A game masterfully crafted and professonally tuned, Arkham Asylum can equally be described as the #1 Batman simulator.
"Is Here". And it's definitely the best description the game will ever get. After the announce, the product stood like something aimed for attracting only the movie fans, and while the screenshots looked promising, the situation was too good for everything to be a coincidence. Rocksteady was most supposedly aiming for a low-budget release soon after the film, guaranteeing one hell of a buyout. What they did, however, was stunning: showing absolute independence, they released the game a year after the movie, taking inspirations completely from the comics and crafting a masterpiece unlike Nolan's. Unexpected? Yes. Understandable? Only after a little clarification.
See, Batman is a hero a bit unique from other characters, not only from DC, but from the comics universe in general. He is a genius detective, a stealth assassin, a sci-fi gadget geek, and, of course, a brutal jawsmasher. After close observation it's obvious that all of these elements could have been implemented only by using extremely advanced gameplay mechanics. And only today it has become possible to actually do that, without any compromises and shortcuts. Rocksteady caught just the time to prove the theory.
The story is probably the only element looting from the last film, as the plot clearly continues the Dark Knight's script, or at least some may see it like that. Fortunately, the universe is a bit... cartoonish and gloomier, at the same time. The main villain is, traditionally, everybody's favorite green-haired maniac. After a seamlessly foolish assault on the Mayor's office, the clown prince is quickly and painlessly apprehended by Batman, who sees suspicion in the joker's cooperative nature. Nonetheless, he quickly drives the criminal to Arkham Asylum, the infamous island where all insane villains were held from the beginning of the comic series. The place is basically an enormous mansion divided into several buildings covering the whole island, housing clinics, holding cells and psychiatric wings for providing any kind of "help" some of the more stranger inmates may need. Upon arriving, Joker is greeted from his fellow lunatics, and he, himself, seems unnaturally happy for being "back home". What disturbs even more is that a mysterious fire in the Blackgate correctional prison has forced the government to temporarily move the inmates to the asylum. More suspicious then ever, Batman follows Joker's transportation until, eventually, his intuition proves itself right.
Using an inside help from a demented former nurse, Harley Quinn, The Joker quickly escapes and hides behind electric barriers, taking control of the asylum and locking down the place, threatening to blow random bombs situated in Gotham if someone would try to get off or on the island. At first it seems that being trapped on an isolated land with his arch nemesis was not a part of Joker's escape plan, but further on he seems to be actually motivating the Batman to progress in his pursuit, supposedly leading him to an obvious trap in the form of all caught supervillains just waiting to get their hands about Wayne's throat. A hard plan to backfire, but it's still up to us to prove the theory wrong.
From the characters' side, the game wins by delivering both engaging personalities and diversity in them. The Joker consists of the cIassic touch but takes something from Heath Ledger as well, clearly showing maniacal needs to dispatch of Batman as spectacularly as possible. The Dark Knight, on the other hand, demonstrates unshakable and strict nature, though the overwhelming series of events are eventually breaking him down, little by little. He tries not to show this, and while in words this all sounds too heroic and cliche-heavy, the aforementioned is delivered in one of the darkest tones a comic story has ever been told. A sole seldom exception stands in the form of Watchmen: The End is Nigh. Feel the scale yet?
And all of this would not stand out so well if it wasn't for the incredibly deep and rich gameplay the game delivers. While the core mechanics are a bit unique, nothing feels awkward or overly difficult. The game offers roughly two action scenarios (direct battles and silent assassinations), three incredibly atmospheric showdowns with Scarecrow, lots of other, a bit more generic boss battles, ridiculous amounts of different kinds of investigations, and loads more backtracking and free running (in all its senses). The above is a mere outline of the scale offered by Rocksteady, which is incredibly hard to analyze, but worth the try nevertheless.
The very first seconds of actual gameplay pin you against a bunch of Joker's goons, a great place to start appreciating the ingeniously simple but effective fighting mechanic, the Freeflow system. It's a somewhat momentum-based button mashing, where every successful hit will guarantee that the following will be even more faster, stronger and spectacular. In the beginning, you only need to utilize the attack and counter-attack buttons (which you have to hurriedly press if a henchman lights up an enormous "I'm about to hit you" sign above his head), which seem enough to make Batman demonstrate jaw-dropping choreography, swirling like a hurricane amongst a dozen foes. Later on, you'll also need to incorporate things such as stun attacks, throws, special takedowns, quick batarangs and many more in order to get rid of the more creative lunatics, who made a mistake in bringing something more than their fists to a fight with the Batman. And when armed thugs come in big numbers, we take it where the Dark Knight shines: the darkness.
Larger set pieces are specifically designed to successfully portray Batman's hunting styIe. The spacious chambers are filled with a gazillion of interactive objects: gargoyles, where you can grapple up, look around and dispatch of henchmen in a dozen different ways (whether it's the effective Glide Kick or the iconic Inverted Takedown); fragile walls which can be sprayed with explosive gel and detonated when an unlucky one passes by; floor panels which can be lifted up to slip under and navigate unseen; lots of cover spots suitable for ambushes, and more. These sequences are amazing to the very details: after the inmates discover one unconscious friend after another, they start to panic, beg others to move together, while the more aggressive guys encourage the cowards to keep on searching. The culmination takes place when out of a dozen goons only two or three remain, being in an absolutely terrified state, shooting at sudden movements and quickly glancing in every direction. The game does a hilarious job at portraying reactions and their escalations.
Aiding in navigation throughout this chaos is Batman's cowl's vision mode, also referred to as the Detective Vision. It's basically an alternate visor mode where enemies are highlighted through walls and interactive objects are painted in orange. It makes the otherwise sloppy stealth quick and pinpoint, really emphasising the edge you possess against your enemies. The visor also helps you locate puzzles.
And that's where we get to the main reason of the large replay value the game has. Close to the beginning of the game, the famous Riddler (Edward Nigma, possessed with proving himself smarter than Batman) contacts Wayne via a hacked com channel and challenges him in the form of 240 (!) hidden riddles throughout Arkham. These challenges vary from simple collectible question marks to Amadeus Arkham's records, patient interviews, Joker chatterteeth and a few very original puzzles requiring a specific angle. No, I'm not saying more. Collecting these will sometimes grant you extra goodies like character trophies/bios. The latter include an overwhelming variety of Batman's villains and allies, their histories and characteristics. Comic fans will definitely burst in happy tears.
Speaking of the Riddler, there are, of course, much more dangerous enemies for Batman to face. All of the caught antagonists are residing in the clinic, and sooner or later we will have to sort things out with guys like Harley Quinn, Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and a particularly creepy Scarecrow. His levels really diversify the brutal reality and force Wayne to literally walk through his fears. All of the aforementioned boss battles possess unique structures, some of the supervillains aren't even fought directly for the sake of realism, but are being originally defeated nonetheless.
Apart from all of this, you have the whole Arkham Island free to explore, and your best friends will prove your handy gadgets. Batman can deploy his cape in a way to glide long distances, he can use his vision to discover weak walls and bring them down using the explosive gel, he can hack through energy barriers with a cryptographic sequencer, and much, much more. There is even a formidable parkour element, the Dark Knight has no problems pulling himself up or shimming along high edges.
Rocksteady have obviously put their heart and soul in the making of this game, and the glorious presentation only reinforces the statement. Unreal Engine 3.5 bursts with top level graphics and unparalleled visuals in general. The models look incredibly sharp and detailed - the pre-recorded engine cinematics are practically identical to in-game maximum settings. The animation has so many moves recorded that throwing pretensions in the direction of the average facial expressions will be a cruelty (however, the Joker's mimics were quite realistic). Superior occlusion and incredible shading add up to the excellence, and some really neat effects on the PC version (including a proper PhysX support) deepen the immersion. Following the list is a masterful optimization and a quality port, adapting the mouse/keyboard layout with care and displaying corresponding buttons on-screen.
Artistic direction is also at large, seeing as adapting a comic book idea under a serious tone would require lots of re-imagining. All of the characters have been fitted with grittier looks and more-than-surface personalities, even someone like Killer Croc shows the pure emotion of hatred under his mimic-proof face, not saying anything about other characters who all have fairly developed motives. Environmental art design incorporates a rough Gothic architecture of Arkham and the dark color gamma of the island, as if revealing the true nature of the place. One curious detail is that we never actually get to see the Batman's face in-game. It's probably a move made to deepen character bonding, something not entirely necessary but pleasant nonetheless.
What really steals the show, however, is the unshakable, incredibly believable voice acting delivered by every single actor involved. It's like The Dark Knight all over again: Kevin Conroy does a great Batman, with confident speech and complete lack of those horrible growls. Mark Hamill gives the Joker a personality motivated by ambitions and fueled by madness, always being one step ahead and acting as the ultimate puppeteer in the show. All of those naughty replicas and evil jokes honestly sound like pure improvisation, and while they aren't, it really underlines the efforts put into writing the script and the dialogues. As it was supposedly the last Joker Hamill would ever do, he tried his best, with notable success. The secondary characters like Quinn (who is, in fact, voiced by Arleen Sorkin, who also gave personality to Harley in Batman: The Animated Series), Croc, Bane and Nigma don't betray their comic origins and developed characteristics one bit, truly bringing the madhouse to life. The few allies include Commissioner Gordon and his now crippled daughter, former Batgirl, Barbara (also referred to as Oracle), both playing key parts in the story and also showing the true definition of professional voicework.
The score and music are solid, with some great pieces used wisely and at the proper moments. During the predator sequences, for example, every takedown raises the music tension, really adding up to the adrenaline surge the terrified criminals feel at that moment. That particular touch made those levels feel extremely cinematic and memorable.
There is no argument that a mysterious revival happened with the film series, and now many hope that Arkham Asylum has marked the very same key moment in the video game counterpart of the franchise, opening doors to new possibilities to craft interactive Batman tales. This game possesses that little unique touch that made Batman so memorable on the big screen, followed by an atmospheric and believable world, deep gameplay and mind blowing acting. As of this review's publish date, Batman: Arkham Asylum holds the Guinness World Record as the highest selling super hero game in the industry's history, has two upcoming DLC-s, and a strong base for a worthy sequel. Maybe we had little faith before it's release, maybe even none. But Arkham turned out to be a brilliantly performed symbiosis of story, characters, and gameplay, resulting in a warm welcome from the media. This is the ultimate experience, something incorporating every thought that has flashed in your head as you watched the movie, interpreting them over to the gameplay. Riddle me this: why are you still reading, if you know that buying is inevitable?