|
|
|
BATMAN: RISE OF SIN TZU (PS2)
|
Publisher: Ubi Soft.
Developer: Ubi Soft Montreal. Released: November 2003 (Europe). Genre: Roaming beat 'em up. Other versions: XBOX, GC; GBA. Posted 29th November 2021. By Shane Battams © 2021 |
|
Almost two years after the warmly received Batman: Vengeance debuted and some four years after the show concluded, Ubi Soft Montreal would deliver yet another game based on The New Adventures of Batman with Rise of Sin Tzu. A departure from the adventure format established in the former, this 2003 outing would take the guise of a roaming beat ‘em up. Introducing a new villain especially for the game, it would prove another solid outing for the caped crusader and his comrades. While some design decisions make the game really tricky at points and it gets a bit repetitive towards the end, Rise of Sin Tzu has enough goon-smashing action and co-op fun to put it above the Batman’s lesser outings.
What starts as another night, with Batman paying tribute to his fallen parents, turns into something with greater implications. As a number of important landmarks across Gotham are taken over by members of the caped crusader’s rogues’ gallery, it soon comes to light that these events are all strategic moves made by a new adversary known as Sin Tzu, a notorious criminal imported from Asia to Arkham Asylum. A lot was made, at the time, of this new character and while he proves an interesting addition to the canon, the story does not capitalise on his appearance. Most of the scenes see Batman staring into a communication device, with unbalanced audio and a general lack of energy to proceedings. As a result, it leaves the cut-scenes feeling a touch dry.
|
|
Batman packs a punch, with lots of fun fisticuffs and also some top-notch co-op
The story mode offers a handful of chapters each divided into a few levels. As a member of the Bat Family, you punch and kick your way through legions of goons until eventually facing the big-bad of the area. Along the way, objectives will also be a constant, often seeing you needing to rescue hostages, disarm bombs and defeat a set number of enemies before a timer runs out. Being defeated will deplete credits, which are luckily dropped at random by defeated enemies, while losing all your credits merely results in being sent back to the start of the section. That’s not to say Rise of Sin Tzu isn’t tough, as even on the Easy difficulty, you may find yourself ganged up on and losing health rapidly. With pickups dropped randomly, you might find yourself low on health, with no way to recover. The game doesn’t outstay its welcome, lasting all of a few hours, but even with this brevity, things can become tiring towards the end.
Nevertheless, Rise of Sin Tzu has an interesting mix of good ideas complemented by odd design decisions. On the plus side, there are four playable characters, each of whom can be upgraded with new combos via points earned during missions. Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl all play distinctively enough to warrant experimentation. Speaking of which, the combos add a lot to the game. Chaining attacks builds the super metre faster, and once filled, you can then hold attacks to perform devastating finishers. On the other hand, the difficulty can be frustrating, not so much due to combat, but the time limits. While manageable at points, running out of time reveals a baffling choice on Ubi Soft’s part, as the timer merely adds 15 seconds on, usually resulting in a loss of multiple credits. Bosses also prove cheap, with frustrating attack patterns that sometimes require pinpoint precision to avoid.
Nevertheless, Rise of Sin Tzu has an interesting mix of good ideas complemented by odd design decisions. On the plus side, there are four playable characters, each of whom can be upgraded with new combos via points earned during missions. Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl all play distinctively enough to warrant experimentation. Speaking of which, the combos add a lot to the game. Chaining attacks builds the super metre faster, and once filled, you can then hold attacks to perform devastating finishers. On the other hand, the difficulty can be frustrating, not so much due to combat, but the time limits. While manageable at points, running out of time reveals a baffling choice on Ubi Soft’s part, as the timer merely adds 15 seconds on, usually resulting in a loss of multiple credits. Bosses also prove cheap, with frustrating attack patterns that sometimes require pinpoint precision to avoid.
|
|
There’s quite a bit to uncover, providing the player has patience. Four difficulties are available, and credits can be bought on each difficulty to unlock features in the trophy room. There’s also incentive to play through the game as each character, offering both more moves to unlock and extra tokens to buy. Awesomely, the entire game can also be played with a second player in co-op, and a lot of the frustrations can be mitigated with a friend. There’s also a challenge mode, offering a handful of arenas with two challenges – defeating a number of thugs or surviving five minutes of constant foes. These aren’t all that interesting, but again, can be played in co-op. There’s quite a bit to keep you busy, though the steep learning curve may be off-putting.
Rise of Sin Tzu boasts a competent presentation, with decent visuals that capture the look of the animated show. The light shading around characters, colourful environments and fluid animations all do the job well, and the performance rarely struggles, though admittedly, there’s rarely too much going on-screen at once. The voice work is good with many show regulars reprising their role including Kevin Conroy and Tara Strong. The music is often catchy, but tracks feel short for the length of sequences, leading to repetition. The effects pack a decent punch, especially super combos which hit particularly hard.
Rise of Sin Tzu boasts a competent presentation, with decent visuals that capture the look of the animated show. The light shading around characters, colourful environments and fluid animations all do the job well, and the performance rarely struggles, though admittedly, there’s rarely too much going on-screen at once. The voice work is good with many show regulars reprising their role including Kevin Conroy and Tara Strong. The music is often catchy, but tracks feel short for the length of sequences, leading to repetition. The effects pack a decent punch, especially super combos which hit particularly hard.
|
|
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu is one of the better efforts in the caped crusader’s gaming back catalogue. This beat ‘em up isn’t short on bad guys, challenge and combos and though far from flawless, the action keeps you going for the length of the game. Some strange design decisions and frustrations chip away at Sin Tzu’s successes, but on the whole, it’s still good fun. If you have a fondness for Batman or beat ‘em ups, this one is worth a look.
|
|
VERDICT
"While far from flawless, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu has enough goon-smashing action and co-op fun to to mark it as one of the better efforts in the caped crusader’s back catalogue.” OVERALL: 7/10 |