Batman: Arkham Asylum

A lot of people rolled their eyes when Arkham Asylum got 9s and 10s across the board from reviewers, myself included. Although it's a dirty little secret of the video game industry that big companies often buy high scores from media outlets, I am happy to say this time, they didn't have to. The game sells itself, and several hours into it, the jaded cynic within me was brutally beaten and tossed from the establishment.

They have done nearly everything right with this game; the only flaw I could find was that it has a final boss and an ending, and thus does not, as I had hoped, continue into perpetuity.

Let me list a few of the game's good points:

1. You don't die nearly as often as in other games. That might sound like another case of the dumbing down of games for casuals, but it does away with cheap deaths like slipping and falling off a ledge (anytime you miss a dangerous jump, you have a brief chance to press the grapple button to escape death). It's good design, in my opinion, something you'll find a lot in this game.

2. The gameplay has been unfairly skewed to be the most fun thing you've ever experienced. Fights against multiple opponents border on poetic at times, as Batman smoothly segues between attacks, counters, and throws. The secrets riddled (no pun intended) throughout the game that can be accessed with specific gadgets require frequent backtracking, but none of it feels repetitive, which is a credit to the devs.

3. The voice-acting is straight up flawless. Repeat: it is without flaw. Every actor is perfectly cast for his or her role, and they deliver their lines very much in character. The long-time voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, reprises his role as the Caped Crusader, and Mark Hamill sounds appropriately sociopathic as the Joker, one of the best voice-over jobs in the game, and that's saying a lot.

The bad? The game can seem a tad easy at times, as too many obvious hints are dropped when the game senses you're stuck, however briefly. Also, at 12-15 hours, it's a short game, made even shorter by the fact that you can't stop playing. That's nitpicking, though, and if you see these drawbacks as a reason not to buy the game, you've taken one too many batarangs to the head.

TL;DR version: 10/10. MUST-BUY.

Arkham Asylum's map is designed so well that even it's 2009 graphics didn't ruin the intended creepy and mysterious vibe the game was giving. Playing this at nights makes the experience even more magical. The map is also elaborative with puzzles that have a wide range of variety in solving them, I was amazed by how interactive the Asylum's world was given the game's age.

The story is unfortunately a bit too short and sometimes gives very little background to the cast characters. However, because of its short playtime you don't feel fatigued with the repetitive enemies and bosses.

The combat mechanics was fun and addictive, no wonder why the upcoming titles have been using the same combat gameplay with minimal changes.

First of all i am a huge batman fan. I was looking for a batman game for many years and EIDOS has just given the perfect game.

This is the type of game i was expecting after Splinter cell, Hit man and Max Payne..... the game is excellent in all aspects (Story, game play, actions, level designs, graphics).

The story starts with joker taking over the control of ARKHAM ASYLUM leaving batman into a trap. Batman has to save and infiltrate the arkham asylum to stop joker from doing bad to Gotham.Not only against joker but batman also has to fight against his enemies like croc, ivy, bane, scarecrow ....

It is a must play game for batman fans. And if any one is looking out for a best 3rd person action game then they should go for BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM I give 10/10 for the game.. so go buy the game and enjoy it

What a wonderful world! A wonderful game that represent very well the world of batman. I enjoyed very much the gameplay: the fight scenes, the gameplay, the gadgets. The story between joker and batman. I also love the riddles and some iconic characters of Batman. A very good experience of video game. If you are a fan of batman, go take i!

I came to this game after finishing the excellent Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and if I'm honest I did struggle to make the jump. Partly this is my age meaning I'm not as good at switching between controls as I was, but also a reflection on how much I enjoyed AC:B. Once I got over this hump though and got the feel for how Batman: AA plays and works, I got into it very quickly and found a very well designed game that features plenty of colour, plenty of variety and was a good solid challenge without ever being frustratingly difficult (in normal setting anyway).

The game play is impressive; in terms of the straight story you'll be called on to work out how to get to places by using your eyes and the gadgets available to you; you'll have combat where your timing and skills are pushed in terms of pulling of combos, blocking and countering attacks but you'll also have stealth sections against armed foes where you get to be the shadowy Batman - taking them out one at a time and disappearing back into the shadows as your increasingly panicked enemies try and find where you are. These were my favourite sections and I do enjoy the additional challenge mini-games you can do in the same format. Since it is a computer game the story is episodic but it still manages to flow pretty well and be quite cinematic in nature. The cut-scenes are well used and do not come too frequently.

Although not a huge free-roam world like Red Dead etc, Arkham Asylum still has lots to explore and find. The secrets maps help a lot but it still is a challenge and it does add material to the game rather than just charging through the main story. Some of these collectables also add detail and colour to the game - I won't say I listened to all the interview tapes, but the bio files (complete with comic-book pictures) were a nice touch and again added a sense of depth to the game beyond just the story.

I am a fan of Batman but not to the point where I know all the characters, but it was enjoyable to see so many main ones have a large role in the game. The Joker is particularly effective and is well voiced by Hamill but everyone does a good job - Poison Ivy was perhaps the exception for me but that is more down to me not really liking her character rather than a problem with the game. The Scarecrow sections were all great - easy enough to "beat" but the design of them and the flashes into Wayne's tortured psyche were really enjoyable. Speaking of the Bat himself, the game achieves the central goal, which is making it fun to play as the Goddamn Batman! The gadgets are cool, the voice acting is good and there is little more pleasing that pulling off those stealth moves without ever being detected and hearing the fear of the Bat enter the voices and behaviour of the remaining henchmen.

The graphics are excellent. Personally it took me a minute to get used to how much of the screen Batman took up (the view just seemed a bit too close for me) but otherwise it looked great. The Gothic atmosphere is tangible and the detective mode is very useful - the only downside of it was that the detective mode is so useful that you end up running around with it on most of the game - which does rather rob you of the atmosphere and the beauty of the "normal view" graphics; not a massive problem, but a shame for sure.

Overall Arkham Asylum is a really great game. Well designed, looks great, plays great and has a story that engages. The characters are full of colour and are well brought to the screen in terms of looks and voice work while the variety in the game-play means I was using my head, my eyes, a stealthy approach and also having button hammering combat - all of which worked very well together and individually.