Written By: Paul Dini
Voice Cast:
Kevin Conroy
Mark Hamill
Arleen Sorkin
Kimberly Brooks
Tom Kane
“Welcome to the madhouse Batman! I set a trap and you sprung it gloriously!” – Joker
Batman Arkham Asylum comes after a slew of subpar Batman games and in 2009 we Batman fans finally got the videogame we deserved and the one we needed.
Batman takes Joker to Arkham Asylum after he foils yet another one of his mad plots. After handing joker over to the Arkham guards he decides that something’s not right, that he gave up too easily, he was right. Joker gets loose and with the help of Harley Quinn completely takes over the asylum and lets free all of its inhabitants. It takes the saying of the inmates taking over the asylum to feverishly new heights.
This is everything a Bat-fan can hope for in a game based on the caped crusader. My favorite Bat-scribe Paul Dini was hired to script the game which tiled the game into my favor even before it was released.
There is a great combat system in place (the free flow combat system). You can beat criminals up in style, just as Batman would. You can also utilize Batman’s predatory stealth abilities and use the shadows to strike terror into the hearts of the inmates. There is a feature called detective mode which can be turned on at any time to see more than the naked eye and get info on your surroundings, you can even see enemies heart rates and if they are: calm, terrified etc. These combines to make you really become the “The Worlds Greatest Detective”.
Detective Mode
Through the years I began to lose hope that a great Batman game would ever be released. I owned Batman: Vengeance (the game based on Batman: The Animated Series), a good game but lacking to some degree and there was the game based on Batman Begins which I never played but didn’t hear much good things. So I wasn’t expecting anything amazing to come from any Batman game.
Freeflow Combat
The greatest superhero game up until 2009 was Spider-Man 2 (based on the movie) which I saw as the pinnacle of the superhero gaming genre. By the time 2009 rolled around and the trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum started making the rounds, I thought wow this looks really good! When I finally got my hands on the game I was fully blown away. The main voice actors from Batman: T.A.S on voice duty, Paul Dini writing and Rocksteady on stellar form this game was such a joy to play through from start to finish.
As great as the character design is and the voice actors are in there respective roles, maybe the best character is Arkham Asylum itself with its meticulous gothic architecture and design that really evokes a dark and creepy atmosphere. It’s really something to behold, as you have free roam of the iconic madhouse from Bat-lore.
The map is jam packed with Easter eggs relating to the Batman mythos. Most of these can be found while completing the Riddler side story that runs throughout the game where you have to solve riddles and find trophies.
All the boss fights are well designed and fun. A standout is the Scarecrow’s fear toxin induced nightmare sequences. By far the best in the game is the Killer Croc battle which depending on how you react to horror movies might just scare the piss out of you, but at the least will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.
This game is phenomenal and you don’t need to be a Batman fan to love it. (Although you will definitely appreciate it more if you are). This is an outstanding game in its own right not just a fantastic superhero game.
10/10 – Cody 10/10 – Michael 8/10 – Matthew 10/10 – John N/A – Jason 95%
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