I had the chance to go and see the movie before the actual premiere and just the day before I stupidly decided to pick pears. Does that stop someone from going to the movies a day later? If that somebody is me then yes, it does because you see I am one mental defective stupid no good piece of shit. To make a long story really short: the scaffolding collapsed while I was standing under it. I lived (luckily?!) but my right leg got stuck and I broke my foot. The cause which made sitting impossible is for your imagination to fill in. Anyway, I would have loved to see the movie as my interest in it simply increased with every one, of the mere six, levels I finished. Unfortunately I can not tell you if the movie makes you eager to play the game, but I guess that would be more relevant in a DVD review or would that be the other way around?!

Do you feel that the story is so important I should resume it once again? Well, that is just where you and I differ then but if you want to read what you already know you can click this link which will lead you to the official site.

As far as I can think of there is only one really permanent disturbing negative thing to say: suckiest camera ever (really lowering gameplay score because of this). Most of the time, after you've passed the learning curve that is, it will be acceptable and it would have been quite good if one could at all times completely manually adjust it. Unfortunately, that is not possible which leaves you with no other alternative than to try moving around until you see what you want.

One permanent negative thing, I said, but I discovered a few other bugs too. Here is what happened: I was playing happily for about seven hours in a row (bathroom brake was rare) when I managed to dispose of three waves of attacking guards. So now the room was empty which made me think I ought to leave it but not any possible exit could be found, no button to press, nothing... but I did spend another hour and a half walking around in that room trying the most inventive stuff that would have been ingenious solutions impossible to think of by the developers himself. Against all my believes, I ended up consulting a walkthrough which stated that a door would open after you defeated the last security guy. Definitely no open door here so I restarted and tried again with as a result it took me under five minutes to finish the level as now the door did open. The only thing that would make me forget about this is a letter of apology from the developers together with a signed copy from the game or some other neat merchandising stuff (hint hint). At least this bug made me laugh when I wrote it down like that but I still want to mention that towards the end of the game it really feels as if they had to rush things, ending up with completely unsynchronised subtitles twice and some less smooth transitions graphically. Luckily it remains exciting and varied until the last drop even though the bosses are no challenge at all.

Good, positive things from here until the end. Although the surroundings are dark, rainy, cold and cheerless they manage to create an atmosphere where that is of no importance because it feels good. The levels are very much alive too but the fire effects could have been more realistic or at least more noticeable so that you cannot accidentally lose health because you are surrounded by flames. Reading menu’s on a television is easy by which it immediately distinguishes itself from a million other console titles. It does so too for all the other graphical aspects with especially Catwoman looking very polished and extremely detailed. An astonishing performance.

You will be puzzling most of the time to find a way up to the top of a building. Once you see the path it is not that difficult to walk it, at least once you are past the distant border of the two hour learning curve. It is hard to get used to the controls but if you hang in there you will see that the gameplay is really consequent and logical. It will become your second nature by which I mean it feels as if you are doing it in real life. The levels are really varied and so are your goals because after climbing you will definitely need to do some fighting which works really fine as well. Press L1 and move the right analog stick towards the opponent. Before you start thinking it is boring let me tell you that the whip and the special moves you can buy make things tremendously fun.

I am glad to hear that Catwoman’s comments are not repetitive or inappropriate but now I was more surprised to hear that she can still speak as her comments are explicitly rare. Gunshots could have been a little more impressive if they would use a little more of my subwoofer but I did notice that the surround was used how it ought to be. It simply puts you in another dimension when the sound comes from the actual angle, good work here.

I would like to say good movie, good game but that would be a little presumptuous as I have not seen the movie yet. Really interesting gameplay which manages to keep you play on and on until you suddenly notice there is nothing left play. The atmosphere is awesome thanks to an ingenious combination of excellent graphics, especially on the aging PS2, and Pro Logic II sound. Furthermore I want to thank EA’s public relations people for sending me a decent retail copy with a booklet which really gives the experience an added value. If you are into third person Tombraider games with less difficult puzzles and fighting similar to the one from Rise To Honour without frustrations you should definitely play this Catwoman. If they would fix the few bugs and re-release it in an economical package including the DVD it would make it the perfect experience. A short comic in the back of the booklet won’t harm either. Still, a surprisingly good game which I want to categorize as reviewer’s favourite!