Batman Arkham Asylum

This latest Batman game takes place completely within the Arkham Asylum, a pen for psychopathic criminals. The inmates including baddy-favorites Joker, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, Bane and Two-Face have taken over the facility and have set a trap for Batman. Playing as Batman you must not only use your fists, but will need to lurk in the shadows, be cunning and practice your detective abilities to investigate crime scenes and solve forensic puzzles. This dark, atmospheric game has an adult feel with stunning graphics, believable movement and a plot penned by Batman writer Paul Dini.

• John Stephenson September 16, 2009 PS3

  ****

  This game features fantastic graphics and atmospheric sound effects to set the scene. The cut scenes are movie-like in their quality and set the scene between acts. The weather effects are some of the best I've seen in any game.
  
  The game, at first seems simplistic in that you seem to have to just press random buttons to enter Batman's array of moves. However, due to a combo system that rewards you with points and power ups as you get more strikes in a row, a certain amount of skill is required within the combat elements of the game.
  
  As a background to the main game, there are Riddler clues for practically every room that means you have to find something in the room to solve the riddle. This becomes addictive in itself because you strive to solve each and every riddle.
  
  Some of the large Boss battles are really fantastic and capture the feel of the comic books. The voice acting brings the characters to life, and every one of your favourite characters makes some sort of appearance.
  
  Overall, the game is really good. However, it only took me a week to complete on Normal, and the final battle is a bit of a let down. In summary, this is the best comic book game that I have played on any console. My advice would be to try it on the Hard difficulty level if you play games quite often. That way, the longevity of the game might be better.

• Paul Martin September 08, 2009 360

  ****

  Batman Arkham Asylum has certainly turned a few heads in the gaming world in recent weeks, no one really expected a decent superhero game to fall onto the current generation of consoles and yet this has set a new high standard for any superhero game developers thinking of following the Dark Knights recent outing. Batman Arkham Asylum cannot be classed as only one genre, infact it has many genres: it's a beat 'em' up, action, puzzle, stealth and could possibly classed as a thriller as well. It has a lot to offer for the caped crusaders fans around the world, but what makes the game so unique is the fact it will also appeal to fans that are not too familiar or don't actually stay in tune with the world of Batman. The game takes place on Arkham Island and begins with Batman capturing 'The Clown Prince' The Joker himself. Batman feels it was 'too easy' to capture The Joker this time so follows him deep into the walls of Arkham Asylum, a mental institution for the criminally insane. The Joker manages to escape from Batmans grasp with help from the mischievous Harley Quinn and then continues to cause chaos allowing the inmates to take over the island. As you progress through the story you will begin to understand and appreciate the reason the game has received applause from gamers and reviewers from all over the world. The graphics look fantastic and with the only one minor problem of Batman's cape clipping into his spiked gauntlets on his forearms there really isn't anything more to say other than the game looks beautiful. From the fighting and lurking in the shadows stalking Batman's prey the games move fluently and there is no problems throughout the gaming experience. The fighting aspect of the game is well presented and linking 40+ combos together in one bout when squaring up to Jokers henchman certainly does make you feel invincible. The idea of the game is to make you feel like Batman, because of this when you fight normal human opponents like The Jokers henchman, with Batman high tech gadgets and his martial art skills he should, and does in the game easily dispose of them. This may make the game sound like an easy cake walk, but as you progress you will encounter different kinds of enemies providing a mixture and harder challenge. The AI is good in the game you will find some henchman will use the environment to use against Batman, such as pulling pipes of walls or finding a brick to throw at him. All in all the game really does shine and does a terrific job in making you feel as though you're playing as Batman. As you go through the game there will be encounters with henchman who have guns at their disposal. This is when the game is taken into its element. Think of the scene in Batman Begins when Scarecrow and his henchman are in the sewer system below Arkham and Batman is in the rafters making them nervous and stalking his prey and you will understand the idea of what is expected of you in the game. When heavily armed henchman are around there are conveniently located gargoyle statues located in the roof of the rooms in Arkham. Batman can grapple on to these taking the higher ground and begin to stalk his prey. The idea of this is to pick off one henchman at a time without being seen as you would take hefty damage from the arsenal the henchman have at their disposal. There are many ways to dispose of Batman's prey. A few of these are silent takedowns, corner takedowns and a one that stands out from the rest would be the inverted takedown. This allows you to hang from one of those well placed gargoyles and grab Batman's prey from below, bring him to the rafters and dispose of him, it really is a must do in the game. You also have a lot of gadgets at your disposal and what you would expect from the The Dark Knight? Batarangs, remote explosives and grapple guns you name it, it's there! You will unlock gadgets as you progress through the game some by progressing through the story, but most will be unlocked in a menu where you level up and therefore unlock ability. The game does really well in making you feel like Batman and remarks similar traits from the recent Christopher Nolans films. The musical score of the game is good although not always noticeable until later stages of the game when there is more drama and the music moves at a louder, faster pace than it would compared to the beginning of the game where there isn't as much haste. The voice acting is top draw, Mark Hamill is the voice of the Joker and it really makes a better gaming experience, it's also a relief as you hear The Joker over Arkham's speakers taunting Batman quite a lot throughout the game. Although this sounds pointless it really does lift the game into a new height as Hamill provides a 1st class performance. The other characters Poison Ivy, Riddler, Batman etc. are all voiced by their cartoon series counterparts providing a good cast who know there characters well. Kevin Conroy who plays Batman sounds gritty and serious as The Joker taunts him, it really is well done and thought out by the makers of the game, you can tell they knew what fans would want and expect. The storyline of the game is impressive and is always well presented especially bouts with Scarecrow in particular and provides a few twists that not many would expect. The gameplay totals up to around 12hrs. As you play you will find Arkham mostly openworlded to explore, this is mainly down to the Riddler who has laid out challenges for Batman i.e. trophies or small riddles he has put around the island for you to find or solve. It's similar to GTA's hidden packages and there are a total of 240 in the game, which you can always return to at the end after the credits have rolled up the screen. This feature will only add an extra hour or two onto the game as you will come across many of the riddles on your play through. There is an incentive of collecting these riddles as certain riddles you solve or find unlock character bios or challenge rooms. Challenge rooms are landmarks throughout the main games storyline where you can replay and unlock awards. These awards are usually based on receiving a certain amount of points or taking down enemies in a certain way. There is a total of 16 challenge rooms, which all have online leader boards allowing you to try and beat your friends time or scores. Although this mode is fun, it really doesn't last as long as you would hope and only adds a small amount of replayability to the game. Overall this is a near perfect Batman game. Although there is little replayability the storyline, graphics, sound and gameplay all make up for it to provide a great gaming experience. The only downsides are the missed opportunities to add the more notorious villains to the game as some fans will be a little disappointed with the final outcome of who and who doesn't show up throughout the game. Looking back, the game provides decent laughs and a unique gaming experience with a great thrilling storyline that most gamers including non-Batman fans will enjoy. My suggestion would be if you don't pick it up, you will only be missing out on what so many have praised. 9.4/10

• Batman: Arkham Asylum 360PS3PC | 01:51 Play Trailer
• Batman: Arkham Asylum - Poison Ivy Vignette 360PS3PC | 01:11 Play Trailer