MCP Review- Batman: Arkham Asylum

I sooo need a Pc upgrade...

Awesome review, Alex. CHUD is usually my primary source of video game reviews and info and it's because the content is thoughtful, well-written, and entertaining.

That being said, fuck you for making me want this game more. Don't you understand I have a backlog!

Great job on the review, Alex.

Entertaining review indeed. I had pre-ordered the pc version, but after coming here every day and reading the Arkham thread, I broke down and bought the PS3 flavor (I'm gonna gift the pc one to my roommate or neighbor).

Yeah, I love this game. I hope it sells bucketloads.

Just beat this yesterday. Great game that never got boring. It's been awhile since I've played a game that kept me up till 5 in the morning just to see what's coming up next. I too hope this sells like hell cause I want a sequel!! I don't know why but I was really hoping to fight a certain villain. Maybe next time.

Great game but the boss battles were the weakest part.

fantastic job as always Alex...truly you have become a key player in emptying my wallet.

I think an "open world" No Man's Land Gotham would be great for a sequel. And by open world, I mean the way AA handles it. To get to other parts of the city, you find your Batmobile or phone in the Batwing and then select your area from a map, unlocking new sections, of course. You divide Gotham into like 7 pieces, throw in a ton of mini-bosses from Batman's shittier rogue's gallery, keep brawling on the streets and detectiving and predator mode inside...it could work.

Add a few more gadgets and get rid of the duplicates (smoke bombs, caltraps, bolos, zipline that ties two enemies together or to a wall or some such) add like one more combat modifier and give predator mode some more takedown animations and you could have a crazy-ass sequel of awesome.

Oh, and good review, Alex. It's a helluva good game.

That review's the straw that broke the camel's back, I was planning on waiting a week or so for the price to come down. DAMN YOU RIVELLO, AND YOUR FANTASTICALLY PERSUASIVE REVIEW!

I am in love with this game, I wanna make sweet love and have little bat-babies, etc. etc.

No seriously, this game is now in my top 5 games of all time. I purchased the 360 version (which by the way, PLEASE no one waste money on the collectors edition, the batarang is plastic and never comes off the base, it is permanently attached..).
I was surprised to find out that the graphic differences in the 360 and ps3 versions came down to a slight difference in texture resolution. I love both my ps3 and 360, and it was a fight to see which one I would get, ultimately it came down to the store only having the 360 version. Which I hope we get the Joker maps soon.

Gameplay is amazing, story is amazing (right down to when the game glitches all to hell and shoots you back to the beginning of the game. And you realize it was just the scarecrow messing with you.)

I do want to say that people should stop having a fit over the boss battles, here is my reasoning, you can take out normal thugs, but in big fights, like bane and killer croc, your not going to be able to use a normal hack and slash button mashing to win. You get enough of that in the game with the thugs. The boss battles force you to not just win with force, but some brains too. I liked that, how when I got to a boss I had to change up my way of thinking on how to win. (as repetetive as they are in parts.)

It just drives the point home how Batman wasn't just muscle in a mask. (I LOVE how they all refer to him as "Detective" in the game. It's the little touches..)

My only complaint is, Arleen Sorkin did good coming back to play Harley, but after a while, I just wanted her to shut the hell up..

I liked the boss battles as well, even the final one that most people seem to have a problem with. Of course, some of the major encounters aren't really "battles" (ie. the Scarecrow sections), but they are still fun in a way that is separate from the normal gameplay conventions, serving to add some nice variety throughout the game. I really appreciated how the game broke things up that way so nothing ever got stale.

Great review, Alex. I really enjoy reading your opinions on video games. Your reviews and articles are written very well, and they have a unique flavor you can't get anywhere else.

My problem with the last boss is that they could have done something much more interesting. Up through the game, they'd given us a bunch of situations that required the use of your brains to get you through them, that to reduce the Joker to a big, stupid punch-up felt sorely anticlimactic and rote. It was just such a video game boss fight.

That, and Super Joker looks so fucking dumb. I mean come on, design team.

Installed the demo last night and i am able to run it in low settings, still looks kick ass, so i'll have to get this when it comes out.

Once. When I saw there was an achievement for catching a batarang I threw one and looped it back to myself just to see if it would work. Got it first try and never used it again.

I used the remote batarang on some of the areas with snipers.

The final battle should have been a giant stealth mission with tons of booby traps and a slippery smart Joker holding Gordon at gunpoint or something.

Yeah great review and great game. The last boss did feel anti-climactic, but look at the character of The Joker. He's not too much of a physical guy and it did tie into the story. At least they didn't have him charging at you and you throw a batarang and dodge.

The real fight was the 2 titans and all the thugs around.

A real fight would of brought EVERY element the game used before. Possibly charging, avoiding gas and using the environment to your advantage (or even avoiding dangerous areas).

That said, the Scarecrow nearly stole the show, and his 3rd appearance was the best.

I actually liked being stealthy quite a bit, so the remote batarang came in use, especially to knock out several people, jump down and do a finishing move.

The next game definetly needs to be set in Gotham, and needs a Christain Bale bersereker rage mode to unlock. It should kick off right after the last game and you start with the damaged suit and are forced to upgrade it. Also how badass would it be to actually perform that scene from The Dark Knight where he glides from a really tall building and fly into a building?

Okay enough fanwanking, great game, and hopefully the sequel will make the fine refinements needed.

Awesome game and a great review! A Batman game that true fans can really sink their teeth into.

One thing I absolutely don't want in the sequel is an "open world" Gotham. This game worked perfectly with the Metroid-type level structure, and I really hope they keep that.

Really great review. I had alot of fun reading it last night. Thanks Alex!

I'm torn. I like the idea of bigger and more, especially in regards to a game this fun, but the last thing I want is some horrible Spider-Man like game where you're swinging around the city being constantly forced to stop whatever you're doing to stop whatever crime you happened across.

I would like it if they found a way to incorporate more detecting into a sequel. If they can make finding trophies fun I'd certainly think they could find a way to make truly fun puzzles to detect to move the story along. I liked setting the detective vision to track certain things, but that was really utilized as nothing more than a gimmick.

The next one should be more open, but it could be mission based in Gotham, where you follow the police band and you get a cut scene of the Batmobile speeding to a factory, or a bank, or whatever. Clues are left that you have to find which advance the plot to whatever the main storyline is.

You get a variety of locations, but with the depth of Arkham.

Yeah, I don't need the next game to be any bigger than this one was, Arkham Asylum was plenty big enough for me. When you get too big or ambitious usually the overall experience suffers. Keep the story and presentation nice and tight.

Someone in the full thread mentioned that a good scenario for the sequel would be No Man's Land, and I think that's a pretty great idea. A friend of mine even suggested making the main villain behind it Ra's Al-Ghul and getting David Warner back to do the voice, and it seemed an even better idea.

By the way, the Ra's Al-Ghul easter egg after you finish the game rules.

That was me, I think.
The "No Man's land" scenario is perfect for keeping the "Metroidvania" gameplay; Batman would be limited by the scarcity of resources and the ongoing war between the different turfs controlled by each villain, which would balance and limit the amount of exploration and area access, thus forcing you to come back to already explored areas with new tools.
Hell, they could even implement a "Red Faction" like "morale" system, were you could only finally take down a villain for good once the morale/power of the GCPD is strong enough and you've taken down a number of said villains forces/operations.
Also, the game could be sandbox style when exploring Gotham's ruins and travelling froms ector to sector, but turn back to level based once you start a mission.
I will put my foot in my mouth by suggesting Co-op; in this scenario, you have Robin, Nightwing and batgirl all running around, plus it would be really great to pull the whole "dynamic duo" into gameplay by using team tactics...although it would take a genius to make that work gameplay wise.

wait a minute...this true? or is Wikipedia up to its usual BS?

"In a short post-credits scene, a box stamped with the word "Titan" floats in the water. A randomized appearance of Bane, Killer Croc, or Scarecrow grabs the box."

Bane grabbed it on mine, I didn't know it was a random character. Bane makes the most logical sense to me, plus he was the one knocked into that particular water (although I guess any of them make sense in the water).

I got Croc, guess it's true.

Oh shit! So fucking sorry guys.
As a member of the "You going to watch "The Sixth Sense"? Hey, Bruce Willis was dead the whole time" crowd, I should have been more thoughtful.

Spoilers galore, but Gamesradar has been pulling a LOT of "Arkham Asylum" features..most of the stuff is best left for after fnishing the game, obviously:

Villians for the squel?

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/which-vi...09032125202047

Hidden characters and Cameos.

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-28-h...02115717671032

Lessons for future comic book games.

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/what-oth...02115321837096

Hell, there was one easter egg/homage I missed despite exploring Arkham to every inch and solving every challenge.

It is. I got Scarecrow.

Bane here too, its not as bad as a spoiler as Bruce...

That's kinda awesome that is changes what character is shown at the end. Just adds to the list of all the little things that made this game so good.

I really cant wait for a couple years to go by and play through it again. Has that feeling of an old school beat em up where you can just pop it in and relive the glory days for awhile.