Batman Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Rating: T

Score: 9.5/10

Batman is a huge comic book character. Arguably, he’s as well-known as Spiderman, but twice as awesome. He’s an ominous, frightening superhero in a gloomy, ghostly world. His stories are much darker than, say, Spiderman’s. That sounds like a great video game adaptation world, right? This game is available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

This game had a lot of hype. Previous Batman games either didn’t capture the true feel of the original comics, or captured it too well and sacrificed gameplay for it. This game was intended to fix that, and that it did. Think of this game perfectly in the middle. It captures the dark style of world and intimidating, cryptic style of Batman himself, while still being an amazing game that also catches the feel of being “The Batman”, the sneaking hunter in the night that preys on the corrupt.

Not only Batman is well done, but the other characters are as well. The main villain, The Joker, is voiced by the original Joker from the original television show. They captured his completely insane and unpredictable style, and the other side of him: the corrupt killer that will surprise any unprepared persons. Harley Quinn, The Scarecrow, Commissioner Gordon and multiple others are well executed characters, being interesting and close to their comic versions.

The plot is that The Joker attacks the mayor’s office, only to be intercepted by Batman. Batman follows The Joker through the Arkham Asylum, an asylum on the island of Arkham where they keep all the crazies Batman has stopped. The reason Batman follows The Joker is simple: he suspects The Joker wanted to be caught; it was part of the plan. Batman believes this because The Joker surrended without a fight, out of character for the Joker. Turns out, that was part of his plan, so now he’s loose in the Arkham Asylum, where he feels completely at home with old friends. It’s going to be one tough night for Batman.

The game is played in an over-the-shoulder third person perspective. Batman isn’t the fighter The Hulk is; he’s the sneaking hunter in the shadows, striking strategically. He can hang from gargoyles and ledges, hide in small, hiding places, and glide with his cape. As you advance through the game, you get a number of tools to help you, and you’ll need them as the enemies get guns and become more aware.  Batman can deliver freshly-baked knuckle sandwiches if he needs to, although he’s no Hulk. This is where the game switches from a great tactical espionage game to a great action game, where Batman can punch, dodge, pick up, and throw enemies around. The animation is nice and smooth, and the fighting is fast-paced and exciting. It’s like watching a jaw-dropping action scene from a movie, but you get to control the main character.

Even if you pick a fight you can’t win, you can fly away. You’ll need to be quick and careful to evade your attackers successfully, and they’ll be more alert from now on. This is where “Fear” becomes an interesting gameplay mechanic that truly works well. When you enter an area unnoticed, and listen in on the enemies, they’ll be cocky and calm. They’ll walk around like big shots saying “Yeah, we’ll be so rich when we kill that Batman!”, but as you kill them off silently one by one, they’ll start to become nervous and walk around much more gingerly, but will retain some cocky attitude. As you silently even the numbers, they’ll start to panic, and watch each other’s back (or some might be too paranoid to even do that). They might shoot into corners, and they’ll exchange their cockiness for absolute fear. It’s fun to actually see and hear a gameplay feature actively working, and its fun to play around with. Paranoia is one of Batman’s finer tools.

Batman can use a “detective mode” to find enemies through obstacles and distractions. It also helps you determine where to go, and to locate hidden or secret objects. It’s practical...pretty much all of the time, and you’ll rarely want, or even need, to switch from it to the normal view. Maybe it’s a little too useful.

You’ll have Riddler’s riddles to find and decode throughout all of Arkham, which can serve as an entertaining side quest. Most of the time, you’ll be so completely hooked on the story that you’ll only grab the riddles that you find on your way. Pretty good sign when you’re hooked that much on the story.

One major complaint is a fatal error in the game’s save file.  The save file tends to become corrupted and you’ll be forced to delete your work and start again. This really hurts when you’ve almost completed the game and were really enjoying it. They really need to get that fixed, ASAP.

Hands down, this is the best superhero game ever. Its fun, it’s challenging but not too hard, and the characters are well done. The action parts are amazing; the sneaking is unbelievably fun and intense. Fans will adore this game, while non-fans will become fans when they’re done.