[Image courtesy of PlayworksOnline]
That is one of the most famous sayings from the The Dark Knight, so much that people often make a joke with it, usually in regards of not knowing who they are after getting hit in the head.
Head injury jokes aside though, I can't remember the last time I played a Batman videogame. It might've been back in the Sega Genesis days where there was a game based on the animated Batman series that was on Kids WB. Talk about a long time ago. When I first heard about "Batman: Arkham Asylum" I was already excited about the premise. Batman's greatest villain, The Joker manages to take control of one of the most iconic locations in the Batman universe, Arkham Asylum and challenges Batman to stop him. Along the way, Batman encounters some of the other famous enemies, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, The Riddler, Killer Croc, and Scarecrow.
First things first, the visuals in this game are fantastic. Being that Arkham Asylum is home to some of the most insane and hostile criminals in Gotham City history, there's an expectation that the facility that houses them all would be look scary. The developers at Rocksteady Studios did a wonderful job of creating the atmosphere. The visuals don't start and stop with the setting. The people in "Batman: Arkham Asylum" look fantastic. I would have to say that the visuals are only second to "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves." Batman looks in every aspect the way he does, The Joker is The Joker is just plain scary. It should be noted about The Joker in this game is voiced by Mark Hamill as in yes, Luke Skywalker.
Combat gameplay in the game is simple hand-to-hand attacks and for the most part is button-mashing, which fits given that it's Batman. What is a lot of fun is when Batman utilizes "Detective Mode." Remember people, Batman is as much a detective and scientist as he is a guy who will punch your lights up. You'll be using the mode often and what it is, is you see a near x-ray look of whatever room you're in. You can locate and identify enemies, see any and all hiding locations and does a good job of invoking the feel that you are Batman and you have a world of awesome gadgets at your disposal. Yes you can use the famous Batarang and his grapple gun to perch up on some high points. I found myself more often than not perched atop a gargoyle statue, waiting for an escaped inmate of Arkham Asylum to walk underneath my position and with a press of a button, Batman swoops in, grabs the inmate and strings them up. From there you can leave them cocooned upside down or throw a Batarang at the rope and sending them crashing to the floor. How could you not be entertained by that? When you're not stringing up bad guys and thwarting The Joker's plan, you can try and outsmart The Riddler, which really is finding relics and answering his riddles, however it does add to the story and the immersion of the game, especially the collection of patient interview tapes.
"Batman: Arkham Asylum" was a lot of fun to play. Any fan of Batman and obviously that has access to the video game should play it. You won't be disappointed.
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