You may remember a shortish while ago when I wrote up a preview of the new Batman game that was making its way towards release. At that point in time, I played through a short demo which let me pulverize a few bad guys to twitching pulps, and stalk a few others from the rafters like a dark nightmare.
Needless to say, I found this to be quite entertaining, and I spent the next few weeks hoping that the rest of the game would be as epic an experience.
I’m very happy to report that it totally freaking is.
The game is set on Arkham Island, the chunk of rock that is home to Arkham Asylum. The Asylum is that lovely establishment where so many of Batman’s arch-nemeses end up after he punches their faces in with his bat fists. The Dark Knight has just captured the Joker as the game opens, and is en route to the Asylum with said super villain. Shortly after arriving, however, the Joker breaks free of his guardians and takes control of the facility, releasing several choice ultra baddies (including Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bane and several others) to wreak general havoc and mayhem.
The rest of the game boils down to Batman bringing the island back under control. As far as story goes, it’s nothing revolutionary, but it’s done with enough polish that the simplicity of the plot doesn’t ruin anything.
Where the game excels is atmosphere. From the outset, you’re sucked into the game’s world. The controls are oily-smooth, fluid and intuitive; very rarely is there a disconnect between the player’s intentions and Batman’s actions. Combat is handled almost exclusively with the mouse (I haven’t played the console version(s), so you Xboxians will have to just roll with me for a minute). The shift key makes occasional appearances for special combos. The simplicity of the system might have resulted in boring button mashing in a lesser game, but it succeeds here because the developers realized at some point during the creation process that the strength of this game doesn’t lay in depth of control, but rather in the pure eye-candy of watching Batman do his mojo in a cage full of hapless baddies. Rather than being boring, the simple controls remove a potential distraction from watching what is probably the best third-person combat system in any game ever.
When faced with a roomful of hulking inmates-on-the-loose (the game will at times sic you on around 20 of them at a time, though you’ll usually be facing groups of five to ten), Batman moves in a scarily lifelike manner, never skipping a frame or glitching through animations as he smoothly transitions from smacking some guy with a pipe to catching the fist of another dude and pushing him to his knees before giving him an epic knockout kick to the face. The sheer fluidity and brutality of the combat captures the feel of the two latest Batman movies perfectly.
Even Batman isn’t bulletproof, however. When faced with a group of armed foes, the game’s stealth system comes into play. Now, in some games, stealth is used to hide from people and sneak around unseen. In this game, however, stealth is used less as a pansy way around a fight and more as a way to systematically pick off a cadre of overconfident punks deluded enough to think their silly guns will save them. Remember the scene from Batman Begins where Batman is stalking those guys guarding the shipping containers? That’s exactly how this feels: the game lets you play a total ultra-predator, striking from the shadows and leaving no trace of your presence beyond the pile of unconscious foes.
The game’s areas are designed with an impressive degree of creativity and skill. After the initial section of the game, you’re free to explore Arkham Island and make your way to different areas. As the Joker slowly takes over more and more of the place, you’ll need to scramble between different areas in order to quell the firestorms he stirs up, all the while slowly piecing together your enemy’s evil scheme.
As much as the game impressed me, however, there are a few concerns. While language doesn’t crop up too often, the thugs you beat into sacks of unconscious meat occasionally spit out profanity just before being pulverized – which is understandable in context, but still worth noting. Also, while there is no overt sexual content in the game, both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy sport provocative outfits, and reference is made to Ivy seducing a guard in an escape attempt.
The main concern I have with the game, content-wise, is that it is rated ‘T’ (for Teen) by the ESRB. Ostensibly, this is because Batman never actually kills anyone in the game. This proves to be little more than a loophole, however; this game is more violent than a lot of ‘M’ (for Mature) rated titles. For reference, the Halo games are nowhere near are graphically violent as this game is; neither is Mass Effect or The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Combined with the dark Batman setting, you have a game that isn’t appropriate for the younger demographic, and in my opinion should have been given a more restrictive rating.
Basically, if you’ve seen the two latest Batman movies, expect that type of content from this game. If those were too much for your tastes, this probably will be too.
From a quality perspective, there are a few niggles. A few odd decisions were made throughout the game, including perspective shifts (from third person to first person), which do little except confuse the player; a sequence with Killer Croc, which was a bit of a letdown for several reasons, the most glaring being the fact that you don’t actually get to fight him; and a few other minor irritations not worth mentioning.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is an incredibly solid game, capturing the Batman atmosphere with perfection. It lacks the compelling and thought provoking storyline necessary to make it a full blast masterpiece (leading me to disagree with Gamesradar’s assessment of the game as the new Bioshock), but is still a standout game in its own right. While the content seems a bit much for the mild ‘T’ rating, if you’re up for some Dark Knight beat-down action, it doesn’t get any better than this.
Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.
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Swait. I guess the demo I played did shine this. It was a little repetitive, but gameplay-wise, it really was smooth, and you "felt" the blows you were dealing.