Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum Developed by Rocksteady Studios

The last Batman game I played was Batman Returns on the SNES, it had well balanced gameplay, was challenging and gave me chills as a kid when I imagined the streets of Gotham. Now, more than 20 years later and a fantastic series reboot in comics and film, the videogame version has caught up. Batman:AA is as good as it gets.

30 second Summary

Basically a stealth action game, BAA is set on Arkham Island which houses the infamous Arkham Asylum. Gameplay is semi-linear as Batman explores the island to put a stop to Joker and his evil antics (always wanted to say that). Most of the game consists of exploration broken up with fights and stealth sections.

Story

The premise is simple, Batman captures Joker (again...) and takes him back to the revolving door of a mental asylum/prison Arkham, however it turns out to be a trap and the Dark Knight is stuck inside a looney bin with all the criminals he has locked away over the years. The player must explore Arkham, fight off the prisoners and stop Joker before he unleashes his sinister plan!!! (sorry couldn't help it)


Gameplay

BAA is basically a culmulation of all the good game ideas that have come before. From Zelda, Bioshock, Metal Gear Solid Series, Prince of Persia and platformers. A lot of game mechanics that worked for other games are combined into a solid gold package. More on that soon.

Exploration

Arkham Island consists of 3 main hubs that house a couple of stages each, buildings such as the penetentiary or a medical facility where the bad guys hide out. Most of the time, Batman is told where to go by Oracle on his Batphone. Certain areas are locked until the player obtains one of the cooler gadgets later in the game. Batman does start with a grappling hook which helps him get up to certain areas, escpecially useful for checking out the area for enemies. He also has an ability to glide. Movement is simple with a single button for running and jumping, as he approaches an area, he'll either jump across or glide after a few seconds. One gripe is that you need to hold on to the run/jump button to run instead of simply using the analog stick.

Combat

Every now and then, Batman will encounter troops of bad guys around the areas leading to a comic book styled beat-em up. The combat is fluid and intiutive, easy to learn but hard to master. There is a basic attack, which can be comboed, a counter parry, a stun with the batcape and the evade button. As the game progresses, the player can unlock Batarangs to use within combat and special takedown moves.
Essentially, it plays like the recent Prince of Persia, but with more enemies and trickier timing. When an enemy is about to attack, a flashing sign will indicate it, countering the attack chains the combo. Combos give the player more experience points, as well as leading to the bigger special moves. Technically speaking, the player could combo the entire crowd of over 10 enemies without being hit once until they all drop to the floor. Variations on moves also add to points earned. This allows for some pretty intense and viseceral gameplay.

Stealth sections

Of course, Batman isn't Superman, he relies on his ninja skills to do his work more efficiently. Occasionally, when you enter a room, it is filled with armed thugs, much tougher than the run of the mill variety, they hold a real threat if faced in a group. Here, the game allows you to use sneaking moves, stealth kills like dropping through a glass ceiling onto the unsuspecting thug or hanging someone upside down from a gargoyle. These sections rely more on wit and strategy
instead of rushing in and tanking the damage. Luckily, Batman has a something called Detective Mode, basically you can turn on his special Batvision in his hood and view everything through Batman's eyes.
It is deeply satisfying to go through an area MGS style and take out all the goons without being detected once. An interesting feature is that unlike MGS, they will know that someone is there but are helpless to stop it, the humorous dialogue by a the last remaining thug is pretty comical.

Boss Fights

The boss fights here are pretty varied, but not too challenging. Usually relying on God of War style mechanics, dodge and attack and repeat. The memorable one would be the Scarecrow fight which takes Bats back to 2.5D (no spoilers here). There are a couple of minibosses(venom powered thugs) where Batman takes on the equivalent of a minotaur in God of War. They usually have a lot of HP and are more tedious than challenging. Interestingly, you get to ride on their backs ala Wolverine on Blob in the recent game.

The Riddler

This is an optional sidequest which encompasses most of the game itself, Batman must find and solve 'riddles' scattered through Arkham, such as collecting hidden trophies, environmental visual puzzles and destroying Joker's toy wind up teeth all over the island. While most are not challenging, they provide a welcome distraction from the main storyline and fulfills people's need to collect stuff. Incidentally, it is possible to pick up a Secrets map in every area, this prevents most problems associated with collecting stuff in open world games, like the flags in Assassin's Creed or the presents in GTA.

Challenge Mode and DLC

To top off the story mode, are a bunch of rooms called challenges available from the main menu, after unlocking certain rooms, the player can go through a series of increasinly difficult trials, mainly combat and stealh sections. Scores are taken for flawless combos, not taking damage and variation of combos. This allows players from all over the world to vie for top spots on the leaderboards. With the addition of Joker as a playable character in the PS3 version. This mode is just the cherry on top of the cake. This also allows the devs to easily introduce some modes and rooms on DLC not available on disc.

Graphics and Sound

BAA uses the Unreal Engine, and it is pretty nice to look at, textures show a grim and gritty Batman not unlike those in the darker comics. Character designs are pretty amazing, from the syringes on Scarecrow's hands and making Killer Croc, a 12 foot tall scaly monster, look realistic. The lighting is dark and moody, while each area is extremely detailed, with nostalgic memobrillia or references to other Batman characters. This makes exploring the areas a joy in itself.

However, the baddies and various security guards tend to look a bit generic, but given the nature of their roles it is inevitable. Overall, it captures the essence of Arkham Asylum to a T.

One thing worth mentioning is the incredible quality of voice acting, most of the cast are from the animated series and Mark Hamill has an award winning performance as the Joker, every bad pun, lame joke is made to sound chilling.

Summary

Batman: Arkhamn Asylum is a must get for fans of action stealth games or Batman in general. Any casual players would find it easy to jump into the game as well. With secret collectibles tied to a B-story, Challenge rooms and future DLC. This is a complete package