That Time Ubisoft Made a Batman Game

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Ah, Ubisoft, a company that is known for making bad games. Well except that one I guess, and that one, and that one, and that one, and that one too, huh, And ok you know what, whatever, the point is, when we think of Ubisoft, there are very specific kinds of games we think of. Open world games, historical games, stealth games. For as much as Ubisoft is known for sci-fi with the assassin's creed series, they rarely dip their toes into the vigilante scene, aside from arguably one game. So imagine my surprise when I find out that Ubisoft made a Batman game over two decades ago based on the legendary cartoon, The New Batman Adventures.

Conceptually, this game is a trip down memory lane for me. It features all the same voice actors from the associated cartoon, and of course the art style is a 3d interpretation of the show. Of course, not only does this make the game more authentic, but in retrospect, it feels like an elseworld arkham game. And yea, it’s really nice to hear Kevin Conroy again. I think this is one of the biggest draws of the game, the fact that it’s based on the show, but if you’re looking at the footage then it’s clear, the game is old. 2001 old, meaning this game is older than a lot of you watching, and it’s only a year younger than me. I know some of you younger Gen Z kids might scoff at a game that looks like this, so I want to take a few moments to talk about “old” games.

These days, especially in the last few years, the standards for games have skyrocketed. Games now look even better than real life, run smooth, and are as immersive as ever, especially when we factor in things like VR headsets. Games with a minimalistic art styles aren’t uncommon, but they are no longer done to avoid boundaries, and are rather done out of artistic intent. When we travel back to older games, there's a shock to your system, because characters like Lara Croft that have been known for their luscious hair this generation previously had a few shapes that we all collectively understood as hair. But it’s important to remember that this level of fidelity is adjusted to easily. I’ll admit, when I first launched Batman Vengeance and saw that the maximum resolution was barely defined as HD, and there were virtually no graphics settings, I was preparing for the worst, but within 20 minutes I felt completely immersed within it. Granted, I went into the game knowing it was more than 2 decades old, but this side tangent is to set up the following statement; I think the game looks pretty good.

Batman is a character with a lot of games. Batman Arkham is the only batman related series many have played. Ubisoft, a company known for making good games, is a company many would want to avoid the Batman IP, but this Ubisoft Batman game turns out to be quite good. Unfortunatley the time Ubisoft made a Batman game was over two decades ago, which, brutal, but regardless, Batman Vengeance is pretty much a Batman Animated Series game. This Batman Vengeance review, Batman Vengeance critique, and Batman Vengeance retrospective will look at the games development, how it holds up today, and if you should play it (spoiler; why not). Maybe Ubisoft will lead a new Batman Arkham game one day, though I think Rocksteady is making the next Arkham game. If there is ever another Batman The Animated Series or Batman The New Adventures game, I'd be comfortable seeing Ubisoft make it after playing this.