the best known Batman gaming venture in existence. With that ideal in mind, you'd think dishing out a second course on the animated series that has since been canned would smooth out the kinks in a straightforward brawler. And as much as I have admired the cartoon in the past as well as a number of other Batman run-ins, I can't express in enough words how dreadful it is to become Batman himself, his partners in fighting crime, and perform the art of ass kicking through an increasingly repetitive channel in button mashing galore.

Different from Vengeance, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu allows you, or with someone you know (like a friend for example...if you have any), to select your preferred choice or choices amongst the four major hero characters from the show -- Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing -- and to follow a series of stages where you'll confront as many enemies as it takes to grant players a set of blisters the size of Gotham City itself. Viewed from an overhead and sideways perspective, hoodlums represented each by the main villain they serve appears out of manholes, doorways, panels in the floor, and other places, charging in at you in groups of three and up to around six or seven at a time. Ironically and very unlike Sin Tzu's said qualifications, thrashing multiple enemy lines doesn't really require any kind of thinking skill here. Saved for the boss fights that show up after a few levels are complete, you can just throw your brain out the window for the most part as one three-button combo will slaughter ganging opponents many, many times.

Combos are the saving grace for this otherwise disappointing game...but more on that later. Every level functions almost precisely the same as the one before it. A small variety of some with weapons and others without types of bad guys will come at you on screen wielding wooden planks, crow bars, using the objects around them (e.g., large crates, chairs, radioactive canisters), or will even brandish their own form of hurt, like in the Clayface levels, the characters' arms will transform into hitting objects to bludgeon you or your team to death. What sucks about the combat is that in almost every recurring encounter you'll be outnumbered severely, since the only way to neutralize certain weapon-carrying enemies (which punish you more so than the ones without them) is to either reach their position and hit them or to stun them using an object in your bat buckle arsenal (from batarangs, to smoke bombs, and even a swinging bat grapple maneuver). Some of the problems with managing those enemies who carry weapons though, are that most weapons can be tossed at you from afar, including explosive devices that will cause your health meter to diminish greatly. Because the enemies like to hover around the player in large circles, it's sometimes difficult to reach specific targets directly and immediately. Unfortunately, you cannot acquire the weapons enemies drop. However, there'll be health and accessories like icons that increase your special combo meter or smoke pellets you can pick up from fallen enemies along the way -- it's just that the most relevant of these elements don't appear as often as needed.

Deliberately adding more pain and suffering to the already obvious torture system in beating these brutes up left and right are the missions provided throughout every stage. Stepping into a level right away will have you pummeling and pounding your way into its core and up to its finale -- but first, you must finish a bevy of challenges that won't hinder your fighting stance that's already being established. It's just that when the goal consists of something like saving a person from a stronger-than-the-rest goon or in diffusing a bomb by simply punching or kicking your way to the spot in which each target rests before the timer runs out isn't exactly a brain teaser, nor is it fun. This particular ritual repeats many more times in almost every single level, so get ready to be wowed out of your mind...that is to say, dulled by the monotonous procedure.

Now that the worst is over, it's time for some good. Combos, as mentioned before, are the key to what separates the jog-trot from the novel concept in interesting gameplay. Aside from the more seldom used features like deploying stun objects (R2), guarding (L2), or dashing (R1), the combos are presented from each of the four face buttons allows players to kick, punch, jump, or grab opponents rather easily. Two, three, and sometimes four button presses in a row, a combination of taps, or if the power meter is lit all the way (a special gauge that fills to the top as you progress) you can access special powers then and only then when the bar lets you. Adding a little incentive so you don't just use any combo, you'll also receive bonus points for how well each string of button presses is pulled off. Each time a level is finished, the points ranked up total on a score sheet where you can add new and more devastating moves to your arsenal. The only problem with combos, however, is beating individual enemies is such a minuscule task you never actually need to be aware of more than a few button keys at a time. Pressing square three times, every time will have your character continuously punching, and getting most of the thugs off your back rather efficiently. Of course, if you've got a thing for stylistic nostalgia, then by all means rewarding yourself for all the dozens of clones you'll have to confront with lots and lots of Batastic movements will be worth the blistering consistency of your fingers against the controller.

Unlocking and performing new combinations isn't the only thing the game's got going for it, though. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu has a decent amount of extras and another playable mode so that the twelve missions in all throughout the primary mode aren't the only path that will drive you batty. Performing well throughout the game for instance opens the doors to the Challenge mode, which basically tests you or you and someone else's might to endure inside entire rooms filled with 20, 40, 60 or more men, depending on the difficulty that's selected. Outside of that, there's a trophy room where by spending your hard earned points on this feature will let you view 3D models of the game's characters or concept art from the making of the game. Other prospects such as a making of Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Feature and a trailer for Batman's latest direct-to-video cartoon film, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, can also be seen through the bonus materials, granted you have any level of interest in the super hero's surplus exploits.

For those of you who remember the animated Batman series on the WB (and had also been a follower of the show), you'll be pleased to know that like its Vengeance predecessor, Rise of Sin Tzu adapts to the style the show presented visually. Except for the fact that this is a different kind of game and all, fans now get a different interpretation (in a teenier sized method, and in cut scenes that use hybrids of blocky computerized character and cartoon models from the show), which is ultimately worse off than before. Instead of larger 3D worlds and models, players will view the beatings downward at a petite palette of remedial figures beating the crap out of you, or you to them. That's not saying that there's nothing good to look at, it's just there's you or your team of super heroes, many identical goons, some background detail to mask the appearance as though you're inside an office building with tables along the walls for instance, and a few breakable objects (by that, I mean the kind the enemy will pick up to toss your way) scattered here and there. Coming across a detailed scheme of texture is unfounded too, in the bland assortments of alleyway, dock, waste factory, ship, and other similar level designs that are almost as exciting to look at as it is to lay down the enemies within (I repeat: not very).

Lucky for Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, it's got lots of combos. These of course equal a whole hearty meal of animations to fill up your eyeballs on. Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing all have a distinctive style with their own set of signature moves from the cartoon. For example, where Batman is the slowest but most powerful character, he'll appear to be rolling out punches and flipping enemies on their backs like the Hulk that he is; where the new and improved pint-sized Robin is the quickest but weakest character, he'll be jetting across the screen like a baby on speed; and where Batgirl or Nightwing are more balanced characters, they'll crack some bad guy bones and look good doing it in traces you might remember on the show. Even cooler sometimes is how you and enemies react to the level. Certain moves will have you slamming gang members into cement and watching crack lines indent there, while other moments you'll be able to attack explosive barrels that not only blow away all the enemies around you, but also yourself if you're close enough, in a soaring backwards motion. There's also some moderately executed special effects to see here -- from enemies who fire homing missiles, to falling rockets overhead, to even the way in which the Scarecrow's men toss gas grenades that distort the screen and mutate the enemy from normal to skeletons and pumpkin headed deformations.

Getting your ears wet in a dive through any game's sound can have a greater or a lesser effect. In the art of diving, you obviously want the most out of your jump. Here, for the most part, the latter are the only part you'll have to hear. Chronicling Rise of Sin Tzu's background soundtrack can be best described as a light rock theme. Electric guitars jam in the background so softly that they'll hardly be noticeable at all sometimes, so that they're never a headache on the mind. The only thing is that if the music were louder, it wouldn't exactly come off as a thoroughly enjoyable set either. Sound effects on the other hand, though, can be detected anywhere. They're there when you mop the floor with the countless crews coming after you, they're there when you run along the surfaces of a level, and they're even there when exploding objects are taking off. Not bad, but not fantastic either, this aspect is made up of your by-no-means-better-than-any-other filler in for the day.

Within the speaking roles for Rise of Sin Tzu lies something of a quandary. For one thing, the full cast of characters from the Batman animated series (at least for those who feed off their respective duties) return to act the parts they are fully meant for. Activated after every mission is done and over with, a story sequence assembles Batman and Batman alone attempting to investigate the arrival of Sin Tzu in Gotham City. You'd think Nightwing, Batgirl, or Robin would be part of all of this, although they're not...and because of that, if you chose to pick either of them and not Batman in the story mode, you'll find the narrative otherwise divided by the gameplay on a major level. When the combat is aflame, though, each of the fantastic four has a thing or two to say to the dummies who really think they have a chance. Potent for appeasing those ear drums of yours, in any form, is not likely as not only will the brutes you're up against keep speaking the same and only few lines they know, from, "Get him/her!" or "Thrash him/her!" with the added bonus of irritating grunts in abundance, but so will the animated wonders. Muting the volume on this beat 'em up might serve a purposeful cause if you're one of those unfortunate enough to actually be playing the game.