So here’s something kinda groovy I just discovered this weekend: scenes from the video game I wrote about eight years ago. Have I mentioned that I love YouTube?
I wrote this in late 2000, although it took several years to
produce the actual game, which wasn’t released until early 2003. I was never
anywhere near good enough at the game (or any other) to get to where I could
see most of the scenes, although I did have early (and blurry) versions of them
on disc. Still, it’s been a long time since I saw them, and it was pretty cool
to see them again.
One of the things that was so satisfying about this was that, at that point, there were so few Batman projects that got the Dark Knight right. The animated show did, but it used a different continuity. And later, the two most recent films have, but when I was writing this, they were way in the future. So getting to do the “real” Batman, the way I was writing him in the comics at the time, he said oh so modestly, was pretty thrilling. As was using the Batgirl I’d helped create. As well as Oracle, just about my favorite character of all time.
I know, most of you have no idea what I’m talking about. That’s okay, neither do I. So here’s one of the clips. There are six of them in total, including all four of the possible endings, should you make it that far, and they take almost 45 minutes to watch. I’m going to put two of the six up, but if you do watch the first one, please please please skip the first minute. If you know Batman at all, it totally ruins a later twist, and if you don't know Batman, it won't mean anything to you anyway. Otherwise, you might want to just watch the other clip, the third part, since it takes place in Arkham Asylum, which means you get to see lots of groovy villains and whatnot.
Oh, and I should explain for those of you that have never
played a video game. These bits of animation are called cut scenes. They introduce
a game, give you an idea of the plot and the mission, and then it switches to
game play, where you’re in control. Once you’ve achieved one of the goals, it
cuts back to pure animation, and the plot is advanced a bit more. That’s why these scenes keeps fading to black and then back in—it's like a series of vignettes. And, also, keep in mind that digital
animation makes leaps every year, and that this stuff is seven years old.
Funny, until watching these this weekend, I'd totally forgotten that I had to write a bunch of different endings, including a few where the Batman actually dies. I'm a hopeless romantic, I know, but I found writing those scenes surprisingly moving. What can I say? I'm a geek.
I’ve had a lot of pretty righteous gigs over the years, but this was definitely one of the coolest.
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