If there is one thing a video gamer knows is that comic book games that can be considered good are very tough to find. Most of the comic book games, besides Marvel Ultimate Alliance, are garbage and don’t deserve your attention. When Batman: Arkham Asylum was first announced I was very skeptical. I thought to myself, here is another video game company trying to turn a buck off the Bat. But, to my surprise, I was completely wrong. Batman: Arkham Asylum can best be phrased as “the best comic book video game of all time.”
The game starts off on a rainy night as Batman has just caught the Joker and is taking him back to Arkham Asylum to be locked up for the 100th time. Geez, I’ll never understand how these guys keep escaping but that’s another discussion. Just as you arrive at Arkham, a mysterious fire breaks out and the Joker manages to free himself from the Bat with help from Harley Quinn. The Prince of Clowns then gains control of the penitentiary and releases all the inmates. Just about now is when Batman shits his pants and realizes it’s up to him to gain control of Arkham and put the Joker and his friends away again.
Arkham is exactly how you would picture it to be. It’s dark, gloomy and has plenty of maniacs running around trying to burn and kill everything they find. The visuals in Arkham Asylum are terrific. The characters look like you’d imagine they’d look like. The Joker doesn’t look like Heath Ledger’s Joker, but looks more like the one from the animated series. There is danger at every turn with just about every Batman villain you can think of up to no good. Poison Ivy, Two Face, and Scarecrow are just some of the villains to name a few.
The gameplay in this dark, creepy world breaks down into three main portions — fist fighting, attacking from the shadows, and exploration. As you move from room to room chasing Harley or Commissioner Gordon’s kidnapper, you’re going to run into bad guys. Lots of times, you’ll find a crew milling about or the Joker will spring a trap with handfuls of guys who are ready to kill you. This is when you’ll make use of your straight hand-to-hand moves. The more bad guys you “knockout,” note: Batman doesn’t kill anyone, the more xp you get. You can spend this xp to upgrade your bat suit and become even more powerful.
One of the cool things about the new Batman game is they got everyone from the animated series to voice the characters. Mark Hamill is the Joker, Kevin Conroy is Batman, and Arleen Sorkin is Harley Quinn. But don’t think for one second this is anything like the animated series game, no, this Batman is a very dark, twisted and dangerous world and deserves its Teen rating. Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn look like they belong in a porno with their scandalizing attire. Villains scream “ass” and “bitch” and threaten to rip off a doctor’s head as you try and stop them. This Batman game is a nothing like any Batman games you have played in the past.
There is plenty to keep you coming back for more once you completed Batman: Arkham Asylum. There are 240 different Riddler challenges to complete, 16 challenge rooms, and achievements/trophies to unlock.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the greatest comic book videogame of all time. This is an adult Dark Knight story that is well-told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, and has topnotch voice talent. This could be made into a movie it’s so good. Do yourself a favor and stop reading this review, go down to your local game store, pick up a copy and see what I am talking about. You will not be disappointed. Batman fans, no, video game fans rejoice, there is a reason to turn your Xbox 360/PS3 again. The Dark Knight has returned.
Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5
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pretty good review – keep them coming