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Batman: Arkham Asylum

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 1:05 am

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Manufacturer: Square Enix
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List Price: $29.99
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Face off against Gotham?s greatest villains including The Joker, HARLEY QUINN, VICTOR ZSASZ and KILLER CROC
Become the Invisible Predatotm with Batman?s takedowns and unique vantage point system to move without being seen or utilize the unique FreeFlowtm combat system to chain together unlimited combos and battle with huge groups of The Joker?s henchmen
Choose multiple takedown methods, including swooping from the sky and smashing through walls, and use the predator camera get a closer look at the action.
Explore every inch of Arkham Asylum and roam freely on the infamous island, presented for the first time ever in its gritty and realistic entiret
Experience what it?s like to be BATMAN using BATARANGS, explosive gel aerosol, The Batclaw, sonar resonator and the line launcher

The Definitive Batman Game.

Review Date: August 25, 2009

Reviewer: Daniel Wolf, Cleveland, OH

For years and years, gamers (myself included) have played many different Batman video games and have only been let down time after time.

Now, Batman: Arkham Asylum IS that Batman game that you have always wanted to play.

It satisfies every part of you Batman desires and really gives you the feeling that you ARE Batman.

From the strength and power to the gadgets to the stealth and surprise you can bring toward your enemy, it is quite a marvel that a game developer finally got it right.

Thank you Rocksteady!

I do not want to give away any spoilers from the game so the plot is really basic and simple.

The Joker has taken total control over Arkham island and Batman needs to hunt him down to stop him, but not without going through many of Batman's familiar villians in the process.

Batman's gadgets come in handy often, most of the time you will be using his 'detective mode' which is built into the cowl and gives you the ability to see important items in the room and clues to lead you in the right direction.

There will be some moments where you find yourself just playing with all of Batman' gadgets for 10-15 minutes because there are so many of them to play with. (It feeds your inner dork so it's okay!)

Gameplay mechanics are solid and I have yet to find a defect in them or any glitches.

Fighting is very enjoyable, because you can be surrounded by 6-10 enemies and everytime an enemy is about to attack you hit the counter-attack button and continue to fight off all of them at once. Very fun.

The graphics are amazing and highly detailed like you would expect from a PS3.

Voice-over work is superb and Mark Hamill, as The Joker, really steals the show. If they gave out Oscars for Best Video Game Voice-Over Performance then Hamill would easily win it for this game!

All in all, Batman games have been so poor for so long, it is exciting to see a Batman game done right and this is worthy of a $60 purchase.

Go and get it and play it with the lights off in the dark with the sound blasting.

The Dark Knight Finally Gets a Game That Does Him Justice

Review Date: August 25, 2009

Reviewer: S. Rhodes,

Video games haven't been too kind to Batman. Often times when we think of a Batman game, the first thing that comes to mind is that the game just isn't going to be all that spectacular. What is it about the Batman that hasn't always worked in the past? It's hard to point out. What we can point out, however, is that Batman Arkham Asylum doesn't fall into that category. In fact, it is easily one of the best Batman games to be released. From its humble beginnings, the game is fine tuned video game that does most of what it does incredibly well.

Let's begin with the production values. This is by far one of Arkham Asylum's strong points. The game begins with the Joker being caught and taken to Arkham Asylum, but he seems to be pretty non-chalant about it, and Batman doesn't like that one bit. And it turns out he was right to be suspicious. The Joker springs a trap and Batman is caught in the middle. Now he's trapped inside the Asylum with the Joker controlling things, as well as several other adversaries.

One of the nice things about Arkham Asylum is that it presents its story very well. The art style feels comic book like, but it doesn't skimp on the overall visual presentation either. There's a lot of artistic flair and technical goodness to behold with the graphics. Most of the environments look fascinating and will really draw you into the game. The tone is perfect. The other good aspect is the voice acting. If you remember that Batman: The Animated Television series you'll be surprised to see its the same voices. Kevin Conroy is Batman and Mark Hamill is the Joker. And the voices are done very well. The production values of the game are absolutely stellar.

Of course, a game just isn't much if it only goes off of visual flair alone. In the past gameplay seems to be one of the areas in which Batman games often stumble. In the past the games have had a hard time crafting together good gameplay elements or sometimes being unreasonably clunky. This is mostly Batman's past. The games sometimes felt rushed. This isn't the case with Arkham. In fact, the game mostly keeps things pretty simple. The combat is really easy to pick up on, having you string together simple combos. But the game hardly devolves into button mashing. This is because your enemies will take advantage of the situation, and the game makes sure you can't rush head on into things. First and foremost, most of your foes are willing to take advantage of their surroundings. Second, you can't go head to head with several enemies all toting guns at once. This is definitely not a beat 'em up kind of game. In fact, in some areas, caution and stealth are required.

There has rarely been a Batman game where you actually feel like Batman. In some places you'll be able to swoop down and leave your enemies hanging from gargoyles... or perform a glide kick or use some of Batman's gadgets to get the job done. For such simple gameplay concepts, there are actually quite a few ways to implement them into the game. The game also lets you upgrade and improve on your techniques as you progress. So there actually happens to be quite a bit of variety.

At the same time, though, the game is accessible to just about everyone. You can also enter what's called "Detective Mode" if you so choose. Within this mode, Batman can see certain things he otherwise couldn't. You can tell where your enemies are easier and find some hidden goodies. You'll no doubt be playing a large portion of the game in this mode, but it's very worth it to do so. Choosing not to means missing out on some of Arkham Asylum's secrets, and there are a lot of secrets. The most prominent of which is that you can find riddles scattered all over that will unlock lots of different things for you to do. You'll also be able to unlock small character bios and audio samples about certain characters. These are other things that really make the game come alive in its own way. And in the midst of all this, the game doesn't appear too challenging or intimidating.

That's not to say you won't be challenged. You will. Particularly when you reach something new. It's nice to know, however, that the game isn't overly difficult. It's just to say that when trumping through it at least doesn't feel easy. When helping you get acquainted to things, Arkham Asylum is pretty easy going. But once the game takes away the training wheels you may find yourself hitting a few snags every now and then.

The visual look of the game isn't all that adds to the game's atmosphere. So does the music and so do some of the animations when you're fighting. Sometimes it's fun to battle just to look at some of the animations as they take place. Other times exploring can be absorbing because the music really knows how to set the tone. Arkham Asylum has a lot of strength, but the game seems well aware of just what those strengths are.

There's really not much that keeps Arkham Asylum down. In many ways it's exciting to play a Batman game that's good. After getting several Batman games that felt like a throwaway of the license, Batman Arkham Asylum feels like a breath of fresh air. Most of its gameplay conventions have been done before, but it's mostly how the game mixes them together that works well, and the absorbing atmosphere it emits in the process. Batman fans might find themselves pleased by this one. It's a simple game to play, but there is definitely a lot in it that could keep you busy for some time, and a lot to explore. It's great to see a Batman game come to fruition, and to do it so smoothly.