I’ve spent a good amount of time with the retail version of the game this past weekend, and before we get into my impressions, I want to state that I’m not really a comic reader and a gamer foremost. I think it’s safe to say that at this point, any Batman or comic book fan will tell you this game is awesome. But how does it stand on its own as a video game? This is what I want to share.
The glaringly best thing about the game is that you feel like Batman. Being Batman, or any super powerful character with plenty of gadgets – licensed or otherwise, is fun when it’s done correctly and Batman: Arkham Asylum’s gameplay mechanics in this regard shine brightly. The gameplay is broken up into three main parts: beating up unarmed foes, incapacitating armed foes through stealthy means, and using detective skills to look for clues on how to proceed. The combat system is quite intuitive, and really highlight Batman’s martial arts training since he can engage several unarmed thugs at once as he melees and counters his way through the crowd. It works beautifully, and you feel like a total badass when you can clear a room without breaking a sweat.
I am actually having a hard time deciding which aspect of the game I enjoy more: the brawling with the unarmed thugs, or the stealth with the armed thugs. In the stealth mode, Batman encounters several armed thugs at once, and he takes major damage from gunfire so the best plan of attack is “Predator style”. To take out armed thugs, Batman makes use of quietly sneaking up behind enemies to silenty incapacitate them, or he can make use of floor grates or his hookshot to travel where the enemies won’t see him. Perching above enemies allows Batman to hang upside down like a bat and take out any enemy walking by, or he can go with a less stealthy method and simply fly down and knock them out. In any case, the stealth and the combat are the most enjoyable aspects of the game.
The detective skills aspect of the game is “passable”, making the adventure aspect of the game a bit mediocre. At any time, Batman can enter Detective mode, changing the way he views the environment. In this mode, the colors are practically inverted, and items or clues that should be investigated are colored in orange. The clues in general aren’t really much deeper than a breadcrumb trail to the next objective (you won’t be doing any Phoenix Wright style investigations or piecing together clues), so the whole detective aspect of the game doesn’t have any depth. Another issue I have with the Detective mode is that if you want to be aware of clues or any hidden items in the world, you pretty much have to run through the game with the Detective mode on at all times. In my several hours of play so far, I’ve spent the majority of my time in this inverted color mode, and don’t even know what the real graphics of the game world looks like. That’s just poor game design right there – I would have preferred that the colors weren’t all inverted while the important stuff is still highlighted for the player.
The Unreal Engine 3 works very well here, along with the music, sound, and vocals – providing for a very impressive presentation. I imagine that those who are fans of Batman and have desperately wanted to play a good one will giggle with glee when they play through Batman: Arkham Asylum. There’s a ton of background material and references to popular characters in the Batman universe that get unlocked throughout the game. Unfortunately for me, as I’m not really a fan of the Batman universe, they come off as simple “collectathon” stuff that adds more fluff to a game I wish had more depth than its combat system.
All in all, I think this game is enjoyable and a must-buy for Batman fans, but far from a revolutionary game such as BioShock (Game Informer calls Batman: AA this year’s BioShock). Although this is what it’s like to play a Batman game done right, would it still be as highly rated if it wasn’t a Batman game? Most likely not, as hunting for hidden packages (disguised as Riddler’s challenges in the game) are not enough to give the adventuring aspect of the game any real depth. Luckily for us, I think we’re all a little bit biased towards wanting to be Batman, so the game’s faults are easier to forgive.
