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Batman: Arkham Asylum
Monday, August 31, 2009
Hell, raise your hand if you're not a Batman fan. K, now get out. Now that we've got a pure audience here, Arkham Asylum is now out! Forrest and Mitch embraced their inner (phobia of?) bats and headed out to the Asylum to see what they could do about Joker.
Reviewed by
Mitch Saltzman
Batman: Arkham Asylum
That’s why it’s so surprising that not only is Batman: Arkham Asylum the best Batman game ever made, it’s also the best super hero game ever made. Hell, it’s not only the best super hero game ever made; it’s the best game of 2009 so far. No, you know what; I’m not even done yet. Not only is it the best game of 2009 so far; it’s one of my favorite single player games of all time.
Arkham Asylum begins with the Joker already in captivity and en route to the titular Arkham Asylum with Batman being his personal chauffer. After a very cool opening sequence that has Joker being wheeled into the doors of the asylum, Joker eventually breaks free thanks to the help of Harley Quinn as his inside woman, and we learn that all of this is part of something that Joker has been planning for months. What follows is a fairly straightforward, but nonetheless entertaining, plot that takes Batman all throughout the Asylum and has him fighting all sorts of classic Batman villains including Bane, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and a couple more.
Now, there are many things to praise Arkham Asylum for, but the one aspect of the game that they deserve the most credit for is making you feel 100% like Batman. Everything that you would expect to be able to do in a Batman game, you can do here. This shines through the most in both of the combat aspects of the game. I say both, because there are really two different types of combat that you’ll find in Arkham Asylum.
The first type of combat is straight hand to hand martial arts against large groups of mostly unarmed criminals. The X button (note that I played this game on the 360), is used for all of Batman’s main attacks. Simply press a direction plus the X button, and Batman will jump, roll, or dash towards the nearest enemy in the direction you pressed to perform his attack. For enemies that are armed with weapons like knifes and stun batons, pressing the B button will cause Batman to use his cape to stun them so that he can hit them while their guard is down. Finally, pressing the Y button will put Batman into a counter stance where he will catch an incoming attack and perform a counter attack to stun the enemy for a short period. On the surface, that’s really all there is to the combat system. But then they start to throw in gun lockers that enemies can open and arm themselves with weapons, huge mutated enemies that can run you over with their charge attacks, electrified floors, etc. Suffice to say, the game does a great job at always making combat feel fresh.
The second type of combat is the so called “Invisible Predator” aspect of the game. In these segments, Batman will enter a room that is full of armed guards patrolling the halls and walkways. Despite being a superhero, Batman is still very human and cannot take much gunfire. That’s why during these Invisible Predator sections, Batman must use his intellect, gadgetry, and lots of gargoyles conveniently placed around the rafters to pick off enemies without ever getting into their line of sight.
Like the hand-to-hand combat parts, the reason why the Invisible Predator segments work so well is due to both their design and the way that the game constantly introduces new elements that keep things fresh and make each new encounter feel unique. Nearly every time you come to another Invisible Predator segment, you’ll have some kind of new gadget that you can use together with an aspect of the environment to create new kinds of traps. Just when you get tired of glide kicking or inverted takedowns, you unlock the Explosive Gel, which you can use to blow up walls that are nearby enemy patrols, break ceilings that enemies are under, set traps near enemies you just knocked out, etc. After you’ve exhausted everything you can do with Explosive Gel, you might get a Remote Control Batarang, or a double or triple Batarang, or the Batgrapple, which you can use to pull enemies off of ledges. You’ll never be forced to do the same thing twice, as long as you’re creative enough to keep finding new and effective ways to clear these rooms.
When you’re not hanging convicts upside down from gargoyles or luring them into an explosive trap, you’re going to be traversing the huge map of Arkham Asylum and perhaps looking for some of the 240 collectibles placed around the island. Among these collectibles are some really cool riddles given to you by the Riddler himself. Every area you enter has two or three of these riddles that generally hint towards a certain object or arrangement of items in the environment. For example, one of the first riddles you’re able to solve reads “Don’t cut yourself on this Sharply observed portrait.” With that clue in mind, as you head through the area you’ll eventually notice a portrait on the wall of Warden Sharp. Put the portrait in your sights, and hold the Left Bumper to snap a picture of it and you’ll solve the riddle. Now, these riddles won’t win any awards for their cleverness or anything, but it’s a unique and cool take on collectibles in games, and it is very satisfying when you get that confirmation that the idea you had in your head about the solution to a riddle happened to be correct.
Honestly, it’d be enough for completionists just to find these 240 hidden collectibles in the game, but what makes them even more appealing is what they actually unlock. Solving riddles will unlock cool character bios that usually correspond to the riddle you just solved. In addition, finding Riddler Trophies will unlock new challenge maps, finding interview tapes will unlock the actual audio files of interviews conducted by Arkham staff on some of the more prominent villains in the game, and finding special markings on the walls will unlock messages from the founder of Arkham Asylum and will detail some of the backstory behind the facility. All in all, Batman Arkham Asylum has some of the coolest collectibles and rewards out of any video game I’ve played.
Finally, let’s talk about the challenge rooms. Separate from the main story mode is a challenge mode that has you replaying some of the big combat segments of the game and has you competing against other players via a leaderboard for the best scores. The hand-to-hand challenge rooms have a series of four increasingly difficult rounds that reward you with big point bonuses for never getting hit, varying up your combat tactics, and keeping your combo through the entire round. The game then rewards you with medals depending on how many points you earned. These rooms are incredibly addictive and I found myself unable to put the controller down until I got my three medals on each room. The Invisible Predator sections of the game also have their own challenge rooms that require you to complete them as fast as you can while performing certain actions to obtain medals. Some challenge rooms might ask you to kill one of the enemies using a corner takedown, others might have you using an explosive trap, etc.
If all was right in the world of video games, Arkham Asylum would be the turnaround for comic book games and licensed games in general. There’s just so much detail and polish that went into this game, it’s hard to believe that it came to us from a studio whose only previous game was Urban Chaos: Riot Response for the PS2. Yeah, I’ve never heard of it either. I personally can’t wait to see what Rocksteady has in store for us next, whether it is Batman related or not.
Reviewed by
Forrest Boyd
Batman: Arkham Asylum
So the story begins! Joker gave up his latest crime spree in the streets of Gotham, and Batman proceeds to transport him to Arkham Asylum. As Batman suspects, the Joker had a reason for not putting up a resistance; turns out it was a plan to have a big homecoming party with ol' Bats as the guest of honor. Uh-oh. So Batman and the Commissioner Gordon are trapped on Arkham Island, stuck with Batman's most ferocious and deadly foes. What could possibly happen to crash this party?
The fighting aspect stands out as the best true free-flow fighting I've ever seen in a video game. It actually makes you feel like you're in full control of the man in the Batsuit. It may take a while to fully get used to, but once you do, you'll be throwing out huge double digit combos in crowds like it's nothing. Upgraded combat skills include the ability to throw and takedown once you've reached a high enough combo score (x8, but an additional upgrade lowers that to x5). The main attack button deals with punches, kicks, sweeps, all depending on your range from the target and movement. You can counter a foe's attacks by responding to the indicator above their heads. You can also stun enemies by swinging your cape. Evade around enemies to attack from behind; the best offense, and defense, against armed foes.
In addition to fighting off the thugs on the island, a superhero has to have his supervillains! You'll be contending with the Venom-powered Bane, constantly fighting off Killer Croc in his lair, facing your fears in Scarecrow's fear gas segments, and dealing with Poison Ivy's mastery of nature. Oh, and the Joker, but any description at all would serve as spoilers. Speaking of bosses, this is probably the only let-down this game really has. All the real boss fights are incredibly simple. So long as you can figure out a pattern, there's virtually no way they will get the best of you. A real turn-off, but it's to be expected. In such a definitive Batman game, no one villain has any real advantage over the Dark Knight to make for a drawn-out boss battle.
Batman's known for that utility belt of his, so of course he has a few gadgets. The staple Batarang, which you start out with, can be used to stun enemies (and make them drop their weapons), take out defensive mechanisms, and cut ropes. There's an infinite supply, so don't worry about running out. These can also be upgraded later on, to be fired two or three at a time, to even a remote control Batarang. You know you've always wanted one of those! Later on, you'll get the Explosive Gel. Just spray a bit of this on a destructive wall, and boom goes said wall. Can also be used as a trap for taking out enemies. The Batclaw allows you to pull down ventilation gates and boxes to make cover. This is eventually upgraded to shoot 3 claws, allowing you do create a more portable version of the Explosive Gel's effect of taking down breakable walls. The Cryptographic Sequencer allows you to override boxes found all around powering security gates and other obstacles. Finally, the Line Launcher, which allows you to make a horizontal trip across any gap, so long as you can reach the other end with the line.
Of course, Batman isn't all rushing into to save the day all the time. He's a master of the shadows, and a specialist on stealth. There are times where Batman is forced to take out a large group of armed thugs, and sometimes, rushing in fists first will only lead to a nice Game Over screen. You're going to have to learn silent takedowns, done by quietly sneaking up on foes and going straight for the KO without anyone nearby hearing. Obviously, this isn't effective if somebody has you in their sights...so plan just like Batman would. Isolate, and take out. Otherwise, your plan's about as good as just going in throwing your fists around...which as I've said, isn't a very good idea.
A lesser detailed part of Batman that his former games rarely make use of is his role as detective. You can enter Detective Mode to make easy sight of things that can be utilized to help Batman in his latest journey. Things like ventilation gates and gargoyles that he can use to make for different modes of transportation are highlighted, as are enemies, differentiated between unarmed and armed. There will also be a few times where you set up a Crime Scene, in which you scan one particular object that has isolated DNA of the person Batman is tracking, which will then be traced to a path that will lead you to your next objective.
If you're a perfectionist, you're in luck. There are so many things to do outside the storyline, it's pretty much half of the completion percentage, the other half being...well, the game itself. The Riddler makes an "appearance" by hacking Batman's communicator in order to put the Dark Knight's mind to the test with his many riddles. Most of them you'll solve by just stumbling upon Riddler Trophies (green question marks; they're even highlighted by the Detective Mode vision), but some of them can provide a nasty challenge. There are also Character Bios (outside of the story, the Riddles will unlock most of these) that dive into the stories of the Caped Crusader, his allies, and many of his Arkham-housed foes. Similarly, there are also trophies of characters you see in the game. Interview tapes for characters are found all over the island, as well, and can be listened to from the bios section. Then of course, there's a big part of the game. Challenge mode!
Challenge mode features many...well, challenges, mostly of which involve just taking out rounds of enemies. You're awarded for style, combos, all that, and based on how well you perform, you are awarded with Batmedals (for lack of a better term), up to three. Obviously, zero means you didn't do too well, and three means you've just about perfected it. Of course, leaderboards will determine just how much you've perfected anything. Not that leaderboards mean anything outside of how little of a life you have, but...hey, more power to you if you want to see how well you can do.
Also of note, if you've got a PS3, that's your system of choice for this game. Sony got butthurt and decided to strike up a deal to get exclusive Joker DLC. Since the 360 doesn't get anything to compensate that loss, the PS3 ultimately has more to offer for this game. All in all, this game is wonderful. Plenty to do, plenty to see, and plenty of ways to go about everything. Besides, you know you've always wanted to throw a remote control Batarang at somebody. This is the best (legal) way to do it. :D
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