Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu

""Maybe this time, the Reaper will come."-Scarecrow"

Vivox's Review of Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu

The sequel to Batman: Vengeance, Rise of Sin Tzu gets rid of the action-adventure part of the game and goes for a straight beat 'em' up where you can play as Batman, Nightwing, Robin, and Bat girl as they go up against some classic villain's and one brand new villain, Sin Tzu, who was created especially for the game by comics legend Jim Lee.

Story: A peaceful night in Gotham City goes awry when Sin Tzu decides to take over Gotham in an attempt to defeat a worthy adversary... Batman! Taking mental control over Scarecrow, Clayface, and Bane, Sin Tzu sits back and waits for Batman to find his way to him so they can face off in a battle of epic proportions! The games story is interesting, as Batman and friends face off against super villain's under the control of Sin Tzu. Although I thought that Vengeance had a better overall story, for a straight beat 'em' up the story is pretty good. The Story gets a 8 out of 10.

Gameplay: The game is a beat 'em' up in every sense of the word. The gameplay (action-adventure elements) has changed drastically from Vengeance. Now, there is no puzzle solving or key finding: you simply beat enemy after enemy and move from area to area. The game also has time limits for you to deal with. If the time limit expires and you don't reach a bomb or a civilian in time, you have to start the level over or start from the last check point. It can be a real pain and really make you mad (especially the level when you have to beat 75 bad guys in 14 minutes, that level almost had me breaking me tearing my hair out!). One of the upsides of the game is the fact that you earn points and can upgrade your heroes (kinda like the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers or Return of the King). I liked the upgrading feature, but the gameplay (in my opinion) is not as good as the action-adventuring of Vengeance. The Gameplay gets a 7 out of 10.

Graphics: The game, like Vengeance, is based upon the Batman WB cartoon show. This game looks even more like the show than Vengeance, and the cinemas were even better than Vengeance's. The Graphics get a 8 out of 10.

Music/ Sound: The music in the game is a little grating, especially the dock level, where they tried to use some techno beat... The sound in the game (along with the voice acting) were well done. Ron Perlman, who played Hell Boy, even does the voice for Clayface. The Music\Sound gets a 8 out of 10.

Replayability: This game, unlike Vengeance, has higher replayability. I beat the game on one player mode, and now my older brother wants to play it on two player mode. Due to the two player mode and all the unlockables, you may find yourself playing it a few times. The Replayability gets a 7 out of 10.

Buy, or Rent?: I'd say that if you liked Vengeance or are a Batman fan, buy it. You could probably find it for $20 or less (like I did). If you just want it for one play through or are just looking for a quick game to play, give it a rent, as the $20 price tag may seem kind of steep for a game that will get one play through.

The sequel to Vengeance is a fairly decent beat 'em' up for the Dark Knight, and one of the better beat ' em' ups I've played in a while.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/25/05