Batman: Arkham Asylum

Rankin Dam
September 25, 2009
Filed under Opinion/Editorial

A note before reading this review. There are quite a few differences between movie and video game reviews. Film critics focus on plot, drama, acting, and originality. Game critics focus on different things with each gaming genre (action, platforming, puzzlers, etc.). For instance, a fighting game like Tekken would focus on gameplay more than storyline. This is because fighting games don’t really have a plot. In this review, the focus will be on graphics, story, gameplay, mood, and difficulty.

For the past few years, gamers and DC fans have looked to Batman: Arkham Asylum with hope, hope that a DC hero will finally have a decent game. In the past, video games based on Superman or Batman, or any other DC hero for that matter, have failed miserably in their attempts to capture the glory of  said heroes on the gaming front. Batfans need not be afraid of the dark, as Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum meets the halfway mark… and keeps on going. Yes, this game is sure to put a smile on your face.

Everyone knows that Batman’s arch nemesis is the Joker. Well, guess what kiddies. Joker is back and he’s ready to give Gotham City his deadly smile again. Well, maybe not. The game starts off with a cut-scene of the Batmobile roaring toward Arkham. Batman has just captured the Joker, again, and is escorting him into the depths of the asylum. Before reaching his cell, Joker makes his escape and takes control of the island. Now, Batman must fight through henchmen and old adversaries in order to return sanity to the asylum.

Typical Joker, wouldn’t you say? As players take control of Batman to explore the asylum, they will soon find that Arkham Asylum is riddled with tasty morsels for any hardcore batfan. Apart from the twists and turns of the main story line, players will find many background stories. Batman’s story is very well illustrated in the game, but there are also backgrounds for the villains. These appear in the form of character bios, which can be unlocked by meeting these villains, finding interview tapes scattered across the island, or solving the Riddler’s riddles.

Enough about story lines. It’s time to move on to the gameplay. First and foremost, Batman does not have superpowers. If you try to take the gun-toting henchmen head on, you will not survive. The game practically ensures this. Instead of going in with fists swinging and batarangs… swooping, Batman must take a different approach.

Players will walk into a room full of armed henchmen and grapple up to a gargoyle in the shadows. The player must then go over his/her options. “Do I pop out of a floor vent and use a stealth attack? Do I cause an explosion that knocks out one of the henchmen?” Regardless of method, the idea is to stun, knockout, and hide before the other thugs see you. This predator style of gameplay makes player feel like the Bat himself.

Of course, there are plenty of times when Batman will need some good old hand-to-hand muscle. In this area of gameplay, Rocksteady Studios decided to go with something… experimental. Something called free-flow combat. This means that combatants move on their own, regardless of whether you are attacking. Players have one attack button, one counter button, and a  stun button. Each successive blow dealt to the henchmen will raise the combo number. As the number gets higher, Batman will perform faster attacks. When a thug comes up to Batman and a blue shock pattern appears above his head, it means he is about to attack. Pressing the counter button will cause Batman to perform a block and a counter-strike.

Various upgrades can be unlocked for both free-flow and predator styles of gameplay. Most of these upgrades are for Batman’s famous equipment. To reduce spoilers, I will only say that players start out with the basic batarang and grapple shot.

Let’s move on to a less violent aspect of the gameplay. Batman’s suit is an embodiment of advanced technology, including forensics. As such, one of the most helpful tools at your disposal is the detective mode. In detective mode, objects of interest, such as vents, gargoyles, and interview tapes, are highlighted in neon orange. People appear as if viewed through an x-ray, while thugs carrying firearms are highlighted in red. The detective mode allows the player to track thugs through walls.

The detective mode also analyzes the heartbeat of other characters. Players will notice that the pulses of the remaining thugs in a predator sequence will get higher as Batman takes them out, one by one. As they become more terrified, they get more difficult to K.O. silently. You’ll see what I mean.

The last bit of gameplay is the riddle-solving aspect. Early in the game, the Riddler hacks into Batman’s communicator and challenges Batman to solve the riddles he has left all over the island. As the players enters a room/area, a riddle will show up on the screen. The player must take a picture of the answer to the riddle. The answers can range in size from a tiny newspaper clip to a seven-foot portrait. The Riddler also left small question mark statues all over the island. The rewards for both riddles and statues are character bios and gameplay challenges.

Sounds like a lot to take in, doesn’t it? Players will be surprised to find that adjusting to the controls and predator-style of gameplay is actually quite easy. The detective mode, free-flow combat, and predator combat flow together extremely well. The gameplay is both fun and challenging, a combination that is becoming rare in action adventure games.

Speaking of challenge, Arkham Asylum has three difficulty settings; easy, normal and hard. Each setting is perfectly balanced toward the audience it is intended for. If you’ve never played a video game before, easy mode will suit you just fine. Normal mode is for the casual gamer, but don’t expect the later levels to be forgiving to slip-ups. Hard mode is for pros. In hard mode, you have to watch the movements of your enemies in hand-to-hand combat. This is because enemies who are about to strike will no longer display blue marks above their heads. You have been warned.

Mood can make or break a game like Arkham Asylum. Saying that this is a Batman game can only get developers so far. It has to actually feel like a Batman game. Fortunately, Rocksteady Studios did a great job of creating a dark mood in the game. The graphics look incredible and are quite fluid. To add to the mood even more, the music retains the orchestral excitement that can be found in the Bat-movies.

Another brilliant idea on Rocksteady’s part was nostalgia. Mark Hamill, the original voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: The New Animated Series, makes an encore performance as the Joker in Batman: Arkham Asylum. In addition, Kevin Conroy, the voice actor of Batman and Bruce Wayne in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: The New Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited, is now voice acting as Batman in Batman: Arkham Asylum. People who grew up watching these cartoons will be taken back to those Saturday mornings, or nights, that are long gone.

As much as I liked Arkham Asylum, there is one thing that keeps me from giving it a perfect score. Batman’s dialog. Most of the time, his dialog is at par in quality, but every now and then, he will give a one-liner that just makes me roll my eyes, tilt my head back, and make a noise somewhere between a strangle and a groan. The best way to describe these one-liners is… let me just give the worst example. “I eat punks like that for breakfast.” Go ahead and roll your eyes.

The script was the only thing I had a problem with. Fluid, dark graphics, excellent gameplay, a huge dose of background story, and easter eggs for hardcore fans, it’s no wonder Batman: Arkham Asylum has been revered as the greatest DC video game. From Batman’s Batmobile to his batarangs, batfans will be absolutely batty for this batgame. I could make more batpuns, but I’m not that much of a Joker.

Important! I have praised Batman: Arkham Asylum quite highly, but I must address a slight problem. Batman IS rated T. However, it is one of those rare games that borders on being rated M. In the attempt to capture the mood of Batman, a few things were added that makes the game a bit… harsh. There are horror concepts, a few deaths, and the dialog includes curse words. In addition, some characters will mutate in a manner that would give some children nightmares.

Realize that, though it is bordering on an M rating, Batman is still a T-rated game. I realize that some people may not know the rating system for video games. It is as follows:

• E for everyone
• E10+ for everyone age ten and up
• T for teen
• M for mature (have to be seventeen to legally buy M-rated games)
• AO for adults only