Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-THIS IS-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-A GOOD GAME-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-GO BUY IT-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-BATMAN!
Written: Sep 05 '09 (Updated Sep 05 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: You've probably never heard this shocking news...AA's a pretty entertaining Batman game. Smelling salts, anybody?
Cons: While fun for the whole Batman clan, AA doesn't reach the highest honors of Videogamedom.
The Bottom Line: Buy Batman: Arkham Asylum. It's one of the best comic book-inspired video games to date, which is something that you may have been waiting for.
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| ChromeKiller's Full Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum for Playstation 3 |
Most superheroes adorn a secret identity. Staying hidden behind a mask, people don't know them on the street and don't mess with them as a result (sometimes, anyway). Batman is one such masked crusader who covers up his true image from the world of villainy, but as a matter of fact has done the same for video gamers over his extensive interactive career. Bolted behind the doors that lead into his hall of shame on the video game front, Batman has seen some good but mostly bad games throughout his gaming career that has had many of us asking when we're going to see a truly brilliant game that constructs a concept with the Bat that is able to survive above or with current standards. Eidos Interactive and developer Rocksteady Studios took it upon themselves to attempt to perfect this exact kind of formula that gamers in a comatose stage have required such a treatment from these very ingredients for many years, and many more. Be it good, be it bad, be it neither or both, you'll just have to use your thinking cap to decipher the clues that shall dissolve the most relevant question that is on your mind right now: How much as* does Batman: Arkham Asylum kick?
Gotham City has bred one villain too many for Bruce Wayne (also known as Batman) to count on either hand or foot. He's just one man; but luckily, Bruce is also a super-man of sorts. Being a well-funded billionaire, being trained in various martial arts and having help at his side, including the kind that develops unique vehicles and gadgets to aid his superior intellect and detective skills toward thwarting each bad guy's/gal's sinister scheming, Batman is one man that has proven time and time again that he can get the job done. However, with Gotham City being the nesting grounds for so much nefarious crimes there must be some way or another to contain the badness that infects this dark and gloomy urban jungle. It just so happens that there is. Arkham Asylum has always been the one place where Batman's enemies aren't just imprisoned - they're treated here to help regain these deformed creatures' sanity. Little does this work. Evil has brains, evil such as Batman's infamously brooding other half: The Joker. These two have gone at it matching wits with one another, painful jokes and blows with one another, and now they're at it all over again. Escorting The Joker back to where he belongs, it is when Batman finds that The Joker has been planning to be captured into Arkham's newly refurbished 'darkened paradise facility' that Batman must give chase, not just to The Joker, but to the entire list of inmates that he and Harley Quinn have released throughout the building (in addition to Blackgate Penitentiary’s thugs to boot). The Joker's in control of Arkham now. Drain the madness from this foul plot and reestablish order, Bats!
Most people know Batman from his comic book origins, as the caped crusader whose parents were murdered and who set out to punish the same kind of wickedness that stole his family from him. Others are more familiar with Batman's movie and television appearances, his cartoon series, his toy line, and even his video games. He's Batman. Batman is a legend amongst the comic book heroes, inspiring some of the most engaging storylines from some of the most intriguing gallery of villains. That's the kind of scenario that you can really build on, you know? A fantastic hero who confronts many of the faces that are familiar to his fans: this is what Batman: Arkham Asylum does. It's an action game to be more specific, one where you're caged in like an animal around the island that the Arkham facility just so happens to be staged upon. Pulling strings to piece together the "ultimate Batman game" to date, Rocksteady bases its vision upon the comics while mixing the sound stage from the notable talent that has worked on the animated series in the past. Playing as Batman by himself without the help of his backup crew, you're thrown into a beat 'em up-style exploratory mission, to uncover the island's riddles, to figure out a way to gain access further into the story, and generally to put a stop to the loons that happen to be all around you.
Returning to the thought of this being the best Batman game that you've seen in a great while, there's no question about it: this is the Batman game that most gamers have only had wet dreams about before now. Batman: Arkham Asylum is without a doubt smartly designed, fun, and a change of pace for the better. The way that the game works is like this: Okay, so you're Batman. Strip Batman of all of his gadgets except for the primary utilities, including his grapple, his batarangs, and some explosive gel to make a dent into weakened walls. Playing through a third-person over-the-shoulder view, Batman's able to climb onto scalable objects, duck and crawl through ventilation shafts, grapple onto supported structures that can hold his weight, and he'll even be able to switch on a detective mode scanner that switches his vision on or off instantly from plain sight to a multicolored combination platter that traces a multitude of environmental elements from point to point, including x-ray, infrared, and a forensic tracker (which is much like the cellular vision used in the feature film The Dark Knight). Upon entering and searching room by room for The Joker, Batman's goals always end up differentiating from this original priority, whether he'll stumble upon a room full of goons that will need to be disposed of, whether he's rushing to a secondary entrance in under a matter of minutes to break free a couple of Arkham's staff from the poisonous gas that The Joker has in store, or if he has no choice but to face and defeat the likes of Bane, Scarecrow, and one incredibly oversized Killer Croc. From this perspective, situated in Batman's fighting stance, combat is as it should be: simple, busy. Enemies will gather around Batman (especially if there's a large mass of them at times) where Batman can fend off against one, but he can also redirect strikes to another. This is Batman's combo system, one where by inputting face buttons will punch (square), stun (circle), or divert on an attack that is coming your way (triangle). Part of what makes the game so enjoyable is its intuitiveness in learning the gameplay instructions over time via on-screen tutorials, and continuing to apply its methods without any hardships.
Delving deeper into the game's combat, what it means to avoid an oncoming strike against Batman is that everything is happening in real-time. You'll find that a group of hostile thugs will surround Batman. He can dodge attacks with jump and roll maneuvers manually, just as he can see a flashing energy icon over an enemy's head. When this happens, pressing the correct button will give Batman the ability to turn around or keep facing forward, grabbing the psycho's leg, and elbowing him (or the like) in a close-up camera position that occurs in slow-motion. Batman can disarm opponents this way, and he can grapple onto gargoyles high up to escape gun fire from dangerous gunners. From up high, coming in from behind, from below, going around the corner, or over and from the back, with his ability to knock out thugs cold, Batman also applies a sneaking system into his arsenal, where he'll perform stunts such as stringing up bad dudes from a gargoyle (and furthermore, can drop him onto someone else with the toss of a batarang), and crouch-walking so as not to emit a sound as Batman will dispose of enemies instantaneously with this method. You won't always have to go silent, but there are times in the game where it's a forced requirement (objectives will lead to someone of importance being snuffed if you're spotted). Not to mention, it helps when your life isn't being drained faster and faster as being spotted gives enemies reason to retaliate with open fire. Overall, this is not the most brilliant gameplay arrangement ever manifested, but at the very least it's fun and functional because it doesn't take very much to put into effect.
Even if the hostile encounters aren’t the most thrilling necessity, they're something that you'll actually look forward to in part to divide the time while partaking through the story leveling up Batman and his supplies. That's right: this is a Batman game that inherits the RPG craze! Throughout Batman: Arkham Asylum there are trophies to hunt, taped interviews to find, secretive tablets to scan, and logic puzzles to solve. The Riddler has cleverly spread out 240 challenges to complete around the island's insides and outs. Open every ventilation shaft to uncover a trophy. Blow a hole through every destructible wall to get into a hidden room that contains an enigma of importance toward your progressive completion. Some of the logic problems can be quite tough, considering how vague many riddles are spelt out. "Now I see it, now you don't." What does this tell you? To the naked eye, not much. But, if you were to scan the surrounding area, eventually you'll find that a shrouded green Riddler question mark is pasted onto the environment. Align the separated dot with the mark, scan, and voila: you've graduated from tweedle dumber to tweedle dumb! Most times these puzzles involve stepping into detective mode, where Batman will need to scan specific items. The riddles are clues, and the items are the keys: find the keys and open the doors to a higher level of brain-busting amazingness. In the end, solving these riddles will add experience (and even health) to Batman's circular outer life meter and inner experience bar. The inner bar itself counts up and around until... you're able to apply one more unlockable upgrade from his collection of Wayne Tech gizmos and stats. From increasing Batman's health to enabling Batman to remotely control a batarang through the air, these enhancements (around 20 in all) make themselves available the sooner that you get your hands on puzzles and on Arkham's numerous escapees. And if the main game doesn't sound like your thang, then perhaps the challenge maps will. Challenge maps let you play as Batman or Joker (exclusively on the PlayStation 3 version). Your choice: you'll either play through a locked down room full of enemies to thrash, or you'll enter into a sneak-a-thon as you complete the same sorts of stealthy maneuvers that are found in the story mode. These maps have leaderboards, and sometimes unique challenges (the Scarecrow maps focus on players seeing how long before an enemy lays one finger on them), but ultimately they can be repetitive and generally not as addictive as the plot will keep you tuned in.
Turning down the lights, Batman: Arkham Asylum has been stylized in such a way to reflect Batman's universe upon the darker edges of its map. Everyone knows him as the "Dark Knight." Everyone knows that his foes are made up of killers, crime bosses, thieves, and other sorts of evil-doers. So why not repaint the game's wood with appropriately dimmer shades, which by entering an entirely revised outlook on the game's characterizations makes its own mark that will be talked about for some time? This round, you're entering into Arkham Asylum where the characters that you may have cherished for ages will wander off into a distinctive demeanor where similar traits are found, but huge variations apply. This is not the animated series. This is not the movies. This is about the comics, where Rocksteady decided to find its own corner to put players in their place. Harley Quinn is no longer in the red and black harlequin outfit that she once adorned. Her twin blondie ponytail strips hang loosely off of her masked face. Her leather-clad dress and her tight knee-high boots gives off a much reorganized attire that isn't bad, just different. You'll get used to these sorts of alterations as you fall deeper into the engrossing storyline, coming away more impressed than disappointed. Meanwhile, graphically the game does falter on its range of character appearance for those outside of the classic villains. Guards, orderlies, and inmates don't carry the same kind of welcoming gene in them. They look good on the surface, but inspect closer and you'll find replication. Many guards who you'll speak to have embedded in them this blank stare that makes them cartoony in nature, albeit also generic as with the continuity of the same blue/black uniformed person being copied and pasted. Enemies are usually bald with painted clown makeup, wear gray prisoner suits, but all in all it's appropriate as to the way that the game's visage comes together. You won't mind terribly much at all that the developers chose to reuse certain aspects, but you'll wish that they didn't.
One point of interest to players is that Batman, as you know him, as you see him... will decompose over time. That's to clue you in on his costume deteriorating as the plot develops. You'll start to notice that his cape will show tearing, and scuff marks will render around his bat costume. Batman's face will draw blood, thus giving evidence to how much work is in store for our hero through this crisis. You'll also be pleased with how Batman animates, as he's able to jump and roll out of the way of a charging colossal being (all in a nice looking slow-motion reel) to the way that he swoops down through the heavens, cape spread out, and glides into a body-dropping crawl, as his body slows and the cape drapes along with him. Other kinds of action being presented continues with Batman's sleek focus on his face once a grapple hook is shot outward, to enemies pacing or standing still and firing their weapons. Sadly, Batman's world isn't epic. That's to say that Batman: Arkham Asylum doesn't reach the highest caliber in graphics that you'll find in today's gaming options. Environments are touched up well, but not to the point that your eyeballs will give a standing ovation. Through a variety of locations, you'll step into cell blocks with cages everywhere, you'll explore the plant-lined outsides of the island, from dried falling leaves and bushes, to trees and a graveyard supporting these filler spaces. There's a sewer system to navigate, with one part in particular that will leave you on edge as you navigate the line of wooden planks resting along the sewage tunnels. Pipes on the ceilings, wheelchairs fixed around hallways, dingy showers, deceased or unconscious bodies laying about, and cavernous sightings is just some of what makes up the levels, which are a little simple on the whole, but maximized to fit a theme of enjoyable artistry.
You've seen Batman in animated form, haven't you? From the original version that began in 1992 to the ones of the later '90s/early '00s, Batman has a long line of televised and movie animated adaptations of the comic. Having been tied to these characters all of this time, for a long time, some of the actors that have portrayed the characters in the past perfectly, knowing them, being them, matching their every vocal fiber, a few of the previous cast have thankfully decided to reprise these roles. Kevin Conroy, for starters, IS Batman! The deep, murky and subtle tone of his catches that irresistible blend that you may recall. Mark Hamill IS The Joker! Who better than to voice the squeaky giggles and roughened distaste for Batman than Luke Skywalker himself? While much of the cast is replaced with actors mimicking popular placements, some of it actually sounds no different than what was (Oracle, for one), while some seems like a distant second (The Riddler). Generally, the voice-acting helps to drive the game forward. With everything that it does, it does a fair job with the unrecognizable talent who are either posing as replacements for popular characters or making small talk as friendly and unfriendly guards. Now, if only the entire cast from Batman episodes of the past were to have been a part of this... all together it could have been something.
Everyone makes noise when they move. Not Batman. Batman is a silent predator, able to crouch and slowly approach his victims from behind, strangling them with an instant takedown. That's when the gurgling noises ensue, when enemies tune into the isolated laughing-Joker collar that will go off if an enemy wearing one falls, and when these enemies will get the same swooping-in, and popping-out-of metallic floor vents audio treatment that treats them badly in Batman style. Batman: Arkham Asylum has a range of audio, from typical machinegun blasts and fist-pounding hits, to the gushing opening of Batman's cape as he glides and the rickety chattering of Joker teeth marching circles around a hallway. It's decent audio that fits the gameplay appropriately, not astoundingly. Tagging along for the ride, Batman also surveys his surroundings at times while his ears breath in a soundtrack that suits the action and the moments without any. Some of it deep and moody, and other times moderately heightened to affect the intensity of a fight or some explosive action sequence, this orchestral mix is effective. It’s just not to the point of sating your thirst that will have you saying, "Best. Soundtrack. Ever."
Has the history of poor Batman games left you in the cold to Freeze? Have these unwelcome selections been the Bane of your Batman-related video game time? Do you feel as if video game companies are a bunch of lying Two-Faces, wasting your time and money as they invite you into Batman's universe again and again... only to be disappointed in the end? Well, rest assured that this is the end of the road for that sort of Poison Ivy - Batman: Arkham Asylum is the trend of something unheard of! There's a sunken past of superhero games that have left customers whining about the superhero genre. Batman, with his Rise of Sin Tzus, his Return of the Jokers, and his Batman Begins adaptation, these are but a few of the games in recent years that have left gamer impressions of Batman titles on the Wayne. At last, a developer has stepped in from the sidelines to bring to life the kind of Batman game that they figured, that they knew would be a massively enjoyable success not just for them but for everyone. Batman: Arkham Asylum is that game, and Rocksteady is the name of the company that has successfully accomplished this miraculous feat. While it's easy enough to say that Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best of the best Batman video games, it is not, however, a video game that has a spot amongst the all-time greatest games. Take that to the bank for what it's worth.
Recommended:
Yes
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ChromeKiller
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Member: Christopher
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