Batman: Arkham Asylum
Arkham Asylum looked incredible right from the start. Every aspect of it looked as if it were cared for by Batman fans alone; a true labour of love. I even came close to buying this at launch, which has been a rare thing for me to do for a while now. You see, with so many games being released so frequently now, compared to say, 10 or 15 years ago, I can barely keep up. So I always have a stack of games that need to be finished and it just seems hard to justify buying a new game and playing that while I have others that may even be unwrapped. Of course, there are exceptions; games that I simply can't wait for such as Dead Space, Gears of War and Mass Effect. But usually I'll just wait because the truth is, the price will drop by about half or more in a matter of a few months; makes it hard to justify.
Nevertheless, though I may not have grabbed it right away, it wasn't long before I had picked it up during a holiday sale and booted it up shortly thereafter. But the truth is, that even if I had picked this up at launch I wouldn't have been sorry because it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic game. Arkham Asylum featured all kinds of fresh new designs of a ton of classic Batman characters. All well within the realm of what is acceptable for each character, what with Harley Quinn being the least recognizable and yet still very much herself. Many aspects of the game follow suit with all kinds of tasteful redesigns from Batman's costume to his gadgets and the world around him. It also includes some of the best casted voices in Batman history; Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin who voices Batman, the Joker and Harley Quinn from the animated series in the 90's.
Arkham Asylum got the game just right. Not only did they make it a fantastically dark and brooding game with beautiful graphics and stunning design, but they also introduced some unique and appropriate gameplay. As the dark knight himself, you do your best to hide in the shadows and stalk your enemies. A special camera mode shows the skeletal structures of the thugs below you, their heart rates, weapons and level of fear. Picking a few of his buddies off in the dark can frighten an opponent into firing blindly or not paying attention while you come up behind him. You can use your grappling hook to reach far up areas, swing from platforms and reach normally inaccessible sections of the game. Other gadgets in your arsenal allow for hacking coded doors, gassing inmates, creating traps or blowing up walls to gain access to hidden areas. And then of course, the game features a terrific brawling system which really shows up Batman's ability to hold up in a fight.
The best part about Arkham Asylum for me though was how much it got me excited about Batman again. Perhaps even more than ever before. It's full of all kinds of comic lore and background info about all the characters and their stories, even going so far as mentioning which comic each person first showed up in. As soon as I could, I borrowed a whole ton of Batman graphic novels from a couple friends of mine. Some of the best, including Arkham Asylum (of course), Hush, Year 1 and a few others. And as far as I'm concerned, when a game is based on existing content, it's definitely succeeded when it prompts you to search for more of that content.
Arkham Asylum looked incredible right from the start. Every aspect of it looked as if it were cared for by Batman fans alone; a true labour of love. I even came close to buying this at launch, which has been a rare thing for me to do for a while now. You see, with so many games being released so frequently now, compared to say, 10 or 15 years ago, I can barely keep up. So I always have a stack of games that need to be finished and it just seems hard to justify buying a new game and playing that while I have others that may even be unwrapped. Of course, there are exceptions; games that I simply can't wait for such as Dead Space, Gears of War and Mass Effect. But usually I'll just wait because the truth is, the price will drop by about half or more in a matter of a few months; makes it hard to justify.Nevertheless, though I may not have grabbed it right away, it wasn't long before I had picked it up during a holiday sale and booted it up shortly thereafter. But the truth is, that even if I had picked this up at launch I wouldn't have been sorry because it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic game. Arkham Asylum featured all kinds of fresh new designs of a ton of classic Batman characters. All well within the realm of what is acceptable for each character, what with Harley Quinn being the least recognizable and yet still very much herself. Many aspects of the game follow suit with all kinds of tasteful redesigns from Batman's costume to his gadgets and the world around him. It also includes some of the best casted voices in Batman history; Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin who voices Batman, the Joker and Harley Quinn from the animated series in the 90's.
Arkham Asylum got the game just right. Not only did they make it a fantastically dark and brooding game with beautiful graphics and stunning design, but they also introduced some unique and appropriate gameplay. As the dark knight himself, you do your best to hide in the shadows and stalk your enemies. A special camera mode shows the skeletal structures of the thugs below you, their heart rates, weapons and level of fear. Picking a few of his buddies off in the dark can frighten an opponent into firing blindly or not paying attention while you come up behind him. You can use your grappling hook to reach far up areas, swing from platforms and reach normally inaccessible sections of the game. Other gadgets in your arsenal allow for hacking coded doors, gassing inmates, creating traps or blowing up walls to gain access to hidden areas. And then of course, the game features a terrific brawling system which really shows up Batman's ability to hold up in a fight.
The best part about Arkham Asylum for me though was how much it got me excited about Batman again. Perhaps even more than ever before. It's full of all kinds of comic lore and background info about all the characters and their stories, even going so far as mentioning which comic each person first showed up in. As soon as I could, I borrowed a whole ton of Batman graphic novels from a couple friends of mine. Some of the best, including Arkham Asylum (of course), Hush, Year 1 and a few others. And as far as I'm concerned, when a game is based on existing content, it's definitely succeeded when it prompts you to search for more of that content.
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