Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

Batman: Arkham Asylum

I’m going to start reviewing video games I play on this blog, to get practice analyzing games, so to get started I’m going to do Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Summary: Arkham Asylum is a third-person action game in which you play as Batman, who is trying to defeat Joker after a mass breakout in the asylum on Arkham Island.  The entirety of the game takes place on Arkham Island, which is sort of open world in the zelda-ish sense of while you can go anywhere, the game is clearly pointing you in one direction.

The Good: The thing that stands out the most for me is the visual style, particularly the animation.  Batman’s hand-to-hand combat flows smoothly, and he beats up the baddies in an extremely realistic, painful-looking fashion.  Though the combat itself is somewhat button-mashing, the animation varies it up to the point where it is almost indistinguishable from a movie.

Another plus is that while the combat is simplistic, it is also fun.  Once you get okay at it, the combat starts to develop a flow that sort of emulates Fable, with a little less button-mashing and more skill.  You’ll start to mash the attack button less and use more specialized attacks.

Of course, the BEST part of the game is the stealth arenas, where you must take out multiple armed baddies one by one.  The basic concept is that Batman can swing from various conveniently placed gargoyles around the ceiling, plan an attack, and then drop down and take out a guy in an extremely bad-ass fashion.  There are multiple techniques, such as sneaking up behind them and performing a silent takeout, placing explosive gel carefully so the debris falls on them, or dragging them over a ledge with a grappling hook.  Plus, over the course of the game this formula is varied slightly so these sections never get stale.  For example, Joker’s goons gain heart rate monitors at one point, so if you take one out then the Joker will alert the rest.

You also have Detective Mode, one of my favorite features in the game.  Detective Mode allows you to see through walls, identifying enemies by their skeletons and also giving information about them, like weapons, heart rate, etc.  The game does not have any incentive not to use it, except that it gets in the way of the beautiful graphics a little.

The story is pretty good, and features many of the classic Batman villains who are locked up in Arkham Asylum.  While it does tend to have a lot of false endings, it still keeps you interested.  The characters and their voice acting is pretty good, although after see Heath Ledger as the Joker no one else can really cut it.  The ending is a little weak, but I can get over that.  There are some REALLY strong sections such as those with Scarecrow, which not only scare the bejesus out of me, but are also well-designed and fun.

My last pro is that Batman fans (and even non-fans like me) will find a lot of back story and depth.  The game includes character bios so people like me, who know that the Joker is a kind of crazy dude and that Harley Quinn looks pretty hot, can learn a bit more about the characters and their role in the classic Batman comics.  It also has tapes of the psychologists’ interviews with them, which are scattered around Arkham Island for you to find.

The Bad: Arkham Asylum only has a few cons, but they are a little annoying.  My biggest source of annoyment is replayability.  The game has a LOT of unlockables, and things to discover around Arkham Island.  During the main game I found I was generally too focused on advancing the plot to pursue these.  However, while the game allows you to play after the credits roll, there is no real incentive to go discover these goodies.

My only other pet peeve is with the interview tapes.  The voice acting is great, but the tapes stop playing whenever there is a line in the actual game, and to start them playing again you must navigate through a lengthy menu to start it.  This is annoying when trying to listen to the tapes and play at the same time, but it is a small thing which doesn’t impede the game too much.

Bottom Line: This is a great game, and a great addition to the Batman franchise.  It has some amazing visuals, fun gameplay, and a decent story.  That said, it does not have much replayability, so I’d say this is a rental, not a must-have.