It's a new record. I have finished the storyline of Batman: Arkham Asylum in a week. Normally I get a game and I play it for a few days and then I get distracted by a different game. Not this one, it hooked me in and kept me. I could have possibly have been done with it sooner too had I not needed to eat, sleep, or work. Rocksteady Studios did their job well.
Let's get to the review.
Story:
The basic plot is The Joker tricks Batman into bringing him back to Arkham Asylum, only to spring a long planned trap in which The Joker sets free all the asylum inmates and takes over the asylum. Commissioner Gordon and Warden Sharp are both captured. Batman has a long night of rescuing and recapturing inmates ahead of him. Saying much else will give away spoilers. The story is kept pretty much in currently established cannon.
Two minor sub-plots adds a "find the goodies" game as the Riddler has hidden puzzles and trophies all over Arkham and "The Spirit of Arkham" has wrote it's own story in hidden areas also.
The games story was co-written by Paul Dini who won Emmies for his work on the shows "The New Batman Adventures" & "Batman Beyond," so you know it's going to be good.
Controls:
Rocksteady has put together a good control scheme. Simple and to the point, not overly complicated. They are easy to pick up and easy to use. Movement is on the left stick, camera on the right. Batman's various gadgets can be selected on the D-pad and readied and put to use with the shoulder buttons. Various actions (running/grabbing/etc.)are handled by the "X" or "A" Button (PS3/Xbox 360 respectively) with the rest of the face buttons handling combat(punch/counter/stun). "L2" or Left Trigger is for turning on/off Detective Mode, the "R2" or Right Trigger for crouching/stealth.
Gameplay;
With a great control scheme, the gameplay works wonderfully. The "freeflow combat" that they came up with works wonderfully. Point Batman in a direction and start hitting the punch button ("square" on PS3/"X" on 360) and keep moving. If you are in a large crowd your "combos" will rack up quickly. If someone is about to hit Batman they will have "lighting bolts" appear around them, quickly hit the counter button ("triangle" on PS3/"Y" on 360) and Batman will counter them and you will not get hit. If you miss the counter, when you get hit the screen will got to "double vision" momentarily, but will go back to normal.
But while Batman is a capable fighter, he is a smart fighter, and this is where the "invisible predator" system comes in. Armed inmates or large groups can take Batman down very quickly. The environment has plenty of places to hide such as gargoyles, ventilation shafts, etc. Batman can quickly and silently take out foes from these areas. Both the combat and the "invisible predator" work very well and are very satisfying.
Now while there is plenty of combat, the game does also include a fair amount of platforming too, surprisingly. Navigating Arkham Asylum provides plenty of jumping, swinging, climbing, ducking, and gliding.
Batman's gadgets work well for exploring and navigating Arkham, as well as assisting in taking out bad guys. These can be upgraded as the game progresses with an experience system. Take out bad guys, gain experience (and health). Find Riddler trophies, solve puzzles, gain experience.
In addition to the main story to play through, there are the challenge maps that test your skills in combat and stealth. Additionally, if you have the PS3 version you can play through challenges as The Joker, who has his own gadgets and fight moves. I have to say his fight move are fun as they are a bit more silly/clown based.
Graphics and Sound:
If you played the demo then you have a good idea of what it looks and sounds like, beautiful. Rocksteady put a lot of detail into their work. Right down to the fact that as Batman progresses through the game he visibly shows various cuts bruises and scrapes.
Sound is crisp and clean. And considering they got Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin and Mark Hamill from the Batman Animated Series to reprise their roles (Batman, Harley Quinn, and The Joker), there is no badly delivered lines...at least from all that I heard in the game. The rest of the cast are top notch talent. Music fits, sounds very good and is not intrusive.
Overall:
This game kicks ass and takes names. It has a great balance of story and gameplay, neither being sacrificed for the other. After years of terrible Batman games, many of which were just quick movie tie-ins, Rocksteady hit this one out of the park. And with this being the second game created by the studio, that's quite a feat.
The only thing I can complain about is the camera position. For a majority of the game you are looking over Batman's right shoulder. My personal preference would be to have it centered, which is what they do when you are in combat or running.
Still like I said that's really the only problem I can find, and even that is just nit-picking.
I give the game 5 Bat-shaped Stars, Two Thumbs Way Up, a 10 out of 10, and I highly recommend it for Batman fans. Thank you Rocksteady for a AWESOME game.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is rated T for Teen for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
EDIT - If you wish to follow my game reviews please go to my new game review only blog, "Lord Moon: Resident Gaming Addict" thank you.
