Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

Console:  Playstation 3

Date Released:  8-29-2009

Date Reviewed:  4-5-2012

Reviewer:  JR

 

Pros

* Incredibly dark, gritty, real, and amazingly beautiful graphics

* Great voice acting which should be expected considering the voice actors are all from the Animated Series.

* Incredible stealth-combat system

* Engaging storyline

 

Cons

* Some of the boss fights were a little too easy.

* A little too much time in detective mode.

*Not enough self discoveries; somewhat linear detective work.

 

I am very skeptical about superhero games. Most turn out to be bland, boring, and just flat bad, but Batman: Arkham Asylum delivers on all promises made by the company, critic reviews, and user reviews.

This game is just fun. The story is entirely believable and the amount of immersion is palpable. You really feel like Batman.

Presentation :   A

 

Graphics / Animation / Sound

 

Batman’s costume and face actually degrade over time. I am not sure if this is based on damage taken throughout the game, but every boss fight or epic encounter I was in seemed to have an effect on his outfit. It would have new rips, his face would be cut, or his cape would be completely torn up. How awesome it was to feel like these changes were actually being done. It makes Batman so much more real and human. I loved it.

The Joker’s voice-overs were hysterical. Some of them were subtle. An example was when Killer Croc first appears and the joker says “that reminds me, I need to get some new shoes”… I about died the first time I heard it. I love this sort of humor, and it is littered throughout the game… generously, and it never gets old or outdone.

The grittiness of the actual world delivers on what his world is like. Batman is such a conflicted person. As much as he is sane, he is insane as well. The only difference between him and the other inmates of Arkham is that he, like all other conflicted and messed up people, holds it in and represses it. This makes him human, and helps us relate to him in ways we can’t with other superheros. Batman is a guy just doing his thing like everyone else.

They didn’t hold any punches with just how evil these people are either. When some people think of Batman they go right to the Original movies or series, but that isn’t the real world of Batman. His world is dark, gritty, dangerous, and very adult/mature. My kids did watch me play, but my sons went up stairs on a regular basis because they were actually scared of some parts of the game. I think that speaks wonders because they have watched a lot of the other Batmans and weren’t troubled by them.

The ending was paramount, and when you walked in and saw Joker sitting on his throne  high on a tower that was made of naked bodies, you really get to the point that this is not a world of fun, full of neon lights, and Jim Carrey as the Riddler.

Single Player : A –

 

Game mechanics / Length / difficulty

 

The gameplay is awesome. I was so happy that a lot of this game is stealth. This is Batman to a T. He doesn’t always go in fistcuffs up and ready to beat people into submission. He was smart enough to go in and do it as quietly as possible. I love this about the game. The shear terror you can cause when fighting stealthily is just so much fun. The thugs are shouting “Where did he go”, “I didn’t sign up for this”, and “I just want to go home”… you really feel for them in some ways, thankfully Batman isn’t a murderer and the gameplay is simple. You just knock them out.

Some of the boss-fights were a little too easy, but they did add a different element from the standard gameplay and I think they added just the right deviation since the actual game throughout is so much fun.

I found myself in detective mode a lot though, which took away from the game’s world. I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to a lot of the time, but mostly it wasn’t a big deal. I would have liked some of the detective work to have not been as automated as well. Most of these were just “detective mode, find evidence, hold down ‘0’ and follow trail”. I would have liked some more legit, Myst style puzzles.

Multiplayer : F

 

Game mechanics / features / Online features

No multiplayer.

Replay Value : A

 

Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC

 

This game has significant replay value. Not only are the DLC’s  just as good as the original, but you can replay the game many times for several achievements that are tough to get on your first go through, and discovering different ways to handle the same situation.

 

Overall, this has given me one of the best game experiences of my gaming life, as well as made me that much more of a Batman fan. Multiple playthroughs are going to be definite, which says a lot about this game. 

 

Overall : A