Review of Xbox 360 Batman: Arkham Asylum

Review by Drew 16th September 2009, 17:40The best superhero game ever made!

The good:

The graphics on the characters and environments are the first thing you notice when loading the game up. They are incredibly realistic and detailed, with emotions such as fear and anger being very accurately portrayed which really helps to suck you into the story. The voice acting is also particularly nice, with actors Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, who played Batman and The Joker respectively in the animated series, contnuing their roles. The plot is simple, but effective. The game begins with Batman taking the Joker into the asylum, although he is very suspicious behind the motives that led to the Joker being captured so easily. He soon escapes and his plan is gradually unravelled while playing through the game, to build himself an army of super-thugs and take over Gotham. The game features appearances from many Batman villains, although the sequences with Scarecrow are some of the best plot sequences in any game since Bioshock, progressing the story forwards as well as revealing tidbits and flashes of Batman's past. The gameplay is fairly simple but very effective, both in of and out of combat. In combat there are a number of interesting ways to take out your opponents, although sometimes it is preferable to ignore them completely. the freeflow combat sytem is effective and interesting, although perhaps a tad too simple for any really interesting combinations to take place. There are three basic buttons; X for a quick strike, Y to counter and B to stun. Any combination of these build up a "combo" meter, which lets you perform special moves when you unlock them through the games' simple XP system. There are also many other ways to progress through the game without degenerating into simple hand-to-hand combat. Batman can use his many gadgets and techniques to surprise enemies. His batarang can be used to stun enemies, the batclaw to pull them off of their feet and his grapple to climb onto gargoyles to drop on top of, and schock, enemy troops. Progression through the game is simple, generally using "detective mode", accessed through a quick tap of LB, to scan for DNA traces and the like, to lead you to yout next objective. This works fairly well, although a main part of the game is the general free-roam that the game grants you to explore at your will, and it is highly suggested that you do this as the island is rendered expertly with many hidden places to find. The games' extras are what really make this a polished title however. One of the main enemies, The Riddler, has left many, many of his puzzles behind for you to find. Through finding these you unlock trophies, bios and interview recordings of the many different batman villains that do not appear in the game, which are incredibly interesting to listen to. They also unlock many of the entertaining challenges mentioned below. The game also features a "challenge mode" in which are a series of combat and stealth related tasks for you to accomplish. The difficulty of these are unrelated to the storyline, so it is highly recommended that you wait until you have finished the story, as some of the later ones require various gadgets that you do not acquire until the game is almost complete.

The bad:

Although the game is undoubtedly one of the best superhero games ever mad, there are still several annoying elements that could be improved upon in any upcoming sequels. A lack of co-op is just about the only thing however that really stops this game from being perfect. A competetive multiplayer would perhaps not work very well, but going through the games' missions with a buddy playing as Robin would really help the game live up to its incredible potential. The only other snag perhaps is that the challenges could have been unlocked from the beginning, instead of requiring in some cases hundreds of collectibles to be found before being unlocked. Conclusion: Batman: Arkham Asylum is a top-quality game, with the gameplay, graphics and sound being absolutely top-notch. the story is simple but compelling and the challenge mode is extra fun for when the storyline is complete. A co-op mode wouldn't hurt but otherwise Batman:AA is one of the best titles to have been released this year.