Batman: Arkham Asylum
9.2 / 10
Batman, makes the perfect videogame character. He has a ton of gadgets, he kicks ass and is a great puzzle solver but for some reason developers have trouble pulling off the awesomeness that is Batman. RockSteady was looking to change this with Batman Arkham Asylum. So is Arkham Asylum the game we've all been waiting for or is Arkham Asylum a game that does everthing but not anything great?
9.2 / 10
Batman, makes the perfect videogame character. He has a ton of gadgets, he kicks ass and is a great puzzle solver but for some reason developers have trouble pulling off the awesomeness that is Batman. RockSteady was looking to change this with Batman Arkham Asylum. So is Arkham Asylum the game we've all been waiting for or is Arkham Asylum a game that does everthing but not anything great?
Batman: Arkham Asylum throws you into Gotham's mad house Arkham Asylum where the Joker is planning to take over the Asylum along with every other Batman villian. The game acts as the ultimate fan service to any Batman fan, with villains ranging from the Joker to Killer Croc. Arkham Asylum is a wonderfully crafted world the environments seem lifelike and have incredible detail which reminded me of the level design in the Metroid Prime or Bioshock games. The Unreal Engine that Arkham Asylum runs on is perfect for a Batman the slightly over the top look but realistic look of unreal engine is perfect for the slightly over the top yet realistic feel of Batman. The new renditions of old villains for the most part capture the persona of the original character perfectly and the story is very Batman if you were expecting heavy moral dilemmas along the lines of the Dark Knight film than you may be disappointed but if you wanted a throwback to classic Batman comics and cartoons with a mature look then this will be perfect for you.
The gameplay in Arkham Asylum revolves around 3 core mechanics; combat, stealth, and detective mode. The combat is easy to understand and get used to with three basic attack buttons punch, counter and stun and you learns some extra button combos (throws and takedowns etc...) this simplistic approach works perfectly and combat feels great, not since God of War has it felt so good to hit an enemy the techniques and feel of hitting an enemy is brutal but not over the top it is just perfectly Batman. The Stealth may be a little less hardcore to an MGS or Splinter Cell fan but is fun in its own way. Instead of feeling at a disadvantage like in MGS and Splinter Cell you are always in control during stealth segments which allows you to be creative without the trial and error of many other stealth games. Instead of being punished for experimenting with techniques you always have an escape option when you screw up.
Batman: Arkham Asylum's third gameplay portion is the detective mode. Detective mode is the Metroid Prime equivalent of the Scan visor, when in detective mode you can see through walls, detect armed enemies and scan objects to solve puzzles or get clues. The detective mode really stands out when attempting to solve the over 200 Riddler challenges. These Riddler challenges quickly became one of my favourite parts of the game the riddles range from aligning images to clues to scanning objects in your environment, and unlike the usual open world tasks of collecting orbs or shards, the Riddler challenges are just challenging enough but not frusturating or tasking and i actual found myself hoping for more after i had completed all 200 or so of them.
Speaking of Metroid Prime, i found myself consistently seeing similarities between Metroid and Batman. Like Metroid Prime, Batman AA is perfectly paced you will experience 10 minutes of combat then 10 minutes of stealth and then 10 minutes of exploration and puzzle solving before it switches back to combat. This keeps the many parts of Batman AA from getting old or repetitive and keeps it fresh throughout the game. Also like Metroid, Batman AA shares the same sense of "can't open door-find item-open door with item" that Metroid had with it's item upgrade system. The feeling you get when you get a new weapon or item is amazing it's almost as if the chains had been lifted and now you could run free. When you get the grapple gun for example you'll start to recall all the places you couldn't go before without it and suddenly you feel the need to explore thus keeping things like back tracking fun and exciting and not tiring and boring.
Batman Arkham Asylum is a pleasant surprise that i was not expecting. It takes many ques from other games and refines many of them and unlike many licensed materials the game fits great with the Batman aesthetic. A lot of care went into creating Batman and it shows throughout and is truelly a well crafted experience.
The gameplay in Arkham Asylum revolves around 3 core mechanics; combat, stealth, and detective mode. The combat is easy to understand and get used to with three basic attack buttons punch, counter and stun and you learns some extra button combos (throws and takedowns etc...) this simplistic approach works perfectly and combat feels great, not since God of War has it felt so good to hit an enemy the techniques and feel of hitting an enemy is brutal but not over the top it is just perfectly Batman. The Stealth may be a little less hardcore to an MGS or Splinter Cell fan but is fun in its own way. Instead of feeling at a disadvantage like in MGS and Splinter Cell you are always in control during stealth segments which allows you to be creative without the trial and error of many other stealth games. Instead of being punished for experimenting with techniques you always have an escape option when you screw up.
Batman: Arkham Asylum's third gameplay portion is the detective mode. Detective mode is the Metroid Prime equivalent of the Scan visor, when in detective mode you can see through walls, detect armed enemies and scan objects to solve puzzles or get clues. The detective mode really stands out when attempting to solve the over 200 Riddler challenges. These Riddler challenges quickly became one of my favourite parts of the game the riddles range from aligning images to clues to scanning objects in your environment, and unlike the usual open world tasks of collecting orbs or shards, the Riddler challenges are just challenging enough but not frusturating or tasking and i actual found myself hoping for more after i had completed all 200 or so of them.
Speaking of Metroid Prime, i found myself consistently seeing similarities between Metroid and Batman. Like Metroid Prime, Batman AA is perfectly paced you will experience 10 minutes of combat then 10 minutes of stealth and then 10 minutes of exploration and puzzle solving before it switches back to combat. This keeps the many parts of Batman AA from getting old or repetitive and keeps it fresh throughout the game. Also like Metroid, Batman AA shares the same sense of "can't open door-find item-open door with item" that Metroid had with it's item upgrade system. The feeling you get when you get a new weapon or item is amazing it's almost as if the chains had been lifted and now you could run free. When you get the grapple gun for example you'll start to recall all the places you couldn't go before without it and suddenly you feel the need to explore thus keeping things like back tracking fun and exciting and not tiring and boring.
Batman Arkham Asylum is a pleasant surprise that i was not expecting. It takes many ques from other games and refines many of them and unlike many licensed materials the game fits great with the Batman aesthetic. A lot of care went into creating Batman and it shows throughout and is truelly a well crafted experience.
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