Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

Dark clouds pour rain over Gotham city, lighting flashes angrily as the eternal storm of crime darkens every light in the city. Police cars zoom by and a CB radio crackles, "Batman is taking the Joker to Arkham Island." Then a single finned black car emerges from the shadows at a unnatural speed, YES! The old Batmobile is back! The music slowly builds up, and the dark tone that we know and love settles in.

This is Batman.


At first glance the graphics are amazing, the lighting and shadow effects work perfectly. The browns and grays of the Island make it seem like just another Gears of War, but the bright and absurd colours of the Joker and Harley Quinn make you realize this isn't your typical game. But it wasn't until the cut scene ended, and a friend watching me play said, "That's gameplay?" when I realized how great the graphics were. As the game played on, I became to admire the amount of detail that was put into things as simple as the hallways and as elaborate as the characters. I have to mention the superb voice acting. Mark Hamil bringing back his A game to the voice of the Joker was enough to send be back to those awesome days of the 90's animated series and It was all I could do from jizzing in my Killer Croc underwear. However there were noticeable lip syncing issues and the close ups on other people on the island looked to be almost as if they were made of plastic. I kept hearing one complaint all around saying Batman was too ripped. "Batmans biceps are too big," says a chorus of nit-pickers. Guess fucking what? calling a comic-book character too muscular is like calling zombie Nazis unbelievable. Just roll with it for gods sake.

After hearing about the multiple gameplay features Arkham had, I began to assume that it would be mediocre to terrible on how well each of those 'features' would be executed. I was proven otherwise. The combat was reminiscent of Assasins Creed, but it had a much better flow as you weren't confined to attack or counter attacks. Higher levels could unlock combo takedowns that would employ throws, breaking limbs, or the batarang. Combos weren't difficult on button presses so much as it was on timing, which is something I appreciate.

The detective parts of the game, which consisted of finding traces of blood and such to track down a person were not the strongest part of the game, but still done really well. I found the detective vision to be of extreme amounts of awesome. seeing people beyond regular sight became a huge aid in fouling up ambushes and finding Riddler trophies. Ah yes, the 240 secrets hidden by the Riddler. I have never cared too much about finding hidden items, but this doesn't feel so much of a chore compared to Assasins Creed. There I go again, comparing Arkham to Creed.

Boss battles felt slightly shoehorned in, but they were by no means bad. It feels like a game of this quality could do without the generic boss battle

The Stealth parts were perhaps the most enjoyable part of the entire experience. Using gargoyles to hang foes from the feet, or to launch yourself into a flying kick to some unsuspecting thug became extremely satisfying. But better yet was using those high profile moves to draw enemies to where you want them and springing traps and doing stealth takedowns upon the hapless criminals. The one thing I appreciated the most of that was the variety of rooms. The room layouts weren't always the same open room with gargoyles, which made it challenging and worth every second.

All in all, this is a must own game for anyone. And if you're a Batman fan you owe it to yourself to rush to the store and grab a copy.

+ The setting, dark and gritty, but not overbearing. This is the Batman world we've been waiting for in gaming

+ The combat, good balance. Not overcomplicated nor one button insta-kill. The stealth parts are defiantly the best bits in the entire game

+ The staggering amount of attention to detail that was put in this game. Damage that the Batsuit takes stays with you, and the sheer loyalty this games has to the comics brings a tear to the eye

- The forced boss battles, there should have been something better

MY RATING: 9.5/10