Batman Begins

Written by D'Marcus Beatty  on March 29, 2005

First Impressions: Sam Fisher meets Bruce Wayne.

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There's no doubt that superheroes are finding their way back into the mainstream. With the deluge of crime-fighters hitting both the big screen and videogames, it's hard to look anywhere and not see a costumed do-gooder. This summer, one of comicdom's favorite heroes will tell his origin, both on the movie screen and on consoles.

Batman Begins will tell the story of a young Dark Knight as he starts his career. At the beginning of his tenure as the Batman, he isn't really as known or respected the way that fans expect him to be. Batman Begins allows players to gradually build up Batman's reputation and help him survive his initial superheroing.

Batman Begins will share a lot in common with the popular Splinter Cell series. Unlike previous Batman titles, BB is more of a stealth based game. Although Batman still has his martial arts ability and his numerous gadgets, he also has Sam Fisher's stealth and moves. Batman will scale pipes, shimmy across ledges, and even use his cape to glide, probably from rooftop to rooftop. Batman will also have an ability Mr Fisher doesn't, and that is the fairly unprecedented ability to cow his foes using an element of fear.

The ability to scare his enemies is a theme of the Batman comic books and is one of the most innovative features of Batman Begins. When seeing enemies, Batman will be able to view their heartbeat as well as if they are carrying a weapon or not. He can use this to his advantage, manipulating different objects in the environment to scare his foes. One example is setting off a guard's car alarm from afar or even dropping a raggedy neon sign near a group of guards. Rattling Batman's foes in this way will help him, as scared foes are less efficient at firing guns or fighting, and really scared foes just turn tail and flee. This differs for different types of enemies as well, as higher level, tougher foes are less likely to be spooked by things that send common thugs running in terror.

Instead of the overused fetch-the-key mechanic common to adventure games, Batman Begins plans on using a different technique. To proceed from area to area, Batman will have to gather vital information, such as passwords and locations, from his foes. Once Batman catches an enemy, he will have the choice to either incapacitate them or interrogate them. The more feared Batman is, the higher his reputation, the easier it will be to get information from goons.

While the game will definitely follow the story of the film, the developers plan on making the game far more extensive than the movie, focusing more on each scene to provide a more in-depth gaming experience than simply following the script. The developers also want to emphasize the fact that the game isn't as action-oriented as most people would expect of a superhero title. Although Batman does have his strength and fighting ability, he is also one of the more cerebral heroes. People often forget that he has earned the title of the world's greatest detective. Because of this, Batman Begins will be far more intellectual and puzzle-based than people would expect, bringing an element of Batman that is rarely explored in videogames to the forefront.