Reviews// Batman: Arkham Asylum

The puzzles got on my nerves a bit. They are, in places, unnecessarily forced. In one instance you're required to rescue a couple of guards hanging precariously over some electrified water. I spent ages looking around for some overly-complex way of dealing with the situation, but it turned out that...

(Mild Spoiler Warning!) I just had to use my electrical doohickey (previously only used for disabling electric door/forcefield thingies) to short out an electric point. In what backwards universe is Batman unable to reach down and pull some wires out of a pool of water?!?! Maybe, for some reason, his gloves aren't heavily insulated enough. I imagine he would find a stick. (End of the Mild Spoiler Warning)

There are some bit and bobs in the game clearly aimed at providing a bit of replayability and providing added depth to the game. Character bios pop up, as do interview tapes that provide background information on the different villains. Similarly, you can collect Riddler trophies scattered about the game to unlock challenges set apart from the main game. These consist of the likes of rooms full of baddies to take out sneakily, and waves of goons to beat down with just your fists. If you're the sort of compulsive player intent on constantly upping your scores, this is going to give you a week-long hard on.

Visually, Arkham Asylum basically looks as good as you want it to. It's crisp, smooth and lacking in any significant technical flaws. The look is styled after a mash-up of the comics and films. The Batsuit is an armoured, very functional looking affair that's reminiscent of the Chris Nolan directed films without actually being one of the suits you've seen in them. The villains, meanwhile, are more reminiscent of the comics. Expect a wiry, theatrical Joker rather than the grungy, dishevelled anarchist played by Heath Ledger.

Arkham Island itself is suitably atmospheric. It's huge, stygian and labyrinthine. It straddles the Gothic and the functional, succeeding in presenting enough visual variation that it doesn't become tiresome.

What muddies the water a little, however, is the use of voice actors from Batman: The Animated Series. Mark Hamill does an admirable Joker as ever, Arleen Sorkin is twisted, adorable and annoying all at once as Harley Quinn (The Joker's girlfriend), but Kevin Conroy's Batman jars a little. He was great in The Animated Series, but among the comics and movie influenced backdrop of Arkham Asylum he sounds a little too polite. I'm not saying I wanted Christian Bale's electronically-produced growl, just something a bit more... gravelly.


Conclusion
All niggles aside, Arkham Asylum comes together as a massively satisfying whole. The combat and stealth feel great and there's plenty of variation in the gameplay mechanics, the story works well and everything looks great. More than that, however, Arkham Asylum makes you feel cool as hell. Switching between using the grey stuff between your ears and your fists before zooming in for an epic, slow motion finish makes you feel like going out and beating up criminals. Don't, because you'll die, but that's how it feels.

SPOnG Score: 92%