Batman: AA Demo Impressions - Keep it here in the Batcave!!

Lets keep all impressions of the Batman: AA demo here in this thread so we dont get another 10 threads poping up and clogging the boards.

August 7, 3:20 pm: Anyone played the demo yet?!

biggest_loser

OK, you were right Biggest, the game was awesome. I don't know if you recall but a little while back I was a naysayer, someone who thought that because Eidos was involved this game would be bad, I was way wrong. I enjoyed the demo very much.

I don't understand this sudden talk of mouse cursors not working in menus?

I've got dozens and dozens of modern games on my shelf, and I can't think of one single title in which the mouse cursor doesn't work in the menus? Why is this suddenly a talking point? I don't get it?

Charles_Dickens

There are dozens of bad console ports where mouse does not work in menus. These are usually indicated by "press button to start", but surprisingly Batman does have this and when you move your mouse cursor over it, it changes to "click to start" :D

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

I don't understand this sudden talk of mouse cursors not working in menus?

I've got dozens and dozens of modern games on my shelf, and I can't think of one single title in which the mouse cursor doesn't work in the menus? Why is this suddenly a talking point? I don't get it?

HenriH-42

There are dozens of bad console ports where mouse does not work in menus. These are usually indicated by "press button to start", but surprisingly Batman does have this and when you move your mouse cursor over it, it changes to "click to start" :D

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

I don't understand this sudden talk of mouse cursors not working in menus?

I've got dozens and dozens of modern games on my shelf, and I can't think of one single title in which the mouse cursor doesn't work in the menus? Why is this suddenly a talking point? I don't get it?

HenriH-42

There are dozens of bad console ports where mouse does not work in menus. These are usually indicated by "press button to start", but surprisingly Batman does have this and when you move your mouse cursor over it, it changes to "click to start" :D

Name six modern day, mainstream games in which the mouse cursor doesn't work in the menu? I can't even name one.

Dozens, you say?

Name six modern day, mainstream games in which the mouse cursor doesn't work in the menu? I can't even name one.

Dozens, you say?

Charles_Dickens

Don't feel like it right now. Dead Space is one, IIRC. There were a lot of them, but I don't tend to think about them because their demos were utter crap and uninstalled from my PC in minutes.

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

Name six modern day, mainstream games in which the mouse cursor doesn't work in the menu? I can't even name one.

Dozens, you say?

HenriH-42

Don't feel like it right now. Dead Space is one, IIRC. There were a lot of them, but I don't tend to think about them because their demos were utter crap and uninstalled from my PC in minutes.

Then you should withdraw your previous comment. Yes?Charles_Dickens

Do you really think I remember every crappy console game I've played? Oh my god... Wanted: Weapons of Fate and Quantum of Solace both probably didn't have mouse support in the menus, in any case they're crappy ports of crappy games.

Anyway, Here are some screenshots for those who can't/don't want to download the demo.

1920x1080 with 16xAnti-Alias, everything maxed including PhysX (I have no idea how my rig can run on with these settings without crashing.)

Click for the screenshot, since they're too large to post on the forum.

Screenie #1: A fight is about to start..

Screenie #2: Batman beating up some poor dude

Screenie #3: Haven't had enough eh?

Screenie #4: Another guy who's gonna take a beating soon

Screenie #5: And another guy :P

Screenie #6: Dat facial expression

Screenie #7: I are a serious Bat. This is a serious thread.

Wow, what an amazing looking game. I've never understood why people don't like the Unreal engine. I happen to love it.

Wow, what an amazing looking game. I've never understood why people don't like the Unreal engine. I happen to love it.

Charles_Dickens

Some people don't like the fact that everything looks really shiny in UE3. I dunno, I've never been bothered by it - not that I think it looks realistic.

i don't know what's the big idea with these mega size demos, but i'll definitely pass.

Jinroh_basic

Games don't fit on 16 bit ROMs anymore. IP/Aviary (carrier pigeon) doesn't do what it used to.

Played the Demo and its pretty "ok", nothing "big", Graphics seems good but theres like no physics at all, I don't get why they need Physx...

Combat and Stealth seem good, but I think it will get boring after a while. Sequences seem pretty good, I just don't like the Joker from the Comics, the new Movies have a much darker Atmosphare than this Game.

theres like no physics at all, I don't get why they need Physx...

Tuzolord

:? Are you sure you played the same demo as I did?

With the PhysX turned on high, every cloth has physics (for example Batman's cape), heck there are even some newspapers on the floor in the first room that have cloth physics.

Also, take a look at this screenshot.

Every single one of those tiles can be broken. 8)

The thing about physics, in games, and PhysX in specific, is that most times you only notice it once you've turned it off. This is great news about the cape though - that's a perfect use for PhysX. I'm serious.

i really enjoyed the demo

o snap I did'nt know this was out

Anyone play the 360 demo and the PC Demo? The 360 demo is :lol: compared to the PC. Weaker graphics, no PhysX, and even worse controls!KHAndAnime

The demo was ok, i liked the character bios:)

[QUOTE="KHAndAnime"]Anyone play the 360 demo and the PC Demo? The 360 demo is :lol: compared to the PC. Weaker graphics, no PhysX, and even worse controls!Charles_Dickens

Here is a gameplay video I recorded showing my favorite moments in the video and some of my preferred methods of taking out the baddies.

So far, I think it's a really good game. Not only is it fun to play, but it also looks and runs really good at the same time. My favorite aspect of the game is the way you can zip around the gargoyles around the room, watching your "prey" and waiting for the right moment to strike a hapless victim. There's nothing more satisfying than beating a guy down, then zipping away before the other guys have a chance to see what just went down and where you went. I enjoy the amount of variety in the game. The more I play it, the more new tactics and things I discover.

The game plays really well with mouse/keyboard too. The controls are mapped so that they're easy to access and feel natural. Using "X" to switch into detective view and "F" to use the grappling hook are two examples of well-mapped keys that are just in the right spots around the W,A,S,D keys so that they don't feel cumbersome to reach or memorize.

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"][QUOTE="KHAndAnime"]Anyone play the 360 demo and the PC Demo? The 360 demo is :lol: compared to the PC. Weaker graphics, no PhysX, and even worse controls!dakan45

Might be a day one for me.

Love the combat. And the animations are fantastic.

But I have to disagree with most people here - for me, this game was meant to be played on the 360 controller. I tried the mouse and keyboard... meh. The 360 controller just seems so much more natural. I can position both the camera, and my character, exactly as I want to.

I also like to move my character with a non-linear movement speed - I hate having just two movement speeds, walk or run. I want to feel the whole spectrum of movement speeds. This is actually important, and is one of the reasons I prefer the 360 controller.

But yeah, it was an impressive demo. Also, did anybody else notice at the end of the demo - September 15'th. They got it right. I'd have to say that this is a pretty good example of a game that's being released at an appropriate time. Had this game been released just one month later, then I probably wouldn't be buying it. Dragon Age has got me in October - end of discussion.

Batman is the anti-Mirror's-Edge. Never has a game been released at a worse time, than when Mirror's Edge was released last year (on the consoles).

i gotta say, batman's cape is probably the perfect application of physx

Might be a day one for me.

Love the combat. And the animations are fantastic.

But I have to disagree with most people here - for me, this game was meant to be played on the 360 controller. I tried the mouse and keyboard... meh. The 360 controller just seems so much more natural. I can position both the camera, and my character, exactly as I want to.

I also like to move my character with a non-linear movement speed - I hate having just two movement speeds, walk or run. I want to feel the whole spectrum of movement speeds. This is actually important, and is one of the reasons I prefer the 360 controller.

But yeah, it was an impressive demo. Also, did anybody else notice at the end of the demo - September 15'th. They got it right. I'd have to say that this is a pretty good example of a game that's being released at an appropriate time. Had this game been released just one month later, then I probably wouldn't be buying it. Dragon Age has got me in October - end of discussion.

Batman is the anti-Mirror's-Edge. Never has a game been released at a worse time, than when Mirror's Edge was released last year (on the consoles).

Charles_Dickens

Because the game is so confined they could have at least made environment more interactive. As it stands it's just a fighting game in a one long tunnel. The switching between X mode and visual mode is interesting tho

A completely awesome demo.

I've played it three times now. I love it when this happens. A game practically out of nowhere. I grew up reading Batman comics, and watching the old series on television, and I'd forgotten how much a part of my childhood Batman was. This game makes me feel like a kid again.

It's a wonderful demo - I just hope that the game lives up to it.

As well as all the Batman stuff, there's a bit of Thief in there, and a bit of Riddick too. Oh the delay! This would've been a great way to have ended the summer.

I liked it, if all the gameplay was shown in the demo it would be repetitive fast but I am positive there are tons of different techniques and ways to do things that havent even been shown yet. Im going to wait for a couple months after it comes out for a purchase. That way any patches will be out of the way mostly, and I will get to read some good reviews on it and maybe even get a price drop or a sale.

As it stands it's just a fighting game in a one long tunnel. kpsting

[QUOTE="Tuzolord"]

theres like no physics at all, I don't get why they need Physx...

HenriH-42

:? Are you sure you played the same demo as I did?

With the PhysX turned on high, every cloth has physics (for example Batman's cape), heck there are even some newspapers on the floor in the first room that have cloth physics.

Also, take a look at this screenshot.

Every single one of those tiles can be broken. 8)

You can pick up enemies and throw them in this game, imagine throwing them onto a table and the table break in half. Crysis did that.

The tile breaking isnt much more advanced than what was in Max Payne 1. Splinter Cell in 2003 had cloth physics.

This physx thing is corporate bs. That could easily be handled by the cpu.

[QUOTE="HenriH-42"]

[QUOTE="Tuzolord"]

theres like no physics at all, I don't get why they need Physx...

Cranler

:? Are you sure you played the same demo as I did?

With the PhysX turned on high, every cloth has physics (for example Batman's cape), heck there are even some newspapers on the floor in the first room that have cloth physics.

Also, take a look at this screenshot.

Every single one of those tiles can be broken. 8)

You can pick up enemies and throw them in this game, imagine throwing them onto a table and the table break in half. Crysis did that.

The tile breaking isnt much more advanced than what was in Max Payne 1. Splinter Cell in 2003 had cloth physics.

This physx thing is corporate bs. That could easily be handled by the cpu.

a bit of Riddick too

Charles_Dickens

I definitely agree with that. This game reminded me a lot of Riddick in every way. Game came out of nowhere, from a unknown studio, based on a movie/comic license, great mix of stealth/combat etc.

[QUOTE="dakan45"][QUOTE="GazaAli"]2 Gb for a demo O_O ill passGazaAli

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

a bit of Riddick too

HenriH-42

I definitely agree with that. This game reminded me a lot of Riddick in every way. Game came out of nowhere, from a unknown studio, based on a movie/comic license, great mix of stealth/combat etc.

[QUOTE="Charles_Dickens"]

a bit of Riddick too

HenriH-42

I definitely agree with that. This game reminded me a lot of Riddick in every way. Game came out of nowhere, from a unknown studio, based on a movie/comic license, great mix of stealth/combat etc.

[QUOTE="kpsting"] As it stands it's just a fighting game in a one long tunnel. biggest_loser

No. Besides, what does number of rooms have with a question of whether it'll be linear or not?

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="kpsting"] As it stands it's just a fighting game in a one long tunnel. kpsting

No. Besides, what does number of rooms have with a question of whether it'll be linear or not?

Just got the demo from Steam and man, am I impressed. The controls are great, the graphics were very nice, and it ran very well on my PC. I still need to get a new processor sometime though...

I will definitely be buying this game sometime.

does anyone know what monster that was, that was released at the end of the demo. it wasn't bane, but i can't recall what villain that is

I could see myself playing this round the clock when it is released. Hearing Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin helps it insurmountably.

If they could break it out into the rest of Gotham in a sequel I would be ecstatic. For now I can only dream...

does anyone know what monster that was, that was released at the end of the demo. it wasn't bane, but i can't recall what villain that is

REforever101

the story invovles weird genetic experiments being conducted at arkham. the beast at the end is the result of such god-play.

I have one complaint about the demo, it is a 2 GB demo, and they don't let you fight that freak at the end to give you a taste of a Boss Battle in the game.

[QUOTE="REforever101"]

does anyone know what monster that was, that was released at the end of the demo. it wasn't bane, but i can't recall what villain that is

crazyfist36

the story invovles weird genetic experiments being conducted at arkham. the beast at the end is the result of such god-play.

I have one complaint about the demo, it is a 2 GB demo, and they don't let you fight that freak at the end to give you a taste of a Boss Battle in the game.

snover2009

[QUOTE="Cranler"]

[QUOTE="HenriH-42"]

:? Are you sure you played the same demo as I did?

With the PhysX turned on high, every cloth has physics (for example Batman's cape), heck there are even some newspapers on the floor in the first room that have cloth physics.

Also, take a look at this screenshot.

Every single one of those tiles can be broken. 8)

biggest_loser

You can pick up enemies and throw them in this game, imagine throwing them onto a table and the table break in half. Crysis did that.

The tile breaking isnt much more advanced than what was in Max Payne 1. Splinter Cell in 2003 had cloth physics.

This physx thing is corporate bs. That could easily be handled by the cpu.

I would imagine the delay is for optimization and bug fixes.

My feeling about demos is that, at least for me, developers, generally speaking, shouldn't release them.

I can't count the number of times when I was all set to buy a game, but then played a pre-release version of the game which was such a turnoff that I DIDN'T buy the game. Arma 2, for example, was just too confusing for me - I just gave up in frustration. (I'll maybe buy it later on - but I want a manual. The game is a mystery without documentation in some form.)

This demo, on the other hand, is a perfect example of how to show off your game to the public, and make them think about buying your title. If I've played a demo through more than five times (which I've done with this) then it means that I'm completely hooked.

This is a day one for me, no question about it. September 15'th is marked on my calender.