Batman : Arkham Asylum

I don't often spend what precious few hours of gaming time I get on things I've already played through once, mainly because of the gigantic pile of unfinished games I have.  It's got to be really good for me to be  interested long enough to play through again.  If I was big into Batman or DC comics, that alone would be enough to warrant a second run through of what is arguably the best comic book video game adaption of all time.  Sadly I'm into neither, but this game needs no hook to justify another run; it's so damn good it really deserves to be played many times.  I was skeptical when I first heard about a new Batman game in development since, aside from the Ultimate Alliance games at least, there really isn't a lot of quality love for super hero out there these days.  When I looked more into how Arkham Asylum was being developed and discovered some of the voice talent behind it, specifically Mark Hamil as the Joker, my interest peaked.  It was enough to get me looking at game play videos, and after that the rest is history.  I knew it was a must buy on day one.

One play through of the main story on the 360 wasn't enough, but like most console games I didn't hang on to it long enough to start another one.  Curse you GameStop and your evil in-store credit!  Anyways; well over a year later I picked up the Game Of The Year version on Steam but hadn't gotten around to playing it, at least until recently.  With the release of Arkham City imminent, I decided another run through of this masterpiece was in order.  Since I've been on this masochistic streak lately I decided this time I would attempt it on hard.  I started with the ambition of playing with keyboard and mouse but quickly became overwhelmed trying to remember which of Batman's moves go where.  Maintaining combos was an absolute nightmare, as I could never keep straight which button to hit next.  After that complete disaster, even on Normal I might add, I broke down and plugged in the 360 controller.  Battles that had once been impossible were now a breeze as I slid right back into the game's deep combo system.  Normal was just too easy, even after not playing for so long that I literally forgot every single move.  It's a testament to how good the design of this game is.  It would have to be Hard, and this time there would be no going back if things got hairy.

Arkham Asylum opens with Batman escorting his arch-nemesis Joker to Gotham's infamous institution for the criminally insane.  The intro is fully playable as the Clown Prince of Crime is strapped to an upright gurney and escorted by Batman and guards to the inner bowels of the asylum.  Walking through this part of the game reminded me a great deal of the original Half-Life; Gordon Freeman's fateful tram ride into Black Mesa parallels here.  This game oozes atmosphere from every single orifice.  It's a literal feast, an assault on your very eyes and ears that you'll never want to end.  The graphics are drop dead gorgeous, the voice acting is top notch, and it all serves to pull you into an experience unlike any other..

As they're walking, Batman remarks to Commissioner Gordon how easily Joker gave himself up and that he has a bad feeling about things to come.  It's evident things are falling into place as Joker's crew from Blackgate had to be moved to Arkham due to an unexplained fire, you run into them being herded into cells on your way down with their boss.  You can almost see the dominoes being set up for the inevitable knock down.  Once deep enough into the facility, Joker frees himself and reveals his true intentions: a set-up from the beginning of course, to lure Batman into a trap of epic size and scope.  Joker, along with a little help from a few of Gotham's other super villains, now control the entirety of Arkham Island.  The asylum's isolation and high walls ensure that no one from the outside is coming in to help, but that's just the way Batman likes things.

It's here where the game starts proper, with Joker throwing a few nameless thugs at the Dark Knight to warm him up.  It's also here that you get your first introduction as to how flat out awesome the combat system in Arkham Asylum is.  Things open up with a quick couple strikes on the closest enemy, he goes back in a daze just as you counter another attack from behind.  This thug is armed with a pipe, which you disarm and promptly beat him with.  Two more run in swinging, you rush towards one and do a light jump over and behind him.  A hard fist, then another, and he goes down.  The adrenaline hits and your off; you leap across the room at a distant enemy, grab his incoming punch and then twist it to a loud crack as the bone snaps.  You release your grip just in time to counter an incoming punch from another enemy, then scoop him up above your head.  You turn quickly and find a target; he is thrown into two others and all three go down in a heap.  Another quick leap across the room to finish them off, countering a feeble punch from one with a hard right to the chin.  You look up and see they are all knocked out, the fight is over and it lasted less than a minute.

After taking a quick breather you are introduced to Batman's detective skills and gadgets.  Harley Quinn traps the Dark Knight in the initial room and your tasked to switch to detective mode to find another way out.  An electronic grid is mapped over the environment with interesting objects being highlighted and detailed.  A nearby air vent, the first of many, proves to be the only other alternative.  The vent shafts are cramped and full of cobwebs, but they are handy for getting around obstacles and staying out of site.  You finally make your way through to another grate and hear voices as you quietly force it aside .  You're still in detective mode, so the enemies in this room are highlighted red.  They're carrying guns, which means they are considerably more dangerous and can kill you quickly.  Batman has body armor, but he's not Superman.

It would only take one or two shots, so a frontal assault is suicide.  You glance up and see a number of stone gargoyles mounted near the ceiling; Arkham's odd architecture will keep you above watchful eyes.  A quick fire from your bat claw and you're perched atop one, scanning the room below to make out a plan of attack.  It's clear you have to isolate enemies and silently take them down, as any noise will alert others who are nearby.  You jump to another gargoyle across the room just as an unsuspecting thug crosses under it.  In near silence you fall to the ground, then quickly sneak up and choke him out before he even realizes what's happening.  The bat claw shoots out again and you're gone, safe up in the darkness and ready to find your next target.  This is Arkham Asylum from beginning to end, and it never gets old.

I've already finished my run through and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought, save for a few fights near the end.  One right before the final battle comes to mind;  you are forced to fight two titan thugs and a room full of normal enemies.  It must have taken me at least fifteen to twenty retries to beat that fight.  Up until then I never felt like the game was cheating just to be hard, but for awhile that was like hitting a brick wall.  After the credits rolled I dipped into the challenge maps a little to try out the sweet looking armored bat suit.  This drops the combat level back down to normal, which felt almost trivial by comparison.  I still have not been able to master stringing together combos, and just beating down the enemy doesn't improve your score.  It's all about style, variety, and keeping that combo going all the way through.  There also Predator challengers, where you're against armed henchmen.  Medals are awarded here for taking them out in various ways.  And of course there are the Riddler trophies and challenges throughout the main game, which you can go back and do after the story ends.  I completed all of them on 360, but haven't paid much attention to them on PC.  I'd like to go back and get them all eventually, but who knows if I'll ever find time to do it.

The game's sequel, Arkham City, has since been released to rave reviews.  I didn't think it was possible to make it much better than this one, but man did they pull out all the stops.  I've already finished it's story line and have since been working on the plethora of side missions that I skipped.  There's also more challenge maps and New Game+, which should keep me busy until the PC version releases.  Then I'll start again and possibly even work on a 100% save file.