Catwoman's super-sensuality is well-translated in a game that sums good level design & graphics but tricky camera an
Argonaut Soft. attempt to create a good game from such a universally panned movie is unquestionably honorable and the effort put in it is easily remarkable: however, there are - just like the movie - some elements that undermine the good parts of the game and bring it down.
The story is similar but not identical to the one of the movie: there's no intro but the game pits you immediately in the famous jewelry battle, which is serving as a training level. Throughout the whole game, you will visit most of the locals seen in the movie, with some nice addition. The in-game cinemas are just nice as most of the characters have been developed differently from the movie - you could barely tell that you're facing Laurel Hedare if it wasn't for the lamely modeled woman who's standing before you (O Sharon, where art thou?).
Speaking of graphics, Catwoman has surely a very nice graphics: the environments are fairly detailed and vast; the light effects are very crisp and help to create a colorful (and a bit campy) atmosphere to the whole game. Catwoman herself is modeled on her counterpart in the movie, which is a plus. The other characters have received less attention: the aforementioned Laurel Hedare is way too far from what Sharon Stone made her look like; Det. Lone has strangely become blond and with moustache and goatee and foes look like dumb mannequins. Fortunately, you get to see them closely only a few times. The camera is the worst issue in the game: like everyone has stated before me, it attempts to get the most stylish view not the best to play. It's a problem especially when you have to run and jump like in the rooftop level: keeping an eye on where to go, avoiding machine gun shots and trying to snatch the usual Catwoman-logo diamond is really too harsh when the camera keeps on panning away from you. It doesn't make the game unplayable but it ruins most of the experience.
On the sound department, there have been many complaints about the actors' performances. Halle Berry provides the voice for Patience Phillips/Catwoman and she's not that bad: the lines maybe are just too cheesy and sometimes awful but her acting, just like in the movie, is not. The game has been clearly developed in England, since all the other characters sport a very recognisable British accent. The soundtrack is fairly good, quite repetitive sometimes but it's ok.
Gameplay-wise, Catwoman borrows many elements from Prince of Persia but it does invent something on its own. Catwoman can jump, climb up walls or hang with her claws, use pipes or others to swing, use her whip to activate switches, grab things and pull them against foes and to swing from points on the wall (before Lara Croft did in Tomb Raider: Anniversary). The combat is quite easy to handle: basically, all the acrobatic capoeira attacks are delivered when Catwoman is in her crouching position. Depending on where the enemy is and which direction you push on the analog D-pad, it will unleash some very stylish kicks. These varies from spinnings, cartwheel, backflips, flares, and others. The whip has another function in combat: disarm foes and pull them to you in order to have a sort of human shield. Every foe has to be "knocked out" by throwing them in some "exit points": this include giant trash bins, windows, elevator shafts (oh yeah!) and similar. If the enemy is beaten enough, they will run away or throw themselves in this exit points.
There are some points that you have to earn if you want to unlock new abilities: before every stage, there's a summary of how many goals you have to reach. This include scaring your foes by beating them senselessly, pushing them against breakable elements or throwing them objects, taunting them and successfully complete every acrobatic section. This, along with the diamonds that you will earn from every combat, will give you enough credits to buy new abilities to use in the game (extend the reach of your kicking attack, additional attacks and many more). This is the very main reason to keep playing Catwoman: it's quite hard to succeed in every goal in every single stage and so it is unlocking all the abilities. The game itself is quite short, even though there are some puzzles that are quite tricky to solve. It's a pity, however, they didn't put more unlockables like alternate outfits, behind-the-scenes and others to appeal more people to keep playing.
All in all, Catwoman is a good port of what it has been considered one of the worst movie in 2004: it has been likely dismissed after a superficial overview by many. If you enjoyed Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, you know what I'm talking about - sometimes you have to overlook some flaws to see what's shining behind them.