Batman: Arkham Asylum

The Good
Batman is been paid somehow as he deserves. After some good films directed by Tim Burton (films that have little to do with comics, but good films anyway), Joel Schumacher buried and destroyed the bat. Since that moment, nothing remarkable, but then, without a great fanfare, Christopher Nolan directed Batman Begins, an incredible film about the superhero that was a new beginning., and the film that Batman deserved. Nolan did what he should with Batman, and the confirmation arrived with The Dark Knight.

This evolution of the superhero in the movies has a similar path with the evolution in the games. We have some good games for the 16-bit (maybe the best one Adventures of Batman & Robin for Genesis), but they're only funny games and nothing more. It all changed when Batman Arkham Asylum arrived.

The most important thing is the fact that Batman Arkham Asylum is not just the best superhero game released, we're talking about one of the best games made in some years. When people started to talk about this game, some people started to think that it was not going to be as good as it was looking at the moment, but when they played the game themselves they realized that an incredible game was released, a game made with respect, an homage to Batman as never made before. Talking about the homage, we have a lot of information during the game with biographies of many characters, as well as many different antagonists selected for the game.

The game is the perfect combination between beat 'em up and Stealth games, that made the game more dynamic. Without a doubt, the Stealth parts are the most remarkable, you'll feel like a true superhero with many different weapons (none of them are useless) and different ways to defeat your foes. Your foes will react at every action that you do in this game, they'll fear you once you start defeating their partners, which is something really funny (for you, not for them of course...) The beat 'em up parts are good too, with a perfect battle system with many different and suitable movements. In spite of this, when you begin the game you don't have the special movements and it may look a bit limited, what's more, in the first battle you may think that his game is just a beat 'em up game where you're only going to push a button many times to fight your foes, but nothing further from the truth.

At the beginning, the storyline looks a bit typical, but when you progress the storyline turns better. The depth of the story is enormous, specially when you face the scarecrow, which is one of the best parts of the game. Facing the scarecrow means facing yourself, your fears and all the things that made Bruce Wayne to become Batman. Every confrontation with the scarecrow is placed in an strategic point of the story, it's good because it made the game varied. The number of confrontations with him are just the confrontations that the game needed.

Music has an important part of the product. It's more gothic than orchestral in some parts, and it's the perfect ambient for the perfect game. The music is the perfect accompaniment to carry out your plans to defeat a handful of thugs without being noticed. Voices and FX are great too, like the other aspects of the game.

Graphics has no defects, making a compact game without nothing to threw it up. Animations are amazing, special facial animation, and textures are magnificent. You can admire that work with the models in the main menu, by unlocking some concrete secrets. Stages are big with many details and different elements.

Gameplay is precise, not just the incredible battle system. Moving all around the island is a pleasure using all your "powers", soon you'll feel comfortable with the controls and you'll be exploring the whole island without any problem. A good point for the game is the fact that you don't have to open the menu to select a weapon, you only have a map screen (and the secrets and biographies) and nothing more, so, the game is very flowed. You have also different difficulty levels.

If all that's not enough, there are secrets all over the island. You'll be addicted soon to find them all because it's not something really difficult, and it's really funny. To help, you can take the secrets map (which is also a secret) in the game to know where they are hidden. That's something good because most of the times you'll find that valuable item once you've reached most of the secrets of a concrete area, and with the map you will not spend a lot of time wondering where the hell are the rest of the secrets.

To finish with, besides the main story and the secrets on it, you have a challenge mode where you have to reach a score (in beat 'em up challenges) or achieve concrete goals (the stealth ones). Stealth mode is specially funny, with many different goals to gain the medals. Without any doubt, a extra mode for a perfect game.

The Bad
There are no things that I didn't like of this game. The worst thing of the game is that it's not long, but it's so funny that it looks that it lasts the half. When you're near the end you'll start to pray for more.

To find fault with the game, most of the big enemies need the use of the batarang to defeat them. Only the battle with Joker and the one with Poison Ivy are different about that.

The big problem of a game like this is the fact that the shadow of the game is going to be really long, and to repeat its success something really hard.

The Bottom Line
Arkham Aylum is one of the best games made in a long time, not just the best superhero game, I'm talking in general terms. You'll feel like you're the dark knight, knowing all the things that you're going to do in each moment making possible incredible strategies for a game that combines stealth with beat 'em up.

Fear the dark knight.

The Good
Batman is and will forever remain my favorite superhero and one of my all time favorite fictional characters. The reasons for that are simple: a regular guy (doesn't matter that he's a millionaire or that he has a butler or a gigantic manor, he is still just as human as us), taking a stand against crime and injustice. Never succumbing to the corrupting seduction of vengeance, money or power, and of course having a badass suit, various cool gadgets and the Batmobile! After reading ravishing reviews for Batman Arkham Asylum, I bought the game shortly after getting my PS3. And after having played this game for like the fifth time since I bought it, Arkham Asylum certainly deserves all the praise it has received over the years.

As the title says, Batman Arkham Asylum takes place in Arkham Asylum, a mental institution located on an island in the middle of Gotham City wherein all of Gotham's criminals reside when Batman has caught them. It begins with the Bat taking the Joker to the asylum after the latter attempted an assault on the city hall. But rather than peacefully going to his cell, the Joker escapes custody and, with help from the inside, quickly takes control over the entire island. He releases everyone from their cells, leaving Batman stranded on the island and surrounded by hundreds of Joker's men as well as several other supervillains such as Bane, Poison Ivy and Killer Croc. But that's not enough, as Batman will soon discover that the Joker has much more sinister plans than just a simple prison riot!

I'll say right of the bat (no pun intended) that this game has pretty much everything you could wish for in a Batman game. It combines hand to hand combat with stealth and occasional crime solving and it succeeds in spades in all of these departments! The controls are very easy and intuitive to use, one button to strike, one to counter, one to dodge and one to stun. Batman fluently swings from one bad guy to the next and he has a very nice set of combat moves to beat the living crap out of every foe he encounters. Knock an enemy down and jump on top of their bodies to pound them unconscious, throw them around or just grapple them and break their legs or arms.

Stealth is also very prevalent in the game as in some situations you will face a group of heavily armed criminals which you need to take down one by one. I would daresay that the stealth is even more fun than the combat sections as you can really make the enemies shiver in fear as they realize they're getting picked off one by one. Sit down on top of a vantage point and grab an unsuspecting foe from upside down, leaving him hanging and screaming for help. You can also takedown foes using the floor grates, your batclaw or just by sneaking up from behind and chocking them. As the encounter goes on, the enemies become increasingly nervous, calling you out while their guns are shaking in their hands from uncontrollable stress! It is really fun and badass, not in small part thanks to the detective vision mode, which is a kind of x-ray vision that allows you to see enemies through walls and see all kinds of information regarding their numbers, how many of them are armed and their respective stress levels.

Detective vision also helps in finding interactive objects and solving puzzles. If you, for example, encounter a force field, you can use detective vision to see the electricity cables and follow them to the power source. As you play through the game, you'll obtain experience points which allow you to buy new moves and upgrades to your arsenal. The gadgets at your disposal include Batman's signature batarangs and batclaw as well as explosive gel, a hacking device and more. But don't think things will get easier when you get upgrades, as enemies will become better armed and prepared as the story goes on, getting more numerous and get armed with knives, stun rods and lead pipes. The stealth will also get tougher since the vantage points will be booby trapped and the enemies will be wearing electric collars which will alert other foes in the area if someone gets whacked by the Bat!

Collectibles are also present in this game, as the Riddler has hidden about a hundred trophies all around the asylum for you to find as well as several riddles which refer to objects or locations you need to scan. For instance, you may stumble upon Mr. Freeze's frozen cell or the Penguin's signature umbrella and therefore unlocking their respective profiles. It's a really fun lecturing in case your knowledge of the Batman universe is limited to Batman, Robin and the Joker. You can also find audio tapes that contain interviews the Arkham personnel conducted with the supervillains you encounter in the game. These recordings are very intriguing and pretty disturbing at times, giving you a glimpse at the insanity these villains possess. Overall, the game's collectibles aren't hard to find, but for many of them you'll have to wait until you have obtained a certain gadget or upgrade.

In case you still want more gameplay than the main campaign has to offer, then you can try your hand at the challenge maps. They are equally divided between fighting and sneaking and for every map there's a regular and an extreme version present. For each map you can earn up to three medals depending on your overall score (fights) or how many objectives you completed (stealth). Obtaining these medals isn't too hard, but getting to the top of the leaderboards will be a whole different ballgame. I do have to say that even without these challenge maps, the game has plenty of replay value because the story is so tight and the gameplay so compelling that you cannot help but play through it another time after a year or so.

Not only is the gameplay great but the game's presentation and atmosphere are even more awesome. The game's style is based on the more darker themed Batman world as seen in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy and in the legendary Animated Series. As you make your way through the asylum, the Joker will frequently taunt you, tempting you to give in to your rage and let yourself slide into madness. Although you have radio communication with Oracle, you cannot help but feel completely isolated in the asylum with the Joker playing you like a rat in a trap. But the true showstealer in this game is the Scarecrow, as from time to time Batman will be exposed to the Scarecrow's fear gas, forcing him to face his greatest fears. I won't spoil the surprises for you if you didn't play the game, but I can tell you these sequences are easily the most compelling moments in the game and since the Scarecrow will be a main villain in the upcoming Batman Arkham Knight, I cannot wait to see what he will have next in store for the Caped Crusader and the rest of Gotham.

Voice acting, music and sound effects add a ton to the game's already excellent atmosphere. The game's main characters are voiced by veteran voice actors such as Kevin Conroy for Batman and Mark Hamill for the Joker. The game's musical score, composed by Nick Anundel, has a very similar style to the soundtracks made by Danny Elfman so expect dark, brooding but epic orchestra music. Sound effects are excellent too, the sound of the Bat's fists hitting criminal flesh is great and breaking someone's limp is particularly satisfying to hear.

The Bad
The final boss battle with the Joker is very lackluster. It's actually just you fighting off a ton of bad guys with the Joker occasionally joining the party. It would have been a lot better if it was more of an indirect battle in which Batman has to save several hostages or use his detective skills to stop the Joker from detonating a nuclear device or something like that. It would have suited Joker's character a whole lot better.

The Bottom Line
Overall, this game can be considered the first true Batman game rather than just a run of the mill beat'em up or platform game with Batman in it. Virtually every single aspect of the Dark Knight is present and the game's story, atmosphere and varied gameplay will keep you hooked to this game for a long time. So go on, answer the Batsign, jump in your Batmobile and enter the madhouse!

The Good
When I saw the first pictures and gameplay videos from Arkham Asylum I wasn't very convinced. It looked decent, but not great. I was dead wrong.

From the very first second of the intro Arkham Asylum had me spellbound. It conjures up a great atmosphere that blends the comics, Batman 1989 and The Dark Knight into one lovely entity. It's dark and brooding, but also fun and spectacular.

Many characters from the comics make appearances and cameos. The Riddler, for example, has planted clues and trophies for Batman to solve and find, in order to unlock challenge modes and whatnot.

The main villain, though, is The Joker. Naturally. The unsettling psychopath is the natural nemesis of Batman, and he comes off as truly menacing and disturbing in Arkham Asylum. Brilliantly voiced by Mark Hamill, you really feel Batman's frustration with The Joker as he murders and destroys everything in his path in order to execute his diabolic plan.

The gameplay is complex and simple at the same time. As Batman you have to fight, sneak and use your detective skills. And jump around on platforms, of course. The controls are very intuitive and easy to learn, making the game a joy to play. The fights flow smoothly as Batman performs blocks and combos and breaks a few bones in the process. It's extremely satisfying.

There are lots of stuff to find and unlock in the game and as the story progresses you get more and more advanced equipment which to use in order to get to hard to reach places. This means that you can always backtrack in order to reach new areas when you have completed the story. So even when you have completed the game, there is still more to do. The challenge modes, for example, are quite entertaining. These consist of different arenas where you are supposed to beat up bad guys as flawlessly as possible to get high points, or to sneak and silently take out bad guys as quickly as possible. It's relaxing fun, although quite challenging.

What works best in the game is the atmosphere and that all the aspects of the game (fighting, stealth, platforming, detective) work so well together. You constantly have something to do. Always a threat that needs to be averted. And you get to kick plenty off ass along the way. And all along the way the game is extremely satisfying. It's just as fun to weave long combos together in a huge fight as it is to silently take out armed guards.

The Bad
There's not much to complain about, but there are some aspects that could have been better. The biggest flaw with the game is the boss fights. Most of them are a bit uninspired. The part where you meet Killer Croc in the sewers was disappointing, and I would have liked to get some closure in a big final fight with the always menacing Scarecrow, but sadly you never get the chance to.

Even the final fight with The Joker is more or less just a retread of a fight you have done all through the game. These fights are very entertaining so it isn't really such a huge problem. I would have liked some more spectacular fights with Batman's arch enemies, though.

In order to unlock all challenge modes you have to backtrack a lot and search through the whole asylum in order to reach all those places you couldn't reach when you passed through the first time. I really don't see the fun in running around in an empty asylum collecting trophies after the story is completed. I guess it is a good thing that there is more to do for those who love to collect all sorts of things in their games, but I don't have the patience for it. I just want my challenge modes unlocked so I can play them already.

These complaints are minor, though. All in all, this game delivers, big time.

The Bottom Line
The perfect Batman experience. Whether kicking ass in bone-breaking fights or sneaking around on ledges, this game is thoroughly satisfying.