Loaded Couch Potatoes

your Arkham Asylum review as written by your friendly Uncle J.

I have heard the complaint that this game “steals” from better games,

this in blatantly untrue.  as with many great games it simply borrows from great games of the past, but even then it is simply  succeeding at emulating  the elements of Batman’s cache of talents.

the first of these is the stealth aspect of the Caped Crusader’s arsenal.

whether your are hiding under the floor from air vents or from the dark shadows of the gargoyles on the walls the feeling of stalking your prey is always exhilarating.

the second are the gadgets that are the worlds greatest detectives paraphernalia.

from Batarangs, to the Bat rope, to the cryptographic sequencer all of Batman’s gear feel real and usable.

last but certainly  not least is the combat  of the Dark Knight

the combat of this game is the definition of easy to learn hard to master.

note all button configurations are set to the xbox 360 as this was the console I used

with X as attack, B as cape stun, Y as counter, and the LEFT TRIGGER as the gadget you will always have a way to destroy your enemies.  even up to twenty enemies at once is no problem for the the Bat-Man.

Though I will not be talking about the story all that much for I would rather not give away any spoilers but suffice it to say the story is the height of Batman lore.

The Joker is at the height of his game with a plan only the Clown Prince of Crime himself could come up with. even still I think that the parts of the game with the Scarecrow are better, and the boss fight against Killer Croc is the best.

and as for the voice work it is absolute perfection from Kevin Conroy’s Batman to the greatest Joker of all time himself

no not Heath Ledger wait for it

Mark Hamill

surprised you shouldn’t be even Christopher Nolen’s film The Dark Knight references Hamill’s Joker.

as if the wonderful story mode was not enough the boys at Rock-steady games gave us a challenge mode with more than ten different maps and at least two different variations.

the first type of challenge room is your standard beat-em up chamber and the second is a more difficult version where the point is to defeat your enemies as quickly as possible

note this next challenge room is available only in the game-stop version

Dem Bones

the point of this exercise is to fight as long as possible without getting hit and as an added incentive you are fighting skeletons ( it all makes sense once you have played the game)

If you only get one thing out of this review understand this

THIS IS THE BEST GAME OF THE YEAR

as always sincerely yours Jeremiah Wolfwood

P.S.    My next game review will be for ROCK BAND BEATLES which releases on September 9th so tune in next week same Bat time same Bat channel

P.P.S.  If you are not aware of or have not watched BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD please understand that the camp factor in this show is on purpose and perfect in every way I am extremely  happy about the fact that on the upcoming season NPH (AKA Neal Patrick Harris) will costar as a musical villain going toe to toe with Batman and his compatriots so tune in.