Catwoman

Shockingly enjoyable and creative for what should have been a predictable movie tie-in. Catwoman takes some learning but evolves into a tough, thoughtful platform challenge. [PSW]

Perhaps more than any previous movie game, Catwoman is actually challenging on a platforming level - sort of like "Prince of Persia" without the rewind. If you like a challenging platformer give Patience a chance. [Sept 2004, p.73]

It has some solid gameplay concepts, looks good, and does some nice things with its source material. Too bad that the stubborn camera and unwieldy controls, along with its mediocre storytelling, ensure that we never get to see the gem that shines just underneath.

Attempts to deliver some "Prince of Persia"-like acrobatics, but its sharp graphics are offset by bad control, weak voice work, and shoddy gameplay.

Graphics and animation are top-notch, and Catwoman slinks about like an exotic dancer. Control is tight, but counterintuitive. [Oct 2004, p.34]

Fighting is entertaining, if simple, and Catwoman can execute some impressive sequences, tumbling and leaping from perch to perch. The game simply isn't particularly noteworthy – it could use more gameplay, a more robust story and a friendlier camera.

The elements were in place for a solid platforming title with a little hand-to-hand combat thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, a painfully annoying camera and some downright boring combat kept that from coming to fruition.

The dialogue and the one-liners are simply inane. This and other aspects give you the feeling that the game was rushed out in time for the movie.

Some of the obstacles require some moves to be performed in combination. It may look easy in the movie but it's God-awful difficult in this game because of the controls, which tend never to do what you want it to do.

In a culture that often prioritises surface quality over content, Catwoman embodies the 'videogames that look good but play dreadfully' stereotype, with some aspects of the game (ie the ones that are likely to feature in screenshots) obviously given far more development time than, say, the quality of enemy intelligence or how anyone interacts with the gameworld.

Electronic Arts not only should have kept this cat in the bag, but said bag should have been weighted down and tossed in the river...This stinker will be budget priced before you can say "kitty litter".

The platformer is very cleverly planned out, and I applaud them for that, but the game sucked. I couldn’t help but go “What the hell?!” every five seconds.

While new enemies and missions are introduced over time, the game's story never really builds into anything, so it gives you -- the player -- little incentive to finish the adventure.

I am sorry, I love Electronic Arts, but this game is really bad. The graphics are pretty decent, but it can’t save this game from its horrible controls.

In short, playing this epic-sized monstrosity is similar to being scratched to death by a house cat...not only is it painful, it's also embarrassing. [Sept 2004, p.104]

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.

The game could have been so much more bearable if they had simply changed the camera operation. The camera is not in your usual third-person perspective, and it quite often faces her, making gameplay very difficult if not impossible at times.

Level designs that literally force you to try and retry an incredibly difficult section while fighting the controls and camera instantly suck any fun out of what could have been a nice attempt to mix "Prince of Persia" exploration and free-form 360 degree fighting (a la SCEA's "Rise to Honor").

EA Games’ Catwoman will continue to disappoint gamers that are hoping movie-based videogames are actually seeing a turnaround.

Aren’t cats supposed to be…graceful? Pulling off moves with “feline agility” just doesn’t look or feel right.

It’s not that the game is incredibly difficult. It’s just that it’s very particular and gives you a terrible viewpoint from which to perform specific actions. The loose controls only make matters worse.

The hell of the game is that the environmental puzzle setups look pretty good -- climb the wall, lash onto the nearest outcropping, swing to clamber chainlink fences, etc. It's just a shame the game actively fights your ability to navigate them.

It's a rather interesting adventure game marred by annoying, imprecise controls and an even more maddening and nonsensical camera.

The restrictive control system and progression feels pathetic compared to the state of fluid titles such as "Prince of Persia" or "Galleon", whilst the overall experience is confounded by an awkward fixed camera system that makes it virtually impossible to see where you’re going.

A little less presentation and a lot more effort on the game experience itself would have saved this cat at least some of its nine lives.

Besides the horrendous camera and controls, what irked me the most was how nonsensical it was. Its relentless linearity leads to jumping puzzles that make absolutely no sense. [Oct 2004, p.101]

But even the addition of Halle Berry’s slinky form and sultry voice can’t pull unpolished game play with lousy camera angles out of the litter box.

The story is bland, the game is short, the controls are iffy, and the camera is laughably bad.

Most gamers will feel cheated by the boring combat and atrocious camera work. Thus leaving the non-hardcore crowd focusing on a writhing, grinding, and silly second-rate strip act by a virtual Oscar winner.

Catwoman isn’t a game as much as a licensed train wreck.

The sultry character may offer a mesmerising, hip-swaying walk and spectacular feline acrobatics, but the game is frustrating, thanks to imprecise, unintuitive controls and a dreadfully wayward camera over which the players have no control.

Catwoman becomes beyond sloppy. Ultra-sloppy, if you will. Like the Houston 500, right men?

It's as if someone took the "Prince of Persia" formula, added a dash of digital Halle Berry, and then gave this recipe to an imbecile for actual execution. Everything that "Prince" did oh so right has been oh so bungled here. [Sept 2004, p.89]