The story begins with Batman returning the Joker to Arkham Asylum after a strange confrontation; the Joker kidnapped the mayor of Gotham, only to give up as soon as Batman arrives. After a brief walk through the more secure facilities, the Joker escapes and springs his trap, releasing every prisoner in Arkham. Throughout the game, Batman spends most of his time hunting down the Joker and discovering the latter's plot.
The storyline is very well written, taking some influence from the
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth graphic novel. Plot twists are quite numerous, as the sense that this is not just another Joker attempt to kill Batman grows stronger with each revelation. The storyline is linear, though with a few exceptions you can chose your path, but you will be required to perform each paths before you can proceed. You are not required to automatically follow the story, as you can explore the island without moving on whenever you feel like doing so.
Like the plot, the characters are designed well. The voice acting makes each characters believable, and contributes greatly to the dark setting of the game. Each character is given significance (except a few random doctors, but who cares about them anyway?
), and back stories for the main characters (along with other assorted Batman characters) can be collected. Two characters especially, the Joker and the Riddler, are given a lot of voice time; each one has commentary for every situation. The Joker's personality is especially humorous; he's got the insane killer side like the portrayal of him in the
Dark Knight, but he's more of a clown; every line seems to involve some sort of joke or sarcasm, usually involving irony of his sanity and Batman's. The Riddler is portrayed as a know-it-all, constantly chastising Batman for not figuring out his clues until Batman gains the upper hand, leading to his frustration (At one point, he accuses Batman of using the internet to cheat; obviously a joke put in by the developers aware of how some people use the internet for help
).
As a side note, the actors for Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn are Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin; the same actors for the
Batman: the Animated Series. And they sound as good as ever.
Plot Rating: 95/100 - Very well thought out, leading to suspense at every turn and a desire to figure out what the Joker is really up too.
Character Rating: 95/100 - Each villain has their own agenda, and each "good" character has something hidden, but all of them have been given excellent development, even the Caped Crusader.
Gameplay
Game play stays roughly the same through the game. You are sent to each area, usually more than once, and, through the use of your wide variety of gadgets, hunt down the Joker's cronies and finding clues. Batman is equipped with special visors in his Cowl that activate "detective mode", giving him limited x-ray vision and allows for easier spotting of enemies, secret items, movable objects, and different traces of substances from time to time. Batman's cape allows for limited gliding, while his grapple gun allows for scaling to higher perches. Of course, Batman comes equip with batarangs for cutting/destroying far away objects, as well as the Bat-Claw to grab distant objects. Though there are certainly more gadgets than these, I won't spoil the surprise.
The combat, however, can be split into three different categories; FreeFlow, predator, and boss fights. FreeFlow combat involves fighting a wide variety of the Joker's cronies; sometimes you will fight a few unarmed thugs, or maybe a swarm armed with swords, pipes, daggers, and hand-tasers (not sure what you would call them
). During these fights, Batman has three primary moves; attack, stun, and counter. However, unlike some games that consist of these similar combat moves, one hit just won't cut it. It'll take two or three counters to take a single thug out, and even more punches, while the stun only incapacitates armed thugs, never doing damage. Though regular unarmed thugs can't do much damage, a swarm of them can, and when armed each one can quickly cut Batman's hunt short. Using counters and attacks, Batman can perform combos, jumping back and forth between enemies and countering their attacks without interruption. And yes, the counters and combos are sick; as in Assassin's Creed sick, except Batman does everything unarmed. Gadgets can also be used during combat, but spamming them won't do any good; use the batarang more than once, and the thugs begin dodging them. Timing is key for the majority of these attacks.
Predator fights are an excellent change in pace. Always involving a large room, Batman must confront between 4 and 8 gun toting thugs. Guns do a great deal of damage, and confronting more than two at once is suicidal. You must use stealth and planning to defeat each guard one by one; hide on a gargoyle then swoop down onto a thug underneath, string him up, then later cut him down via a batarang as another thug passes under, or sneak behind a thug and perform a silent takedown. With each guard down, the thugs will begin to become more and more paranoid, to the point where they will begin shooting at any noise that is heard in the room, as well as the Joker making comments about ineptitude of his hired help ("I thought for sure there were more of you. I keep losing count.").
Boss fights are (not surprisingly) unique for each boss. Though each will have a similar strategy should you fight them more than once, each rematch gets progressively harder. Like the rest of the game, you must use strategy and timing to beat many of the bosses; some require stealth, as being seen results in an instant fail; other require you to use gadgets and your fists to get by. And some require one punch and they fall down unconscious, making you wonder why this guy is actually a villain and not some random nobody thug (This last one is Victor Zsasz; he is portrayed quite well in the game actually, but he's just a joke when it comes to fights. He's even the tutorial for sneak attacks.
)
As well as the main story, players must also contend with the Riddler, who is never seen in the game but whose commentary is present most of the game. Through his presence, the collectible portion of the game begins; you must solve his challenges to eventually lead to his capture. His challenges can range from collecting record tapes of prisoner interviews to finding trophies to solving well thought out Batman themed riddles. These last ones don't require an expansive knowledge of the Batman universe, however, but it certainly helps. With each challenged solved, players can unlock character bios, backstory voice recordings, digital models of each character, and challenge mode situations, which are various settings of the first two combat forms outside of story mode, requiring certain points or objectives to be obtained to garner a high score.
During the course of the game, you will gain experience via fighting enemies and solving the Riddler's challenges, allowing for upgrades to Batman's suit, gadgets, and combos. You are not required to find solve every challenge (a grand total of 241 exist) and defeat any enemy to gain the max amount of experience however, so don't worry about not doing everything. After you beat the game, you can explore the game at your leisure, though most of the enemies will be gone.
Gameplay Rating: 95/100 - Enough gadgets to fill a utility belt, and all the detective prowess Batman's mind holds, make this game both entertaining and a challenge at each point. For those players who like to do some thinking during a game, look no further.
Combat Rating: 95/100 - I'm sure you guys are bored of me giving out all these 95s.
The combat is well designed, and with enough switching around between the three types of encounters, there is always a change in pace. Spam countering and punching won't work here; timing and strategy are key.
Graphics and Controls
Batman: Arkham Asylum may not win any awards for it's graphics, but the developer's attention to detail is impressive. Character models are well made (though one character looks odd to me, she may be intentionally ugly
), and the motions for every action are designed well enough to make you think at times you are watching a live action movie. It is the small things, however, that catch my eye here. The small scuffs on Batman's suit, the textures of the Asylum background as a whole, down to each room, are things to examine even if they have nothing to do with gameplay; just by stepping into a cell you can figure out the kind of person that would've been there. Notable, when in Detective mode, the graphics become slightly cartoony, but I assume this was as it should be.
As for controls, they are both simplistic while covering a wide range of options (at east for the Xbox 360, which is the version I have played). You can have one main gadget equipped at a time, but there are numerous shortcuts to the main gadgets, allowing for easy access during fights and timed areas. Attacks and dodges are covered by the A, B, X, and Y buttons, and when in doubt the game provides cues for some actions early on, just in case you forget or are still learning. The reaction time between when you press the button or move the joystick and Batman's response is very quick (unlike in some games, which is why I mention it).
Overall Graphics Rating: 90/100 - Won't win any awards in the matter, but does a super job.
Controls Rating: 95/100 - Simplistic yet effective. Kinda hard to give any game a 100 on controls, but every button was used, and used wisely.
Final Thoughts
An original concept in a familiar setting. This game proves that good games involving well known super heroes can actually be made, and made extremely well, without compromising much of the character's basics. Different styles of play are merged, and everyone should be satisfied; you've got action, adventure, and stealthmixed with great storytelling that is both serious and humorous. This game is a contender for the Game of the Year, and is a breath of fresh air with all these sequels coming out at this time (not that sequels are bad, but they usually carry over a lot from the original
).
A final note: if you have all three systems (PC, PS3, and Xbox 360), I highly suggest purchasing the PS3 version. This may surprise you if you know me, but the PS3 comes with a special offer; a free download allowing the Joker to be a playable character in a few of the challenge maps. While the remaining DLC are available for both consoles, and should be for the PC as well.
Overall Rating for Batman: Arkham Asylum: 98/100
I hope you all enjoyed my review. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
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Originally Posted by Ahlerich
I am a great fan but note this point that he is differrent from other superheroes which makes him the best superhero...
