A Batman game that's not terrible? Sweet!
The Batman movie "The Dark Knight" was different than a regular Batman story. It was more mature, and wasn't a cliché "Batman comes and saves the day" kind of story. That's what Batman: Arkham Asylum is like.
Batman: AA begins with Batman in the Batmobile speeding the Joker off to Arkham Asylum. (In case you're not familiar with the Batman stories, Arkham Asylum is where Batman brings all the villains he has captured to) But upon arrival, Batman realizes that the Joker surrendered almost without a fight, and the Joker seems happy to be back. And Batman was right. It had been a trap, and now the inmates are running the Asylum.
The Asylum is huge. There are probably around 15 or so different buildings to explore, and every one of them is huge. Some even have sewers to explore, and most have secret rooms. And outside is also a huge world connecting every building. There is so much room out there. You can go to the far corners of Arkham Island, across the rooftops, and in caves. Throughout the Asylum buildings and the area outside them, you'll notice that everything is dark. Arkham Asylum is a very atmospheric game. The whole world is eerily inviting, and you'll want to explore every nook and cranny of the Asylum. But exploring everywhere can get annoying. You can grapple to ledges by using the Batclaw, but moving on foot gets very annoying. Batman's movements feel very stiff, when walking, crouch walking, or running. But walking, which you will do a lot, is what I really didn't like. Walking has a camera somewhat like that of Skate 2, but more zoomed in. And the character model hardly ever turns transparent. And walking is really, really slow. Seriously, crouch walking is faster! I spent most of my time crouch walking, because it's faster and has an OK camera. But the sections where you're forced to walk get really angering.
The inmates are running the asylum now, so you're gonna have to fight. And that's a good thing. The combat in Arkham Asylum is great. It's swift and looks like every punch and kick has been choreographed beforehand. Besides your fists, and your feet, and your elbows, and all other parts of Batman's body he can damage you with, there are a number of items Batman can use. Most familiar are the Batarang and the Batclaw, but you can also use weapons like the Explosive Gel, which is pretty fun to use. There are also some stealth techniques you can use, like sneaking up behind someone and putting them in a headlock, or hiding on top of a gargoyle and hanging them from a rope.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is definitely one of the best looking games in recent memory. Everything looks amazingly realistic. Textures are great, and character models are some of the best ever seen. Batman, especially, looks realistic. If you zoom in on his chin, you can see the individual hairs. Falling rain and puddles of water look pretty good, but there's one thing I want to point out. A lot of vegetation like small bushes or shrubs use that old 3D trickery that games like Doom used. The object will rotate so it's always facing you. This is a small flaw, but once you notice that, it detracts from the whole graphical presentation of the game.
After you've finished the game, there's still a lot more to do. After you've finished exploring every single little space of Arkham Asylum (which, trust me, you will do) there are a lot of Riddles to solve made by the Riddler. These can include finding objects hidden around Arkham Island, collecting trophies placed around everywhere, or finding Interview Tapes, which are pretty cool to listen to. There are also the Challenges, which are missions like taking out a number of enemies under a time limit, or solving a puzzle.
And that's Batman: Arkham Asylum. It's one of the best games this year, and it's great that Batman finally gets a game that's not terrible.
Positives
+ Huge, creepy world to explore
+ Swift combat
+ Excellent voice acting
+ Amazing graphics
+ A lot of replay value
+ Dark and engaging story
+ More mature than other Batman stuff
Negatives
- Bad ending
- Movement is stiff and walking has a bad camera
- Some 3D trickery
Score: 9.0/10