Batman: Arkham Asylum Review

When you play a superhero game, be it Spider-Man to even Superman, you want to feel like you are the superhero.  You want to be in control of all his/her super powers, abilities or gadgets.  You want to fight all his dastardly enemies.  Ultimately you want to be the superhero; something that few superhero games have actually achieved.  Finally after a long time of being placed in some of the worst games of the last few console generations, the Dark Knight has reclaimed his glory.  With Arkham Asylum, you can finally say, “I’m Batman” with pride as it stands tall as one of the best superhero games of all-time.

Arkham Asylum starts off with the Dark Knight transporting the Joker to the iconic Gotham prison, Arkham Asylum.  After a brief cutscene, you are introduced to the inner halls of the asylum as you accompany of restrained Joker to cell.  Right before you can lock Joker away for good, Batman’s eternal nemesis with the help of his girlfriend, Harley Quinn escapes and takes over Arkham Asylum.  As the World’s Greatest Detective, Batman must explore Arkham Island, figure out what the Joker is up to and stop him from using it to take over Gotham City.

Joker is not the only super villain that the Dark Knight will fight during his adventures on Arkham Island.  Batman will fight the likes of the Scarecrow, Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn and Mr. Zsacz on his way to the Joker.  Also the Riddler plays a role in Arkham Asylum as well.  You will not fight the Riddler, but the man obsessed with riddles has left a bunch of collectables for you to find during your time on Arkham Island.  Like mentioned above, Arkham Asylum makes you feel like the Batman and that comes from the gadgets you receive throughout game and the hand-to-hand and stealth combat.  Batman receives a good number of gadgets that you can use to traverse the dangers across all of Arkham Island from your trusty Batarang to a Line Launcher to cross large chasms.  The combat is very awarding.  Depending on the situation, you will have to take one of two approaches.  The first being the hand-to-hand combat against a group of thugs.  Bouncing from thug to thug combining attacks, counters and Batarangs to the face into one flowing combo is one satisfying experience.  The second approach is stealth, which you can use against groups of unsuspecting or gun-wielding enemies.  You can perform a stealth takedown from many different places such as hanging from a ledge or sitting on a gargoyle.  It is very fun picking off enemies one-by-one and seeing enemies start panicking as they might be the next to face Batman’s harsh  justice.

With all the great stuff Arkham Asylum offers, there are a few flaws.  First and foremost is the fact that the game is far too linear when Rocksteady gives you all of Arkham Island to explore.  It would have been nice to see a few side missions interspersed here and there.  That leads into my other flaw as the game just felt too short for my liking.  The story is great, but when it just got going that was the point Rocksteady decided to end it.  They could have easily kept the game going a little longer with a faceoff with the Riddler or another villain from Batman’s rich comic book lore.  Also the final boss battle against Joker was less of a boss battle more of a fight against three groups of 20 thugs.  Other little flaws include the lack of variety in the enemies; the mutant enemies get a little too tedious after the third of fourth time facing them and the over reliance of the Detective Mode, a great feature that helps you throughout Arkham Asylum, but it takes away from seeing the gorgeous art and variety in the hallows of the environment in Arkham Asylum.

Even though my big complaints about the game’s length and linearity, Rocksteady achieved something many other studios have failed at, creating a great superhero game.  Batman: Arkham Asylum does the Dark Knight and his long storied history justice.  It is a game that truly puts you in Batman’s suit and should be in any superhero, Batman or action fans library.