Batman - Arkham Asylum

If, like me, you do not know the story behind Batman and Arkham Asylum, do not worry. This game certainly gives it to you simply. To start with Batman has caught The Joker and is transporting him in the back of the Batmobile to the asylum.
On entering the asylum in a great opening sequence, there is obviously no way out now for The Joker.However, if you think that, you would be clearly mistaken. This evolves into an elaborate plan set out by The Joker to keep Batman and everyone else within the confines of Arkham with a whole team of evil characters that include Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Bane among others. The Joker breaks free running amok through the asylum and it is up to you and Batman to stop him in his tracks

Right from the very beginning of the game it screams out details and design from the people who clearly live, breath and sleep Batman. The controls work well across the entirety of the game and you never lose track of what you need to be doing within the game. Rocksteady seem to have developed a simple control system that only needs looking at and more attention once you have gotten well in to the game and are faced with Batman's gadgets and gizmo's to help you through the game.

As you take control of Batman you are almost immediately thrown into the action as you are rushed by a group of The Joker's thugs and taught how to use basic attacks and counter moves. Combo's are not hard to master as a lot of them only need two button presses. The only time not to be attacking is when the enemy has the "!" icon over his head which means please counter me as I am about to attack you! It is very rare that you will encounter fewer enemies than two or three at any one time but later in the game you will start to encounter the enemies that have knives, cattle prods and even guns which forces you to raise the game even more. Boss battles like those against Harley Quinn and Scarecrow are few and far between but they do add even more highlights to your game. The only drawback on these boss battles is that there is not enough of them. There is one enemy that despite gearing him throughout the majority of the game, you never actually battle him. Personally, I do think that with The Riddler having a big part of the game, he really should have been written in to do at least one battle with Batman. Even Scarecrow is up against you!

Surroundings do not always play a huge role in combat but there are occasions where they do need to be used to help you along defeating the enemy. For example, if you walk into a room with six people standing there with guns and you cannot leave the room until they all were unconcious, how would you do this? It is impossible to go toe to toe with these people as Batman and the guns really do not mix. Batman, despite other peoples premonitions, is not super human and does die when faced with bullets! OK, stay out of sight. Look to the ceiling. Can you see the gargoyles up there? Using your grappling hook you can actually sit upon those and select each person in turn to attack them with a gliding kick and ensuring you take them down afterwards. If you get caught and they see you then you can zip to another location so they lose track of where you are.

Enemies reactions are very intelligent. As they realise they are being picked off one by one, they get a little more scared and they start to move around in pairs, fire a shot as they go round corners and even press up against walls. Listening to your enemies will help you identify their state of mind. Initially, they will be bold as brass claiming on how famous they will be after they are the ones that have killed you but after some time they will be a little more subdued in what they say as they realise that they could be next on Batman's list.

Mark Hamill returns as The Joker (or at least his voice)and what a great return it is. His voice works extremely well within the game and he is not the only person worthy of a mention for his role. Edward Nigma's voice is a very prominent part of the game as The Riddler. Kevin Conroy is as Batman and his talent shines through. Among other "voice veterans" playing huge parts within the game, Paul Dini and all the other writers have done an amazing job in sculpting this game that really is truly worthy of recognition. Every character in the game is well voiced and worth listening to whether it is a villain, thug, ally or even the hero himself.

It will be safe to say that you will spend a good portion of the game in "detective mode." The main part of the game will be conducted in normal mode where you get to enjoy the breathtaking graphics but when you switch to detective mode, you are able to identify destructable walls, enemies through walls, which of these enemies have guns as these are a different colour to those that have not got them. Using this option, you are able to plan your attacks whether it is a full blown assault through the front door or a series of stealthy swoops from the afor-mentioned gargoyles. More than once, I swooped down from my gargoyle perch and glide kicked a poor unsuspecting villain and after knocking him unconcious, I sprayed explosive gel on his position and perched back up on my gargoyle and awaited the villain's buddies to investigate to his location and blow them all up!

With knocking enemies unconcious, discovering secrets or even taking "photos" you earn XP points. This XP is use for upgrading Batman so he can become more and more effective in combat, stealth and more. It even lets you upgrade your weapons. You can go from one Batarang to a triple Batarang!

With around 12/15 hours-ish of core storyline gameplay and quite a fair bit more if you set out to find every Riddler trophy, secret and collectible the game never gets tiring and there is not a point of the game where you once feel bored! You never once feel as though you are retracing your steps.

I could go on even more about the game as I really do not know where to start and where to stop on this one. All I will say is:

1. This game is AWESOME!
2. If you have not got this yet...................WHY NOT?

Rating out of TEN: 9.3 / 10

cracking review of a cracking game. its definitley one of my favourite games ever,

One of the best unofficial reviews so far mate! thanks!

a great review for a great game.

Im a hardcore comic fan, have been since way back when and Batman has always been my favourite. This game is great and certainly lives up to a fan's idea of what Batman is about.

Nice to see your enthusiasm really coming through. I am really going against the crowd here but this game just didnt grab me at all , I so desperately wanted to like . Suppose if we all liked the same games though life would be boring indeeed

Great review. I enjoy the game but there is far to many of my big wish list coming out at the moment that I just haven't had time to really enjoy it.

This is probably one of my fave games of this year and probably the best super hero tie in!!!

And mate a great review to!!

niteowl1980 wrote:Nice to see your enthusiasm really coming through. I am really going against the crowd here but this game just didnt grab me at all

Sort your head out, man!

I have had this game for about a month now and it hasnt even been in my 360 let alone been played, however after reading the this review im gonna give it a blast.

wewon5times wrote:I have had this game for about a month now and it hasnt even been in my 360 let alone been played, however after reading the this review im gonna give it a blast.

Great game. You will not be disappointed