Batman: Arkham Asylum

Billy Thomson, the creative director of Ruffian games (the guys who make the Crackdown franchise) called Batman: Arkham Asylum a near perfect example of ‘what can really be achieved if the right decisions are made during the design phase of the game’. I’m inclined to agree: it’s the best action game ever released.

Sweeping statements aside, the Rocksteady team did everything right with this title. Near perfect graphics, an irresistible plot and a combat system that provides a brilliant of balance hand-to-hand fighting with the traditional accessories of the Dark Knight has provided the best translation of Batman from comic to console we’ve ever had.

In fairness, when it comes to Batman games, the gaming community has hardly been spoilt for (a quality) choice. Over the years there has been more Batman titles that Joker has had escape attempts but more often than not the games are like the Joker’s plots: basic (Batman: Dark Tomorrow), criminal (Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu) and half-baked (Batman Begins). It seems that the caped crusader has never truly received justice.

Batman: Arkham Asylum bucks the trend of substandard cash-ins with an atmospheric world of dark mythology and sly wit. DC writer Paul Dini provides the story- an epic tale centring on the Joker’s latest nefarious scheming to draw Batman into yet another trap. This time our hero, fresh from foiling the Joker’s last prison breakout, finds himself trapped on Arkham Island with the clown everybody loves to hate calling the shots. As you wander through the island, trying the wrest control from out the hands of the Joker and his minions, it takes a few hours of playing before you can really understand how expansive the game is. Despite being confined to Arkham Asylum the game never feels claustrophobic or small. Each room has several depths: ranging through combat, puzzles and riddles. Nothing is simple or straightforward and even upon entering an ostensibly empty room you’ll start to feel giddy with the excitement of what you might find some seemingly insignificant corner.

Deal with the Joker as only Batman knows how... with extreme prejudice!

A good mixture of villains means that combat is never just a meat and potatoes affair of meaningless button mashing. Linking your attacks pays dividends as you replenish your health and gain valuable points with which to purchase upgrades. Rocksteady have stayed true to Batman’s borderline fetish for accessories and the result is a weapons line that would make even Inspector Gadget snarl with envy. Everything from the Grapnel Gun to the Batarang has multiple uses including a role within battle meaning that Batman’s aversion to guns is never leaves the player feeling their hands are empty.

Alongside the intricate and rewarding combat system is the exploratory side of the game. Batman, as the world’s greatest detective, clearly needs to do some, er, detecting! This is where the aptly named ‘detective mode’ comes in; the player can activate a special, futuristic visor in Batman’s cowl and begin a forensic investigation of the Asylum. New paths, secret rooms and alternative routes are all revealed. Each area Batman enters poses a riddle for him as well as a myriad of secret spots and Riddler statues to collect. Throughout the game we’re confronted by more collectables than you could shake a Batarang at: it all adds to the deep and absorbing atmosphere of Arkham, providing a history of the island and some of its inhabitants.

Allies are few and far between for a lone wolf like Batman...

Clearly I’m a fan of the game and genre and so this review could seem somewhat biased but I’m very much prepared to stake my (paltry) reputation on this game. If we’re going to dig deep in order to discover some semblance of a flaw then perhaps the lack of any real multiplayer option may be considered as irksome. However aside from an all-engrossing single player story we have a separate challenge mode in which players are tasked with stealth or predator missions involving silent takedowns and explosives all within a limited time. It’s a long road to 100% completion meaning that the game has plenty of replay value.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is not just a good game, it’s an important one. It sets a bar that we shouldn’t dip under. We’ve all seen what can be done when studios put quality before a rushed release and take the time to do justice to the title. Developers no longer have an excuse as to why a game is sub-par: by outselling all previous Batman efforts this game ably demonstrates that big profits only follow excellence. You’d be criminally insane to ignore the latest and greatest incarnation of the Dark Knight.

In A Word…

Playing Time: Worthwhile

Graphics: Intricate

Story: Absorbing

Game-Play: Pitch-perfect

To Buy or Not to Buy: An essential purchase!

Posted in: Reviews