Review
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360)
Why So Awesome?
by Deadpool
At the midpoint of the main quest in Batman: Arkham Asylum, Oracle/Barbara Gordon is informed of something Bruce Wayne has done prior to the game's events that's a little hard to believe, even for her. Batman responds to her incredulity with, "Barbara, it's me." Of course Batman would do this thing, which I cannot spoil. Is he not, in the popular nomenclature, the Goddamn Batman? Rocksteady studios, deveoper of Arkham Asylum, understand this with a vengeance. Batman: Arkham Asylum isn't just the first really good Batman game in nearly 20 years, it's also one of the best games of 2009.
Arkham Asylum is not connected in any way, shape, or form to Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's 1989 graphic novel; there's slight inspiration, but developer Rocksteady Studios have actually looked to the great early 90s animated series, by hiring series writer (and Detective Comics and Streets of Gotham veteran) Paul Dini to craft the story, and voice actors Kevin Conroy (Batman), Mark Hamill (The Joker), and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn).
The game's plot is simple: after a routine attack on the city, Batman drives the Joker to Arkham Island where he will be imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, the Denny O'Neil-created prison for super-criminals that's been a part of the Batman mythology for decades. Batman is unnerved- "[Joker] surrendered almost without a fight." It turns out his suspicions were correct, since Joker escapes from his bonds as soon as he gets behind the walls of Arkham. It turns out he's been planning a full scale riot in Arkham for months, and now that all the pieces are in place, the inmates have taken over. Trapped inside, Batman must run a gauntlet comprised of some of his greatest foes- the Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Bane, and others- and discover what the Joker's true plan is.
Arkham Asylum is at first glance a standard button mashing brawler combined with "Metroidvania"-style exploration and stealth elements. But early on you start to realize just how well honed Rocksteady's take on these elements are. First off, the combat- there's the usual X for striking, and Y for countering. The system of combat, however, has been dubbed Free Flow- you don't simply hammer X to take bad guys down, though you can do that if you wish. No, each punch and counter from Batman has to be timed just correctly, and in the rhythm of what your enemies are doing, so the more correct combos and counters you land, the more Batman can just move from enemy to enemy, striking and takind down and racking up 10, 20, 30, even forty hits in one sequence. It's easy to grasp, challenging to master, and while there's a part of it that's slightly broken (it's impossible to counter when doing a final takedown), it's very fun. There's an immense sense of satisfaction to be found (and lots of experience points to rack up) in taking out five or six thugs at once without taking a hit or even seemingly touching the ground. The better the combos, the more experience points you get to unlock moves with the increase to a new level.
The game's stealth elements are slightly reminiscent of the interesting but flawed stealth parts of Batman Begins back in 2005. using melee attacks against gun toting enemies will quickly turn you into a BatStain, so Batman has to use sneaking and climbing up conveniently placed gargoyles to surprise attack bad guys. The more bad guys you take out in an area, the more frightened and reckless they get trying to catch you. It's pretty challenging and provides some of the more tense moments in the game.
One of the best parts of the game, however, are the exploration elements. Even more than fellow retro style games like Shadow Complex and Darksiders, Arkham Asylum distills the "Metroidvania" style for the current console generation. Batman has a "Detective mode" reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid that allows him to pick out secret areas he can get to with his many varied gadgets he unlocks through experience. Throughout Arkham Island there are challenges, audio tapes, character files, trophies, and other knicknacks to find. Dini and Rocksteady hit on an ingenious way of motivating the gamer to find these things, in addition to just having the bragging rights- the Riddler. As voiced by Wally Wingert, the Riddler, who remains unseen but has somehow jacked his way into Batman's communciation systems, taunts and belittles Batman every step of the way, smugly positing the Bat can't possibly complete all his Riddler Challenges. Wingert is SO smarmy and egotistical, that one can't help but want to go out and grab each and every challenge possible, just to hear him crack up the higher your score gets. What's more, the challenges have some pretty great rewards, such as audio files explaining the history of Arkham and its inmates. Rocksteady has done its homework and filled the character filed with Bat-ephemera for the gamer to for the gamer to devour.
In addition to all of that, Rocksteady keeps things from getting boring by adding interesting set pieces, mostly tied into boss battles, that really switch up the gameplay. Without spoiling anything, the confrontations with Scarecrow in particular are pretty damn awesome. Every aspect of Batman's character comes into play during the ten-hour quest- his fighting skills, his detective skills, his broken personality. The game's a love letter to the Dark Knight, but not a fannish one.
Ten hours may not sound like a lot of time, but the game makes up for this with plenty of challenge maps you unlock, for combat and stealth. These maps really do live up their name and extend the replay value nicely.
There are some blemishes. In addition to the flaw in the combat, the voice acting outside of the series veterans and Wingert leaves something to be desired. Tom Kane plays Commissioner Gordon, the Warden of Arkham, and a third character who I won't name for spoiler purposes, but he somehow winds up making them all sound the same. Bane and Killer Croc almost sound totally alike, and I was disappointed that Dini chose to portray Bane as a rampaging monster instead of the more calculating character he is in the comics.
Overall, though, Arkham Asylum is one fo the best superhero games ever made, and the best I've played since Batman for NES and Game Boy back in 1990. This is only Rocksteady's second video game (After 2006's Urban Chaos: Riot Response), but they show and impeccable level of craft and assuredness that other developers would do well to study. It's no surprise Warner Bros. Interactive did the Captain Sensible thing and bought a majority stake in the studio earlier this year. The Goddamn Rocksteady has crafted a thrilling adventure that's well worth a flick of the Batarang.
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