Have you ever wanted to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?
Whether you recognize this question from 1989’s “Batman” or not, you can enjoy Rocksteady’s newest addition to the world of comic book hero video games, “Batman: Arkham Asylum.”
This latest incarnation of Batman – released on the PS3 and Xbox360 last month and just recently on the PC – is a must play. Its sales worldwide have already earned it a Guinness World Record for “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever.”
The game opens up with the Batmobile racing through the streets of Gotham, Batman has once again caught the Joker and is delivering him to Arkham Asylum. The tone of the game is dark and sinister, even creepy at times, taking place entirely on Arkham Island and features an original story written by author and five-time Emmy award winner Paul Dini, who has also worked on “Lost” and “Batman: The Animated Series.” Many of the characters from the comic make an appearance, and even more are alluded to.
While I applaud the use of Mark Hamil to voice the Joker, I don’t really like what they did to Harley Quinn; I remember her character being more of an acrobat than an S&M Amazon playing nurse. However, they did a great job with Poison Ivy and Killer Croc, and I think they actually improved Scarecrow.
Right out of the gate, you are Batman. You don’t have to level up or acquire weapons, although you do get more skills and gadgets as the game progresses. But unlike many other superhero games, you start out strong.
The game does not offer a tutorial, but then again I didn’t see a real need for one. The basic controls are really quite simple: Y counters, B stuns, A evades and X kicks ass. The combat system is similar to games like “Devil May Cry” – you can chain your attacks and go from kicking one thug in the teeth to delivering an elbow into the chest of the thug who thought he would sneak up behind you. Your enemies also get smarter throughout the game, and some will be armed with various weapons.
One of the more interesting features, in my opinion, was the ability to truly put the fear of the bat into your enemies.
The Joker has outfitted his men with technology that gives him their biological information and location, presumably to let him know who is out of commission or running scared. The player can use it to their advantage. For instance, swoop down from the rafters and take one thug out without being seen or heard. Use the batclaw to return to the shadows and wait for the other guys to find the body. You can see the heart rates jump up as the thugs start to freak out. Plus the Joker’s comments over the intercom system stir them up even more; for example in one scene, Joker told them where to look for bodies and mocked their incompetence. Now you have gone from a room with four calm brutes to three skittish punks who shoot at any random noise.
There is a perfect balance between stealth and action here. Explore your inner ninja, crawl through the air ducts, hide in the shadows and strike down your enemies when the time is right. Actually, it might be more appropriate to say “predator” instead of stealth because Batman is not hiding from his enemies, he is hunting them.
Or maybe your ideal Batman stomps the miscreants into submission. If so, you can jump right into the action and take the whole gang on barehanded. You also get to upgrade your equipment in whatever way you think complements your playing style best. Many of Batman’s gizmos and gadgets will be at your disposal.
But Batman is not all about pummeling enemies; there are mysteries to unravel and puzzles to solve. They can range from something as tame as taking care of the henchmen without being detected to something harder, like the figuring out the Riddler’s Challenges.
After many attempts, someone finally made a good Batman video game. The graphics are beautiful, the voice acting is well done, the story is in line with the Batman universe and the game play is superb.
The big, bad Bat has certainly come a long way since his 8-bit appearance in 1988’s “Batman: The Caped Crusader.”