9
Sep
Batman: Arkham Asylum
First off let me say that Batman is my all time favorite classic superhero, Marvel and DC. The only guy that comes remotely close is of course Deadpool, coolest dude ever, who is my favorite comic book character. Anyway back to the B man. Never really read any of his comics when I was little. Was basically a Spidey only guy ’cause of my dad. What grew my love of the Dark Knight was Batman: The Animated Series. I remember watching the cartoon every day before dinner and just getting caught up in whole mythos surrounding him. Now years later I’m still just as enamored with the city of Gotham as ever and with the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum I finally get to experience the world first hand.
Now good superhero games have been hard to come by. Many of the last few gen games have been atrocious. I’m looking at you Superman 64 and Batman Dark Tomorrow. But as of late there have actually been some excellent games. Hot of the heels of the not-so-bad Wolverine: Origins game, comes this excellent stealth/action/brawler game by company Rocksteady. First off I must say that the visuals are stunning. The Joker looks downright creepy and Batman’s suit looks stunning; thankfully there are no Bat-nipples. His suit even gets torn over the course of the game. While the caves and tunnels look nice, the first time you step foot outside of the buildings is quite stunning. Very reminiscent of Unreal back in the day. Rocksteady did an awesome job crafting the world.
That’s not to say its the game’s only redeeming feature. By far no. It also has excellent gameplay. While there is an overly long opening playable cutscene, from that moment on you definitely feel like the Dark Knight. Whether you’re fighting off a ambushing group of thugs or are stealthily eliminating armed henchmen one by one, it all feels great. Then there are the fights with the major villains of the world. I won’t spoil who you fight, but each one is quite intense and unique. Even though there were enough, the geek in me just wishes there could have been more. Hopefully there will be DLC for that. If not, AA2 needs to come out sooner! All this comes together nicely to a final throwdown with the Joker, but with a twist. While I wish the stealth elements could have been thrown into the battle, but it was still a great finish to the game.
There were also some little extra tidbits that were icing on the cake. The voice acting in the game was AWESOME. They got three of the VA’s from The Animted Series which absolutely floored me. They got Kevin Conroy and Mark fuckin’ Hamill to return as Batman and the Joker, respectively. Hands down I think these two are the best rendition of their characters ever. Sure Heath’s performance was stunning, but Mark “don’t-call-me-Luke” Hamill’s performance just always sends shivers down my spine from just how awesome it is. And lastly is the wonderful Arleen Sorkin reprising her role as Ms. Harley Quinn, who is up there in my list of favorite female comic book characters. That probably says a lot about me but I won’t go into that. Astonishing voice acting aside, another cherry on the metaphorical game cake is the Riddler puzzles. Throughout the game are either various trophies, riddles, or missions that the Riddler gives you. Now these are the sort of things I love. Item collecting, meticulously searching the environment for clues, these are the things I live for. And integrating it into an already wonderful game is just pure ecstasy.
As you can tell, I freakin’ loved this game and I couldn’t recommend it enough. You should definitely check this game out. Unless you’re some kind of die hard Marvel fan and won’t touch anything DC with a ten foot stick. Or if you just hate fun, then I guess stay away from it. But those who do will be drawn into this wonderful world and will be addicted from beginning to end. One of the best games of the year.
