August 17, 2009 by Jereme Puik
Batman: Arkham Asylum has been a long time coming from EIDOS and company. Since the game was announced it has probably been the one title to generate the most buzz whenever news leaked regarding this or that new video from E3. Batman: Arkham Asylum brings together the entire 70 year history of the franchise, and completely erases the memory of Batman’s previous video game entries. Although, some might consider Batman: Vengeance to be a part of the more decent titles, which I personally would have to agree. Moving onward, Batman: Arkham Asylum brings back an old buddy, the voice cast of Batman: The Animated Series returns to reprise their roles as their respective characters. Kevin Conroy returns as Batman, Mark Hamill returns as the Joker with even Arleen Sorkin lending her voice once again to Harley Quinn. With an all star cast, can the game live up to it potential?

What It’s All About

A demo was recently released on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network giving everyone a chance to experience what Batman: Arkham Asylum is all about. As I stepped into the demo, it was hard to let my feeling of nostalgia escape me considering I used to watch practically the entire Animated Series as much as I could on Cartoon Network back in the day. So, for this instance I decided to leave my nostalgia at the front door and step into the world of skepticism. For a first look, the demo did a fine job of showing you the basic aspects of what the game will be presenting you with. 
Arkham Asylum has Batman yet again capturing the Joker and bringing him “back home” to Arkham Island. As usual, Batman is always suspicious of the Jokers intentions with him surrendering with little resistance. Batman’s fears soon come to reality as the Joker quickly escapes custody and frees all of Arkham’s inmates. It’s up to Batman to find out and discover what the Joker really wants, and why it had to be Arkham Asylum. You’ll be taking control of Batman in the over-the-shoulder third person perspective using Batman’s force to knock out thugs and other enemies including Gotham City’s greatest villains. 

Combat is simple, using a combination of face buttons you’ll be unleashing brutal force on your foes. Knowing all sorts of martial arts, you’ll be feeling the true power of the Dark Knight. The gameplay felt pretty normal and wasn’t too flashy. Moving Batman around is always a treat when you think of yourself as a badass. The combat is Free Flowing allowing for dynamic fighting sequences and skill. You’ll be facing off against multiple thugs at any given moment, and with your arsenal of brutal combat mixed with gadgetry like the batarang at your disposal, this is just a walk in the park for the Dark Knight. After defeating thugs you’ll earn experience points which looks to be used as an RPG element to help you upgrade your moves and learn new ones along with increasing your health as you move along.

The environment is built for Batman to use to the fullest extent. Batman has the ability to grapple onto any high ledges, swing across gargoyles and glide across long distances. We can’t forget that Batman is also a detective and with the new “detective mode”, you’ll be able to map out thugs on the map, routes and discover new areas. After activating the detective mode you’ll get a complete x-ray view of the map giving you every bit of detail you’ll need to move forward. Secrets are a plenty in Arkham and with Batman’s explosions gel for instance you can blow away walls that might be hiding new information about the story. You’ll even be able to move objects aside with your batclaw.

Character bios and interview tapes clutter the Asylum giving you a glimpse into the history of Gotham City’s greatest villains like The Riddler or even the Penguin. Boss fights you encounter will be with the infamous villains like Mr. Zassz, Poison Ivy, Bane and even Harley Quinn and don’t forget the beast Killer Croc. Outside of the main storyline there is challenge mode, which is related to Horde mode in Gears of War. You’ll fight off rounds and rounds of thugs in either brawls or certain objectives you will have to meet to move on to the next round. Playstation 3 owners will have the chance to play as The Joker in the challenge mode exclusively.

Does Batman: Arkham Asylum have the chance to be the video game that the franchise has needed to survive? You can find out in GamePlasma’s full review later this month.