Arkham Asylum, Champions Online and MUA2.

Hello Again, Giant Bomb.

 
Batman: Arkham Asylum: This game surprised me. I, like everyone else, had heard all the hype about how ambitious it was, had seen the innumerable trailers released by Rocksteady and read of the game featuring the (much acclaimed, apparently) cast of the animated series. Still, I was skeptical. Would Arkham Asylum be the first licensed game to break free from mediocrity? Was that even possible?

Well apparently it was, because Arkham did it. From scene one I realized that the world Rocksteady was presenting us with had been lovingly crafted in exquisite detail: the environments, character models and animations all evoked the dark, brooding world that Batman has become synonymous with. 

I haven’t finished Rocksteady’s homage to the Dark Knight yet, but I have chosen a favorite moment which I believe will be hard to top (spoilers ahead!): when Batman encounters Scarecrow for the second time and is injected with a large amount of said villain’s hallucinogen… Well, it was the most fascinating, entertaining break in the fourth wall I’ve seen since Metal Gear Solid’s Psycho Mantis battle. From experiencing the game’s initial cut scene again as the Joker to the moment where the game “glitches” and locks up for a few seconds (I actually restarted my XBOX because I thought it had red-ringed) before returning you to the madhouse, Arkham Asylum had me scrambling to pick up my jaw.

Certainly there will be people who say, “yeah, but it isn’t all that hard to do that stuff.” And you’re right; it isn’t. But that’s not what makes it so great. What makes this breaking of the fourth wall great is its rarity; very few developers have the stones to go that far just to fuck with the player’s head. I for one am glad that Rocksteady is saddled with a sizable pair. Anyway, I’ll not rant too much on Arkham, but I will say this: go get this game. Rent it, buy it, do whatever you have to. You owe it to yourself to at least give it a look.

 Champions Online: Cryptic sure knows how to carve a niche. They did it first with their City of Heroes/Villains game, and it looks like they’re set to do it again with Champions. There was a lot of buzz surrounding this title (at least within the MMO-world), and for good reason: it’s a solid MMO with some real flair. That being said, it’s not perfect; I’m finding the difficulty (or rather lack thereof) is a real problem, with almost all content being solo-able, even the “super villains.” Perhaps this was in Cryptic’s game plan, but it just doesn’t seem all that smart to make your MMO (a genre of games that relies heavily on community to succeed) an insular experience. To be fair, I’ve heard there are endgame instances (or “lairs,” in keeping with Cryptic’s comic book theme) that require five or more heroes to band together to defeat tougher enemies and complete more complex objectives, seemingly in the same style that World of Wacraft so successfully implemented. I’ll probably write more about Champions as I climb the level ladder, so I’ll leave off on this: Cryptic has created a solid MMO and it’s worth a look for fans of the genre; just don’t expect it to revolutionize much.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Oh man, I was so excited for this game. After reading Marvel’s Civil War story arc, I was starving for more. When I heard that MUA 2’s storyline was being lifted right from said arc I was, in a word, stoked. Did MUA 2 deliver? Well, yes and no. Yes, it’s Civil War, but there’s enough changed that I felt cheated when approaching the end of the game. Many of the events that made the comic pack such a punch were conspicuously absent from the game. That isn’t to say that MUA 2 is bad: the mechanics are rock-solid (fans of the original will be pleased) and the art style (also lifted from the comics) is fantastic; I just wish Marvel had made more of an effort to keep the story intact. Still, I recommend the game for fans of the original MUA as well as Civil War fans; just don’t expect to get the full story.

As I said, I’ve also been doing some creative writing; you can check that out here.

Thanks for reading,
End Boss.
 
P.S. My XBOX did actually red-ring, days after playing Arkham Asylum. Motherfucker.
P.S.S. Giant Bomb's image insertion process remains fucking nightmarish.

Hello Again, Giant Bomb.

 
Batman: Arkham Asylum: This game surprised me. I, like everyone else, had heard all the hype about how ambitious it was, had seen the innumerable trailers released by Rocksteady and read of the game featuring the (much acclaimed, apparently) cast of the animated series. Still, I was skeptical. Would Arkham Asylum be the first licensed game to break free from mediocrity? Was that even possible?

Well apparently it was, because Arkham did it. From scene one I realized that the world Rocksteady was presenting us with had been lovingly crafted in exquisite detail: the environments, character models and animations all evoked the dark, brooding world that Batman has become synonymous with. 

I haven’t finished Rocksteady’s homage to the Dark Knight yet, but I have chosen a favorite moment which I believe will be hard to top (spoilers ahead!): when Batman encounters Scarecrow for the second time and is injected with a large amount of said villain’s hallucinogen… Well, it was the most fascinating, entertaining break in the fourth wall I’ve seen since Metal Gear Solid’s Psycho Mantis battle. From experiencing the game’s initial cut scene again as the Joker to the moment where the game “glitches” and locks up for a few seconds (I actually restarted my XBOX because I thought it had red-ringed) before returning you to the madhouse, Arkham Asylum had me scrambling to pick up my jaw.

Certainly there will be people who say, “yeah, but it isn’t all that hard to do that stuff.” And you’re right; it isn’t. But that’s not what makes it so great. What makes this breaking of the fourth wall great is its rarity; very few developers have the stones to go that far just to fuck with the player’s head. I for one am glad that Rocksteady is saddled with a sizable pair. Anyway, I’ll not rant too much on Arkham, but I will say this: go get this game. Rent it, buy it, do whatever you have to. You owe it to yourself to at least give it a look.

 Champions Online: Cryptic sure knows how to carve a niche. They did it first with their City of Heroes/Villains game, and it looks like they’re set to do it again with Champions. There was a lot of buzz surrounding this title (at least within the MMO-world), and for good reason: it’s a solid MMO with some real flair. That being said, it’s not perfect; I’m finding the difficulty (or rather lack thereof) is a real problem, with almost all content being solo-able, even the “super villains.” Perhaps this was in Cryptic’s game plan, but it just doesn’t seem all that smart to make your MMO (a genre of games that relies heavily on community to succeed) an insular experience. To be fair, I’ve heard there are endgame instances (or “lairs,” in keeping with Cryptic’s comic book theme) that require five or more heroes to band together to defeat tougher enemies and complete more complex objectives, seemingly in the same style that World of Wacraft so successfully implemented. I’ll probably write more about Champions as I climb the level ladder, so I’ll leave off on this: Cryptic has created a solid MMO and it’s worth a look for fans of the genre; just don’t expect it to revolutionize much.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Oh man, I was so excited for this game. After reading Marvel’s Civil War story arc, I was starving for more. When I heard that MUA 2’s storyline was being lifted right from said arc I was, in a word, stoked. Did MUA 2 deliver? Well, yes and no. Yes, it’s Civil War, but there’s enough changed that I felt cheated when approaching the end of the game. Many of the events that made the comic pack such a punch were conspicuously absent from the game. That isn’t to say that MUA 2 is bad: the mechanics are rock-solid (fans of the original will be pleased) and the art style (also lifted from the comics) is fantastic; I just wish Marvel had made more of an effort to keep the story intact. Still, I recommend the game for fans of the original MUA as well as Civil War fans; just don’t expect to get the full story.

As I said, I’ve also been doing some creative writing; you can check that out here.

Thanks for reading,
End Boss.
 
P.S. My XBOX did actually red-ring, days after playing Arkham Asylum. Motherfucker.
P.S.S. Giant Bomb's image insertion process remains fucking nightmarish.

Sucks that your Xbox died, but it's probably because Arkham Asylum is so awesome that it couldn't handle it.
 
I'll check out the story when I get some time.

I'm with you on that image insertion stuff.  It's insane!

It is indeed insane in the membrane.

Arkham Asylum is definitely a great experience, but unfortunately there's not much to do after the short campaign ends. I'm gonna be trading it in this week for ODST.

" Arkham Asylum is definitely a great experience, but unfortunately there's not much to do after the short campaign ends. I'm gonna be trading it in this week for ODST. "

Dude, have you checked out the challenge rooms? Sometimes I boot up Arkham just to play those. "