[360/PS3] Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

[AgtFox]

Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

Title: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Platform: 360/PS3 (Coming September 15 to PC)
Developer: Rocksteady
Publisher: Eidos/Warner Bros. IE
ESRB: Teen
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3), $49.99 (PC), $99.99 (360 CE/PS3 CE)
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek

What's Hot: Hands down Game of the Year so far; polished to a blinding shine; Mark Hammill steals show reprising the voice of Joker; other main voiceovers, many from the loved animated series, are top notch; the pure engrossing nature of the game; controls are nice and tight; Batman actually uses all his weapons throughout the game; plenty of extra things to collect that will further your experience; Paul Dini’s plot is fantastic

What's Not: Most boss fights are disappointing when compared to the rest of the game, especially the last fight; stealth parts bring the pace of the game down quite a bit with the cloak and dagger aspect of the set pieces

Rocksteady, a mostly unknown developer up to this point, has vaulted itself to the forefront of gaming with Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is simply the best game I have played this year so far and I am shocked by how great this game turned out to be. My hype meter wasn’t very high because of being burned by comic book licensed games for a long time. This year we’ve seen a bit of a turnaround in the genre, first with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and now this game. My shock of how good this game is ranks with how blown away I was with the PS3 exclusive Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. There’s simply no reason not to own this game if you’re into comics or Batman at all.

The game opens up with Batman taking the Joker to Arkham after apprehending him. Batman is bothered by how easy it was to nab the Joker and he soon finds out that he has reason to worry. As the guards wheel Joker deep into Arkham with Batman as insurance, some of the credits for the game roll making a nice movie-like setup to the beginning. At one point we see Killer Croc, overly huge and menacing, come off an elevator and tell Batman that he will “eat his bones”. Eventually Batman is told by the guards that he can’t go any farther. Once in the next room Joker tells Harley Quinn, stationed somewhere in Arkham, to push the button. The place goes dark and Joker breaks loose, putting his overall plan in motion. They kidnap the Warden and block Batman from following them with charged fields. You take full control of Batman and are shown how to fight. Controls are relatively simple. X button does an action, Y is used for takedowns/counter moves and B is used to stun enemies with your cape. As the game goes on and you upgrade moves through experience points earned, you will use a combination of buttons to pull off more advanced moves. At the beginning though you are basically punching and countering moves.

Combat is built around a Freeflow system where combos are the name of the game. Fighting is relatively smooth when you are faced an army of enemies. You can hit one, see one approach and see some lines over their head, hit the Y button to counter them and then unload with the action button. Once they are on the ground you can pull off a ground takedown with the right trigger and Y button. As long as you keep hitting enemies you will keep the combo meter multiplier going and you will get more experience points and also a larger refresh of health that you lost when you finish off all the enemies in the area. The end of a combo chain is noted by a group of bats flying around Batman. When you reach a full experience circle in the upper left hand side of the screen, you are able to purchase an upgrade from the 20 available. Many will be locked to begin with. Early on in the game my chief concern was increasing Batman’s health, so I did the armor upgrades first and then looked at the move and weapon upgrades. The beauty is that you can choose however you want to upgrade Batman. You do have to be choosy though, I only got to upgrade half of the available upgrades because I evidently wasn’t getting enough experience from my fights.

There are a number of points in the game where stealth and fear are the name of the game. In the stealth rooms there will usually be gargoyles that you can swing between with the right button. Enemies cannot see Batman up there, so you can get the drop on them and do a silent takedown from behind (right trigger hold and Y button). You then have to quickly get back onto a gargoyle since the other enemies are going to find the unconscious enemy. You have the advantage in this situation with the Detective Mode, accessible by hitting the left button, where you can see through walls and see all the enemies at once to plan your next victim. You then wait for them to isolate themselves and repeat the process again. You do not want them to see you though, because they usually have guns and will fire at you and kill you quite quickly. They can catch you on gargoyles, but if you swing between gargoyles they will eventually lose you again and be fearful that you’re around, but they don’t know where.

The stealth sections contribute to one of the rare problems in the game. After having your adrenaline pumping you come across a stealth set piece and the pace of the game slows to a snail’s crawl. Add to this that the enemy AI isn’t very good at seeing Batman even when he is out in the open. Granted, you can’t be right next to them because they will see you, but there were multiple times where any normal human would see Batman, but these guys are blind as a, well, bat. It’s a minor inconvenience in the game, but it can get really frustrating later in the game when one set piece has the gargoyles booby-trapped with explosives.

Batman of course has his toys as well. The batarang is your primary weapon at the beginning and as you go through the game he will get more weapons that will allow you to reach places you couldn’t before as well as introduce new types of weapons to your arsenal. Although giving the appearance and feeling of non-linearity, the game is most certainly a linear affair. Doors will be locked which will block your way that will later be opened, unreachable grates will later become reachable when Batman gets a new toy, etc.

Joker has a plan and he unleashes a lot of Batman’s enemies throughout the game like Scarecrow, Bane and Killer Croc. The Riddler also makes a voice appearance with all of his collecting side quests. There are notable Batman villains physically missing from the game (but their bios are available to look at when you collect them), and maybe Rocksteady is already thinking about a sequel and kept many of Batman’s top tier enemies out of this game. There is also the small matter that some of Batman’s top tier enemies don’t work well with each other in the comics. The lineup of enemies here with the Joker as the centerpiece works out well though.

The graphics and sound presented here is simply top notch. I didn’t notice any slowdowns during the game other than when you fire off a quick batarang toward a charging enemy, but I think that is more to allow you to get the evade move off before they hit you. Batman’s suit gets damaged as you go through the game, so it adds a bit more realism to the whole experience. He looks pretty beat up by the time the final battle culminates his gauntlet through Arkham. Character graphics are top notch, although some of the lip syncing is off, but given the excellent overall graphics using the Unreal engine that can be forgiven. On the sound side it is obvious that Eidos and Warner Bros. spared no expense. They hired a lot of the Batman: The Animated Series voice cast, headlined by Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hammill as the Joker. Hammill in particular is in top form taking on what I consider the most spoken lines as the Joker. Nothing beats Hammill’s Joker laugh - nothing! The rest of the voice cast does a good job as well, except for the small parts that sound almost forced. All of this combines to show the extreme polish and care that Rocksteady has given this game.

I haven’t even touched on some of the other stuff Batman employs in the game or the side quests that can be undertaken. A notable part of the game is Batman goes all CSI in some areas, looking for clues that he can scan and then trace the DNA to its current whereabouts using the Detective Mode. Along with all this there are Riddler trophies strewn throughout the game and you can unlock such things as character bios, challenge rooms, audio tapes of the enemies and many other things. The Challenges sit outside of the game and are basically point and timed challenges. On the PS3 side of things there are the exclusive Joker challenges, something I was unable to play with. I would guess eventually there will be DLC that will allow the Joker challenges onto the 360, but who knows. Simple fact is playing through this game once may not be enough. I know I want to go back and hone in more on the Riddler stuff than I did on my first playthrough.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an epic achievement for a little known developer in Rocksteady. Eidos and Warner Bros. have a true winner here with a top notch game that shows lots of polish and love behind the story written by Paul Dini, the man who co-created the Batman: The Animated Series cartoon. Although the game is arguably short (took me 9 hours at 63% complete), there is plenty of ancillary things available to you if you want to play through this wonderful game again. Any Batman fan should be proud of this game, one that is built more around the comic books and their 70 year history than tied to a movie or an animated series. I am shocked by how great this game is and Rocksteady should be proud of this accomplishment because this could be a franchise in the making. Proudly, this game receives the first Editor's Choice award from myself here at Colony of Gamers. Wear it proud Batman!

Score: 5 out of 5 CoGs

Loren says, ”Run out and buy this game, it’s the best game of the year so far. I don’t try to gush too much about games, but this is the first one to absolutely floor me since Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune almost two years ago. This is a comic book game at its best with very minor missteps. It should also be enjoyable for multiple playthroughs.”

*Note - Review based upon the 360 version of game

[AgtFox]

As a note, please realize 5 out of 5 does not mean a game is perfect, just that it sits at the top of the Must Buy pile and shows excellence beyond other games. I feel Batman: Arkham Asylum fits that mold for the first time since CoG opened. Other editors have given out ECs, but this is the first time I have.

[menage]

I was at 3 hours yesterday and only got 10%, I must be slow:P

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by menage

I was at 3 hours yesterday and only got 10%, I must be slow:P

No, that's probably about right. I think I was at 12% after just a few hours. Once Batman gets more toys he can get to other places to collect more stuff.

[Cyndair]

I agree with all your points (although I quite enjoy the stealth sections even if they do slow the pace a bit). I've been obsessing over this game the last two nights. It has been awhile since I haven't been able to put a game down like this.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I'm at 70% with something like 12 hours, and on my way to finally take out Joker. I've been being VERY thorough on the riddler challenges.

The slowdown when throwing a Batarang IS intentionally added to give you more time.

Game is great. Combat takes everything wrong with the combat in Assassin's Creed and makes it right, story is at about the same level as Bioshock, voice acting is second to none.

My only complaint is that I wish there was more I could do during the sneaking around taking out all the thugs sections, and I wish a few more villains were in the game. The ones that are in the game are utilized well in a story that makes perfect sense (at least, given what's allowable in superhero stories).

Only one disappointment, which I'll spoiler:

MAN, I so thought I was going to fight Killer Croc while on the fear toxin. That would have been absolutely amazing. The Croc part I got wasn't BAD, but it wasn't the "fight with a huge alligator monster man on a plane of pure fear" that I was hoping for.

Also, "Use the middle stick to dodge the Joker's bullets" cracked me up. Oh, fear toxin."

edit: All the audio tapes are amazing - my personal favorite is

Scarecrow's first one, where he is playing the part of doctor

[Lance Uppercut]

I respectfully disagree with your comment about the stealth sections. When you have more gadgets than just the Batarangs and explosives, it really opens up the potential for creativity. Should I crash through a window with a line launcher to take out a thug, or collapse the ceiling with explosives? Do I lure someone with a sonic Batarang so I can crash through the glass ceiling on top of him, or go after the isolated guy under a gargoyle and string him up?

And when there are explosives planted on the gargoyles, it forces you to move and act quickly on the ground, which is much more exciting than just spamming the gargoyles

Planning the quickest, most efficient way to take out thugs, then making it work is some of the most fun I've had with the game.

[ThievesAmongUs]

My favorite part:

The Scarecrow sections, easily the coolest (albeit creepy) sections of the game; brilliantly pulled off. The third Scarecrow section is perfect in its execution of mind-fuckery

Playing mind-games with the guards in the predator sections, never gets old. From inverted takedowns (a personal fave); to knocking out one poor sap, then putting explosive gel on his corpse to blow when the rest of his buddies come looking for him. One thing I wish you could do, is pull a guard corpse into a vent to really scare his buddies shitless.

Not so favorite part:

The final boss is kind of easy, it doesn't feel like a final boss (but the rest of the game is amazing, so I'll let it slide.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by FearTheReaper

Playing mind-games with the guards in the predator sections, never gets old. From inverted takedowns (a personal fave); to knocking out one poor sap, then putting explosive gel on his corpse to blow when the rest of his buddies come looking for him. One thing I wish you could do, is pull a guard corpse into a vent to really scare his buddies shitless.

Except Batman doesn't kill. If you go into Detective Mode you can see that all the baddies are asleep with about 30+ beats per minute of their heart. Now, when you blow them up with explosives, that would be killing them. Honestly I've never tried it (I will in a little bit), but that goes against the Batman code so to speak.

[AniAko]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingOrc

Game is great. Combat takes everything wrong with the combat in Assassin's Creed and makes it right, story is at about the same level as Bioshock, voice acting is second to none.

As a side, I thoroughly enjoyed AC, but I also agree on the combat point. (I have HIGH hopes for AC2) I only played the demo, hoping to finish some games before I hit up Batman:AA. If it was available for direct download, I might have bought it when I finished the demo. Now I may get it on the way home, thanks alot AgtFox!

[ThievesAmongUs]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

Except Batman doesn't kill. If you go into Detective Mode you can see that all the baddies are asleep with about 30+ beats per minute of their heart. Now, when you blow them up with explosives, that would be killing them. Honestly I've never tried it (I will in a little bit), but that goes against the Batman code so to speak.

Woops, my mistake, I meant body. And using the explosive gel doesn't kill them either, (I know, it makes no sense) it just throws them around; it won't knock them out unless you drop a wall on them.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by FearTheReaper

Woops, my mistake, I meant body. And blowing them up with explosives, doesn't kill them either (huh ?) it just throws them around; it won't knock them out unless you drop a wall on them.

That's funny...explosions right on a guy doesn't kill him? heh

[National Kato]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

That's funny...explosions right on a guy doesn't kill him? heh

Yeah, I was stymied in one of the Predator Challenges because I had planned on placing all three explosive gel rounds on a thug I had just knocked unconscious. The remaining three inmates check out the body, KA-BOOM!, and they fall down for a second and then get back up.

Guess I'm going to have to get personal.

[ThievesAmongUs]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

That's funny...explosions right on a guy doesn't kill him? heh

Nope, but it will scare the crap outta him (and his friends).

[MosBen]

Batman is a master of non-leathal explosions!

[digitalErich]

To people looking at percentages, they count the Challenge rooms in your save game percentage so if you never touched the Challenge rooms, but get every single collectible in the SP campaign (as I did) you will finish the game with somewhere around 80%. This is why it sometimes feels like you are collecting a ton of stuff, but your percentage is only creeping up.

[crazyD]

Yeah, I love the stealth sections, my favorite parts of the game. Playing beat em up is okay, but nothing is better then sneaking around and knocking people off without them noticing.

[ElektroDragon]

Anything less than 5 out of 5 and I would have lost faith in CoG. Thank you.

[txshurricane]

I obsessed over this game. It was so, so good. The quality should not have been so good given the variety of platforming, combat, sneaking, etc. Just can't say enough.

[Psykoboy2]

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

Anything less than 5 out of 5 and I would have lost faith in CoG. Thank you.

I'd have voted to fire AgtFox from the team...or at least hang him from a gargoyle.