Batman: Arkham Asylum
Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Publisher: Eidos Interactive Ltd.
Systems: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Astute movie and video game fans may remember hearing Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) "confirm" a Dark Knight video game to G4 last year about three days after the movie's release. I was very skeptical, since most movie video games are released around the date of the movie upon which they are based, simply for publicity's sake.
Needless to say, the game never saw a release date, and details later surfaced regarding the reasons. Chalk it up to development problems on the part of Pandemic Brisbane, the studio hired to create the game.
Jump ahead to August 25, 2009. Rocksteady Studios releases Batman: Arkham Asylum to retailers. The result is most assuredly better than anything we could've hoped for in a game based on a movie. Actually, the result is quite jaw-dropping for a video game in general.
Conceptually (and very loosely) based on the graphic novel "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth" by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean, Arkham Asylum the video game begins with Batman driving the Joker to Arkham in the Batmobile. Predictably enough, the Joker eventually takes over the asylum, and Batman jumps to the task at hand: liberating Arkham from the Joker and his thugs.
This game is a Batman fan's dream, through and through. The attention to detail exhibited by Rocksteady Studios is utterly astounding. Setting the game in Arkham allows them to veritably run wild with references and throwbacks to a wide range of villains from Batman's entire Rogues Gallery. I discovered several new villains I never even knew existed in the Bat-universe while playing through Arkham.
As far as gameplay is concerned, Arkham is appropriately varied throughout, with good helpings of brawling, stealth and puzzles. The fighting does get a little repetitive, but taking down bad guys never loses its appeal. This repetition does become a hindrance in boss battles, however. Throughout the game, the same mini-boss battle is repeated multiple times without much variation. Batman waits for the baddie to charge, tosses a Batarang, dodges, and goes to town on the disoriented thug. This isn't a huge problem, but a little more creativity would've been appreciated.
Beyond this flaw, the game shines throughout. The Joker's henchmen aren't too intelligent, but I will argue that this makes the game more fun to play. They have enough intelligent moments to make the game semi-believable, but they're also dumb enough to allow for some remarkably cool sneaking moves and takedowns. The stealth feels too easy sometimes, but it's always satisfying. Think of it like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, only Batman has a much easier time beating the baddies if he's caught. There are usually many vantage points, and many ways to approach each room as well.
Batman's gadgets are a very welcome feature as well. The remote control Batarang never gets old, and the gadgets Batman acquires later in the game will make you want to explore the island even more before completion, just to put them to use. If only I could have Batman's zipline in real life.
Graphically, Arkham is a powerhouse, with beautifully detailed character models, impressive water effects and no noticeable dips in framerate. Arkham is a very gothic place, and Rocksteady has captured this motif brilliantly without overdoing it. The environments are impressively detailed, even though you'll be too busy battling through them to take much notice. There are a few graphical glitches here and there, but they are by no means game-breaking and certainly not always noticeable in the midst of the action.
At the end of the day, it's the production values that make Arkham Asylum a must-buy. This is a complete video game package if I've ever seen one. The voice actors all give solid performances, including Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, reprising their iconic Animated Series roles as the Joker and Batman, respectively. Once the main quest is done and over with, the Riddler challenges and trophies should be next on any gamer's list. Finding all the collectibles and playing through the welcome Challenge Mode only further lengthen the time you'll be spending at Arkham.
We may not have gotten a Dark Knight game, but maybe that was for the better, because Batman: Arkham Asylum surpasses anything a movie-game could've achieved. Rocksteady had the entire Batman library at its fingertips, and chose not to skimp on any facet, making it a complete masterpiece of a game that shouldn't be missed.
If you somehow aren't a Batman fan after The Dark Knight, maybe Arkham Asylum will make one out of you. Give it a try.
My Score: 9.4 out of 10
All images from the Batman: Arkham Asylum official site.
No comments:
Post a Comment