Holy Time-Sink, Batman!

So when I heard that they were making a new Batman game on current generation systems, I let out a groan. There honestly has not been a good superhero game ever since they released that X-Men arcade game that we all have fond memories of playing at our local family themed pizza establishment.

Despite everything in my gut telling me to stay far away from this game, I decided to pick up Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Playstation 3 (also available on Xbox 360). Having recently kicked my oh so old WoW habit, I was willing to try anything at this point. So with a skeptical lean, I booted this sure to be horrible game up and dove right in.

Boy, my presumptions were dead wrong. The game starts of kind of slow, with Batman having yet again captured the Joker and checking him into the titular asylum. This intro does a lot to introduce you to the asylum, which will be your stomping grounds for perhaps the roughest night of Batman’s life.

Speaking of the asylum, this is one area where I must applaud the dev’s. they took this Victorian style madhouse and turned it into a living breathing character. You will want to explore every bit of this place, if not for the well hidden Riddler’s Challenges, but just to see what new areas you can find. I have not been so captivated by a game’s setting ever since I first stepped into the undersea dystopia of Bioshock.

Speaking of characters, I must also say that this game does the Batman mythos well. Of course you have the classic struggle of Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy from the animated series) and the Joker (voiced by none other than Mark Hamill, who also reprised his role for this game), but there are appearances by many other classic villians from Batman’s past. I won’t ruin it by saying who is all in the game, but I can say this, they all want a bit of Bat blood.

Now, a game can’t be held up merely by the strength of it’s setting. The gameplay in Batman: AA, is in short, a great mix of action and stealth. The hand to hand combat is fluid and doesn’t reek of the general “I’ll wait over here while you beat my buddy” stench that pervades most action games. Not only that, but the “predator” sequences can be a blast. Taking down enemies from the shadows has not been that much fun since Metal Gear Solid. The gameplay does so much to make you feel like Batman, be it using your gadgets to incapacitate thugs to stringing up guards with your grappling gun. And worry not, Batman purists, he strictly sticks to his code of no killing.

Now, as good as this game is, it does have it’s faults. To put it simple, the story is kind of weak. While it isn’t horrible, the superhero vs villian story has made tremendous strides in recent years, as made example by The Dark Knight. This isn’t a huge problem, but it is kind of upsetting to see amazing characters and setting go to waste.

Overall, Batman Arkham Asylum is one of, if not, the best superhero games I have ever had the pleasure of playing. Hell, so far, it has my tip of the hat for Game of the Year. If you consider yourself a Batfan, even just a little, you would not be doing yourself a disservice of picking this game up.