Batman: Arkham Asylum-Review

 

By Ian Potter

The usual Batman adventure puts the hero out in Gotham, faced with bringing in one of a variety of criminals, the Joker, for example.  But in Rocksteady Studios’ new game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, the developer has done that for you.  The game opens with you, Batman, escorting the Joker to his cell in Arkham Penitentiary.  But then on his way to the cell Joker escapes and quickly takes over the rest of the facility. The rest of the game follows Batman and his effort to stop the Joker, while confronting other famous Batman criminals.

In short, this game is really good.  It combines a smooth combat system, fun stealth sequences, and point-and-click esque mystery solving, all into one well-paced action experience.  The three elements form a basic cycle of room full of combat, mystery solving, and a room of stealth, with boss battles and the occasional Scarecrow sequence thrown in.  What I mean by “mystery solving” is a sequence when Batman uses his ability of “detective vision” to gain a trail, and then follows the trail.  But there will be more on that later.

First, lets look into the combat, which is at the core of Arkhams’ gameplay.  The system is self described as “free flowing”, which essentially means that you smash the punch button, and you point the left stick at who you want to knock out.  Throw in counters and a stun button and you’ve got the basics of Batman combat. Every couple punches Batman throws the game goes into slow motion, giving you the opportunity to really take in Batman’s boot demolishing an escaped inmates face.  Chain together hits and you’ll get a max combo.  This means that if you’re in one corner of the room you can point towards someone else and batman will perform a motion that looks sort of like Olympic tumbling, flipping and jumping to the next enemy, who he promptly punches in the face. All of this happens very fast and with uncounterable enemies in there as well, the combat plays out fast and smooth, and fun.

To break up all the fighting and advance the plot Rocksteady created “detective vision”.  This setting on Batman’s cowl takes all the color out of the environment, turning everything to a shade of blue.  From there it turns any objects of interest to orange, allowing you to look around a crime scene and gather evidence.  The evidence you find is usually something another character has left behind, allowing Batman to track them, which in turn allows you to explore more of Arkham, which is completely free roaming.  One example would be finding that a kidnapped Commissioner Gordon has left you a trail of tobacco so you can rescue him.  Then detective vision will highlight any tobacco in the environment so you can follow it through previously undiscovered sections of the island.  This can lead to some of the slower sequences of the game, but it is broken up by rooms with enemies and the island itself isn’t huge, especially in comparison to other free roaming environments like GTA 4’s Liberty City.  These sections are still pretty interesting, advance the plot, and give you a chance to observe the massive amount of detail that Rocksteady put in this game.  And in that way Arkham is almost as big as some of videogame’s other free roaming environments, less space, more stuff.

Stuck in the middle of the exploration segments are Scarecrow sequences in which Batman is drugged by Scarecrow and knocked out.  When he wakes up he is in a drug-induced dreamland in which a giant Scarecrow is standing menacingly in front of him.  A pathway twists in a semicircle around him and on the other side of Scarecrow is a large lamp, which you must get to and point at the Scarecrow to end the sequence.  These dark and twisted levels are from the side scrolling perspective and prove to be a great change of pace to the normal gameplay.

The stealth segments in this game quickly became my favorite part of this game, which surprised me because I’m not usually a fan of Splinter Cell type stealth games.  BAA does a really good job at making you feel like you are the aggressor, despite clinging to the shadows.  In many games you spend stealth sequences creeping through the shadows fearing being seen by a guard.  In Batman, you put the fear in the guards.  These areas start with you having just entered a room, or looking into a room while waiting in a vent (you spend A LOT of time creeping around in Arkhams’ ventilation system).  If you turn on your detective mode, all guards will be highlighted, as well as gargoyles that are scattered up high on the walls.  Yes, Gargoyles, like on the outside of buildings, except they’re inside, and you hide on them before taking out an enemy.  The stealth rooms are always big, multileveled rooms with walkways and secluded areas, perfect for taking out an unsuspecting goon.  Although it is possible to take on these challenges on foot, crouching and hiding behind corners, I preferred swinging from gargoyle to gargoyle, picking up a lonely guard, and dangling him from the gargoyle for everybody to see.  Overall these sections are hugely entertaining, never get repetitive, and can get pretty challenging by the end of the game.

The game is not perfect however; the boss battles can definitely be described as letdowns, the overall difficulty was a bit low, and the open world environment leads to some backtracking.  During my play through on normal difficulty in don’t think I died while in combat, only during platforming or stealth parts.  The backtracking can get annoying, but they are never long due to the size of the island and they keep you on you’re toes.  Many times while backtracking I would walk into a room and attempt to sprint right through the middle, assuming that I had already cleared out the room.  More than once when I did this I would get shot by a sniper or realize that I had just tried to run through a stealth room, resulting in being shot to death in a matter of seconds.  But easily my biggest problem with BAA is the boss battles, they are easily the most recognizable flaw, and in my mind, the only thing holding this game back of perfection.  Case and point- Killer Croc.  From the opening sequence the game hypes and hints at an epic showdown between you and the huge half man half crocodile beast.  And what does it turn out to be? Some sort of contorted fetch quest in which you must get a special plant, that just so happens to only grow in Croc’s lair.  As you run through a grid of sewer tunnels collecting pollen (yes, I said collecting pollen) Croc will occasionally hop out and try to scare you.  These attacks are basically pointless because all you need to do to stop them is throw a batterang at him, sending him immediately back into the water.  Even once the fight is finished you haven’t even threw a punch at the man/thing!

Batman: Arkham Asylum is not only an amazing game; it’s a testament to the Batman character.  The graphics are amazingly detailed, creating a creepy, haunted Arkham Asylum.  The soundtrack is chilling and makes you tense up just when it wants you to, while the voice acting all comes from the cast of the Batman animated television show.  You are given enough control over Batman’s actions that you really feel as if you are in the suit and there’s enough bonus material here to last you days of your life.  If you watched a friend play this game and you weren’t paying attention, you might think you just watched the latest Batman movie.

9 out of 10

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