Few people remember Batman Begins’ memorable adaptation that preceded the Arkham games…

There are plenty of video games where you can “feel like Batman” – just think of Rocksteady’s hugely successful Arkham games. However, there were few in which the character was voiced by Batman in the film. In 2005, Batman Begins for PS2, Xbox and GameCube achieved two not inconsiderable feats. The first was that Christian Bale and co were retained to reprise their roles for the video game. And the second is that it gave us the pleasure of a high-quality film adaptation in a market saturated with mediocre titles…

The hype certainly contributed to the game’s success. The film’s crew also joined in to tell us how great it’s going to be. They went so far as to joke that older actors Tom Wilkinson and Michael Caine were too old for video games, but this game looks really good. At the same time, the younger Cillian Murphy and Katie Holmes played the Dark Knight with a controller in their hands!

There is nothing particularly revolutionary in this compared to other adaptations, but it still managed to provide a solid, pleasant gaming experience to fans of the character.

It’s a fairly simple, big-budget stealth action title that capitalized on the success of a beloved film and added some clever gameplay ideas. Several of these resonated with players and influenced future games of the character.

Arkham Prelude: Batman’s Shadow Game

About 7-8 hours was enough to complete the adventure, which consisted of a series of linear tracks. These mimicked some of the iconic scenes and moments from the film. In addition to the usual third-person action formula, there were some discrete puzzles and levels where you could even get behind the wheel of the Batmobile (or Tumbler, as Nolan insisted on calling it) in spectacular crash sequences that provided a pure Burnout experience.

Most of the time, we could still control the masked justice. Batman could jump, glide, climb, crouch, use his gadgets and take down bad guys. The combat system was one of the main attractions. Simple but satisfying, you could feel every hit. There were flashy animations, execution moves, and even moves that allowed you to counterattack or break through your opponent’s defences.

When he wasn’t fighting, Batman could scout his enemies. Stealth was entirely encouraged. It almost worked like a proto-Batman Arkham. With a separate button for crouching and another for instant knockout. As in Rocksteady’s games, weapons were a big threat, forcing us to look behind the enemy’s backs. Other mechanics, such as interrogation and instilling fear, are also introduced here.

Why haven’t more Nolan video game adaptations been made?

After the game’s success, it seemed logical that the next film would also receive an adaptation. They wanted to repeat the success with The Dark Knight. But Pandemic’s development was so ambitious (they wanted to make an open world) that in the end it was not realized. It remains one of the projects that fans of the character regret the most. Seeing how well adapted the original turned out to be, the idea of ​​an improved sequel with the same production quality and location as Nolan’s sequel was a dream of many.

However, the loss of continuation did not only have negative consequences. Because with the cancellation of The Dark Knight game, the rights were transferred from EA to Warner Bros. Rocksteady has been given a free hand to tackle Batman Arkham Asylum. Although the developers in London never detailed what influences they received, it is easy to see that they further developed some of the iconic mechanics of Batman Begins… and the rest, as they say, is history.

Source: YouTube