Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Ah, Batman. I’ve always been a Batman fan. I enjoyed the first few movies and I really enjoyed the new series that were done by Christopher Nolan. Infact, I still think Health Ledger was absolutely phenomenal in The Dark Knight. I’ve always loved the fact that the character behind Batman wasn’t a superhero due to a step forward in evolution or a spider-bite. Batman – behind it all – is a normal guy, who just happens to be really smart, rich and has a toy for everything.

Having played the demo, I wasn’t terribly impressed. But much like inFamous – I found myself going back to the demo. Eventually, I bought it – since all copies were out at the local Blockbuster. Was it a mistake? Or is this game worth the $60? Here are the high points and the low points. In the end, it’s your call …

• The predator modes of the game worked great. Having a large number of choices for silent takedowns makes you feel like there’s not much you CAN’T do.
• The storyline is actually pretty long and will keep you busy for awhile. The riddler clues and inventory upgrades will cause some backtracking … but the world isn’t too big that it’s a major chore to go from place to place.
• The combat system works okay in storymode, but really excels in the challenge modes – making you keep an eye out for your next move to attempt to get a high score. Personally, no game has ever offered a challenge room that has me hooked as much as this game.
• Voice acting was well done, and many of the voices were the same voices that were in the cartoon series. Kudos to Rockstead/Eidos for making that happen.
• Enemies in Predators mode don’t always follow the same path once you’ve started taking down enemies – which prevents from you from developing a definite, intricate pattern to help you get the quickest time.

• The combat system forces you into a set of rules, but the enemies can bend/break them causing you to screw up and/or get hit when you really shouldn’t have.
• The game has too many combat areas and too little predator areas. Isn’t Batman supposed to take out his enemies quietly one-by-one? So why are there many instances where you just basically fly in and start taking them out? I hope if they create a sequel, we see man more predator rooms and less combat rooms.
• Some riddles are difficult to decipher unless you know what you’re looking for. If you played the game and solved the riddles, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

• This doesn’t count as a negative or positive, just wanted to point out that the third Scarecrow encounter really threw me for a loop.

Postive Points: 5 | Negative Points: 3 | Total Score: +2