My Support Forums - View Single Post - Batman, Arkham Asylum, a review, Putting the “Dark” back in Dark Knight

Timgt5 · Dec 17, 2009 at 01:58 PM

Released: August 21, 2009
Developer: Rocksteady
Publisher: Eidos
Type: Third Person Action/Stealth
Players: Single and Multiplayer
Platforms: PS3, Xbox and PC
Rating: T Teen

Much like Superman, Batman has suffered countless injustices at the hands of game developers over the years. Many have simply not been able to distill the essence of the character and his world to the person picking up the game pad. Flash forward to Batman, Arkham Asylum. Have things changed? Read on…
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Highs: Excellent Graphics, solid sound track and sound effects, great voice work, well written plot. Excellent use of stealth mechanics

Lows: Some flat textures in the environment, some sluggish control responses,

The Plot: The plot of Arkham Asylum eschews the movie cannon altogether and takes its story from the comics. In this game, the Joker (Batman’s archenemy) has escaped from Arkham Asylum (Gotham city’s home for the criminally insane) and has taken the mayor hostage. Batman is able to subdue the Joker and bring him back in, but it went down way to easily. Batman is rather suspicious of the situation. On his way to Gotham, Joker had stopped off at Blackgate prison where many of his henchman were being held and set fire to the facility, forcing a temporary transfer of those men to Arkham.

As Batman arrives with the Joker to re-admit him, the Joker springs his trap. Harley Quinn (former psychiatrist and the Joker’s lover) has taken control of Arkham. Batman is now trapped inside, with Commissioner Gordon and the Warden being held hostage. Can Batman rescue them and escape?

The story here is well written, with some interesting turns. The writers did an excellent job of bringing the enmity between Batman and the sociopath Joker to life. The dialog sets the right pitch, slowly revealing the depth of the Joker’s plot. The pacing is just about right and the plot flows very well.

The Game Play: Batman Arkham Asylum is at its core a third person action game. As Batman (you can also play as Joker, exclusive to PS3) you must negate the Joker and his army of heavily armed henchmen as well as some of Arkham’s more “interesting” inmates. Since Batman does not carry a gun or possess superhuman abilities, he must rely on his superior mind, martial art skills and knowledge of the environment to defeat his enemies.

The stealth aspects of Arkham are handled very smoothly. Batman can use a grapple gun to quickly swing up to high objects and move around the baddies undetected. Along with the grapple gun, batman also has a utility belt full of useful gadgets. Among those a spray foam C4, used to get through weak walls, and the classic “bat-a-rang” for those long distance issues. All work well and are integrated thoughtfully into the game play.

Batman comes with a lot of sweet combat moves and the animation is excellent. As the game goes on he acquires more moves, combos and quick takedowns. The AI is ok, not particularly talented but enough not to put a player to sleep. Overall the mechanics are solid, but occasionally there was a delay in implementing some commands.

Graphics and Sound: Arkham has excellent visuals, with detailed environments and very sharp character models. There are some nice special effects, and the developers did a great job in reproducing the very gloomy Arkham, exactly as a fan of the comic books would imagine it to be.

The sound effects are also well done, right down to the “whoosh” of the cape as Batman glides down. The actors playing Batman and Joker are directly from the Cartoon network series, and are excellent here. The soundtrack is well made though not award winning.

Kids Corner: The game is rated Teen, there is some violence and younger kids may find the Joker and other Arkham inmates to be rather disturbing. Gunplay is minimal and there is little actual blood. The language here is fine with no real use of curse words.

In Summary: Finally a developer gets Batman right. This is by far the best title to be connected with character. Already a sequel is in the works. If you are a fan of Batman’s I think you will enjoy the title. I recommend this one.

Now if someone can just do a good Superman title… LOL