I'm picking the game up later this week. S'about damn time!

I want it, but I can't really afford it.

its great, still not very good at the free flow combat but i'm getting the hang of it.

Loving the Killer Croc Section

I find if you dont mash the button you can perform better at freeflow combat,like if you time and direct the punches at a especific enemy not just random you will get not just better results but the satisfaction that you are indeed performing those awesome moves and with the takedowns oh men I dont know what I like more the stealth or the combat in this.

I love this game so so much =)

The game rocks, the combat is very strategic not just some button masher.

Definitely. Shame on anybody who thinks it's a simple button-masher. Also, Too Human, this is what your combat should have tried to be like.

It is a button masher though, you pretty much press one button rapidly until now and then you make some counter (which is extremely automatic to do and very easy, even BEFORE they go into attack animation) and some dodges, but other than that, its the same button you press all the time.
Just add a turbo controller and have the attack button be on turbo and you will win quickly.

Some enemies will block, which are the ones with knifes, but you do the cape swing to, make them dizzy :S, then you can attack them.

Its easy access and they dont have "hardcore" or even above average in their mind which is fine I guess, but they could atleast have it either be dial button combo which is like Ninja Gaiden where there is medium and heavy attack buttons, if thats hard enough :P then they could use the DMC style.
One button to attack but time it for various moves as light and heavy.

And this is just dumb...is there not a block button? Does Batman not block when fighting? This game needs a block button, or block/dodge were you hold "block" but Batman does quick dash moves like in boxing to avoid hits.

These guys didnt do half the study of other games in combat department.
Sure they got down the animation, hit detection, nice moves and finishers, but the mechanics are wrong.

If Star Wars The Force Unleashed could get away with having a block and timed button attacks for various moves at will then I don't understand why this game doesn't have it.
This game doesn't even have a movelist.

One thing I do enjoy though is how you can combine batarang with your attacks, thats like Ninja Gaiden actually.
You attack until you are ready to stun the enemy with a shuriken...many gamers don't use this technique because they thing shurikens are only for long range stuns.

Samething here in Batman.
If you have multiple enemies, if you are fighting one enemy off and you see someone else is about to get in a sneak attack, you end your attack with a stun, dodge or counter the attack ahead and then you decide if you want to finish the last enemy off or handle the new enemy that tried to get in a sneak attack.

But yeah, the combat is medicore, even for a easy access, its fun, but it gets a bit boring.

No its not a button masher as there are lots of instances where the enemy types are varied and require different tactics (button presses) to be taken down (Stun baton/Knife/club/Guns), and most instances require strategic planning that involves employing most of Batmans arsenal and moves to pull off with succes, as for blocking, that is basicaly the counter move as most martial art experts block by countering an attack think Bourne (Phillopino Kali/Trapping).

That is true, but the fact pressing the same button to see random attacks with you no in control of your movements is bad though.

for you maybe but i and many others like it just fine as there so much more involved in this game than just the hand to hand combat, all the elements tie nicely together to make this a Brilliant game, also i would not want this to play anything like NG this is Batman not some superhuman ninja on acid, so for me it’s just fine.

The reason why its fine is because this is Batman and its the only Batman game that delivers. If this was a whole new IP then no.

PS. Ryu is NOT a superhuman ninja, he isn't a god or anything like that. All the skills he gains is from his training. They exagerate his moves but its Japan and thats how they do it, but the fact remains that Ryu is just a regular guy that happens to turn out as a human weapon, not like Kratos nor even Dante with immortality and stuff...kind of like Batman, but 100x better :P

But its all good for the fans of Batman, this game is a stellar.
I for one am not a fan of Batman, so I see this as a game just like any other game, thats why I say the things I say.
But I guess the devs had Batman fanboys in mind when they created this.

Carry on.

Ryu is just a regular guy lol!! Sath really sometimes you amaze me.

This has nothing to do with fanboys its getting excellent reviews because its a great game, it has its flaws like most gems out there, but all in all its a brilliant game and the fact that its Batman just makes it even sweeter.

My game of the year just love it

No, it really isn't. Maybe on normal you can get away with mashing attack until it's time to counter, but it doesn't work on hard...especially if you care about your combo multiplier.

I get that you're all NINJA GAIDEN!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!11!1, but that kind of combat(mechanic-wise, not just esthetically) would have hurt the game a lot in my eyes...and not from an accessibility stand-point.

Ron, I understand and I agree that the Ng combat in Batman wouldnt be good, I didnt even compare it to NG combat-wise so i dont know where you got that from.
This is a Batman game, and the devs obviously aimed for average gamers to be able to pick it up without the depth of combat buttons and such, but I mean, SW TFU was a bit more complicated in combat that is in Batman, so how did they make it good with the buttons and such but not Batman?
Doesn't make any sense.

And I am not throwing NG out there as a fan of the game, but as a 3rd person action fan.

Honestly, what would have been gained from allowing Batman to do a hard attack in addition to his regular attack, cape stun, batarang toss, throw, instant takedown, counter, grapple-hook, and evade? All I can think of is a few crappy pre-canned combos that plague most 3rd person action games(like SW:TFU for example). The trade-off between having one melee attack button and having the combat look cool as fuck is a fair one.

Maybe here??

Thats how average gmers in this genre thinks like, but when you play DMC and NG for so many years, you tend to pick stuff like that quickly and have faster reflexes.

All I am saying is that a medium and heavy attack button would be good.

But whatever, enjoy the game.

We are.

I meant the medium and heavy attack buttons only, not the entire thing with challenging movelist and such.
You missunderstood it, but ah well.

The combat in Batman more than gets the job done and the game has so many other great elements that make it a truly great title, unlike some other combat based games out there, so far this is my GOTY '09 also.

We all know how Sath loves his combat and hack 'n' slash games, but Batman: AA isn't intended to be anything like that - primarily because it's the small part of a larger picture in terms of what you do in the game. The combat is intentionally accessible but has the potential for players to dwell deeper into it, chaining more combos as your skills progress. It's best described as simple but stylish and I don't see the problem with that, as the sheer fluidity and flow of it makes the combat maintaining a sense of thrill and excitement.

Sath, you shouldn't treat every game that has any form of combat like it's a hack 'n' slash game, because Batman: AA isn't at all. I'd rather this game has the combat system it does with all these other fantastic mechanics thrown in, than it being a straight up hack 'n' slash game a la Ninja Gaiden or Devil May Cry. Because, in my experience, those games do get boring fast.

Agreed just wow I dont even......