THEURBANBLEND

‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ Review

Batman is easily one of the most widely recognized comic book heroes. And there’s been many stabs at creating a game to live up to the hallowed Batman name. The problem is incorporating so many different aspects of the franchise into the game; the grimey, seedy underbelly of Gotham, the dark humor of the joker, the investigatory skills of the bat, as well as his physical prowess and stealth. It’s fair to say that Rocksteady Studios’ BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM does just that.
Played as a third person game, the player controls the bat(except for a brief “hallucination” where you control…well we wont ruin it for you.) and guides him through Arkham Asylum. Only its been hijacked by the clown prince of crime, the Joker and the mayhem ensues! No one should be taken as a friendly; guards, inmates, and others are out to get you. Oh and did we mention, this is Arkham. That’s right all the super villains Batman has put here-Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Clayface and others, are all here, and out to get you.
With an obvious lack of super powers, rushing into a gun fight is not an option. Stealth is a must for Batman and that is heavily relied upon in this game-and rightfully so. Crouch, use silent take downs, descend silently from above, stick to the shadows, set traps, shimmy along ledges, or in drains, vents and grates, whatever is needed to travel undetected.
Of course, Batman wont shy away from an encounter either. And the Caped Crusader’s combats moves highlight his martial arts training, as his combos flow together seamlessly. He’s also given an arsenal of gadgets(eventually) to assist his puzzle solving and crime fighting.
And the other huge aspect to this game is batman use of his detective skills to track clues and the Joker around Arkham. While not intensely hard, you will need to be attentive and quick on your feet to pick up the clues given you.
We could go on forever about the positives but they’re are a few negatives. While the AI is exceptionally brilliant, some moves made by AI characters are unexplainably dumb. Camer angles do get tricky at times, and bos fights while tough can get a little repetitive.
In short the upside to this game is incredible. Any person who’s ever wanted to feel like the batman will definitely be able to do so in this game.

Tub Review Table
Graphics
Sound
Voice Acting
Story

Overall

Featured . Video Games . Xbox