Well, those of you who know me know that this had to happen at some point.
For those of you who found this site randomly, first consider yourselves lucky, and then understand that I have quite a history with Best Buy. In no way will I allow my feelings for the company affect this review.
Shit, that's a lie. I'm sure I'll put a few jabs in here. Review after the video and jump.
The first time I saw this commercial I thought the voice-over was an attempt at sounding like the movie trailer guy with the badass deep voice. Once I saw it a second time I realized it was supposed to be Batman. Don't get me wrong, Christian Bale's gravelly, trying-too-hard version isn't much better, but the Best Buy guy sucks really bad.
Have you ever watched a comedian do bad impressions? It makes you feel really awkward and uncomfortable and you just want it to end as soon as possible. That's how I feel when I watch this guy try to do his Batman voice. Throw in the idiotic "dude" he says (because all people who play video games like, talk like Bill and Ted, dude) and we have a real shitstorm brewing in this ad.
What's most disconcerting about it all, though, is the crazy eyes on the guy. Everyone has a friend who looks like he or she is trying to consume your soul in every picture they are in. When I see this jackass telling me about bonus maps and action I can't focus on anything but how much he looks Tyra Banks at her craziest. And he's wearing about the same amount of makeup as her, too.
Enough about the Best Buy guy. He sucks plenty, but he probably didn't write this stuff. Let's instead focus on the fact that the addition of Robin is supposed to make me want this game.
Most sidekicks suck, but Robin sucks on an entirely different level. He sucked on the old Batman show(played by Burt Ward), his comic series sucked, and he sucked big ass in the movie Batman & Robin (played by Chris O'Donnell). Putting him in a video game will only make me less likely to play it.
Finally, the dialogue is very Best Buy. By that I mean that there are phrases that were popular at some point, but since Best Buy is woefully out of touch with what the cool kids are saying these days, they use them anyway. Examples include: "psych," "seriously" (although this use is slightly less annoying than the 'seriously?' version with the Ron Burgundy teleprompter inflection), "intense," and the most despicable and overused of all, "epic." If I never hear the word "epic" again it will be too fucking soon.
Best Buy kind of a shitty company, so it's fitting they have shitty ads. Other than the Robin part, this game actually looks pretty cool. But if I buy it, I sure as hell won't be buying it from some crazy-eyed bastard doing a shitty Batman impression.
Final Grade: D
*********
*********
Sounded more like Kevin Conroy's voice...and it was actually pretty good. WAY too harsh on this dude...especially considering how bad the script is. His eyes looked intense, but it was probably the lighting.
ReplyDelete