Weekly Game Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

[MockBot]

Automatically generated comment thread for Weekly Game Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum.

[captain516]

Didn't Paul Dini write the game too?

[executioneer]

he totally did, dude

[Pentegarn]

You pretty much got it all right with this review.

I was struck by the ease of combat in this game, they were able to make it fun, exciting, yet somehow as easy as breathing. I loved the whole counter system and the slow motion when you really clobber a bad guy. It made it feel like I was playing a movie or really well done TV show.

[DougClayton4231]

Fantastic game! I only wanted it to be longer though.

[Moranzollamas]

Great review. Dead on.

One of my favorite parts of the game is that if you return to Ra's body bag, hes gone. Great little easter egg.

[BurnPianoBurn]

I agree with Doug, the game seemed sort of short, but it was a great game to rent, and totally fun. Good review as well. Dead on.

[RedCometXIII]

I was waiting for a review on this. Other than Modern Warfare 2, this was the big game of the year for me that I could not wait to play. I played the Demo over 20 times easily and I can proudly say that it lived up to every high expectation I had for it. Game of the Year material.

[Blackdrazon]

This game hits just the right combination of meaningful, logical collect-a-thons (as opposed to, say, Spider Man 2's "token on a random air vent precisely 65.4% of the way up the wall and facing north-north-east" or Assassin's Creed "collect 700 flags") and having stealth portions that just felt rewarding. Will play again.

I can't wait for a sequel, but I'll admit I'm concerned about how it'll work if it takes place in an area larger than Arkham. I suppose they could buy some time by setting a game in the Wayne Estate, but if they step much further out they'll have to deal with Spider-Man's aforementioned "crap hidden in no good place for no good reason" problem. Then again, if they've done this much, who's to say they can't handle that too?

[Kat]

I just started "playing" it today. I put it in quotes, because I was more watching my friend play.

The graphics were top-notch and watching kept me so involved I still felt like I was playing.

[Desert_Screams]

Great review, Proto. This really is the game of the year as far as I'm concerned. They didn't go crazy with the cinematics (yeah, lookin' at you, MGS4), and there's an actual difference in the difficulty levels (about a quarter of the way through the game on the hard setting...and it's actually hard!). Conroy and Hamill did great voice work, and the makers of the game did something even Christopher Nolan couldn't accomplish: they made Scarecrow a genuinely frightening character.

[HowardC]

Proto, THANK YOU for stating the obvious about the wardrobe changes! I've heard nothing but complaining about them, Quinn in particular which strikes me as odd considering in both the comics and the animated series she RARELY wears her classic one-piece and is always in some cute costume relevant to the setting and/or just in her street clothes.

[Kitsunexus]

Had Scribblenauts been delayed until July 2010, this would have been game of the year.

[Nick]

This game was a blast.

[captain516]

I think my favorite part is that Batman looks like Michael Keaton.

[iforgotthename]

If i had a PS3, I might check this out. I say "might," because Batman is my least favorite superhero, mostly because his lack of powers don't make him seem "super," to me. But he has the best rouge gallery of anybody in comics.

[captain516]

They have it for the 360 too

[testtube]

Damn, I sold my PS3 after being ear smokingly pissed at how hard Metal Gear Solid 4 failed to be anywhere near as cool or fun as 3. I want to check this out.