Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Genre: 3rd person Action/Adventure
Players: 1
Console: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Hours Played: 25
Progress: Finished game on normal
Batman games, and comic book tie-ins in general for that matter, don’t have the best track record when it comes to being high quality, enjoyable titles. It is therefore that we won’t fault anyone for not having high expectations for Batman: Arkham Asylum (BAA). Please heed our warning, however, as this is a game you definitely want to check out, not only is BAA the best Batman game to ever be released, its one of the best games of the year, period. Read on to find out what made Rocksteady Studios (started by former members of developer Argonaut Games, best known for recent Harry Potter games and Starfox on the SNES), hit a home-run with this one…
Arkham Asylum sports an original story and greatly benefits from not being tied to an established narrative. The game starts out with Batman arriving at the island-based institution for the “incarceration and rehabilitation of the criminally insane”, victorious in his capture of the Joker. It soon becomes apparent however that all is not as it seems, as the Joker has been planning his escape and take over of Arkham all along. Batman is forced to play along with Joker’s mad scheme as he’s lead from one section of the massive institution to the next, taking on old foes and battling Joker’s henchmen in the process. The writing is one of the many highlights in BAA, the Joker’s mad genius has the player constantly wondering what’s in store next for Batman as we’re introduced to Blackgate prisoners released by Joker only to do his bidding, old nemesis’ like Scarecrow and Poison Ivy, and puzzles and obstacles at every turn. Frequent cut scenes and in-game dialogue keep the story moving at a steady pace and keep the player immersed, even though the premise of BAA doesn’t seem that deep, the writing, tension and atmosphere that’s created make it one of the more gripping experiences you’ll encounter this year.
BAA uses the Unreal engine, which is evident by the high gloss textures and slick lighting effects that permeate the game. Rocksteady Studios shows a great mastery of the engine however as the environments are very detailed and rich, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant a room seems, it’ll typically be adorned with pipes, crumbling bricks and other details that bring Arkham to life (or death, as it were) no matter where you look. Nowhere is this detail more apparent than in the character models, absolutely gorgeous from head to toe. It is especially the head part, or face to be exact, that has a level of detail rarely seen in video games. During the opening sequence of the game, we control Batman as he’s escorting the Joker into Arkham while strapped into a straight jacket on a gurney. At this point all we do is walk and take in the environment, by clicking the thumbstick we can zoom in, zooming in on Joker’s face reveals a stunning level of facial detail: muscle lines show up in all the places you’d expect them to be, eyes and eyebrows show a wide range of emotions and lip syncing is dead on. The only beef I have with the graphics, and this is more a side effect of game’s setting, is that there isn’t a lot of color in the environments, most areas are very dark and drab, obviously this comes with the turf when doing a Batman game set at night, having said that a bit more color would’ve been welcome.
The developer didn’t compromise in the audio department either; BAA’s score embodies that Batman “feel” to a tee with moody, string-instrument-filled music that flares up as the action intensifies. It’s the magnificent voice acting that holds everything together: presentation, story, the level of immersion… everything. Many of the game’s voice actors, like those for the Joker, Batman and Harley Quinn first lent their talents to embody these same characters in Batman: The Animated series, Warner Brother’s long running, but now defunct cartoon show. It doesn’t matter if we’re watching a cut scene or if we’re sneaking up on some henchmen, there is a multitude of voiced lines that are well acted and well written. The best of show however is, without a doubt, Mark Hamill from Star Wars fame, who has voiced the Joker in many Batman tales and makes his return for BAA. The emotion, the psychotic intensity displayed while voicing the Joker is fantastic, it’ll make you chuckle, shiver and angry all in the same breath and sets the stage for an epic confrontation between these two arch enemies.
In BAA the player relies on equal parts hand-to-hand combat and use of gadgets. Combat centres around the “X” button, which is the main attack button, exclamation lines above a bad guy’s head indicate an impending attack, which can be countered with the “Y” button, the “A” button allows you to dive or evade attacks, even by jumping over the enemy and attacking them from behind, finally the “B” button allows for a stun attack: needed to take down enemies with red exclamation lines above their head. You can chain together attacks on different enemies, as you are usually attacked in groups, by hitting the “X” button and pressing in the direction of the enemy, going from one to the next. Chains are broken by missing an enemy or getting hit in return, keeping a trigger finger on the counter button (Y) is the key to success in keeping your attacks going. Gadgets (of which there are eight) can be selected by hitting the D-pad, the one most used will undoubtedly be the trusty Batarang, which like most gadgets, can be aimed by pressing the left trigger and fired by pressing the right. Pressing the right trigger without targeting makes Batman crouch, which messed me up more than once as it’s a bit awkward having firing and crouching share the same button. Simply tapping the left trigger makes Batman quickly fling a Batarang without aiming, handy in many tight spots. Tapping the right trigger unleashes the Batclaw without aiming. The left bumper enables “detective mode”, a view mode which highlights key interactive objects in the environment , not unlike the visor mode in Metroid Prime, the right bumper auto targets the Batclaw to ledges and such, propelling the Dark Knight to new heights. The fighting controls feel especially fluid, with simple on screen prompts indicating when to counter and when to punch or pull off a special take down move.
Rocksteady Studios nailed the Batman feel not just in atmosphere, but also in gameplay. Instead of turning BAA into a standard brawler, the player will use hand-to-hand-combat, bat-gadgets/stealth and investigation techniques while progressing through the game. This really helps epitomize what the Batman character is all about: equal parts warrior, detective and inventor, each gameplay element is enjoyable and well conceived adding a lot of depth to the game, the likes of which a 3rd person beat ’em up could never deliver. The combat is fluid and all about timing, controls are simple and responsive, but the scrapping can get a tad repetitive as there is not a lot of diversity in the enemies. Most enemies are inmates released by the Joker that can typically divided into ones wearing firearms (which have to be taken out through stealth) and the ones without firearms (taken out through combat), with a few rare exceptions.
There is an incredible amount of hidden content scattered throughout Arkham, which has little to no bearing on the game’s story, but yields experience used to upgrade your weapons and skills, new challenge rooms and other content. This optional quest comes courtesy of the Riddler himself, who is bent on proving his superior genius by challenging Batman to find his hidden Riddler Trophies/Collectibles and solve riddles by finding secret landmarks based on the Riddler’s hints.
The stealth aspect of BAA is a lot of fun, it’s very satisfying to stalk your prey, strike from the shadows, scare the pants of your enemies and shrink back into the shadows until the next opportune moment. This can be done in a lot of different ways, mostly with the help of Batman’s gadgets: a Batarang giving off electronic pulses can lure bad guys and then be detonated to take them out, explosive gel can sprayed on weakened floors and detonated when the baddies walk over it, crumbling walls can be pulled onto hapless criminals with the Batclaw and, best of all, Batman can hang from stone gargoyles adorning the walls of Arkham Asylum and capture people leaving them strung upside down from one of these statues. Oh yes, the combat and stealth aspects are both satisfying and fun, but the investigative elements (where the player is asked to use “detective mode” produces a filter that highlights interactive objects such as weakened walls, scalable ledges and clues to solve story objects) really highlight a critical element of Batman’s character that hasn’t really been explored in past Batman games.
Detective mode is a little too effective if you ask me. Skeletal outlines of enemies can be observed through walls (which is crucial when trying to avoid detection) and the environments and their interactive parts are highlighted showing possible locations for Riddler trophies. This makes you toggle to detective mode so much you end up missing the beautiful sights of the game as you see everything through this filter.
The one main flaw of the gameplay is the pacing. There are a few too many times when you walk around Arkham’s massive grounds without seeing any action, although Rocksteady tries to insert sections in which to take out bad guys on a regular basis, sometimes these moments are too few and far between, making the game feel a tad empty. There is a boss battle of sorts with Killer Croc towards the end of the game, which also suffers from some pacing issues, forcing you to perform the same action over and over again for too long. Please note though that these are exceptions to a game that’s deep, original and well crafted and that these exceptions do not bring down the overall experience (much).
BAA can (and should) be enjoyed by anyone, but look closely enough and you find a game that very much caters to the hardcore gamer audience: there are tons of hidden secrets to find (over 240 in all), the combat system requires masterful timing to rack up huge combos, which earn you achievements, and the challenge rooms, which put the player in different scenarios ranging from taking out flocks of bad guys in hand-to-hand-combat, to predator mode in which we are tasked to take out armed bad guys through stealth in the fastest time possible. The game can easily take up to 15-20 hours, depending on how much you pre-occupy yourself with the Riddler trophies and is a joy to play all the way through.
Who would’ve thunk it? A Batman game that doesn’t stink… well we got much more than a game that simply “doesn’t stink”, though. Rocksteady crafted a deep, great-looking action/adventure game that treats a revered, though much maligned, license with the utmost respect and care. Original and unexpected, don’t miss this game, you’ll have a blast playing it right to the end.
Story:
+ An intriguing story with plenty of cut scenes and voice dialogue
+ An original approach to a classic franchise
Graphics:
+ Fantastic textures and lighting (without bloom turned up to max)
+ Great detail in the environments and character models
– A bit dark and lacking color… but then it is a Batman game at night… and set at Arkham Asylum
Sound:
+ Fantastic voice acting, especially by Mark Hamill who voices the Joker
+ A great score and sound effects, excellent use of surround sound
Gameplay:
+ Satisfying combination of brawling, stealth and exploration
+ Deep gameplay with many hidden challenges
– Pacing can be a bit off
– Limited set of enemies
Usagi Factor:
+ A fresh and interesting look at Batman’s character
+ A lengthy and packed game, especially rewarding for the hardcore player
– Combat and a sense of action can at times be a tad lacking
