Batman: Arkham Asylum
Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:21 am
Wow. I mean really, wow. This is one where I should have believed the hype for it, because it deserved it. Where to even begin...
1) The voices: Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Mark Hamill; Batman, Harley, and the Joker respectively. Made iconic by the animated series, and it was glorious to hear them in those roles again. Especially Hamill's Joker, who hams it up the entire game over the PA system.
2) The detail: Everything is beautifully done and highly detailed, from the environment to the batsuit.
3) Those wonderful toys: Every new gadget and upgrade just begs to be used, and ends up being just as much fun as you hoped it would be. The explosive gel and the bat-grapple especially are fun incarnate. Pulling goons over railings or blasting them with wall debris never gets old.
4) Detective mode: Highlights interactive objects, shows enemies hidden behind objects, counts your enemies for you and tells you if they are armed or not, and just for fun lets you know just how scared of you they are. Why would you ever turn this off?
5) The combat system: Perhaps the only thing about the game that rates a mere good instead of great or awesome. It's easy to use, flows well, and it is a lot of fun to use the counter attacks. The slow motion knock out blow close up when you drop the final goon in a given fight is a fun touch too. However getting into an open brawl just isn't nearly as fun as...
6) Predator combat: Slinking through the shadows, swinging through the rafters, crawling through the vents, all with the patient intent of waiting to isolate a goon and take him down before he knows you're behind him. Fun is an understatement. And the variety of ways to surprise your foes with stealth, speed, and trickery just makes it all the better. And after you've picked off one of your prey, you get to slip back into hiding and listen to the remaining goons panic, and they get more and more terrified with each strike as they realize just how screwed they are.
7) Harley Quinn in her mish-mash nurse/school girl outfit. Cutest, hottest little psycho ever.
8) Poison Ivy's blatant fan-service get up. She barely wears her shirt, and apparently disdains pants.
9) The story: Better than most video game plots, and it unfolds well.
10) Scarecrow's gas attacks. Total mindscrew territory, both for batman and the player. Really does SC credit as far as being the master of fear he's suppose to be. Also Killer Croc manages to dish out some intense paranoia when you face him.
11) Power ups: Handled better than almost any other game. While the XP earned powered ups fall into more typical video game territory, the way you get new gadgets actually makes sense in the context of the story. Unlike many video games where you acquire a new item that was randomly laying about or in possession of a boss, and then run into situations where you miraculously need your new toy, in B:AA you acquire new gadgets because first off you find yourself needing them and then pick them up, and you find them in places it makes sense for them to be (in the batmobile, the batjet, the)
12) The extras: The bios, especially the Interview Sessions, are just added fun. The character trophies as well, just for the sheer level of detail in them. Also the Riddler's puzzles, which for some reason are less tedious to track down then many games' Hunt for the Hidden Goodies side quests.
And I haven't even gotten to the combat challenges yet, having just beat the main game today. Most definitely going to have to give this one a couple more play throughs. One of the best games I've played in ages. 9/10.
1) The voices: Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin, and Mark Hamill; Batman, Harley, and the Joker respectively. Made iconic by the animated series, and it was glorious to hear them in those roles again. Especially Hamill's Joker, who hams it up the entire game over the PA system.
2) The detail: Everything is beautifully done and highly detailed, from the environment to the batsuit.
3) Those wonderful toys: Every new gadget and upgrade just begs to be used, and ends up being just as much fun as you hoped it would be. The explosive gel and the bat-grapple especially are fun incarnate. Pulling goons over railings or blasting them with wall debris never gets old.
4) Detective mode: Highlights interactive objects, shows enemies hidden behind objects, counts your enemies for you and tells you if they are armed or not, and just for fun lets you know just how scared of you they are. Why would you ever turn this off?
5) The combat system: Perhaps the only thing about the game that rates a mere good instead of great or awesome. It's easy to use, flows well, and it is a lot of fun to use the counter attacks. The slow motion knock out blow close up when you drop the final goon in a given fight is a fun touch too. However getting into an open brawl just isn't nearly as fun as...
6) Predator combat: Slinking through the shadows, swinging through the rafters, crawling through the vents, all with the patient intent of waiting to isolate a goon and take him down before he knows you're behind him. Fun is an understatement. And the variety of ways to surprise your foes with stealth, speed, and trickery just makes it all the better. And after you've picked off one of your prey, you get to slip back into hiding and listen to the remaining goons panic, and they get more and more terrified with each strike as they realize just how screwed they are.
7) Harley Quinn in her mish-mash nurse/school girl outfit. Cutest, hottest little psycho ever.
8) Poison Ivy's blatant fan-service get up. She barely wears her shirt, and apparently disdains pants.
9) The story: Better than most video game plots, and it unfolds well.
10) Scarecrow's gas attacks. Total mindscrew territory, both for batman and the player. Really does SC credit as far as being the master of fear he's suppose to be. Also Killer Croc manages to dish out some intense paranoia when you face him.
11) Power ups: Handled better than almost any other game. While the XP earned powered ups fall into more typical video game territory, the way you get new gadgets actually makes sense in the context of the story. Unlike many video games where you acquire a new item that was randomly laying about or in possession of a boss, and then run into situations where you miraculously need your new toy, in B:AA you acquire new gadgets because first off you find yourself needing them and then pick them up, and you find them in places it makes sense for them to be (in the batmobile, the batjet, the
12) The extras: The bios, especially the Interview Sessions, are just added fun. The character trophies as well, just for the sheer level of detail in them. Also the Riddler's puzzles, which for some reason are less tedious to track down then many games' Hunt for the Hidden Goodies side quests.
And I haven't even gotten to the combat challenges yet, having just beat the main game today. Most definitely going to have to give this one a couple more play throughs. One of the best games I've played in ages. 9/10.
