Arkham Asylum: Good or Bad?

[ledbetter]

Everything I've read agrees that the new Batman game incorporates the source material better then any other licensed game to date. That's great, but I'm not familiar with the comic book side of things at all. So does this dampen my Dark Knight experience? In short, no.

So far, I love this game! I'm only about 6 hours in to it and everything about Batman: Arkham Asylum screams quality. It looks great and the story (so far) has been expertly handled. Combat feels balanced and fun, plus you have so much to unlock and upgrade. I have many great things to say about this game, but I'll wait until I've completed the experience.

[Obsidian]

While I can only really base my opinion of the game on my experience with the demo I wasn't very impressed. The graphics were nice but you spend most of the time in detective mode anyways which completely ruins it. The bosses from the trailers look amazing but fighting against normal enemies is absolutely terrible, it's worse than Assassin's Creed in that aspect.

Also, what's with not allowing ATI cards to use Anti Aliasing and then delaying the game to implement Physx? We ATI card users just got shafted like always =/

[MAGIC]

We ATI card users just got shafted like always =/

Buy Nvidia.

I've been looking forward to this. I would like to grab it for PS3.

[kryyst]

The Demo sucked. I have since had a chance to play the full game for a couple hours. It's extremely good. The demo doesn't even feel like it's for the same game by comparison.

[Obsidian]

Buy Nvidia.

I've been looking forward to this. I would like to grab it for PS3.
Heh, not always that easy. When I bought my HD 4850 it was $40 less than the cheapest 9800GTX+ (Nvidia's equivalent at the time, very similar to the GTS 250). If Nvidia didn't love to keep prices jacked all the time I would probably stick with them.

[Snarkasm]

From reviews, many say the game's great at the beginning, and then the last two bosses break it.

I still hope to try it out.

[Koreish]

You reminded me to pick up my preorder.

[ledbetter]

I noticed a nice little surprise on the PS3 version before starting the game. Check in the Movies tab in the XMB and enjoy.

[Snarkasm]

You can also play as the Joker in the PS3 version.

[Koreish]

But you can only play as the Batman on the Xbox and PC. What now Snark?

[Snarkasm]

... Consoles win again?

Who knows! Finally the PS3 has something exclusive instead of the 360. :D

[ledbetter]

You can also play as the Joker in the PS3 version.

I did not know that. Where did you get this news?

[Snarkasm]

The front of the box cover, among other places. (http://kotaku.com/5345543/how-to-hype-a-ps3-game-advantage)

[ledbetter]

Sorry, I thought you meant the whole campaign. :O :tim:

[kryyst]

I have to say that overall Batman has to be one of the best action/adventure games I've played in quite some time. This game really does feel like it's empowering you to play as Batman, which is something crucial that most icon based games miss. But what really makes Batman so good is just the game design and controls. Eidos really is the king of this kind of game. It's the blend between action, adventure, puzzle solving and discovery that makes Batman work. It really reminds me of Eidos's older games like Legacy of Kaine and Soul Reaver.

What made those games so good and Batman as well is that your character was Badass. You aren't forced to take on the world in certain ways. You can fight like you want to fight, you can explore the hell out of the place and really put in as much as you want into the games. While the game itself is relatively straight forward in that you are pointed in the direction you need to go. It feels like you have the freedom to get there on your own terms. All along the way of course there are areas you can't get to yet because you need to find the right gadget or power, which just makes you want to explore all the more.

Batman is an excellent game period. It's not just an excellent game for Batman fans or an excellent comic>video game, game. Batman is simply an excellent game. I'm not even touching on the audio or visuals here. Which I should say are top notch. The voice acting is perfect everyone sounds like you'd expect them to, which shouldn't be surprising since the polled the cast from the cartoons. But they dialogue is fantastic and the ambient noise really creates atmosphere that makes Arkham an opposing place.

The visuals for the characters are perfect. Batman looks imposing the Joker looks insane, everyone has that twisted feel to them and the set pieces...oh the set pieces. The architecture is Gothic to the core. Huge, imposing, warn down looking and kinda mad scientist looking all at the same time.

I really can't think of anything to pick apart in this game. 5 out of 5

[Snarkasm]

I picked it up last night and couldn't really get into it for the hour or so that I played it... hoping to give it some more time tonight and get into something that's more compelling. I was really tired, so I'm hoping that was it.

[kryyst]

The first hour is still kinda learning the ropes, they don't throw much at you and it's pretty straight forward where you have to go. I think it's about the time where you have to rescue guards from a room filling up with poisonous gas is where the game picks up.

[Snarkasm]

Yeah, I got past that and wasn't too thrilled. I stopped right after fighting the huge dude in front of the isolation section.

I'll give it another shot tonight with a couple hours.

[Koreish]

I saw the final battle on youtube. Don't really know what happened to the Joker but it seemed like a pretty lame fight. I hope the other boss fights aren't disappointing.

[ardichoke]

I saw the final battle on youtube.
ur doin it rong

[Obsidian]

I don't know why people love to judge games based on youtube videos so much. I am also clueless as to why you would want to watch the ending before you even start playing the game. Do you read the last pages of horror novels first too?

[Snarkasm]

I finished it Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Koreish]

I don't know why people love to judge games based on youtube videos so much. I am also clueless as to why you would want to watch the ending before you even start playing the game. Do you read the last pages of horror novels first too?

I don't read horror novels, so no. I would also like to point out I never really judged the game just the last fight. From what I hear the rest of the game is solid.

[kryyst]

I finished it Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Told you so :)

[Shorty]

I have it on PS3.

Great, great game for all the reasons Kryst stated.

What caught me is that effort to make you feel vulnerable. Batman is strong and quick but he is vulnerable too. Sure, he can swoop down & knock someone out but he isn't safe from repeated shots from an automatic weapon. He will bleed if knifed by a stressed out bad guy. The thought process of where he is strong and where he is weak really aids the game.

People have commented that the "bosses" are too easy or weak. But consider the context of the story. They were too in the comics & animated series. The first boss is done with one throw of a batarang. But that's the point. It's not supposed to be like every other "here comes the end of level" boss. It's supposed to follow the directive from the source material. I thought that was fantastic AND brave of Eidos to follow that path.

Finally, someone does justice to Batman in a game. Why on earth did it take so long? Hopefully other publishers & developers see what has happened here and realise that people with money actually care about the source material.

[kryyst]

I agree the Boss fights feel right within the context of the game and Batman as a whole. Batman is badass, he's usually much better equiped and physically more imposing then most of his opponents, there are a few exceptions like Killer Croc and Bane. But I mean generally his targets are whimps. What makes them hard in the comics or shows is that they've got some advantage Batman must overcome or they have in some ways debilitated him.

That's what the Boss fights are like in the game. Batman doesn't go one on one with Harley Quinn he's got to get past her trap etc.... The boss fights are also well slotted into the story. I don't see what the internet bruhaha is all about.

[kryyst]

While on the subject I'd like to see a sequel. One idea would be huge and open world, allow you to drive around in your vehicles and hunt enemies in their nests. While that'd certainly be fun, I don't think it'd be as fun as a well scripted story based game. Open world games always run into that wash repeat cycle where they have a handful of different missions that you repeat endlessly. Spiderman was good but the world missions got stale after awhile. Especially in it's sequels that all had that been there done that feeling to them.

So if they do a Batman sequel I'd much rather see another story based game. Not open world. Certainly feel free to put in a car chase or a motorcycle chase but keep the story driving the game and not the player.

I'd also love to see this development team give some love to other comic characters that have been shafted or just need a game. The Punisher for one needs some love. I mean you could practically see him in place of Batman in the current game. He'd be killing thugs of course with guns but the key elements are there. Daredevil would be a great character. Extremely acrobatic, excellent fighter potential for awesome sonar based game play modes. Lobo over the top, incredibly violent but very funny. Give him a great story and reason to unleash and that'd make for some great game play. Wolverine, the current video game came close, but could be much better. Lastly with Deadpool getting his own movie he'll need a video game of course and I can think of no better way to do it then with this kind of treatment.

There's others but I've gotta stop at some point.

[woomba]

It's got to be the BEST super hero game I've ever played. And Mark Hammil's joker is always much obliged. :D

[Koreish]

Weren't the Riddler's Challenges supposed to be hard? I've already got half of them and I haven't been actively looking.

[Snarkasm]

The biggest problem with the Riddler trophies, at least, is that half of them you come across at the beginning of the game when you don't have the required tools to retrieve them.

[Koreish]

I noticed that. The sewers especially. I can't even remember how to get back to them.

[kryyst]

Once you finish the game you get to what's basically free play mode so you can go back to the beginning and then you can get all the riddles.

Gear you'll need. Explosive Gell, Zipline Gun, Tripple Grapple gun.

The Riddler's riddles are more for the 100% completest person, something to do once you've finished the game. They aren't there as a necessary requirement to actually finishing the game.

[Koreish]

I know and I'll probably just go back and get them all because I have most so I won't be going far out of my way.

/me patiently waits for Jimmy to call him Korean.

[Cyclonite]

Meh, I went back and got all the Riddler challenges. They're not hard. Shoot, there's even a map hidden in each section that shows them all.

[kryyst]

Nope they aren't hard for the most part. The hardest ones I found where the ones where you had to be in the right spot to view the hidden question mark and line it up. But other then that it's just a question of having the right gear and being in the right spot. Which I think is more of the point then just being very difficult and painful to find.

[Snarkasm]

Yep, definitely. I just don't have the patience or care to go back and find them all.

[Idiot_Slayer]

I like it. Really what it reminds me of is Metroid, the way they show you things that you don't have to tools to get yet just makes it more rewarding when you finally have unlocked the whole utility belt.

[Koreish]

In case anyone was looking for the 24th Spirit of Arkham:

It's located in the security command room in the Penitentiary, where you left the warden. Took me for ever to find the son'a bitch.

[Caffran]

The game keeps making me think of half life with all of the vents you go through.

[l3it3r]

Best Super hero game ever made. I loved the game. Start to finish. Yes, the intro is a bit (ridiculously) long, but over all, the mechanics of the free flow fighting, the GRAPHICS, and all the xtras make it worth the pickup. Playing it on the PS3 is a treat too :)

[lordbean]

Wow, hearing nothing but positive reviews about this game. Usually games based on movies stink, but it sounds like this one is worth a look.

[l3it3r]

It's not based on a movie, it's based more on the comic books, and even then, it's a bit loose

[Koreish]

What L3it3r said. It's based primarily around Arkham Asylum A Serious House on A Serious Earth. But it's a very loose adaption, the only real connection made is the Spirit of Arkham tablets.

[l3it3r]

but even still, one of the best games of the year, and deff the best super hero game ever.

[Obsidian]

Just finished it. Pretty cool ending but it was way too short. I beat it in two days.

[Koreish]

I thought it was a good length. It wasn't so long that it got old but it was long enough to tell a good story. I just wish that they hadn't squeezed in so much of the rogues gallery. If they make a sequel, and it sounds like they are, unless they go for the really lesser known villians there aren't many left for them to choose from.

[Obsidian]

Mr. Freeze was hinted at while not being directly involved as well as Penguin. Batman didn't actually kill the villains he fought so some could definitely make a return. There are obviously plenty of lesser known villains from the comic books left to flesh out as well. I think they'll be fine.

[Koreish]

Except for the sequel was hinted at to take place immediately following the events of AA. Remember the radio transmission was about Dent starting a gang war; which will probably be based on No Man's Land arc from the comics. Bane and Croc are the only characters unaccounted for at the end of AA.

[Obsidian]

I was trying to avoid any spoilers but whatever. Obviously Bane will be in the second and I really wouldn't put it past Mr. Freeze to break out of the Asylum. I hope to see him in the sequel. Two Face is cool too I guess.

[l3it3r]

Like Obsidian said, there were some not-so-subtle refferences to Mr Freeze and Penguin. I'm looking forward to the sequel and will pick it up for sure. I also played through it in about 2 days, had my kids watching and rooting for me half the time too, it was hilarious. I thought the Scarecrow sections, cut scenes and storyline were pure genius too... reminded me of that game "Eternal Darkness" and its "insanity meter".

[kryyst]

Like the comics, tv-shows and the cartoons villains can re-appear endlessly.

[mas0n]

Making me force AA via the ATI CCC is just stupid.
http://carothers.info/matthew/Stuph/batmanD.jpg

Otherwise, just finished the demo. I'm definitely buying this game.