Batman has received the game that his name deserves.
Unfortunately for him and for many other heroes, the amount of decent games based on comics is low, and sometimes we have had to deal with them. Batman was one of those heroes with decent games but never up to what we expected. Many of them were Beat'em up games. But now, after a long wait and hype, Batman has gotten the game that his name deserves.
Batman Arkham Asylum is a game that creates a combination of what Batman really means for everyone attached to the world of comics and videogames. Developed by Rocksteady and Eidos, the game brings us three elements that created an enormous experience: The opportunity to play as Batman the way it should be, a great atmosphere in a known place and a great villain as it should be. The combination brought the greatest game based on a super hero.
Batman Arkham Asylum starts with a typical day for Batman. He got the Joker to Arkham Asylum after a very interesting fight. Thinking about how easy the capture was, Batman enters and watches for The Joker. This is the first display with Batman in your controls. The first things you notice are the excellent graphics and the great voice acting. Any Batman veteran will be more than happy to hear some voices from Warner's animated series like Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising the main rivals in the game. As mentioned, the graphics are just too good, and you start to see all details that make you think that designers put a lot of work on it.
After the introduction, the Joker escapes and Batman goes after him. This is how the game starts to warm up with its satisfying experience. The first element of how a Batman game should be starts here: Fighting. The fighting experience is really simple but yet satisfying. You start with simple movements like hitting and counter attacks which you just have to press a single button to achieve it. The great thing about the fighting scheme is the possibility to create combo chains that gives you bonus experience. This gives some sort of puzzle so you have to check the position of your enemies in order to achieve the best number of straight hits. Obviously, this is not always very simple. There are enemies that block your attacks and can only be broken by a spin attack, and some others who carry weapons that you can't attack directly. All those elements create a sensation of awareness that is difficult to find in a BTU game and let you use your strategy to get more points. This makes a big difference and avoids the game to become a "Button tapping game" and it was a great jackpot.
Another big element in a Batman game is Stealth. Batman is a psychological heroe. He uses fear as a big element in his fight against crime. This element is finally well done in this game. There will be part of the games that will let you climb through "gargoyles" and structures. This is useful to battle against armed enemies. If you go face to face against a group of armed enemies, you will die really quick, so you have to be smart and use the environment in your favor. In this case, you can use Batman stealth abilities. These scenes are really well managed and no situation was wasted. From glide kicks were you fly and surprise your rival from the back, to hanging takedowns, you can use everything at your favor. These scenes are my particular favorite and were one of the missing elements of Batman's games.
Another great element is the use of gadgets. Batman has a great arsenal of them. Batarangs, Explosive Gel, Batclaws. All of them have a vital use in the game. Either for fights, get to new places and find secrets. Batman is a great hero due to gadgets and they are great in this game.
I mentioned secrets previously and there are a lot of them in the game. Basically, they are riddlers by… well… The Riddler. Which bring another element from Batman: He is really smart. This is another great factor in the game: Looking for secrets… and even in this point, the game succeeded. You have to solve Riddlers in many rooms by looking for some objects, you have to find little "?" trophies around the place, some recorded interviews from a lot of villains, maps and more. By doing this, you get experience, challenges and updates in your character bios. Experience is important in the game. The more you get, the quicker you get upgrades for your defense, your combat style, your gadgets and others. Some of them can be really important and they will always make easier your way through Arkham.
When you get challenges open, you can play either Combats or Predators where you will have mini-games showing Batman techniques either for fighting or stealth. In combat you fight hordes or enemies trying to get a good score by getting combinations of attacks; in Predator you have to beat all the guys silently in the best time possible. It is not always simple since you can earn medals by doing specific things like knocking down an enemy by exploding a wall or pulling him off the ledge with the BatClaw. You get bonuses for these medals and you can get some scores against XBLA users and your friends.
Now that I have talked about the gameplay, let me talk about the place where everything takes place: Arkham. It is a sweet place. Dark, creepy, mysterious, full of surprises and details from other character that even if they are. It is just the best place to be for a Batman adventure. The enemies that you will find are well known in some cases. The Joker and Harley Quinn are just part of it. The boss battles are not spectacular but certainly they can give you surprises. The story goes around and around and you feel like watching an episode of the Animated Series. It is as good as you can ask for a Batman story.
I might say that so far I sound like someone that would give a 10, but no… the game is not perfect. It is too good for being that short. You can end it in about 12 hours. It might take a while to find everything in the game but even that way you will find out that you want more. Another down is that it doesn't show even more Batman classic enemies. Since it is Arkham, you might be able to find a whole bunch. Probably a couple more and an actual fight against the Riddler would've made the experience complete.
Overall the game has a lot to give us. Even if suddenly you feel like it gets repetitive, you get to some parts that give you interesting surprises and will give you a really good taste overall. (Just one word: Scarecrow). The Batman Experience is absolutely fulfilled in this game and probably if you have mixed a love for the character and love for great action games you won't be disappointed even if you don't care about Batman. There is nothing better for a game that to show all full potential from whatever it is based on. Batman deserved something like this and I am more than glad to live in the time that the greatest comic based game was created. Batman: Arkham Asylum can hold this title now and many people might agree with me.