Invisible Predator plays more like a puzzle game than an action one, as your main tool to help you oversee the field and plan your attack is in the form of gargoyles that you can grapple onto and sit upon from the rafters. Assessing the room, waiting for the moment an enemy is left on his own and then quickly executing your assault is the best way to complete the level without being shot at. And that's vital as Batman is no Superman, it doesn't take many shotgun shells to take him out.
There are elements in the room that can help you though, via creative use of your inventory. A 'detective mode' allows you to see the room in an X-Ray format, which not only highlights active enemies but also tells you their condition - a thug on his own who's highly nervous is a lot easier to prey upon.
In the detective mode you can see structural weaknesses in walls and surfaces too, which is where your Explosive Gel comes in handy. Gliding down to spray some of this substance on one side of the wall and then detonating it from a safe distance will take out any enemy that happens to be standing on the opposite side. This can be used to attract nearby goons too, so if anyone gets left behind on patrol, you're left with another perfect target.
Invisible Predator relies on cause and effect, as the enemies patrol in groups and successful runs require a great deal of
strategy to split them up and silence them one by one. Other tools at your disposal include the trusty Batarang, which can stun enemies for a second or two - buying you some time to either take them out or focus on a nearby target without being spotted. A Sonic Batarang can be used to activate suicide collars, but the stage I played had none so I didn't get the chance to try it out.
For each of the 16 challenges you can unlock in
Batman: Arkham Asylum, there are special 'medals' that you can earn for meeting certain conditions. For the beat-em-up score stages, a higher score will earn you more Batman insignias, while medals are awarded in Invisible Predator for things like sneak-attacking, knocking out people by environmental damage or following up a Batarang hit with a smack in the chops. I was told that there are different on-line leaderboards for those who do and don't satisfy the optional criteria, so it looks like it will provide a lot of replay value for those who have completed with the game's main story mode.
SPOnG's looking forward to getting a peek at how the main game works - for now, however, know that there will be multiple other modes that you can flutter around and have a jolly good time in.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is due for a Summer release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
