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Review
By: |
Lethargic |
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Date: |
03/22/2003 |
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Released: |
03/19/2003 |
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Publisher: |
Kemco |
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Developer: |
HotGen |
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Platform: |
Xbox |
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Rating: |
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Dark Tomorrow
had been looking very promising in previews. Good buzz around
it and all. Too bad it got released. Too bad I paid money for
it. Too bad I also traded in 2 other games to get a discount
on it. Too bad it got made. I've played a lot of bad games.
Many I can't remember, so I won't outright say that this one
is the worst ever, I might have forgotten something worse than
this. I can't imagine what it could've been though.
Actually, I wrote that paragraph yesterday, after another day
of playing this game and being close to completing it, I can
say with all sincerity that I believe this is the worst game I
have ever personally played. Not because it's a Batman game
but because it is simply a terrible, horendous game from top
to bottom. Every aspect of this game is BAD.
Nothing is redeeming about it. The cut scenes are great
and fantastic, but the quality of the |
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cut scenes
simply makes me more mad that they didn't put in the same
amount of effort to make the game even slightly PLAYABLE.
The game started out great. Of course, it was just a cinematic
cut scene. But it was really good. Voices were good, the
characters look fantastic, the story sounded interesting, it
was very much like watching a real movie. It really got me in
the mood to play. But then again, this is the first problem.
Much like the Final Fantasy series, the cinematic aspect has
taken over the game. At one point in the game you watch about
a 5 minutes long scene, then you fight three thugs after a
store robbery. Three kicks and it's over. Another cinematic
for a couple of minutes. Swing around the city for a bit for
no real reason just to make your way to the next scene. That's
another problem, the scenes don't explain much. Sure it tells
you a story but it doesn't give you any indication of what
you're really trying to do. You have no idea what your
destination is during the swinging level, you just follow the
arrow. These cinematics ARE really great from start to finish.
The problem is that the game seems to be there simply to get
you from one scene to the next. If you laid these cut scenes
out without the levels in between you could probably watch it
like a cartoon. Some of the scenes are amazing looking. Some
scenes looked so real that I did a double take. So how did the
same people that made these make such a horrible game in
between? I don't the Riddler himself could solve that puzzle.
Watching these scenes is like watching a new Batman movie. The
problem is, I don't want to WATCH a movie. I want to feel like
I'm a character IN the movie. I want to feel like I have a
reason to do what I'm doing and I never do.
The game's graphics are clunky and very unattractive when in
action. The main characters all look fine, but the levels and
lesser character look like total garbage. These are the worst
graphics I've seen since Medal of Honor Frontline on PS2 which
was the game that so turned me off that I got rid of the whole
damn system. They seem to be going for the dark Batman, bleak,
shadowy world, but they're version of that is just horrible.
Look at a game like Splinter Cell. That game is all in shadows
but it looks amazing and beautiful. Here it just looks like
garbage. UGLY garbage. There are also problems like when
Batman is swinging, there is no rope. You just see his arms
and empty hands held over his head in a very strange pose.
Of course the main problem is the gameplay itself. From the
character's movement to the control scheme, NOTHING is good
here. Batman runs WAY too fast. The slightest movement on the
stick, he's moving like the Flash. He also just LOOKS totally
ridiculous. I don't know how to describe the way he moves.
Imagine a down syndrome kid dressed as Batman running in the
special olympics and you might get an idea. When you crouch to
sneaky stealth mode he looks even more retarded.
Controls are the worst when it comes to swinging. Instead of
being able to control the swing with the left stick, it's
controlled with BOTH sticks. Left one turns him, right one
goes back and forward. So it's hard as hell to get a good
swing going and then release your grip at the right time to
land on the next roof top. I mean, you have to push up with
your right stick to go forward and then try to hit X or B with
that same right thumb to jump off. By time you're jumping off
you're already swinging backwards again. Why did they make it
this way? Have these people ever made a game before? Just
walking Batman is a total chore. Sometimes pushing down goes
forward, sometimes pushing down goes left, sometimes pushing
down goes back. It's pretty much a crapshoot.
This is being sold as a stealth game like a Splinter Cell or
Metal Gear Solid. You can lean against the walls and sneak
around, peak around the corner and all that. So far, I haven't
found a spot to use it. It's basically just run straight
forward until you see a guy, run right at him and kick him
until he finally falls down. What I'm thinking is that there
is eventually going to be like one level where you have to
sneak. Just like how in the other Batman games they sell it by
telling you how you'll get to drive the Batmobile or whatever.
Once you play the game you have 9 levels of running and
punching, with one really bad level of driving the Batmobile
thrown in. Though, like I said, I'm near the end of the game
and there hasn't been a level like that yet.
Fighting is HORRIBLE. You basically have punch, kick, jump.
That is all Batman does. Reading the manual it tells you that
Batman doesn't kill and all that, blah blah blah, he just
knocks people out. Well, in this game he doesn't even do THAT.
In the first few fight scenes, you have to take on about 3
guys at a time, all armed with machine guns. Which kill you
pretty damn quick. One machine gun can drain your health meter
in about 8 seconds. Three guys at once is a nightmare. You're
supposed to have protection, the cape is supposed to be like a
shield and will absorb damage. The cape has it's own meter
which runs down when hit, but fills back up on it's own. The
thing is, it only works if somebody hits you from behind,
which never really happens. Some sort of defensive move should
be in this game without a doubt. A block, a dodge, SOMETHING.
There is no fight in this game that you can get through
without coming out with your health significantly drained.
Luckily, one of the game's drawbacks helps you with this.
Levels seem to reload every 5 steps, every new hallway is a
loading screen, every opened door is a loading screen. So
basically you enter a hall, fight and get hurt, then move on
to the next hallway. So when you die in the next hall it'll
start you there when you continue. If it wasn't for the
frequent loading screens there would be no way to get through
this game.
Anyway, so say you're fighting three machine gunners. It takes
anywhere from 5-10 hits to takes a guy out if you don't nail
him with a running kick. You go to the first guy and knock him
out, take out the second guy and then head for the third, by
time you start hitting him, the first guy has gotten back up
and is shooting you again. So on and so on. They hardly stay
down at all. I finally figured out that you're supposed to
cuff them once you got them down. (One of the MANY, MANY
things that is left out of the 2 page instruction book.) So
basically you gotta take all these guys down as quick as
possible and try to get one of them cuffed before the other
two get up. Most of the time the other 2 guys get up, shoot
you off or kick you off. What makes this worse is that you
can't see it happening. The camera angle zooms in on you as
you cuff so you can't see what is going on with the other
three guys. If you could see and know where they are, what
they're doing, you might have a chance to defend yourself,
instead you just get blindsided every time.
Anything over 2 or 3 guys at once is a total nightmare. I got
to a point where I had to fight 7 guys. I hoped that I
wouldn't have to fight them, maybe just run past them and go
through the door. No dice. The door didn't open. Figured I had
to kill all these guys to unlock the door. So I tried fighting
them a few times. A couple of times I got ONE guy cuffed
before dying and that was a miracle. So I decided, well maybe
I'm supposed to use some of these bat gadgets. You only have
two weapons. Batarang and a smoke bomb. I figured, hey, a
group of guys standing around, I'll throw a smoke bomb right
in the middle of them then run in and beat the crap out of
them while they can't see. It turns out that the smoke bomb
just makes a little puff of smoke that reaches up to the
characters knees. What this thing is supposed to be used for I
have no idea. It seems that it would never help you since it
doesn't DO ANYTHING. Next plan was to use the batarangs. I run
up to them, batarangs ready. I start throwing and I hit the
first two, but the things only seem to work when you're close
to the characters. If you're too far back, a targeting screen
comes up that is impossible to use. A very slight tap on the
stick and the sight goes flying off to the side. Plus the
batarang never goes to where the sight is looking. It goes
about a inch over and to the right. So you have to adjust your
site to hit anything. Anyway, I tried it again, I ran up as
close as I can and use the batarangs. Well, if you get close
to the people, before you can even throw one, you're on the
ground with a group of guys kicking the crap out of you. Plan
C goes into effect at this point. Maybe this was the time to
sneak! Finally some stealth action! Nope. They spotted me. I
tried the lean against the wall and slide trick. Once I
reached the corner I figured out that I could peak around the
corner and fire batarangs at them without them seeing me.
Great! Here it is! Wrong again. By time I was throwing at the
fourth guy the others were already getting up.
I eventually got past those guys and here's the fun
part....that door was still locked. Actually it's not a door,
it's a gate in a chainlink fence! You've got a universal tool
in your utility belt which is supposed to pick locks, among
other things. Of course, the book nor the game teach you HOW
to pick locks. I try everything but can't get it to do a
thing. So I figured there must be some other way. This is just
a fence after all and I'm friggin Batman! Batman can get over
a fence right?
Not in this game. Batman can't climb the fence. He can't fire
a grapple to get over it. He can't use a batarang rope to get
over it. He can't even jump up, grab the top of the fence and
flip over it or anything like that. I'm completely stuck. I
have no idea what to do. You would think the mighty Batman
wouldn't be defeated by the limited skills of a chainlink
fence, but it appears that he is. I hate crap like that in
video games. Hey, if you wanna make it where I have to do
something to get the door open, no problem. But do NOT put
crap in like a fence that a character like Batman should be
able to go over with no problem and then not let me do it.
That's just messed up.
It turned out that the jumping up and grabbing the top of the
fence to flip over WAS the way to do it. It's just really,
really difficult to jump from the right position thanks
to....take a wild guess.....the horrible camera!
It is amazing how difficult it is to just fight the "thugs".
Like I said, unless you get lucky with a running kick, it
takes a very long pounding to get these guys to go down and
then once you get them down, they get back up. But yet ONE hit
from a thug puts you on your back. Isn't this Batman here?
Shouldn't he be able to absorb ONE PUNCH? Shouldn't he be able
to level a normal thug guy with one punch or kick? Even more
amazing is that as difficult as the thugs are, the boss
characters are easy. I have NEVER DIED ONCE while fighting a
boss character. You just mash punch and kick until they go
down and you're done, usually with very little damage to you.
Why do the thugs not stay down until you cuff them, but you
don't have to cuff the "supervillains"? Though it does LET you
cuff them. When you knock one down you can throw the cuffs on
them, but they get up anyway. They don't escape or break the
cuffs, they simply vanish into this air. Of course...even
funnier than how easy the boss characters is the fact that you
DON'T FIGHT MOST OF THEM. You don't fight Poison Ivy for
example, instead of fighting her you fight a big tree and then
you see a cut scene of Batman capturing Ivy. The worst is the
Joker. I mean, the biggest of them all and you never fight
him. You fight a bunch of escaped inmates and then you watch a
cut scene of Batman knocking out the joker and capturing him.
Who in the hell would make a Batman game where instead of
FIGHTING the Joker you simply watch a CUT SCENE of Batman
fighting the Joker? The worst part is that in the cut scene it
only takes ONE PUNCH to take out the Joker. One single punch
works on the Joker but not on the Joker's loony thugs.
Back to movement. Movement is made even harder by the terrible
"camera" angles in the game. The camera seems to always be in
the worst possible place. It seems like 50% of the time you
can't even seen your character on screen. There is no way to
turn the camera around like in most games. When you ARE on
camera, it's focused TOO much on you. You walk in a door and
you have three guys filling you with lead because you can't
see them. The camera is shooting straight at you instead of
from behind you. This is the biggest problem of the game by
far and the one thing that makes the game so unplayable.
Everything else could be ignored but this camera situation can
not. It seems every game of this nature is designed so the
right stick will allow you to pan the camera around to see
what you need to see. Not this game! You can hardly see
anything. You can't see up to see if you need to grapple
something and you can't see down if it's safe to drop. This is
made even more annoying due to the fact that the game
designers decided that they'd be cute and make the entire game
in a letterboxed format. I can not stress to you how bad the
camera is in this game. It basically makes the game
unplayable, the only reason I'm pushing on is because I wasted
50 dollars on this thing so I want to at least get through it
before I resell it on ebay.
What this game is REALLY missing is a training level. Every
game like this usually has a training level that teaches you
how to do all the various moves and use all the various
weapons. Not this one. It doesn't teach you a friggin thing.
Neither does the game's manual. It doesn't tell you a thing.
Basically you have to figure out everything on your own as you
go. With the game being difficult already, not knowing what
you're doing at first makes it extremely difficult. I don't
understand why the creators of this game wanted the player to
be playing completely blind. Who in the world wrote this
instruction manual which teaches you nothing at all?
There's a lot more bad stuff I could comment on. The game
doesn't get better later on, it only gets worse. I could go on
and on but I'm gonna go ahead and quit.
I just find it very sad that DC's properties are tied to the
companies that they're tied to. They can't make any movies
cause they're tied to Warner Brothers who have dropped the
ball at every turn. They always hook up with the world's worst
game developers too. There's never been a truly great DC
superhero video game anywhere. If they had any brains they
would've sold the rights to the Batman comic book game to Ubi
Soft. Ubi Soft already has the rights to make games based on
the Animated Series, but you can't do much with that. Imagine
Ubi Soft having the rights to Dark Tomorrow and putting the
Batman characters into the Splinter Call game engine? That
would be brilliant. I'd play that game for the rest of my
life. That engine is perfect for the Batman universe. Instead,
they sell the rights to Kemco and we get this bomb.
If anybody from DC happens to read this please listen to my
advice. Take better care of your characters. Start looking at
the track record of the companies you sell the rights to. Quit
selling them to just anybody that comes along. Sell the rights
to a company that will do justice to both the character AND
the fans. If that's not possible...
To anybody from Kemco that reads this. This game is terrible.
But it IS a step in the right direction. You had the right
ideas, you just didn't execute them. A stealth based game with
Batman would be a dream, but this one is a nightmare. Most of
these problems could get fixed. The camera system needs to be
fixed first of all. The control scheme needs a lot of work.
Batman himself needs to be completely re-made. He looks great,
but his movements are horrible. The fighting system needs to
be expanded. Spend more time on the GAME than the cinematic
aspects. If the gameplay was equal to those cut scenes, this
would be one of the best games ever, instead it's one of the
worst. I mean I've played games that were boring and not fun,
but I've never played a game that I just downright hated as
much as I hate this one. I hope a future sequel could correct
the mistakes of the first one, but if sequels are just going
to be using the exact same engine with a different story,
count me out. From what I've read on various message boards,
80-90% of the people that bought the game said they were
either going to return it to the store or re-sell it on Ebay.
That's not good. This could be turned into a good game in
future versions, but this version is a travesty. I really
don't understand how anybody in the company played this and
felt it was good enough to release.
Just to show that I'm not alone in this, I will post a bunch
of quotes from various posters on the Dark Tomorrow message
board on Gamefaqs....
"After such a long wait, I went out today and bought the
newest Batman game. Speeding home, I placed it in the Xbox and
immediately hit my knees asking God to forgive me for
purchasing this game!!"
"I don't know what they did for all the months spent in
development, but I think they made the game in a month and
played Halo for the rest of the year."
"As others have said, the camera angles are stupid, never
working in the favor of the player. Everytime Bats uses his
batcable, you go to a cinamatic view of him throwing it, then
switch to him swinging, viewed from behind."
"Very poorly done."
"Fighting is a joke. No special bat moves, just punch the thug
and hope he stays down. The thugs have more power and moves
than the world's greatest detective. It was a shame."
"When you're trying to navigate a small room with 2 doors,
this makes it into a fun game of running in little circles as
the camera switches back and forth."
"People, skip Batman: Dark Tomorrow, it is not even worth a
rental fee in my opinion."
"The combat is extremely uninspired, a mishmash of punches and
kicks where clowns with orange machineguns shoot you
repeatedly as you wonder if you're close enough to hit them
(hard to tell with the angles).... i think that the
fixed-perspective works fine in games like RE and DMC because
you're mostly using guns.... you can point and shoot. In Dark
Tomorrow, it's all hand-to-hand, and almost impossible to
gauge the proper distance, as you get pummeled."
"when i started up this game the intro movie had me excited
then i started playing...the graphics are horrible...i've seen
regular Playstation games that
looked better "
"Believe all the hype on this message board, it is
embarrassingly BAD! How can I get my money back??????"
"just bought it....OUCH!"
"its horrible man im tellin u DONT i repeat DONT buy this game
"
"cinematics are cool, the rest of the game is garbage so far.
fighting is horrible and rooftop swinging is also bad. im a
hure bat-fan and cant believe that this would be released yet.
i died probably 10 times during some rooftop swinging because
of the way the camera is (im a veteran gamer too). the game
loads after every few screens and each screen is somewhat
small. batman moves awkward too."
"look, im not just saying this is bad, its horrible."
"a gang of ruthless mobsters busted into the batman game
studio and beat the developers into retardation"
"the new hope for a return to good batman games was just
washed a way in a cruel bath of bad camera angles silly
movement and batman being built like the hulk but only being
capable of punch, kick and suck! oh the humanity!"
"I'll be picking this game up when it hits the bargain bin."
Read more from Lethargic Here
Lethargic Rating:
1 out of 5 Planets
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