Oct 23 2009
I Finally Get To Play Arkham Asylum
After months of waiting, I finally got my hands on Batman: Arkham Asylum. And damn, was it worth the wait. It’s probably the best game I’ve played this year, and the fact that it has Batman in it is simply icing on the cake. Most games we see based of comic book characters are tied to movies, and that usually doesn’t work out so well. Arkham Asylum was given all the resources of a normal video game, and not one thrown together before a movie. Combined with flawless voice acting and a top notch story written by frequent Batman scribe Paul Dini, you have a gaming experience that shouldn’t be missed.
The gameplay itself was close to perfect. There are three ways of proving you can be the Dark Knight: the freeflow combat system, invisible predator mode, and detective mode. The detective part of the game is probably the weakest. You get to use alot of fancy tech, but you don’t “solve” to many problems. It’s still fun, and it definitely gives a full Batman experience. And of course you can’t have a Batman game without lots of beatings. The combat system is tons of fun, and certainly looks gorgeous. It’s worth getting the game just to watch Batman in action. And then there is my favorite aspect the of the game, the invisible predator mode. Here, you get to prey on a group of unsuspecting psychopaths, and use all your gadgets and cunning to take them down one by one. Only a Batman game can combine all these styles into one experience. Think Metal Gear Solid meets Bioshock meets God of War.
The story itself is solid. For a videogame, it’s one of the best, but leaves a tiny bit to be desired. The beginning of the game has a great sense of mystery, and by the final boss battles the game has devolved into “go here, do this, done”. It felt like I was just going through the motions from one fight to another, rather than working my way through the story like in the first half. The game does explore Batman’s psyche and inner torment, but if you’ve read comics or seen The Dark Knight you’ll know that they could have done a bit more.
As for the voice acting, you couldn’t ask for more. Mark Hamill (yes, that Mark Hamill) and Kevin Conroy reprise their roles from the animated series, and have only refined their talents. Half the fun of the game is listening to the Joker’s taunts. He’s just that good. The general design of the game is amazing, and you certainly feel like you’re in Arkham Asylum. If you like video games, then you should buy this game because it’s just so much fun. If you don’t play too many games, but love Batman, check it out just for experience. Crank the difficulty down to easy, enjoy solving the Riddler’s clues, and live out your dream of being the Dark Knight. If you’re reading this blog, you have no excuse not to play.
I think it’s great they got Kevin Conroy as the voice actor. He “is” Batman.