Batman's also known as The Dark Knight. In addition to sounding cool as, the nickname tells you everything you need to know about who Batman is and what he does. This is a brooding, shadowy, almost mythical figure. Noble in his pursuit of criminals but unflinching when it comes to kicking their asses. His character is captured brilliantly in the recent Batman Begins movie, which elegantly turns a guy who's essentially just a vengeful nutcase with more money than sense into a tortured and sympathetic hero. Which made us hopeful that the game would also offer depth and subtlety - a rich blend of action, stealth and superhero-standard visuals. But despite good intentions, and a handful of decent ideas, the end result is another terrible tie-in.

Playing as the Bat, the big hook is the way you have to stalk and scare your enemies into pant-pissing submission. The idea is sound, encapsulating exactly what Batman's all about. As the game (and the movie) says: "Fear is his weapon". The big problem with Nu-Batman isn't the idea, it's the execution. For a start, the scattershot plotline - which loosely apes the film but adds bits to make it work as a game - has only a passing familiarity with coherence. Even worse, objectives used to drive the lazy storyline are unremittingly dull.

Scaring villains simply requires triggering mundane, scripted events (barrels exploding and scaffolding collapsing seemingly without explanation) while the actual stealth elements are laughable - the levels are too goddamned well lit. Seeing Batman skulk around in none-too-shadowy environments seems out of character. And this makes the whole 'fear as a weapon' element feel pointless, ineffectual and shallow. Trying to instil fear into enemies makes no real difference to how they're disposed of; it's just a way to startle them before dealing out a pummelling or quietly subduing them. Plus, they oddly evaporate when they're taken out - perhaps as some concession to the fact that Batman doesn't kill, but it just looks silly.

There's also too much levity in the gameplay's snatch-and-grab stealing from the stealth cupboard. Essentially, the game is Splinter Cell Lite, but without any of the complexity, feeling completely non-committal and half-baked. Gadget-based mini-games (picking locks, hacking computers, scrambling security camera feeds) are all identical, and the way Batman is controlled feels like hopelessly watered-down cocktail of Persia, MGS, God Of War and Bond. Speaking of which, last year Electronic Arts got Bond completely right with Everything Or Nothing, turning the spy's game into an explosion of genre-jumping brilliance, while always managing to remain arcadey and accessible. It was fun, if fluffy, and totally understood the source material's tone. Here, EA's same formula has been mistakenly applied to the Bat - and if you've seen Batman Begins you'll know it doesn't lend itself to being a throwaway fluff-fest.

The few flashes of fun you'll find just aren't Batman. Case in point: the Need For Speed 'inspired' Batmobile levels, which eschew the game's portrayal of the machine as a raw, tank-like beast, opting for a tricked-out take on the Bat's vehicle instead (See Where's The Button To Add Neon Underglow?, below).

If you think about it, it's often their means of transport that makes superheroes exciting - for instance, Spider-Man's swinging or Superman's flying. Playing this only to find Batman wandering around identikit warehouses like Joe Schmoe the cat-burglar and trudging through rudimentary sewer-themed platforming sections is disheartening. Seeing his cape flutter behind him - not like the rigid, frightening cloak of shadow in the film, but akin to some bedraggled old curtain fastened around his neck - totally breaks our heart. It only serves to highlight that Batman is just a man in a suit.

Still, it's a good-looking game. Levels are detailed and the lighting is exquisite (even though there's far too much of it). However, the excellent production values (character voices and likenesses come directly from the film's Christian Bale, Sir Michael Caine and co) only highlight how crude the gameplay is. We don't buy that it's designed for casual gamers, either - this is action gaming at its least essential.

The ideas that have made it off the drawing board are tired and poorly fleshed out. To compensate, there's a stack of bonus materials, from clips about the making of the game, through to alternate costumes, a set of batmobile challenge races, and a 'gallery of fear' that lets you take on the various enemies you've met. But the fact that you have to wade through the turgid gameplay to unlock them just feels like a bore. Batman Begins, then. But is it too late to stop him?

The game's 'standout moment' award goes to the few levels where you get to control the batmobile whooshing through night-time Gotham. But even these are flawed: the huge neon arrows pointing you forwards, the obsession with takedowns (accompanied by idiotic claims that they cause 'no casualties'), nitrous boosts, a laughable reputation meter and an end-of-level tally detailing how many dollars' worth of damage you've done all jar. And as for the whole takedown thing, it's just as well that EA also owns the developer that makes the Burnout games...

Graphics 80%
Handsome and finely detailed.

Sound 80%
Excellent voice work, subtle music.

Gameplay 40%
Badly dated and light on challenge.

Lifespan 50%
Despite the unlockables, it feels throwaway.

Overall 50%
Batman Begins has all the gloss and noise of a Hollywood production, but none of the ambition. Disappointing.