Author - Ripper71

Occasionally we at GamingShogun.com read more than just game manuals (who am I kidding?  We NEVER read game manuals!) and on those occasions it usually has to do with something video game related.  In this case it was actually based off of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Universe but it is at least a manual!  The Dark Knight Manual: Tools, Weapons, Vehicles & Documents From The Batcave is comprehensive collection of information for those who will never be satisfied for what they glimpsed on the big screen.

The manual is written under the premise that after the destruction of Wayne Manor Bruce Wayne started collecting all files, documents, sketches, and pretty much everything that is needed to become Batman and entrusted the collection to Alfred.  The manual opens to the case file of his parents murder and by saying it opens to the case file it literally opens to a case file, made of old cardboard filing sleeve which opens and shows crime scene reports as well as glued together photos from the crime scene.  The cover of the file has the name of every officer who checked it out, the date and its return date and pages you can flip through.  This sets the mood for the whole book which it follows through with, this truly feels like it was taken straight out of that world, that these are the actual documents, schematics and details that made Batman who he is. Many parts are written on post-it notes or scraps of paper while other parts are in architectural document sleeves that contain blue prints on how to theoretically create the devices.  There are newspaper clippings that don’t just have a headline with scribbles for a story but actually have a fully written story taken right out of a scene either from the movie or would have happened between the scenes.

I’m sure the Dark Knight Notebook wouldn’t have carried the same weight and technically it is a manual on creating Batman from the Batarang to his mental state and fighting style, but it feels like a notebook in the sense that it is composed of scraps of information compiled together, sometimes literally on a scrap of paper that as the owner of the book you could take out and stick on your wall.  It kind of reminds me of what someone obsessed with a subject might make, there is a degree of obsession that comes through in the book, as if Bruce Wayne knew that someday something might happen and someone else might need to take up the mantle and this is everything needed.  It also has the feel that originally all this might have been tacked to a wall as it was organized and re-organized to eventually fit into categories.  This isn’t a sterile bunch of facts, there is emotion in here, personalities come through and it truly feels like an extension of the movies.

Any big fan of the Batman franchise will love the breakdown of his toys, the blueprints, concepts sketches and photographic details of their completion.  The Batsuit is displayed in transparent increasing layers starting with Bruce Wayne without the suit at the bottom and building up, piece by transparent papered piece until you see him in the full suit.  It even has details of the presuit, which “was an Applied Sciences creation: strong and stiff and originally designed for advanced infantry use.”  There is a post-it attached to this that says “Master Wayne, I’ve replaced the base layer, if you’ll kindly be more careful putting it on the next time?  Even with your bank account, $300,000 per suit warrants some caution. -A”  This is the beauty of the book, it really brings across the details of the objects but also the character of those who populate Batman’s life because in the end the whole book revolves around making Batman.

I have only one point of slight disappointment and it is fairly slight.  Most of the items that can be pulled out of the book have small print on it somewhere noting that it is trademarked and copyrighted by DC Comics.  In an otherwise very well detailed immersion which uses so many aspects to sell the feel that this came right out of that universe, DC Comics has to put it’s stamp on things completely reminding you that this is a fictitious universe based on a comic book.  I understand since there items could literally be pulled out of the book that you might want to note intellectual property but since technically any page could be taken out of a book it seemed unfair to all the work done to make this seem so real to have the “DC Comics” splashed all through it.

Last Call:

I had high hopes for this book when it arrived but it was even better than I had expected.  There was a lot of love and detail put into this, it was truly made to feel right out of the Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight universe.  I was like a kid pointing out the details in the book that made it seem so authentic, like it was stolen right off of Alfred’s desk.  The little DC Comics trademark everywhere took away from it but not enough to spoil it, not enough to ruin all the detail and touches that were put into this amazing book.  If you are a Batman fan, a fan of the movies or just a book reader who wants to read a story told in such a unique way this is the book for you.

So I had been totally falling behind in the gameplay department when it came to big titles.  Indie titles I was becoming the guru, much like Judgeman is our fighting guru and the GamingShogun himself is the sim stud, we could review anything asked of us but there were specialties developing.  We have a well defined sports department with infighting over which was more of a sport: Nascar or Soccer (playful rivalries with neither camp touching the other’s games).  So when things got quiet for many of the other styles, my plate filled up and stayed full for a while.  When a game that appeals to everyone like Skyrim comes along I keep saying I’ll get to it.  Well I finally realized I was alone in the “I’ll get to it” camp on Skyrim so I asked the team “which system should I get it for?  PC or console?”  Turned out no one on the team had touched it on PC, were we all just playing console jockey favorites or was there a reason?  I decided to find out.

Skyrim, which I grabbed on an insane deal on Steam, and Dawnguard, which the reps provided to me for this test (thanks again guys!), downloaded over a couple days while I played other games and read our own review of Skyrim.  The review had me salivating as did the near daily calls from our MMORPG guy had who updated me through his playtime on Skyrim and let me know I would LOVE Dawnguard.  The question was would I find the same love of the game everyone else had if I played it on a different platform?

Control Differences:

Ok this would seem to be one of the most obvious of differences considering one would use a keyboard and mouse and the other would use a controller.  That is half right, the PC version had gamepad support which made it so that you could use the keyboard and mouse and play it just like a first person or third person shooter depending on preferred viewpoint but you could also pick up your controller and go to work with that which actually give the PC player more options..  Some people question the gamepad, feeling that if you want to play it with a controller then why not play it on a console?  That brings up the next point…

Style of Immersion:

When playing on a console players generally, I know this varies, sit about 6 feet at least from a large television set.  The argument for this is that they have this huge window into the world right across the room from them which can be extremely immersive with their controls virtually or completely out of their view.  It pulls them in much like watching a movie but with interactive suspension of disbelief.  The argument from console players is they wouldn’t want to play on a little screen with their controls in front of them.  The counter to that is most computer gamers lean forward in their chairs and can’t see their keyboard unless they want to lean back and see it.  They are really close to the monitors with their faces and argue at least nobody can walk through the room and interrupt their game.  So far these arguments seem to be the standard between the two with everything coming down to personal preference and most of the arguments are and always have been between the two.  Instead of continuing the same old arguments I will show where they are particularly solid points…

Family Experience:

Unless you plug your computer into your large screen television (which does cause a loss in clarity generally) console gaming can actually be a family experience, especially story driven ones like Skyrim.  I have read plenty of articles of whole families sitting together with one person on the controller watching the game like a movie and taking turns making the decisions that make up the storyline.  It is technically being played single player but everyone is involved which for the most part isn’t the case with the computer player who usually has to call someone over or have them hover over their shoulder to participate.

Building:

Steam is a HUGE supporter of community built content and Skyrim: Dawnguard is no exception.  On boards where people were discussing the pros and cons between PC vs. console this point almost always came up and there was no strong answer back about it.  When it comes to building you want a PC, Steam especially to get the most out of the game, if you just want to play the game they are pretty even ground but builders and potential developers want the tools and community of Steam.  Modding seems to be one of the few places where there really is no competition.

Graphics/Lag

Because Dawnguard had to work within a set software system the consoles have very similar resolution which particularly during battle shows less detail and generally more lag (Bethesda was flat out unhappy about how it played on the PS3).  I double checked this with multiple sources and it is the consensus, if the PC owner has a decent rig.  If the PC owner is running with minimum requirements the graphics don’t improve that much.  In my case I have a pretty good graphics card, plenty of RAM and a monitor that was state-of-the-art- when I got it (instead of standard 30,000-1 contrast mine has 5,000,000-1) so when I set my graphics on ultra the detail difference not just on objects but on the background, literally a couple tree becomes a forest, is astounding.  My system cost more than the two consoles combined though so we are talking more money for better graphics and if I was across the room I would notice a difference because of actual additions to the environment.  Graphically and lag issues considered the PC wins out again.

Last Call:

It really depends on what you want to do with the game and if you care how it looks that much.  It looks really nice on the console, can be a family experience, and it is more affordable than a gaming rig.  If it isn’t just a game to you, if it is a chance to work on building mods, items, weapons, or you HAVE to have the most detailed environment and most content possible, the PC is your way.  So did we really decide anything?  Or does this still go down like the debate between Mac vs. PC, Bud vs. Coors, religion, politics… I guess it still always comes down to taste and your faith in yours.