Batman is Finally Given the Game he Deserves
Batman's history in gaming is, to be gentle, mixed. Like all DC Comics properties, his games have tended to suck. Not as bad as Superman (and, suffice to say, not nearly as bad as Aquaman), Batman's games have usually had little to do with the character himself and have just been tedious side scrollers with nothing really special about them.
Rocksteady has taken its shot at this character whose games have tended to underwhelm (see Batman Begins on XBox/PS2).
And they absolutely nailed it out of the park.
Batman: AA is, for all intents and purposes, a Metroid-style game. You go through a large area, gain new abilities that allow you to access new areas of this large area. The most notable benefit of the game, though, is that this game is pure Batman. You try and run into a group of enemies and fight your way out and you will usually have a rough time. If they have guns, you don't have a great chance of surviving more than a one-on-one confrontation --- and even that takes some luck.
Instead, a large chunk of your battles in the game consist of you having to strategically isolate one enemy at a time, dispose of them, wait for the others to react, and then pick off another. It is actually an extremely well-done stealth-action game. You have some weapons, but you will have to pretty well rely on your fists, kicks, and reactions to handle the issues.
Fortunately, the fighting (while quite well done) is not the entire game. You are, after all, a detective and another huge part of the game involves you finding clues leading you to the next major confrontation. Backtracking happens constantly, but unlike most games that do this, the backtracking doesn't feel boring or irksome. You enjoy going back to other areas to find the areas you couldn't do to before. Arkham Asylum is a fairly large area, but it's not so large that it becomes unwieldy to do anything.
In addition to the main mission, you also have to tackle a ton of challenges set up by the Riddler. You have to find trophies he has had placed all over the Asylum, answer riddles, kill the Joker's chattering teeth, etc. That you always seem to have something to do seems to be quite beneficial in avoiding the feeling of tedium in the backtracking.
You get to fight a collection of some of Batman's major enemies. Of course, Riddler and Joker are there. You also have to tackle Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow (who, to me, has the best confrontations, with the final one being truly outstanding). The bosses aren't all that difficult to battle (Ivy was tougher than most), but you will have the occasional set confrontation that is just absurdly difficult (including one featuring a Titan and several waves of goons attacking you simultaneously).
Batman is, easily, the best DC Comics game ever made. It's also a clear contender for GOTY. As I said earlier, this game is up there with Red Faction Guerilla in my list of shockingly amazing games.
This game is so worth the money. I cannot recommend it highly enough to you.
