Batman doesn't have any weapons or gadgets which are out of the ordinary, you'll recognise all of his gadgets and Eidos has done a great job in maintaining Batman's integrity, keeping as true to form as possible.  Batman has never been superhuman is what I'm trying to say, and this game doesn't give Batman any unfair advantages, and for me that commands total respect from the publishers and the developers.

You move around the world with a third-person camera, a camera that works brilliantly for the most part.  There is hardly a frustrating moment and all the movement is fluid and easy to master.  The only time the camera angle becomes an issue is when you're surrounded by inmates and pressing one button means you end up doing something else, while the camera flummoxes a little.  All movement however is mapped to the A button; so to run you keep your finger on A, to jump from one place to another while running you just keep your finger on A, to glide from heights, you keep your finger on A, to jump from a standing position you double tap A and the direction . 

And it stays simple with the mapping of the other buttons too, the X button is used for all of your combat, whether you're on the floor surrounded by thugs, or perching high above your target.  The X button is effectively the action button, and you'll find that constant tapping of the X button will get you through any fight really.  When you're perched up high you have the option of glide kicking the enemy, a silent attack which sees you glide across to your target, taking them down with both feet.  This never gets tiring.

There are other ways to take down enemies silently too; you can crouch and sneak up silently behind your enemy, taking them down silently so as not to alert the guards, you can hang off gargoyles and effectively hang your enemy as they walk under you, again silently taking them out, or you can go in guns blazing, so to speak.  Just make sure they don't have guns as you won't stand a chance.  Whichever way you choose to tackle the enemy, you'll find pleasure.  But if you're the silent killer type, then you'll probably revel knowing that the AI too is extremely intelligent, and once you've taken someone out silently it only takes a few moments for the rest of the group to gather around the unconscious body (because Batman doesn't ever kill any of his enemies, but rather renders them unconscious).  This is the perfect time to utilise your tools, and the explosive gel specifically, which can be accessed from your inventory mapped to the d-pad.  If you silently take out an enemy, spray the ground surrounding him with the explosive gel, rappel out of sight and wait for the AI to gather, you'll have carnage within moments, as well as effectively and efficiently cleaning out the area.

If you're more into the violent, one-on-one combat then you won't be disappointed either.  By mashing the X button a variety of different combos are accessed, and if you're being approached by an enemy you can counter their attacks with the Y button.  A combination of X and Y and you can string combos which equate to points that will eventually allow you to upgrade your stats.  Whether you want to enhance gadgets and tools you already have, or upgrade your health or fighting style, you'll have the option once enough points are accumulated.   The bigger the combo string, the more points you'll get.  And if you come across an enemy with a weapon of any description it's best to stun them first before you take them out, otherwise you'll get nowhere.  How do you do that?  Well, just tap the B button.

But it's the trigger and shoulder buttons which are the main driver of the detective side of the game.  The right trigger pressed alone, makes Batman crouch, while the right bumper fires off the rappel.  Using the rappel is surprisingly easy, it's almost a point and shoot mechanic, and if you can't fire on to something, you'll know.  The left bumper puts Batman into detective mode, a mode which is an X-Ray vision mode.  This mode highlights where the enemies are, what kind they are, if they're carrying weapons, outlines weak structures which can be taken down with the aforementioned explosive gel; or later the BatClaw, and allows you to follow electric cables so that you can disable locks later on in the game too.  The left trigger button acts as the initiator of whatever gadget you have selected. It's also used as the target button, in much the same way as it's generally utilised as a scope in FPS games.  When you've got your finger down on it you can fire batarangs and use other gadgets from your inventory.

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