Batman: Arkham Asylum

I will admit right here at the start that I am what you might call an almost complete comic book novice. I’ve watched the occasionally film adaptation or two, and know some of the general details of certain more famous characters, but when it comes to telling the difference between the Marvel or DC universes, or remembering certain obscure events, places or people, I usually haven’t the foggiest. Not to mention, I haven’t really read a comic cover to cover in my life, since I’m usually so engrossed in reading novels. Therefore, when I heard that Batman: Arkham Asylum was a great game, I assumed that description included the typical caveat that it was great for a typical licensed comic book game; the standard of which is usually somewhat below par. What I did not expect was a genuinely excellent, completely beautiful and thoroughly entertaining game, which is strong enough to carry your interest even if you don’t know anything about, or even dislike, Batman. The game is successful in making you feel as though you really are the Dark Knight, able to solve crimes, sneak around stealthily and yet also take down hordes of bad guys using an instinctively simple hand-to-hand system. Furthermore, it also manages to carry a solid plot, and has so many interesting extras, secrets and titbits that it can certainly teach you an awful lot about the mythos of Batman.

The story itself features a relatively typical setup that you would come to expect from a comic book story. It begins with Batman (AKA multi-millionaire philanthropist/playboy Bruce Wayne) foiling The Joker’s latest evil scheme at Gotham City Hall, where he was seemingly trying to attack the Mayor. Batman once again escorts the Joker back to Arkham Asylum: Gotham’s secure psychiatric facility and prison for the criminally insane, which is situated on in the middle of the Gotham Bay. It has been home to many of Gotham’s most notorious super-criminals, who are equally notorious for their numerous escape attempts. Batman almost immediately senses that something is afoot because The Joker gave himself up so easily, and he is quickly proved right. The Joker easily escapes, locks down the island and with the help of a crooked guard and his occasional sidekick/love interest Harley Quinn (a former doctor at the asylum), orchestrates a coup where most of the prisoners escape, overpowering and killing the asylum guards. Only Batman can try to stop The Joker, restore order to the asylum and rescue Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. The plot plays out nicely and in a sensible fashion, with a couple of twists and turns along the way, before rounding off with a reasonably impressive finale. Nonetheless, since all of the main villains live to fight another day (as they always do in comic books), you may be forgiven for believing that Batman would have a much easier life if he just killed The Joker straight up. However, it is always made clear that this would degrade Batman to being just another killer, and thus he carefully follows the difficult path of justice.

Gameplay is multi-faceted, taking on several different aspects of Batman’s work. Combat of a hand-to-hand nature plays a major role, simply excelling in making you feel like you are the Caped Crusader; tough but not invincible. Batman will often be pitted against half a dozen Blackgate prisoners baying for his blood, which you will have to subdue before proceeding onward. The combat scheme is extremely simple and quick to learn, there just being simply left mouse to hit, right mouse block or counter, middle mouse to stun, and then shift to use any of Batman’s combo moves. The completely intuitive simplicity of this system works entirely in the game's favour, since you will never be tasked to remember complicated instructions on how to pull off a certain move (as many fighting games will demand of you). Furthermore, if you get a good rhythm of attack going, your combo score will increase dramatically, allowing Batman to flow seamlessly and stylishly from one bad guy to another, taking them all out in quick succession. You can also unlock special moves which Batman can occasionally pull off, such as throwing a guy across a room or jumping on someone to knock them out, as well as whipping out the Batarangs or Batclaw at short notice. These encounters are always entertaining, and perhaps the only thing lacking from them is a greater variety of enemies to fight. Later on though, you will encounter some larger, tougher variations on the average Blackgate prisoner; the nature of which enters into the plot significantly.

Then there are the stealth aspects, and it is these which are probably my favourite portions of the game. There are several scenarios spaced throughout the course of the story where you have to take down a number of thugs who have armed themselves with the Asylum guards’ weaponry, using various parts of the environment to your advantage. You can sneak and crouch around corners, use floor gratings or weak walls to pounce upon villains, or set up a number of traps using some of Batman’s gadgets to incapacitate the bad guys. Doing so is made simple using Batman’s Detective Mode; an x-ray vision filter which will bleach out the colour scheme but light up enemies so they can be seen through walls, allowing you to stalk them easier. There are a number of great takedowns which Batman can initiate, such as hanging from a gargoyle and gliding silently down on top of someone, or popping out of a floor grating and tackling them from behind. The other major portion of the game and the aspect that will likely take up the most of your time will be the puzzle hunting, which can become incredibly addictive. Early on, Batman discovers that Edward Nigma (AKA The Riddler), has hidden three hundred trophies, puzzles and riddles across Arkham Island, as a means of testing and also teasing Batman’s ability as the so-called ‘World’s Greatest Detective’. Many of these will require the use of Detective Mode, where you might have to line-up the image one of The Riddler’s trademark question marks correctly, or be a riddle you need to solve. Completing these grants more XP, as does fighting enemies, which Batman then uses to unlock new abilities. Hunting down the location of these puzzles is also beneficial since it unlocks bonus content, including challenge modes, character biographies and trophies.

The voice acting across the board is sensational. Kevin Conroy is perfect as Bruce Wayne, giving a quiet resilience to Batman’s character, but the tour de force comes from Mark Hamill as The Joker. With some fantastically funny lines (“ Bat, is there a Dr. Bat in the room?”), they set the tone perfectly as being menacing yet often hilarious. Furthermore, the musical score is also pretty great, with high tensioned strings and rumbling drums echoing the soundtrack of the film “The Dark Knight”. Sound effects themselves are also nicely done. The sound of Batman punching one of The Joker’s goons never fail to satisfy, as do the cries of the henchmen wondering where our hero might be hiding. It also must be addressed that the game also looks fantastic. The buildings are wonderful Neo-Gothic creations both inside and out, mirroring the architectural style prevalent in most of Gotham, whilst the characters look and move fluidly and are remarkably expressive when necessary. The trouble is, you will occasionally not notice how beautiful the game looks, because a fair portion (or even all) of it can be spent in Detective Mode. There are also some great sections where Scarecrow (AKA Dr. Jonathan Crane) messes with Batman’s mind, causing him to hallucinate. These are some of the creepiest but also most fascinating parts of the game, because they try to reveal what goes on inside Bruce Wayne’s head.

It’s quite easy to see why Batman: Arkham Asylum won BAFTA’s Game of the Year for 2009. It has well and truly redefined the standard for licensed games, a genre which had previously been mainly stale and mediocre film spin-offs. If there had to be one weakness in the game’s vision, it might be that the boss fights are rather anti-climactic and often endeavour to use precisely the same techniques each time (jumping out of the path of a rampaging enemy so they run into walls). This however, is a minor qualm, and does not significantly detract from the game in the slightest. Arkham Asylum is interesting, atmospheric, beautiful and moreover just excellent fun. Hardly a second goes by where you will not be entertained, or something new will be introduced to keep the action always feeling fresh. It stays remarkably true to the spirit of Batman, and is a great way to introduce new people to the material. In the end, it really is a good enough game to the extent that even if you don’t actually like Batman, there is still more than enough here to enjoy and warrant a purchase. The Madhouse is waiting for you, and The Joker won’t stop ‘till you’re dead… Or his men are.