Games of the Abstract: Batman (2013)

 

Developer: Specular Interactive

Publisher: Raw Thrills

One Player

Arcade

 

Batman was a disappointment. Among the countless games adapted from the DC Comics' character, to the point this arcade game could be confusing for a lack of a subtitle for the title, this would have been much more fun if its premise, as a vehicular combat game using the Batmobile, felt more interactive and less a slightly messy spectacle.

For those who might have actually lived in a cave, and because it is funny to actually step back and explain Batman as if an obscure concept, a man dressed as a bat fighting crime set against a huge rouge gallery of idiosyncratic villains started in comics in 1939, and with this in mind, and all the films and video games that came afterwards, this does wrap into the arcade game's production here as this is as much a tribute to that history. As much as an excuse for a mission based game entirely about driving the aforementioned Batmobile, a high-tech car with weapons, the best thing about this entire game, with their designers credited, is the option of almost the entire history of Batmobile cars being available to choose between. You can have the 1960s Adam West car, the Batman animated series ones, the Arkham Asylum videogame franchise car, even Batman & Robin (1997) included side-by-side with the Christopher Nolan directed ones with bias. It is a nice touch, and yes, I openly admit choosing one of the Joel Schumacher directed film cars, specifically Batman Forever (1995), for a laugh in the first play.

The game has three choices, in two difficulties, split into missions per villain, one with Mr. Freeze, as an ice based villain who wishes to freeze Gotham City; Bane, not the idiosyncratically voiced one by Tom Hardy, but the original comic version as a big muscle man; and the Joker, the iconic villain of them all, a psychotic clown who here has managed to get a nuclear missile of all things, especially when one presumed, canonically to one of its film sequels, Superman got rid of all those in this universe. All these are known characters to many, so explaining the Joker in such detail may seem absurd too, but is worth bringing up as, for the video game, Batman as a franchise does provide a lot to go with that would lead to incredible games just in terms of personality if done well, something you see here in spite of ultimately my issues with the cabinet in general. This is especially as with the cut scenes and levels, Joker's is the most rewarding, whether in the most dynamic gameplay, even using the arcade cabinet's keypad, used for saving your process, to deactivate the missile, to the Joker talking to it like a temperamental baby.

It is however a shame the game is how it is. Without even needing to accelerate, it is both too simplistic but way too chaotic to feel a good grip on its premise. With most sections destroying enemies in pursuit, or avoiding them like an on-rail dodging game in all but name, it however becomes a visual noise of enemies and their fire to even recognise to dodge, making it easy to blow up and need to punch a quarter in without a sense that you failed and need to improve. Having a game with a semblance of freedom but effectively on rails, despite being allowed to drive in seemingly any direction, is not an issue but even if the break and acceleration pedals lose some meaning, the bigger issue does feel like the game is caught in a schism, where alongside this issue of visual clutter, it could have done with either emphasising this structure or fully embraced being an arcade vehicular combat game with an actual accelerator. Considering some of the tank combat games that came to the arcade over decades, it would have been interesting to have missions within time limits where you have more freewheeling routes or at least more emphasis on dodging enemies, more so as some of the Bat Mobiles, mostly the Christopher Nolan films, are close to literal tanks. Between collecting documents, items "stolen" by Cat Woman to finding a kidnapped Commissioner Gordon, more follow a route section, this could have been more spectacular if you were given more finesse to its main gameplay route of dodging enemies and destroying them, where the boss battles for this cabinet are the better moments which emphasise this, emphasising this is more of a two dimensional scrolling shooter in the disguise of a three dimensional form. There are joys to have with the game, but I personally find a better game from such a simple idea and iconic license is still up to create.