More fun than dressing like a Bat and acting like a monkey
I've been waiting to play Batman: Arkham Asylum for a good long time know. I was excited by the initial buzz and surprised by the reviews. I even bought the game as a gift to my cousin. As gaming goes however I was otherwise occupied and only got around to playing it this year (2011). The wait was well worth it and here are my thoughts on one of the most engaging game-play experiences I've had in a while.
From the outset B:AA works hard to immerse you in the world of Batman. The personalities of Batman and arch-enemy The Joker are quickly established and no doubt is left as to the stars of the show. As required something goes wrong (or right) and Batman is battling The Joker across every ward, cell, cave, and vent that Arkham Island has to offer. B:AA succeeds in story telling through the sheer volume of information presented, which comes in standard game-play forms such as audio diaries, but are also reflected in the details of the environment. The story itself is nothing revolutionary, but the diversity of the cast and excellent voice acting keeps things moving along.
Although the textures on the PS3 are not as sharp as the likes of Uncharted, and the majority of character models have the "meaty shoulder syndrome" of Unreal games, Arkham Asylum is presented well due to an art style that is far more colourful than a game in its setting could have been. Environments are further enlivened by a profusion of details that spruce up the austere halls of a mental hospital.
Scanning these details based on clues provided by The Riddler, couples with the collection of Riddler trophies to form the main collection component of Arkham Asylum. If that is not enough, there are also "Chronicles of Arkham" to be scanned and chattering teeth constructs to be destroyed (that would've made far better collector's edition collectibles than that Batarang). Luckily there are trophy maps placed towards the end of the story content for each section that make collection tasks far less tedious than they could have been, but not brainless altogether (The Riddler is a crafty man).
Exploration of the island is determined by the gadgets at Batman's disposal. The gadgets also tie in to the far more original stealth and combat sections of the game. Hand to hand combat in Arkham Asylum may feel automated at first, but what is truly happening is that certain combat actions are automated so that the player can rather focus on the overall strategy of a fight. As one that doesn't care for button mashing, this is a very welcome design decision. Enemies and combat situations are varied enough to encourage the player to continuously refine their combat strategies and execution up to the final moments of the game.
The parts of Arkham Asylum that will stick with me longest however, are the stealth sections. The first time I had smothered one baddie, detonated a wall to take car of two others and had the final one back pedal with fear into the bullying affections of a swooping Batman, I was sold. The stealth sections are not the most frequent in the game, and for pacing considerations rightfully so, but I most certainly found them the most enjoyable.
The only kink in Batman: Arkham Asylum's armour is that the game play components typically build up to boss-battles. The formulaic and rote nature of these boss battles come as somewhat of a let-down considering how progressive the stealth and combat sections feel. There is over 70 years of Batman battles to draw from, Rocksteady can come up with something more inspiring than the mid-bosses in God of War.
The boss-battles represent a small fraction of an otherwise wonderful game however. Had I played both Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2 in the year they came out, I would have had a tough time choosing a game of the year. While Uncharted 2 excels in its presentation and story-telling aspects, Arkham Asylum feels more like the gamer's game for its structuring and moment to moment mechanics. The two are set for a rematch at the end of this year and now that I've played both, I cannot wait.
