I found all 240 of The Riddler’s riddles today, whoop whoop! Anyway here’s my review.
Batman: Arkham Asylum – PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
Rating – 15+, T.
Ever since 1939, Batman has conquered the world of comic books, television shows, films and now finally video games. In the past, not a single game gave The Dark Knight as much justice as Arkham Asylum has. Remember the last Batman game, Batman Begins? *Shudders*.
The game begins with Batman accompanying The Joker to the home of Gotham City’s criminally insane – Arkham Asylum. Unfortunately he escapes just moments after you arrive, and it turns out that he’d be planning it for months. With the help of Harley Quinn and several other supervillains, he releases the imprisoned inmates and takes control of the whole asylum. It is up to you to stop them all.
Speaking of supervillains, seeing as there are quite a few of them I will list all of them and review them individually. But first, gameplay and graphics.
I’ll start with gameplay, I don’t know why. Because it’s alphabetically before “graphics”? You decide! Anyway, the gameplay in Batman: Arkham Asylum is pretty darn fantastic. In my eyes it is broken into 2 categories – Combat and Exploration.
The combat system is one of the best ones I’ve ever seen. It’s simple, but bloody fun to play with. When fighting crazed inmates, the trick is to chain together combos of punches, kicks, jumps, throws, etc. You can also use counter attacks to stop inmates from hitting you and then punish them for trying. Each hit you inflict on inmates is added to a counter in the top left of the screen which records how long a particular combo is, and it can get quite challenging, but fun to rank up 30-40 hits in a single combo.
But it’s not just fist fights that get you past the inmates. You can also use stealth to take down bad guys silently and effectively. Whether it be choking them from behind, hanging them from the ceiling or gliding down from above and kicking them in the head, the stealth element of this game will never get old and is a lot of fun if you’ve played other stealth titles such as Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid.
Batman isn’t just a man who dresses up like a bat and fights crime, he’s also a detective. And that’s where Detective Mode comes in. At the press of a button you can view your surroundings unlike any other normal human being. Objects of importance, such as control panels, air vents, switches, and other things that can help you progress are highlighted to help you notice them more easily. It also highlights the locations of inmates. Blue inmates are unarmed and red ones are (and it’s recommended that you don’t take down the latter head-on). This mode is extremely useful for planning an attack on multiple inmates and finding your way around if you’re lost or not sure what to do.
The island that holds Arkham Asylum is fairly huge and has lots of areas for you to explore, but what really makes you feel like The Dark Knight is climbing to the top of the asylum and gliding off it using your cape, watching as it shines and moves as you fly towards the ground.
Now for graphics.
Well, this game is beautiful. It takes the graphics from Batman Begins (which I thought were pretty good at the time anyway), puts them in a blender and turns it on at full power. The prison that is Arkham Asylum is a work of art in terms of design, appearance and overall eeriness. As you walk the corridors you can’t help but feel trapped in a madhouse full of lunatics ready to jump out at every corner and rip you to shreds. Which is what I’m assuming Rocksteady, the developers, were aiming for. The whole place is extremely detailed and the architecture is something that should literally be worshipped. The models for each character are also incredibly detailed, especially The Joker, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
Supervillains.
I won’t bother explaining who each one is, because if you’re playing this game then there’s a fair chance that you are a fan of Batman and already know everything about them. Plus it would take too long.
Mr. Zsasz.
He isn’t in the game much; in fact you only encounter him twice. Once at the beginning and once towards the middle. But it was nice to see him included. His model is slightly detailed, chains and broken padlocks that are tied around his body move realistically. The scars on his skin that he makes every time he kills someone aren’t that detailed though, they just look like someone’s drawn them on. But I guess that’s only because Rocksteady didn’t want the game to be too graphic.
Killer Croc.
A wonderfully rendered character that pops up every now and then throughout the game, making you eager to fight him. Unfortunately when you do get to face him, you’re left feeling as though you missed out on something. You face him in the sewers, but you don’t exactly “fight” him. You’re actually in the sewers looking for something else (I won’t spoil it) and you’re supposed to avoid him completely.
Bane.
Massive, brutal, clumsy. There isn’t that much left to say about him really. He’s pretty easy to defeat and not very well rendered for my taste.
Scarecrow.
Wipe the image of Dr. Jonathan Crane in a business suit with a bag over his head from your mind, this time Scarecrow looks a little different. And by that, I mean at least 100 feet tall with syringes attached to his fingers. But like Killer Croc, you don’t technically “fight” him. Instead you play a series of side-scrolling mini-games, where you need to reach a spotlight and shine it at Scarecrow without him noticing you.
Poison Ivy.
Who says video games don’t have enough female characters? Poison Ivy is one the best rendered characters in the game, with her waving hair and shiny lips. Not to mention the fact that she appears to have lost most of her lower half clothing…
Harley Quinn.
One of the best rendered characters, not just in a game, but ever. Her redesigned costume, which consists of a rather kinky mini-skirt and blonde pigtails, is a work of genius. Arleen Sorkin, who hasn’t played Harley since 2003, reprises her role and nails it. But alas, you don’t get to fight her. Which is a pity; she’s the co-leader of the asylum’s inmates and is remarkably acrobatic. I’d like to see what it would be like to fight her while she does quadruple back flips.
The Joker.
All the supervillains in Arkham Asylum are decently made and well voiced, but The Joker stands out. The reason for that is because the voice for him is provided by none other than Mark Hamill. Screw Heath Ledger, sod Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill deserves an Oscar for this one. His charisma and witty one-liners are both brilliant and hilarious. On top of this, Joker is rendered beautifully. The green hair, the skinny physic and the face paint put together create one of the best characters in video game history.
After all of that, I can conclude that Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the best games to come out this year and must be owned by any fan of The Caped Crusader. In fact, you don’t really need to be fan to enjoy this game. Congratulations to Rocksteady for giving Batman the game he deserved.
The Good.
- You really feel like you are Batman, attacking from the shadows, throwing Batarangs and beating the crap out of Gotham’s scum.
- Arkham Asylum is a work of art and the character models are richly detailed. Mark Hamill returns as The Joker, Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn and finally Tom Kane as Batman.
- Lots of extras for you to find adding lasting appeal once you beat the game, which lasts roughly 7-9 hours.
- An intuitive combat system which is extremely fun when you’re getting combos with over 30 hits.
- A well-written plot, decent soundtrack and the Challenge Rooms will last you a fair bit.
The Bad.
- Getting hit by an inmate mid-combo can get frustrating and sometimes Batman fails to continue a combo and ends up punching thin air, which is even more frustrating.
- A couple of low-res textures and a lot of pop-in when loading a new area.
- Not being able to fight Killer Croc, Scarecrow and Harley Quinn feels like a missed opportunity.
- Some gamers may give up on the Challenge Rooms, especially the ones where you have to take down a certain number of inmates and score as many points as you can – Being surrounded by 15 murderous maniacs at the same time can prove difficult.
- Playing through the entire game in Detective Mode is just far too tempting.
My Score.
9/10.
I wasn’t even aware of some of the gadgets seen in this video! God the 28th can’t come any quicker!
