Batman: Arkham Asylum – Xbox 360
So we all know the deal generally licensed games generally completely suck well this isn’t the case with developer Rocksteady and publisher Eidos who made one a great game.
The game starts with Batman driving down to the Arkham Asylum with joker who is strapped into the passenger seat. Batmen along the Arkham Asylum security team escort joker down a long hall but wait the security systems is overridden by Harley Quinn and guess what Joker got away and takes control of the facility. The Joker enlists the help of all the prisoners and threatens to blow up bombs scattered across Gotham City should anyone come to Arkham. This leaves Batman with little choice but act alone however he can rely on Commissioner Gordon and any other loyal security guards he finds. Oracle is his trusty guide as she guides him through Asylum over the radio. Later in the game Batman heads to a Batcave he set up on Arkham years ago for situations like this one. Going to the Batcave was the smartest move for our trusty Bat by going their he finds out that the Joker is after the chemical called Titan which is produced in the asylum. Remember our friend Bane? Yes this is the chemical that makes him super strong powers however the Titan chemical is a beefed up on steroids version. Obviously Joker wants to use the chemical to create his own super army and then dump the waste into Gotham’s water supply. As you travel between buildings at the asylum you’ll notice all the plants have mutated and have started to take over the island.
Throughout the course of the game Batman fights and defeats several of his old archenemies and then is forced to return to the Batcave to create an antidote to the Titan Chemical and will use it to destroy the mutated plants. Towards the end of the game Batman is invited to Jokers party when you arrive to the party there are literally 20 or 30 prisoners who do not want to fight you but simply want to insure you are on the guest list for the party and guess what you’re the guest of honour. The Joker shows Gordon hanging in a corner and attempts to shoot him with a Titan filled dart but your boy wonder dashes in front of the dart and takes one for the team. Batman fights to resist the Titan chemical from taking over his body. The Joker feels defeated by this and then shoots himself with the chemical and heads to the roof top where he proudly displays his new figure to the news choppers flying around. Yes it’s that time, time for Joker and Batman to too battle where ultimately Batman defeats him. The joker transforms back to normal and is finally taken to his cell. The next thing you know Batman is flying off in the Batwig and Scarecrow rises from water and clutches a box that displays the word Titan on.
The overall story and game play just sucks you in from the opening cut scene until the final battle. The simplicity of the combat, detective mode, Riddler clues and story truly make this game stand out from the rest of the licensed games on the market. The combat in this game is very simple however it still provides a bit of challenge because you need to think of what move to use on your enemy since they could be carrying a knife or stun rod. The more enemies you knock down the more experience points you earn which allows Batman to upgrade everything from his suit, to new combo’s and finally to upgraded batarang. I had a blast using firing the remote control batarang at unsuspecting villains. Throughout the course of the game when batman can rely on Gargoyles to get around rooms and remain unseen from the enemies as this allows batman to swoop down and slide kick is enemies or land just behind them and silently take them down. Or batman could hang up himself upside down and swoop down grab the unsuspecting villain and disappear back up to the gargoyle with the now unconscious inmate. I don’t know how else to say it but the combat in this game just feels like batman but the only thing missing from the game where the bam! Poooow! That we were used to seeing in old Batman television show. One more important thing on combat, if you think you can enter a room of where several inmates are rocking guns and fight your way through. Think again, Batman has no chance to survive against guns in this game.
One of the first things you’ll notice in Batman in the outstanding voice acting, the cast features Mark Hamill as the Joker. Don’t get me wrong the rest of the characters have some great voice actor’s doing their parts, the Joker’s character just left me wondering who is doing voice acting because I loved it. Throughout the course of the game you will find audio logs that go into great detail explaining each of the characters.
So I didn’t follow or show any interest in Batman Arkham Asylum during the development cycle, I only started to gain interest when Walmart Canada advertised the game on the Xbox dashboard for 38.88 and so all other Canadian retailers followed suit. I lined up outside at our local retailer and I am so glad I purchased the game. It was a great experience for $38.88 however I strongly need to point out that I would have not spent $60 plus on this game. Did lowering the price on this game for the first 3 days of launch increase sales? I think it did. Overall if you grew up watching or reading Batman comic’s you owe it to yourself to play this game. If you truly want to experience what it would be like to be Batman, Play Batman Arkham Asylum.