Batman finally did another thing great for super heros that was not done in some time.
Well, they have succeeded at doing that and more. The game is worth playing more then once in the single campaign and outside of the campaign.
The setting is a great choice and looks like it could if shown in a comic book or cartoon series. The dark lighting outside in the compound and the changing lighting of each building really help set the tone of being stuck on the island with a mass of insane villains and other criminals. And villains you will see face to face or in trophy form or hear in interviews. This adds a great bit of backstory for fans or newcomers to the batman universe. Interviews give a great insight into the minds of the villains that is not seen in many of the cartoons or comics. The best interviews are the ones between The Joker and Harley Quinn as she turns into the crazed fan and lover of The Joker. Each interview also shows how The Joker uses someone's mind against themselves.
Some of the building while beautiful to look at on the outside have some nice rooms that could have been given a little more time to feel more torn through by the henchmen that follow The Joker. The pages from the files laying on the floor are neat until you notice that their the same few pages every so many feet.
Detective mode is a great tool and a terrible tool. Great in that it helps with the stealth of the game. By showing the heart rate of the henchmen in the room, going from calm to terrified to bordering on insanity. Terrible in that most of the game the first time through you'll be in that mode. If the detective mode was not needed so badly then I would have made it a great tool only. But the mode is needed to see so many hidden things the blue filter starts to get old and somewhat annoying.
The story is great and the is made better with the voice of Mark Hamill as The Joker and Kevin Conroy as Batman. The rest of the cast are also from one or more of the cartoon series. If the sequel is anything like this game, then I may just start to say that Batman is back and the super hero games can be made, if not forced to come out with a film or anything else.
So in short, Batman: Arkham Asylum is great, but has some very minor flaws, Voice acting is incredible, buy it ad enjoy it over and over again.