Okay, yes, my title is a little obvious.  I’ve said it for days, perhaps even weeks.  Arkham Asylum was the Shangrila of gaming that I have been looking forward to with all the jitters and bounce of a school girl on Pixie sticks (what? They’re good).

 

The game was released to outstanding reviews.  The demo captivated me in the same way that a masterpiece movie might enthrall a drooling film student.  I was standing in a line outside of a game store in the freezing cold at midnight to get my copy (okay, so it wasn’t cold at all and there was only one other person in line… but the midnight part was true). 

I then commenced to play until my eyes were bugging out of my head, the skin on my face taught with television tan and my hands trembled from holding that beefy X Box 360 controller for such an extended period of time.  My assessment: pure gaming perfection.  Batman: Arkham Asylum is my winner.

 

Mark Hamill is out of control as the Joker.  His voice interpretation is simply astonishing.  I was even creeped out by his crazy a couple of times.  The villains that you see are scary and when I encountered Killer Croc, I nearly fell off the couch.  I won’t ruin how he shows up but it scared the living starburst out of me.

 

This is probably as close to an Open World Batman game as one can get.  You can cruise around the Asylum at one point in the game with almost total freedom.  There’s always an objective to take care of but one of the coolest things (for me) is the Riddler’s game.  He’s planted trophies and ‘stuff’ around each map (think hidden object in a 3D environment).  As you find them, you unlock challenge modes and other goodies.

 

This is where the primary problem solving comes into play.  You have to figure out how to get to some of these places and sometimes, that means leaving them alone until you get different or better gear.  Batman has a lot of upgrades to play with and as you collect them, he becomes darker and… knightier… or… okay, moving on.

 

Combat is fast paced and makes you really feel like you’re playing Batman and not some dodgy look alike with a cape and a dark outfit.  You can flow around and beat the snot out of baddies like Jackie Chan on Red Bull.  But that’s only half of the ‘combat’ experience with Batman.

 

The other big part of the game comes in the form of the predator maps where you hang out up high or out of sight and then swoop down and take out people before running back into the shadows. 

 

Remember in Batman Begins when Christian Bale’s Batman takes out all those thugs and they think they’re being beaten down by a ghost or something?  That’s how this works.  When the people find their unconscious friends, they panic and start to get scared.  They stop taking orders and will even randomly shoot their guns at sounds that startle them.  Some of them are a little tough but they’re all fun.

 

All of this is narrated by a ranting Joker who has control of the Asylum PA system and is making good use of it. 

 

I’d love to get into specifics but then I’d be ruining the surprise and really, surprise is what this is all about.  I always thought that this would be a great game.  I had no idea that the graphics would be this good or that the story would be so engrossing or that the game play wouldn’t suffer.  Usually SOMETHING sucks and in this, I can’t really find anything yet. 

 

Well, except for me.  It’s a good thing I’m NOT the Dark Knight because Bane would have killed my sorry ass the first time I saw him (just after I peed myself probably).

 

Out!

Filed under: Ophelia's Blog
Tags: « Arkham Asylum • Bane • Batman • Harley Quinn • Jim Gordon • Kevin Conroy • Killer Croc • Mark Hamill • Oracle • Poison Ivy • Steve Blum • The Joker • X Box 360 »
by FiFi