After having finished the story portion of the game I must say that it has exceeded my expectations.  It is rare to find something that you have high expectations for meet those expectations but even rarer still to find something that exceeds those already high expectations.  In my first review I talked about how this game took the best elements from other games and combined them into one then applied a very dark Batman feel.  The result is spectacular to say the least.   This thing reeks of high production values.  The visuals, sound, story, mechanics, pacing; the list can go on.  If Batman: Arkham Asylum attempted something, it did it well.  Nothing about it felt mediocre.

In my first take I talked about the action, stealth, and exploration aspects of the game.  Everything I said then is still true.  As the game has progressed, things have just gotten better.  I will try to give some more detail on some of those elements and a glimpse at a few other pieces of the game.

Note to Parents:  This game received only a Teen rating but it can be quite dark and disturbing at times.  The fighting can be brutal and the language is sparse but a little rough.  Also, some of the female villain’s costumes are edgy.  This is not a focal point of the game but it does exist.

Combat

I think this is the best real-time combat I have experienced in a game.  You feel like Batman.  As the game has progressed, the combat has improved.  And it started off great.  When you begin the game you don’t feel handicapped in anyway but the further you progress the more you can do and the smoother it gets.  It is very rewarding to string together a combo, leaping from enemy to enemy, pummeling them all into the ground with fists, elbows, knees, and feet.  The combat style Batman uses is brutal and visual treat.  Keep in mind that Batman doesn’t kill anyone as a rule.  He just knocks them silly while throwing in the occasional broken bone.

Another aspect of the combat that I enjoyed is that it wasn’t constant.  You don’t fight guys in every room or area you enter.  It is spread out over the course of the game which is, perhaps, why it always feels fresh and engaging.  It doesn’t get old.  And you must change your approach to a fight depending on what weapons the enemies have (knives, tasers, guns).

Stealth combat is still just as fun and gets progressively harder as they add new hurdles like proximity-mined gargoyles that force you to stay on the floor.  Still very fun and challenging.

Challenge Mode

There are some games that I enjoy because of the time that they take to finish and there are others that I enjoy because I can sit down and play for five minutes and be done.  With story mode and challenge mode, Batman: AA offers both styles of game play.

Since the combat is one of the highlights of the game, the developers were very smart to include Challenge Mode.  This mode puts you in either a melee or stealth combat situation.  In melee challenges you are trying to rack up as many points as you can while in a stealth challenge you are trying to complete it in as little time as you can.

Another great use for Challenge mode is practice.  Can’t beat a stealth action part of the game?  Practice a bit in Challenge Mode.  On top of the fun and practice you can get, this mode adds a very basic multiplayer experience to the game.  There are leader boards for each challenge that keep track of how you are ranked between your friends or everyone playing the game.

Boss Fights

This was an area that some reviews I read had some complaints.  They said that these parts felt awkward or tacked on, as if they were a last minute addition.  I didn’t experience these issues.  I felt that they were a good break from the normal action.  Most of them were very different from each other as well.  Some were very fast paced while others were very slow and menacing while the enemy toyed with you.  And I felt like they played out like Batman would handle them.  While definitely not the most enjoyable part of the game, they were still fun and sometimes challenging.

Setting

This was another area that I felt was pitch perfect.  Arkham Island was the perfect setting for this game.  Not only did it provide a dark foreboding place to explore, all the enemies you could hope for were already there.

Every area of the island was very detailed.  You can tell that much time was spent preparing the areas and buildings that Batman would explore.  The setting of Arkham Asylum is wonderful.

Character

This is something that is often overlooked in a video game but since the developer got a seasoned Batman writer (Paul Dini) to write the script and the voice talent behind Batman: The Animated Series you get treated to great characterization.   The Joker is wonderful as voiced by Mark Hamil (Luke Skywalker anyone?).  The dark (sometimes creepy/scary) setting is maintained by the fact that the Joker is not afraid to kill people.  There are people you cannot save from this madman.  This just adds to the tension that continues to build throughout the game and is very true to the Joker’s character.

Batman himself is done wonderfully.  He is his normal silent, powerful, and to the point self.  This is conveyed through the way he talks, fights and even the way he walks.  I always enjoyed starting a fight, just standing in the middle of a group of enemies, letting them come to me and even letting them throw the first punch but then immediately countering and bursting into a flurry of punishment.  Very Batman.

Story

In many games like this the story takes a back seat to things like combat.  Developers focus their efforts on getting combat right and neglect the story.  Not so in Batman: Arkham Asylum.  The story and the devices it uses to tell the story are on par with the most recent Batman movies.  I won’t spoil any of the specifics but I will say that they used some story telling devices that were genius.  For example at one point you are walking down a long hallway after breathing some sort of mind altering gas (thank you Scarecrow) and as you walk and the gas takes effect the hallway begins to change into an alley where you get a glimpse of Batman’s past.  There are several parts like this in the game where I was blown away.

The actual story of the game is simple yet engaging, interesting, and original.  It takes place over the course of one night so as Batman jumps through the many hoops the Joker throws at him you get to watch as his suit takes damage and his cape starts to tatter.

The pacing of it is just right as well.   It doesn’t feel rushed or tacked on.  I hope other game developers (and movie makers) that make games like this take a lesson and put just as great a focus on their story as other elements.  Sometimes you can get away with it but your game will suffer.  Put the right effort into the story and it will make all the other elements shine as well.

Extras

There are plenty of extra things to do in the game besides finish the story.  There are 240 Riddler puzzles hidden throughout the island, there are Arkham patient interview tapes to find that give you lots of background on major villains.  There are trophies to unlock.  There are monuments to find around the island that tell the story of Arkham Asylum.  And, of course, there is Challenge Mode.  So even after you finish the story there is still plenty to do.

I know that I have written quite a bit here and, as a result, I might be outing myself as a gaming nerd.  The truth is, this game incorporates most of the things I enjoy about video games and does all of them very well so I feel justified in being nerdy about it.  So there!

In closing, Batman: Arkham Aslyum will envelop you in a very cinematic experience that seamlessly moves you towards the climax all the while fully engaging and entertaining you with wonderful attention to detail in every aspect.  Now, quit reading and go play it!

Brian

The reason this game is so good is that it takes many pieces from other successful games and combines them into one seamless package of awesome.  It is done so well that the “borrowed” pieces don’t feel borrowed.  This games owns them.  It doesn’t hurt things that the other games it borrows from are all games that I would put in a list of my favorites.  Splinter Cell, Metroid, Assassins Creed.  Take the best of those, add Batman, a compelling story, and great voice acting into the mix and you have one stellar game.  Not to mention that the graphics, attention to detail, and sound go above and beyond.

Action

One of my favorite parts of Assassins Creed was the free-form combat.  It was simple yet very satisfying.  You weren’t just hacking away at enemies, you blocked, countered and attacked in such a seamless way that it was close to watching a movie.  Arkham Asylum takes this model and runs with it, far out pacing it predecessor.  The combat is very easy to do but hard (and fun) to master.  It also feels very “Batman”.  It is one against many.  Granted, the one is very highly trained.  It is nothing short of a joy to watch and even more fun to play.

Stealth

When I first played Splinter Cell I was blown away by the way stealth was done in the game.  It is just so much fun to sneak around while taking enemies down, even if it was tedious at times.  Batman: AA takes this in an even more fun direction.  It can be challenging at times but it does not feel tedious.  There is great satisfaction in swooping down from a ledge and planting your feet in an enemies chest.

Another thing that makes this work so well is that Batman is not invincible.  When he comes across enemies with guns there is great danger there.  If he is shot, he bleeds and dies so being invisible is a necessity.  Another very enjoyable part of this is that, as you take down enemies, the remaining ones become more and more terrified, shooting at anything that moves thinking it is you while you watch and plan how best to take them out.  Very satisfyingly “Batman”.

Exploration and Gadgets

Metroid Prime on the Game Cube easily fits into my top three favorite games.  One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was exploration.  As you moved through the game you would encounter areas that you couldn’t access until you got a certain gadget.  Once you got that gadget it was fun to go back and explore these areas.  It makes the world you are playing in feel deep and big.

Arkham Asylum does a great job of this, if not to the same degree.  The island you are on is big and there is much to explore and the level of detail put into the game makes this a joy.  As you progress through the game you get acquire to new gadgets that will allow you to access different parts of the island at different times.

Take all of these elements, add a very dark theme and you have, not only the best Batman game to date, you also have a game that is one of my favorites.  And the things I mentioned above are just the story mode.  There is much more to be done in the game through challenge modes and riddles.  I will let you know if it lives up to it’s promise after I finish it.

Note to parents: This game got only a Teen rating but it can be quite dark and disturbing at times.  The fighting can be brutal and the language is sparse but a little rough.  Also, some of the female costumes are a little edgy.  This is not a focal point of the game but it does exist.

Brian