Drawing from over 70 years of Batman comic books, Batman: Arkham Asylum places players in the role of the title character as he fights through Arkham Asylum to defeat The Joker and other legendary Batman villains. Gotham's notorious madhouse, the Arkham Asylum, (hence the title Batman: Arkham Asylum) and the surrounding island comprises of explorable territory in the game. The game is being developed by the same people that made Urban Chaos: Riot Responce.  Played in a third-person perspective, Batman: Arkham Asylum emphasizes puzzle solving and detective work, which often involves using Batman's visor to scan "points of interest". Paul Dini, who served as a producer/writer/editor for Batman: The Animated Series, writes the story for this game while Mark Hamill has been confirmed to  reprise his role as The Joker from that show. It is planned to be released sometime in 2009.

Plot

     The game starts with Batman arriving at Arkham Asylum with a freshly captured joker at his side. Batman enters Arkham Asylum to deliver the Joker, and heads down an elevator. At the bottom he gives the Joker up to guards and doctors and goes to an observation room to keep tabs on what is going on. As Batman enters the room the Joker somehow escapes, and Batman hurries after him. Soon he finds out the Joker was captured on purpose because he learned of a secret serum that was being developed in Arkham Asylum that was supposed to help people, but has other more sinister side effects, and he wants it for himself. Now Batman has to stop the Joker and escape from Arkham Asylum while fighting for his life against Jokers goons, and much, much, worse.  This bares close relation to the haunting graphic Novel which went by the same name and was penned by Grant Morrison.   

Combat

     The combat is very melee-driven with combinations involving punches and kicks and such. You can perform these combos with three different button presses that are attack, stun, and takedown. As you fight you can fill up a combo meter at the top of the screen. Once the combo meter depletes, it empties into an experience bar that can be used on an RPG like skill tree that offers new combat moves, and upgraded gadgets. Aside from the melee combat, Batman can use a number of gadgets to dispatch his foes, including battarangs, the batclaw, and a blue visor that gives Batman the ability to see enemies through walls, and more easily identify weapons that they might be holding.  Developers said they want to include a type of gameplay called "Predator Gameplay" they said this differs from stealth gameplay, because stealth gameplay is about hiding and sneaking around, while predator gameplay is about sneaking around to scare and intimidate your enemies.  Early screens reflect an atmosphere similar to that of Condemned which was also a Warner Bros. Interactive project