Batman: Arkham Asylum

a few weeks ago one of the greatest comic characters (im a marvel guy so my opinion is skewed) starred in a video game that was heralded as the greatest comic video game ever conceived. now if we think of this on a logical note this is not a hard feat to accomplish in the least. we generally associate comic characters with shitty video games. even the comic film turns out real shoddy games.

so when the programmers at edios and the writers over at DC claimed that arkham asylum is the super hero game to trump all games they were making a huge boast. they said it would have the greatest enemies of the dark knight. in my mind that would feature the joker, two-face, the riddler, scarecrow, mr. freeze. all of these villains working together in a single game! that would have been quite glorious. now this was coming off the heels of the dark knight's great success at the box office.

sure this game had large amounts of hype surrounding it much like the movie. some began to wonder if this would just be a giant flop like most games with the caped crusader in it. the producers announced that the game would feature most if not all of the voice actors from TAS in the '90's. so mark hamil is to voice the joker. makes me so excited for it.

its june 2009, the game is on the verge of being put out. then the news comes saying its being delayed for another period of time. so disappointed. i did no research on the game, i didn't want any spoilers at all so i just had to wait till mid august for it. i will admit to this i tend to play through most games on my computer as compared to my xbox 360; but then again thats if the game is a pc ported game as well. arkham just called for me to play with its dark and brooding and mature graphics and character design.

the demo popped out early july and i had to try it. at the local gamestop i picked up the ps3 controller and began to try it. it was only one little challenge mode and the controls didn't feel awkward but the combat system seemed a bit off. they want you to do a variety of moves but you really cant when you have only four buttons, one move punches or kicks pending on your positioning, one counters, the other stuns and the other jumps over enemies. talk about diversity! the game was to be a fusion of an arcade style beat em up with elements of stealth in it. i felt let down after i finished the demo. i prayed they would use the delay to tweak the combat system.

logging onto steam one day in mid to late august i saw the demo to arkham was made available. after waiting several hours of its download i began to play it. this time it was the first twenty minutes of gameplay. i had a few problems with sound but that was resolved shortly after. it ran smoothly, the videos were rendered so well and the smooth transitions were to die for. i felt uncomfortable using the keyboard and mouse so i used the xbox controller which felt more at home. yet the combat system didn't feel fixed. i wasnt sure how i felt.

weeks later judgment day came. i began to load her up in the xbox and i sat there patiently waiting for the game to begin. as i played through the game i felt that at parts it was like most games in the genre: stereotypical. but this is where it gets you, its based on a comic book character, the richness of his history provides such an array of possibilities. the controls were solid, combat was still a bit iffy but with upgrades it felt better.

the story was compelling but not flawless. it didn't deliver as much on the greatest adversaries of batman as it did making the ones they chose to use fit in. yes they worked in several of his worst enemies, poison ivy, scarecrow, the joker and harley quinn. but where was two-face? where was mr. freeze? the riddler was constantly teasing you forcing you to solve his riddles which added nice and frustarting moments to the game, solving riddles adds more to your completion percentage and unlocks character bios and trophies but it wasnt the same as fighting the riddler.

the other villains in the game i guess are well known [as most batman villains are] but not as prolific. you have killer croc, zsaez [spelling?], bane. but what was a bit on the sad side was how easy some of the game was, mainly the boss encounters, its all pattern based, very little changing up on the pace. oh but it was still fun up until killer croc or bane pulverized you the first time then you solved the pattern and you're like why didnt i see this earlier.

as your progress you gain upgrades to your arsenal of bat-gadgets. pretty cool i guess. the game ends a bit abruptly when you get to the final fight, it leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth much like the end of the dark knight did. so it seems like they both were one in the same [i had a little bit of a laugh there]

the best parts of the game were the scarecrow induced 2-d esque side scrolling levels. they were interesting and i wish there was more of them. overall i say this was a pretty awesome game and would play it again if there was some DLC added to it

does arkham make the grade? yes i give it a nice strong A-