Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (Hands-On)

[bahn]

I am sure this is somewhere on IGN, but here's my breakdown of the Ubi Soft's latest game...

Holy gameplay, Batman!
We jump head first into Ubi Soft’s upcoming arcade beat-em up!


Who can blame the plethora of avid comic book fans who’ve eagerly been anticipating a solid game that’s ideally exciting and worth playing? We initially expected Batman: Vengeance (Ubi Soft’s first endeavor with the acclaimed license) to deliver, but sadly it missed the mark.

Well this time, it looks like we’re about to finally experience one of the most exciting Batman installments to be released in years. Rather than tempt fate with yet another bat-typical action-adventure game, Ubi Soft Montreal Studios has opted to create an entirely different recipe consisting of something old, something new, graced with the artistic talents of Jim Lee. Mmm-hmmm, that’s good.

Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu harkens back to the good of days of classic simultaneous arcade gameplay akin to Streets of Rage and Double Dragon. The engine is based on the animated series, so Bat-fans can suit up and choose from Gotham’s heroic ensemble including the Dark Knight himself, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing. (Sad that this engine couldn’t support up to four-players, this could have easily been the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of the 21st century!)

It looks like Ubi Soft has definitely learned from its mishaps with its inaugural Batman release as our initial impressions with the game were nothing short of oohs and aahs (read: impressed). Rise of Sin Tzu features easy “pick up and play”, intuitive controls that gamers young and old can enjoy with ease. Essentially the controls are mapped for punch, kick, and facilitating the Dynamic Duo and friends’ trademark gadgets. Each character demonstrates their own unique fighting style to the battleground and can unleash over 35 different attacks which can also be chained together to create your own unique, devastating attacks. Plus, you can pick up items such as garbage cans which can be hurled at the incoming rush of goons within each level.

Steps have been taken to add a relative degree of depth to the combo system as players will be awarded more points for every successful attack they execute without taking damage. Moreover, you can manipulate the pace of your attacks depending upon the rate that you press the respective action buttons. Thus, you could unleash a quick, flurry of attacks or even initiate a pseudo-Matrix “bullet time” strike which is quite a visual perk (though we know after the 100th time, it will eventually lose its novelty.) But that’s not all…you’ll also be able to double-team with your partner in which you’ll be awarded bonus points for executing these specialized attacks.

Among the generic enemy ratio, players will face off against several of Batman’s all-star rogues including Scarecrow, Clayface, and Bane. However, as the title implies, Batman will encounter an all-new villain developed specifically for this upcoming release. In the same vein as Harley Quinn was created as the Joker’s mistress and eventually integrated into the comic book saga, Batman’s new adversary seeks to conquer the Gotham City and its legendary protector. Unlike most of Batman’s foes, Sin Tzu is driven by an insatiable passion to conquer opponents that he has never fallen before him. Highly skilled in martial arts and military tactics, in addition to the ancient hypnotic power derived from the Mehta-Sua, Sin Tzu has used his power to construct a powerful army to conquer parts of Cynna, Vek Nak and carry out an invasion of Unglong. Has Batman finally met his match, only you can determine the outcome…

While it’s still premature to consider this be the best Batman installment to date, but we simply can’t undermine this level of brilliance currently at hand! Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu could very well usher in a new era of the forgotten classic beat-em up genre. Prepare to suit up this October when it hits the PS2 (in addition to the other major platforms). We've got a very warm, fuzzy feeling about this game. We’ll keep you up to date with any new developments.

[Jeremy]

Nice. I take it there are no screens released for it yet.

[bahn]

Of course there are. IGN, Gamespot, etc complete with videos...

[Hero]

Too bad the demo was boring. On the bright side...beat em ups are making a comeback. Whoo!

[bahn]

ah zip it, Mr. KirbyCynical.

[Captain Vegetable]

Excellent!

I hear that if the fans like Sin Tzu enough, DC will make him a permanent resedent in the comic books, not unlike Harley Quinn!

I love his design, and hope he's cool enough to become the second Batman villian to become a mainstay due to fan overflow.

[bahn]

Capt, you've heard right. I am so upset that I didn't get a chance to have Jim Lee's first Batman comic autographed.

(ah well, least I got a hott pic with the Ubi Soft XIII publicist)

[Will]

Awesome impressions man. The screens look very promising, Clayface looks awesome and to be able to play as Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl in a 2 player co-op just rocks. The icing on the cake is the perfectly rendered 3d look of the 2D cartoon and all the original voice actors.

Hopefully it will have the great gameplay of Batman & Robin on Genesis ar at least be a great beat-em up.

[Lordmrw]

It should have the gameplay of Batman and Robin on Snes rather than genesis.

[Jeremy]

I agree with you there. The SNES B&R game was quite possibly the best Batman game ever. Right behind Batman Returns on the SNES.