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| Batman beating up several of the Joker's goons at once. |
Batman’s arch nemesis the Joker has taken control of the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane for some unknown purpose and released all the inmates. It is up to Batman to retake control of Arkham, save as many of its staff as possible, capture it’s more dangerous prisoners, and figure out what the Joker is up to.
The player controls Batman as he makes his way through Arkham. Batman’s goal does not vary much throughout the game: he finds out someone is in trouble or one of his super powered enemies is about to do something destructive and goes to help/stop them. This repeats throughout the game, but because the story feels so intense it is not noticeable.
Fighting Joker’s henchmen makes up the bulk of the challenge of the games; there are two ways this comes about. The first way is if Batman runs into a group of thugs without guns. In these encounters, Batman fights the thugs head on. All the player has to do is get Batman close to an enemy and press the attack button repeatedly and Batman will beat up the villain. Sometimes while Batman is attacking one enemy, another will try to hit Batman from behind. When this happens an icon will appear over Batman’s head and the player can press the counter button which will get Batman to attack the person behind him. The fighting is fun, though not challenging.
The second and much more entertaining way Batman deals with the enemies is when he runs into a room full of thugs with assault weapons. In these instances Batman has to use stealth to take out the thugs one by one without being seen. Batman has to hide somewhere, wait for an enemy to walk by, disarm them, and disappear when the other thugs investigate the noise. There are several different ways to disarm an opponent, like stringing them up on a gargoyle, or blowing up a wall they are standing next to. The variety of the rooms that Batman ambushes people in, combined with the many different methods Batman can take out the bad guys, and the danger of being caught, is what makes this the most exciting and challenging part of the game. It is very satisfying taking out a whole room without getting caught.
The other part of the game is investigating a room for clues. This is how Batman finds out someone is in trouble and goes to help them. Batman will scan a room with his visor and find some sort of substance in a room, like blood or ash from a pipe. Then using his scanner Batman will follow a trail of the substance to the next part of Arkham. It is not fun activity, but it is an interesting and easy way to progress the story.
Every so often Batman will run into one of his other super villains and have to fight them. These fights are mildly tedious at best.
There is also a lengthy optional quest where Batman can explore all of Arkham, and, using the various gadgets he collects throughout the game, find trophies and other hidden objects that unlock information about the characters, character trophies, or extra challenges. The trophies are not difficult to find, so finding them provides an amusing couple of hours but does not get in the way of anyone who is not entertained by side quests.
The story is at first mysterious, while Batman tries to figure what the Joker is trying to accomplish, but that disappears halfway through and it becomes a regular story when Batman figures what is going on. But watching as Arkham Asylum steadily gets worse keeps the story interesting. There are also numerous references to Batman’s seventy years of comic book history, which should be entertaining to fans of the series.
Arkham Asylum itself is pretty impressive. Each section of the asylum looks unique and it never feels like Batman is running through a bunch of identical corridors. The rest of the game looks really good too, Batman and the Joker are nice and detailed.
Due to how linear the game is, it might be best to wait a while before playing again because, except for the fighting segments, the rest of the game will feel really repetitive if played too soon.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a fun adaption of the Batman comics that seamlessly combines stealth action elements in an easy and enjoyable way.
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