Batman: Arkham Asylum – Reviewed
by OMGitsTFC on Sep.02, 2009, under Gaming
I’m Batman.
Seriously…
Ok. Long time no review from me. Ive been working my bunz off trying to get some stuff ready for Dragoncon, but I HAD to take time out to play this game after getting a little sneak peak before it was released. This review is probably going to wind up being a little scatter brained due to my, well, scattered brain (thank you dragoncon). So you’ll have to bare with me for a bit.
First, I have some questions for you. Do you like Batman? Yes, you say? Do you like video games? Yes, again? Good. Play this game. Its that simple. If you read thru my Ghostbusters: TVG review, you saw where i talked about actually getting to live a movie experience. Its the same with Batman:AA.
The plot for the game is incredible. It seems like I heard from a Batman nerd / friend that it was actually pulled from an existing comic or comic series, and if its not, it needs to be turned in to one. Long story short, you’ve caught the Joker and have brought him back to Arkham Asylum where he immediately breaks out and springs a huge elaborate trap on Batman, Commissioner Gordon and the rest of the Arkham Staff. Batman, Harley Quinn and the Joker are all voiced by the actors that did the same rolls from Batman: The Animated Series that aired on FOX. And yes, that means Mark Hamill as the Joker. I didn’t hear any other familiar voices, but they were all done very well.
The graphics and the visual style are all stunning. There aren’t any crazy neon lights or glow in the dark thugs (thank you Joel Schumacher). All of the characters and the environments have the dirty / gritty look and feel like you would expect after seeing the two Bale Batman movies. Or like you would expect from an asylum that houses nothing but super-criminals.
The general workings of the game are also stunning. The game keeps you on a fairly linear path for maybe half an hour while they set up the story for you. Afterwards they open up all of Arkham for you and let you roam around. You cant do the missions in any order that you want since there is still a general plot to it, but they do let you chose when you want to continue with the story. Want to just go grapple and glide around for a while? You definitely can. Controls are no problem to pick up and go with, but in order for you to be the darkest knight you can be, it takes a little bit of getting used to. Combat is dangerously fun and addictive. Tons and tons of hard hits, flowing combos, changing directions to avoid a knife or a pipe swinging at you, and BEAUTIFUL counter attacks will get you pumped that there is a challenge mode that has levels of nothing but fighting. Seriously, i cant stop beating thugs. There are also a hand full of environment specific attacks you can do. Pulling someone off a ledge, stringing thugs upside down, etc.
Now for the best part of being Batman. The gadgets. I have to say they nailed the gadgets and how and when you can use them. One gadget per each of the 8 directions on the d-pad, and the two most important (batarangs and grapple gun) are able to be used quickly as well as in a time restraint free situation. Everything is unlimited, but several more powerful items require a slight recharge time before they can be used again. But unlimited batarangs?! Do you need anything else?! Most of the gadgets can be upgraded thru the simple XP system that they have, and when you get them all upgraded, its bliss. On top of that, you cant even get to certain parts of areas until you upgrade a few of them, which makes you have to go back to the starting areas if you want to collect and do everything. They even give you the zip-line device he used in the original Keaton Batman when the Joker makes the remark about the toys/ Take that nostalgia.
The only down side i found to this is that there isn’t too much to be done after beating the game. You can continue your career and run through Arkham rounding up the various hidden items, solving riddles, etc. but that’s about it. After completion, the game clears of all of the enemies except for a few weak escapees, which provide no fight. I’m assuming that’s a little bit of a push for you to start on the challenge mode, but id still like at least a few guys leftover to keep me busy while i search for all the hidden items.
So there you have it. Someone has played it and confirms that its good, so now its ok for you to go buy or rent it. Then you can freak out and get goosebumps when you’re doing all this crazy Batman stuff like I did.
Wanna buy it? Here you go!
