Batman: Dark Tomorrow

Batman: Dark Tomorrow is an Action-adventure video game developed by HotGen and published by Kemco for the Xbox and GameCube. It is based on DC Comics' long-running comic book series Batman, unlike most other Batman games which are adaptations of the character in other forms of media, besides the source material.

Plot
Trying to end a gang war between Scarface & the Ventriloquist and Black Mask, Batman discovers that Commissioner James Gordon has been kidnapped, and is being held at an overrun Arkham Asylum. Racing through Gotham City's sewers in order to enter the Asylum undetected, Batman has to fight through enemies ranging from Mr. Zsasz to the Ratcatcher before finally encountering the man holding Gordon: the Joker.

Discovering that Gordon's kidnapping was in fact a distraction to keep the Dark Knight away from the world stage, Ra's al Ghul reveals that his new plan to take over the world is nearly complete. Batman has to travel around the world to the Demon's Head's stronghold in order to stop his latest plan for world domination. The game features various endings depending on how the last few sections of the game are played. To get the "good" ending, Batman must disarm a signal device before facing Ra's. This is never revealed to the player however, and the most common ending consists of defeating Ra's who then sets off the bombs he has set up around the globe, ultimately resulting in his success. This initially caused confusion among gamers and critics as to why "beating" the game essentially had the death of 1/3 of the population.

Members of Batman's supporting cast of allies also appear in the cinematics of the game, including Oracle, Robin, and Batgirl. Nightwing does not appear, but is mentioned in dialogue as possible backup leading into the game's climax.

Many precedents of the comics are cited, especially as it pertains to Ra's al Ghul, and Batman's "undefined" relationship with al Ghul's daughter, Talia al Ghul.

The villains in the story include the Joker, Ra's al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Scarface & the Ventriloquist, Black Mask, Mr. Zsasz, the Ratcatcher and Bane as Ubu.

Production
Dark Tomorrow was first shown at E3 2001 as a Nintendo Gamecube exclusive. The game was supposed to be a more open-world oriented adaptation of the comic book Batman. Similar to Activision's Spiderman 2, players would control Batman around Gotham and interact with numerous objects and mechanics in the city. Players would also be able to patrol Gotham in the Batmobile, Batplane, and Batboat. Character A.I. and combat was to be very impressive for a next generation of gaming. Writers of D.C. Comics and Final Fantasy III and VI were to work on the story for Dark Tomorrow. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was to make the soundtrack as well. The game had a total development span of four years. However, complications arose when Microsoft planned some changes before the game's release, including "fixing" the faulty combat system, and adding more characters.

Reception
Batman: Dark Tomorrow received largely negative reviews by critics for its confusing game play engine, its repetitive mission modes, and its awkward camera angles. The end of the game is also criticized because there is no direction to the "fulfilling ending" of the story, outside of another source. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the GameCube version 27.83% and 29/100 and the Xbox version 24.06% and 25/100. Game Informer gave this game a 0.75 out of 10 for gameplay that is "incomprehensible and littered with bugs". IGN was severely disappointed, saying that "The Dark Knight gets his wings clipped in his latest adventure."

Although the gameplay was heavily criticized, the story and the in-game cinematics were widely praised. IGN noted, "Positive marks earned here for sticking to the DC-based Batman license and faithfully bringing it to life. The cut-scenes are arguably the best part of the game." The story was written by veteran monthly Batman writer Scott Peterson, who also wrote the previous DC Comics game Superman: The Man of Steel, with assistance of famed Final Fantasy writer Kenji Terada.

The game is notable for resulting in the inception and being the first recipient of the "Shame of the Month" award in Electronic Gaming Monthly, which "honors" each month's worst-reviewed game in the magazine.