Batman: Arkham Asylum Review (360)

It’s been a long time since I’ve played such a well scripted and entertaining game as this. Batman: Arkham Asylum was originally released almost a year ago, but I just didn’t get round to playing it until recently. As it turned out Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of those games that I just couldn’t put down and had to play constantly until I finished it (rather like Assassin’s Creed II). After 3 fairly solid days play I had managed to complete pretty much everything the game had to offer, including all the tricky Riddler puzzles (more about these later). The fact that this game held my complete attention for so long indicates just how well crafted an experience it was.

So what makes Batman – Arkham Asylum so good? Well, graphically it looks totally stunning (take a look at the screenshots I’ve included in this review) and it has a brilliant script – by writer Paul Dini – which sucks you into the whole game world effortlessly. For me it really was the writing that captured my attention and encouraged me to continue playing. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next? What sneeky plot twist was around the corner? Because the basic plot and dialogue was so good it allowed the developer to craft a great game world around it. And Rocksteady Studios have done a brilliant job. Batman finds himself in the middle a very cleverly realised environment which interweaves many different gameplay elements into the Arkham Asylum complex, like for example the Riddler puzzles. I spent an awful lot of time solving every single one of these Riddler puzzles. They aren’t necessary to completing the main game, but you end up completing one or two and become rapidly addicted to finding all the others. Be warned though, some of them require a little bit of thinking to work out. Personally, I’m pretty proud of the fact that I didn’t cheat at all and ask the Internet about any of the puzzles. It is worth the effort in solving them on your own, trust me!

The combat system is simple, effective and quite brutal. You really get to admire the stunning graphics as Batman finishes off another Joker henchman in wondrous slow-mo. In addition, Batman has a wide array of toys with which to kill baddies which you unlock progressively throughout the game. Personally I just loved dangling from ceiling beams/gargoyles and swooping down to knocking people over and punching them unconscious before they had a clue what was going on. You also get to hear some great one liners from The Joker who, for the most part, can see what your doing via CCTV cameras and comments on your progress, or lack of it.

Now we get onto the subject of Batman’s detective mode. One of Batman’s gadgets allows him to have an x-ray view of life. Basically, this allows you to see through all walls with baddies shown as skeletons. It also shows weapons (as red) and any interesting areas in the surrounding environment as well (i.e. hidden bits). The problem is that it is just too bloody good. Seriously good. I spent a ridiculous amount of the game playing it through detective mode. Heck, I even forgot what the game looked like without it. Addictive, yes. Fun, yes. Did it make the game too easy, no as you can’t beat everything by just seeing it via x-ray especially not during the boss battles. Boo :-(

So what are the bad bits then? Well, there are a few very, very annoying boss battles throughout the game. These are unnecessarily annoying due to the onslaught of baddies that swamp you from all angles. Repeatedly ganging up on you. Grrr, I really hate that. Also some of the voice acting can really grate at times. I’m thinking of Harlequin in particular, as she has a very squeaky and annoying voice. I would have liked the game to be a bit longer, as you get 10+ hours of solid gameplay following the main plot, with a lot more from solving all the various puzzles. But, we aren’t talking Final Fantasy length here unfortunately. More game please! Err, yeah that’s it. I can’t think of anything else that I disliked. This game is just full of awesome. Go buy Batman: Arkham Asylum now!

Batman: Arkham City has just been announced and you can see the trailer in the videos section of theaveragemer.com. Although we have to wait until Autumn 2011 before we can play it :-(

Screenshots:

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