Batman: Arkham Asylum - Classics (Xbox 360)

I've played this game three times from beginning to end, which has never happened before with any game I've bought. I've never watched a Batman animated show or read a Batman comic book, my only source has been the movies so for me to enjoy this game and come away feeling like the ultimate Batman fan is something of a miracle. The games story grabs you in so completely you'll be wishing you knew everything possible about the caped crusader and the villains of the story.

The story centers around Batman bringing his arch-nemesis The Joker to Arkham Asylum, a penatentary for the criminally insane. Being the clever villain that he is he manages to set an elaborate trap, and takes over the facility, releasing the prisoners, and is about to give Batman a very bad headache. Whilst the story sounds like an excuse to throw in as many villains as possible it does so with quality craftsmanship. The voice acting is top notch, providing the gamer with a sense of maturity rarely seen in comic book characters and delivered, line by line, with professional execution. The gameplay has so much to offer too, from the fluid combat system to the excellent stealth missions where you take down armed villans using your head and gadgets instead of guns (and sometimes your fists) and adds to the sense of mysticism of the Batman character.

For me the greatest aspect of this game is Arkham Asylum itself, the rich enviroment gives you a sense of wonder whilst remaining intimidating, without ever getting boring. This is one of the few games I was actually afraid to complete, knowing that the experience would finally come to an end. Luckily there is additional challenge maps which test your take down skills, extending the life of the game a little further but be warned, they can be a real time vampire which will have you saying "just one more try".

In a nutshell: This game was so good it made me play it three times, write a review for it and buy some batman comics, which is something I have never done before. You won't regret spending time in Gotham for this one.

Have you ever loved a game so much you've actually tried to push your head into the television screen to try to be a part of it? What - oh, uh...no, m-me neither! But if I was going to do that to a game I'd do it to Batman Arkham Asylum!
This is one of the only games out there that actually makes you 'feel' like Batman! I used to get the same feeling when playing the old commodore 64 official licensed game based on the Tim Burton movie, until I realised that Batman wasn't entirely made up of large grey blocks! You get to stalk around a creepy asylum in big boots, a cape and exposed purple pants (for some reason) beating up ridiculously 'beefed up' goons while you try to hunt down the Joker and, well...beat him up a bit! The whole game feels like it's straight out of the Batman comics (the newer, darker comics, not the 40's ones where he hung around with a teenage boy in skimpy yellow tights and smiled a lot).
The game starts out with big boots bringing the Joker into Arkham Asylum for incarceration purposes and you even get a nice pre-title sequence in which you control Batsy as he tags along while the Joker is being transported to his cell by the asylum guards.
Things go a bit wrong quite quickly, however, when it transpires that the Joker has set this whole 'being captured' thing up and escapes into the depths of Arkham! There then follows a brief fighting tutorial that lets you get to grips with the simple, but surprisingly entertaining combat system as you `duff up' a number of the Joker's goons! After you've finished off the massive thugs with slow-motion, painful looking attacks you guide Batman inside the main entrance of the asylum.
The game is extremely atmospheric overall and the core stealth game play is well executed (much like many of Batman's enemies). You can hide in the shadows and use your grapple to swing around the moody environments, as well as lowering Batman down to any nearby unaware enemies and stealthily dispatching them. If this doesn't work you can always chuck a batarang at them or flying kick them in the side of the head when they aren't looking.
Although batarangs aren't the only gadgets Batman has access to. He has zip-lines, remote control batarangs and gel based explosive devises! Batman can also switch to `detective vision' at the push of a button, which gives a sort of x-ray vision effect (more Superman than Batman, but never mind). This makes it easier to spot enemies through walls as well as seeing if the enemies are `packing heat' so to speak, or whether they're unarmed and therefore easier to defeat. You can then start to plan your attacks and take down the lethal gun-toting villains before the less dangerous ones armed with pipes and bits of stick. Whilst in detective mode, you can also spot hiding places, grapple points (for a quick escape) and weaknesses in structures easier. These cracks in the walls, floors etc can usually lead to different areas and also be used as traps or `takedowns' to knock out any passing thugs! `Knock out' because true to the comics Batman doesn't actually kill anyone, though most of the things he does to the enemies in this game would knock them out....for good.......um, it would kill them!
There's a nice (if that's the right word) selection of Batman's enemies present in the game, all of which must be tackled (if that's the right word) as a one on one boss fight, although you usually have to take on a handful of weaker enemies along with them. The Scarecrow sections are particularly well executed (like Batman's enemies, oh, wait, I've done that one). The scarecrow manages to subject Batman to his special scary gas (or whatever it's called), causing him to enter a world of hallucinations and nightmares which you must guide him through before he completely loses his mind! This ends with an epic battle against some skeletal Batmen and a huge scary scarecrow! The player also gets to face off against Bane, Poison Ivy, Harlequin, the crocodile (or whatever he's called) and of course the Joker!
In conclusion this is an extremely well constructed game, with a solid (if fairly simple) story, excellent graphics and game play which expertly combines stealth and satisfying, straightforward combat. There isn't too much backtracking or other overly used tricks to extend the game's length and you don't feel like any of the locations or enemies are simply `thrown in' to make the game appear longer, everything feels like it's leading up to the conclusion of the story. This game won around a million game of the year awards in 2009 and it definitely deserves them. This is probably the best comic book game ever made and certainly the best Batman game, at least until the upcoming sequel....

So you're Batman. Isn't that enough? Arriving at Arkham, Joker in hand, you soon find yourself in the middle of his latest campaign to lay waste to Gotham and finish with you. PThe writing is solid and engaging with a clear direction, the Joker's motives are essentially just, because he wants to, but it works overall. The atmosphere is dark and moody without trying too hard to be so and the story allows you to proceed through a number of environments and encounter a plethora of characters; good and horrific. In fact one of the high points is how it integrates information about dozens of classic characters, mainly villains, but chooses only a handful of these to combat, rather than blowing everything it has it uses pacing and scarcity to highlight these encounters making them feel suitably epic.

The game takes place entirely on Arkham Island but the world itself is open to exploration and constantly changing. The story does a good job of keeping you in the right direction whilst the Riddler's puzzles, numerous trophies and cryptic images scattered across the world, keep it from feeling too restrictive. The environment changes with time, becoming more hostile as guards are slowly replaced with the Joker's thugs and even more so toward the end as a large event affects the whole island (I won't spoil that here though). As you progress you gain new equipment which becomes key to reaching later areas and those last few Riddler trophies.

Gameplay can be basically described as two forms of combat alternated and interspersed with platforming sections. Whilst not as challenging as a true Platformer like Mario it adds a nice sense of variety and adds to the intrigue of finding the Riddler's puzzles. Combat is generally close quarters fisty-cuffs with small groups of goons growing to large platoons of the tattooed face-painted psycho's. Additional heavy enemies, weak but fast enemies and unpleasant horticulture increase diversity before it ever starts to feel old. The combat works on a small number of buttons, growing as you gain moves from levelling up (achieved by finding riddles and fighting baddies). It's easy to get to grips with and you can complete the whole game without mastering all the moves but the hardest difficulty and the bigger fights do require good use of combos, diversity and quick reflexes. It all feels really organic and the attacks feel weighty. It's exhilarating watching Batman elbow someone in the face, roundhouse kick someone else to the ground before leaping across the room to finish off the final straggler with a double kick. The other half of combat is the predator mode, lurking in the rafters, biding your time until your opportune moment to strike presents itself. It adds great diversity and is easy to learn, its own set of controls are simple and effective and these sections add tension as guards are armed with guns that can take you out with little more than a single burst.

There are a couple of details that really add to the game, namely the detective mode, an x-ray vision mode that shows you the locations of enemies, their weaponry and how aware of your presence they are, and the health system. you can purchase armour upgrades through the levelling system which are essential later on as unlike in other games these days, you don't regenerate health on the fly. All damage sustained in a battle is only replenished by the experience received when the encounter ends. This helps keep the pressure on and ensures you never ruin the flow by hiding behind a desk.

The additional challenge mode puts you in either combat or stealth scenarios with specific goals. success can be compared online and the challenges can keep you going almost as long as the campaign.

The final word: just a great blend of action and stealth. The AI can be a bit thick but this avoids frustration without feeling easy. All in all great, it proudly sits in my top 10 games of the current generation, and maybe even all time.