Batman: Arkham Asylum was written by veteran writer Paul Dini, and also voice actors of the DC Animated Universe, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin reprise their roles as Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn. This game has received high praise and positive reviews, and Guiness World Record considered it the "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever". Now before this is said and done, I will review this game.
Plot. The Joker attacks Gotham City Hall but it is foiled by Batman, who escorts him to Arkham Asylum. Due to a recent fire at Gotham's Blackgate Prison, many members of the Joker's gang have been temporarily relocated to Arkham. As Batman accompanies the guards taking the Joker inside, the asylum's security is overridden by Harley Quinn, allowing the Joker to escape and take control of the facility. His worst fears are realized as the Joker planned this all along, and has also scattered bombs all over Gotham and will blow the city should the police attempt to get to the island. With no other choice, Batman must hunt the Joker on his own with Oracle's help. Along the way, he encounters various of his enemies such as: Scarecrow, Victor Zsasz, Poison Ivy, Bane, and Killer Croc. But the Joker has bigger plans other than taking over the island.
The batarang can also be used for combos, as well as the grappling claw. Players find various secret items such as the riddles left out by The Riddler and the interview tapes of some of the supervillains. After completing the game, players can go to challenge mode and earn points, enduring long fights, and so on. Batman has a RPG-type of level up system, in which after defeating various enemies and even bosses, players can upgrade their attacks, throws, have multiple Batarangs, and even a remote controlled Batarang. Armored Batman can be available as well as the Joker is playable in challenge mode.
Concept. Players must guide Batman throughout Arkham Asylum fighting various enemies, other enemies that are mutated with the Titan venom, encountering bosses, and also finding various secrets as well to level up much quicker. Players will fight against bosses such as Scarecrow, Bane, Harley Quinn, Victor Zsasz, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and finally the Joker himself. Players can take a break from story mode, and then go to challenge mode and make it to the top of the leaderboards.
Design and Development. For the game's design, Unreal Engine 3 was used for home consoles and as for PC, PhysX was used. The graphics looked incredible and it was like watching a Batman movie. Now this is the type of Batman game that you would play over and over. The game was written by Paul Dini, who wrote many of the episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, Detective Comics, and also many DC Animated Movies as well. The story was very well written and it was very enjoyable.
Music and Sound. The music was very epic and eerie in many parts of the game, especially the fights against Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and the Joker. As for the sound, three voice actors of the DC Animated Universe, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin reprised their roles from the cartoon series. Many veteran voice actors also joined in such as Steven Blum, Cree Summer, Tom Kane, Tasia Valenza, Fred Tatasciore, Wally Wingert, Dino Andrade, and James Horan portrayed Killer Croc, Dr. Young, Commissioner Gordon, Poison Ivy, Bane, Riddler, and Jack Ryder respectfully.
Memories. In 2008 after seeing The Dark Knight, I remember when Arkham Asylum was announced. After Heath Ledger died, so did plans for making a game based on the sequel to Batman Begins. And so, when I heard that Arkham Asylum was being made, I got excited. I loved playing the game, and this Batman game is one of the best Batman games ever, but some of them however such as Batman Forever, Rise of Sin Tzu, and Dark Tomorrow weren't so good, and the worst one as well as Batman and Robin.
Rantings. Now the enemies I always hated in this game were the ones armed with machine guns, most of the time they would totally piss me off. The undeground parts of Arkham was even troublesome as well with even MORE armed inmates. Some challenge modes like endless fights would have your thumbs pretty sore if playing that long just to get a higher score and be the top on the leaderboard.
Good Aspects. Batman: Arkham Asylum is a great Batman game, and in some ways it reminded me of the graphic novel "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Earth". Also some Game Over sequences were funny, some were scary, and others would be gut wrenching. The game's replay value is very high, and if you have not played this game, then you don't know what you're missing. This game has a sequel that was released on October 18, 2011, Arkham City, and was more successful than this game.
Overall. I truly love this Batman game, and I did this review because I'm a huge fan of the Caped Crusader, and I'm looking forward to The Dark Knight Rises coming in 10 days. This game gets a 10 out of 10.
God Bless and Play Hard Gamers!