Batman: Arkham Asylum Review
From the moment you step into the world of Batman: Arkham Asylum you realise that this is not your typical licensed game, as you watch the first cut-scene and listen to the fantastic voice-acting of The Joker being brought back to the psychiatric hospital Arkham Asylum, where a number of Gotham City’s deranged criminals have been imprisoned, it’s clear that this game is something more than that.
As the cut-scene unfolds it’s clear that The Joker wanted to be caught, he let Batman catch him easily and return him to the asylum for a reason. As you continue through the game The Jokers intentions become clear and you face off against a variety of his henchmen (and women) along the way, notably Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and The Scarecrow who all have their own boss battles as you go. The Scarecrow’s sections of the game are particularly interesting and a nice diversion from the main game.
Another one of Batman’s enemies you meet along the way is The Riddler, although you never actually meet him face to face, he does communicate with you via the Arkham Intercom. He gives you a variety of riddles and puzzles to solve as well as various items to collect throughout the game, all are relatively easy to find as dotted around the game are maps to help you find them, I managed to get 100% of the items during my play-through without a problem, you can also go back into the game once you have completed it to finish up Riddler’s challenges.
The game reminds me a lot of Assassin’s Creed, it’s not quite as open world as Assassin’s Creed but you can go anywhere on the island and inside any of the six indoor areas as you get further into the story. The combat and obviously the collectables and exploration are also similar, you will constantly find areas you can not get to because you don’t yet have the right tools for the job, as you progress through the game you will unlock more of Batman’s ‘toys’ and will be able to return to these areas and gain access.
One thing that Arkham Asylum does not share with Assassin’s Creed is the repetitiveness, you are always doing something new, the game goes from hand to hand combat, to stealth sections, to general exploration, something new is always around the corner. The combat is nicely done, simple to execute but looks great, as you take down the final thug in a group the game goes into slow motion mode and the final blow that Batman lands is particularly satisfying. I spent the majority of the game in ‘Detective View’ which highlights enemies through walls, environmental structures that you can pull down or destroy with your explosive gel gun and other areas of interest. The problem with detective mode is that it is so good you want to have it switched on all of the time, which is a shame as you miss the detail in the great looking environment.
As you progress through the game you will also unlock challenge rooms, these are a nice addition to the game and give it some longevity, these come in two flavours, stealth and combat. The main game will probably take the average gamer around 10-12hrs to complete, obviously depending how addicted you become to completing the Riddlers challenges and looting his collectables.
I am finding it difficult to say anything negative about Arkham Asylum, I came into the game only knowing Batman from the various films such as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, that goes to show that you do not need to be a Batman fan to get enjoyment from this game. I have since began reading Batman Comics purely because of the short biographies you unlock during the game of the various Batman universe characters and my wanting to know more. The game consistently throws new stuff at you and keeps you interested for the entirety of the story, and is something you will no doubt have pleasure in playing through more than once.
