ic-games Review - Catwoman - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Catwoman - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Catwoman

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Argonaut
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Reviewed: Playstation 2
Genre: Third Person
UK Release: 06th Aug 2004
Article Date: 31st Aug 2004
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price:
Price Comparison:
Catwoman

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 47%

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Pros

Some decent graphics

Cons

Camera Angles

Not challenging

Voice Acting

Screenshots

1 of 8

With the Spiderman License secured and the game released by Activision with worldwide acclaim, EA were back into the movie mood and when the Catwoman license came around it seemed like fair pickings for the giant publisher. How could a game aimed at twelve year olds boys with a character based on Halle Berry go wrong?

Taking a different style from the original comic book, you play as a character called Patience Phillips. While working late one night Patience overhears her bosses hatching out an evil plan to hide the nasty side effects of a skin product. Instead of offering our heroine a nice pension plan to compensate they decide to eliminate her altogether. Throw in an Egyptian cat that discovers her lifeless body and you basically have Catwomen with all the abilities that role brings. Unfortunately one of the newly discovered skills you earn doesn’t include the ability to control the infuriating camera angles that present themselves at the most inconvenient times throughout the game. (Now where have we heard that before?)

The fixed camera problem is actually so bad at times that you could spend a considerable amount of time working your way to a top of a building only to plummet back down to earth again. It feels equally bad when you take into consideration that the only reason you fell was down to the fact that you couldn’t see exactly where you were supposed to be going next anyway. Its moments like these that turn an almost enjoyable game into a nightmare experience, and when you have fallen several more times (as you probably will) you'll be left wondering why you brought the game in the first place. The developers seem to have spent so much time concentrating on making the game appeal to a certain audience that they actually forgot the majority of gamers just don’t fall for that "tomb-raider sexiness and nothing else" lark anymore. At least we hope not.

The fighting sequences are also poor when placed into comparison with anything else on the market today. Taking into consideration that the title is obviously for the younger market EA have stripped out just about any form of real violence. Whilst this stance has to be admired in a way (as it is responsible) a better option would have been to scrap the game altogether for this age bracket. Defeating an enemy demands nothing more from the player than activating a certain trade mark move to knock them out. An incorrect kick will just make them fall to the ground and get back up again ready for you to try again, but because of the torrid camera angles getting lined up for that correct attack is a task in itself. You can occasionally knock people into dumpsters which in turn can save time but the majority of the time it’ll be the same frustrating action as you try and get one over the poor camera angle syndrome.

Like the movie the game is tied with, Halle Berry plays Catwoman in the game. Unfortunately her dialogue is extremely sparse and what little there is of it is patronizing and annoying to anyone over the age of 13. The majority of the speech is saved for tiny little remarks that while obviously designed to be sexy and sultry end up bordering on pathetic, especially when you have heard the same remark over and over again.

It’s not all cat-litter though, without a doubt the strongest part of Catwoman is the graphics and the developers have certainly gone to town to make the whole environment as movie-esque as they could. Catwoman’s animations are certainly top notch and it doesn’t take that long to discover that Halle Berry’s sexy appeal has found its way into the game as she wiggles about in her undersized cat-suit. However even something as polished as the animation on Halle Berry cat like butt shouldn’t make someone go out and spend £40 on a game and we certainly didn't see anything in Catwoman that should break this tradition. For fans only..

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