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News: Tom Morello stars in Guitar Hero III
Activision has announced that Tom Morello, from Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, will guest star as a boss character in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Click here to read the article.
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Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu
Finally, a Batman game that deserves to use the name. Past Batman games have failed miserably in attempting to capture the spirit of Batman, one of the most famous characters in the world. You got your Mickey Mouse, Super Mario, and your Batman. Now, Ubisoft finally does the caped crusader justice in their latest game, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.
The story goes like this: There is a breakout at Stonegate Prison and Arkham Asylum has been seized by villain, Sin Tzu. This evil villain has been searching endlessly for a worthy opponent and has found one, Batman! Using his mind-controlling Mehta-Sua energy, he rallies Bane, Scarecrow, Clayface, and hundreds of street thugs to help bring Batman down. Now it is your job to rid the streets of Gotham of all evil and defeat the evil Sin Tzu in an epic battle at Arkham Asylum.
You will be able to play at Batman, Robin, Nightwing, or Batgirl. Each level consists of objectives such as saving the prisoners, diffusing bombs, and more. You’ll need to accomplish these objectives in order to advance through the levels.
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is a 3rd person beat-em-up game. Countless thugs will come after you and it is your duty to serve them each a slice of whup-ass pie. You start off the game with simple fighting abilities such as punching, kicking, jumping, etc… Pressing the buttons in a certain order will result in combos. After you complete each level you will be rewarded with points. Use these points to buy new moves such as the Bat Grapple, which allows you to swing all over the place. Very fun and helpful. There are tons of upgrades to be earned.
Rise of Sin Tzu also comes loaded with an insane amount of extras that make replaying the game all worth while. You can unlock character models, toy images, film clips and much more. A Batman fan’s dream come true.
As mentioned, Rise of Sin Tzu is a classic style beat-em-up game. These kinds of games need good control in order to be enjoyable. Luckily, Ubisoft did a great job in that area. The Left Thumbstick is used to move your character while the Right Thumbstick is used to cycle through your gadgets. A is used to kick, B is used to grab, X is used to punch, and Y is used to jump. You can block with the Left Trigger and Dash with the Right Trigger. Last but not least, the Black button is used to select and use your gadgets while the White button is used to taunt your opponents. Very simple and effective controls.
Visually, the game looks like Batman: The Animated Series. This look translated very well into the game. It has a bit of a ‘cartoonish’ look but leans more toward the realistic style. I’d say it’s a 50/50 split of ‘real’ and ‘cartoonish’ style. Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing all animate beautifully. Each can do a assortment of moves but that doesn’t mean that they don’t look good doing them. One of the highlights is Batman’s cape. It animated like a real cape, flowing freely in the wind as Batman opens up can after can of Whup-Ass. Environments are decent in size with an average amount of items populating them. The only thing that could have used some work is the variety of bad guys. Most of them look the same depending on which level you are in. More diversity would have been nice.
Voice-acting is pretty good. Reminiscent of the TV show, which was pretty darn cool, too bad it was axed by some suit in a high-rise office! Ambient sound isn’t all that good though. Repetitive action sounds and recurring cries from the bad guys don’t really do much to immerse the player. The in-game music is adequate though, going well with the action. Calm when no action is present, but quickly escalating when the action gets going.
Overall, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is a highly enjoyable beat-em-up. Some of the objectives might get repetitive but the action never lets up. A great game to be played with a friend. Great controls, nice visuals, and tons of stuff to unlock. A must for any Batman fan.
Report Card:
Gameplay = 8.5
Graphics = 8
Audio = 7.5
Replay Value = 8
Overall: 8/10
Click here for the Rise of Sin Tzu screenshots gallery!
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