Developer Rocksteady Studios has torn up the rule book for superhero games with Batman: Arkham Asylum. In the process, it has rescued Batman from years of videogame mediocrity in the same way as Christopher Nolan’s recent films saved the Caped Crusader from the ignominy he suffered at the hands of Joel Schumacher.
Rather than modelling its title on the dismal superhero games that flood the market each year, the developer turned to atmospheric and narrative-driven games like Bioshock and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher’s Bay for inspiration. The end result is a game that is rich in character, detail and atmosphere.
The entire game plays out on Arkham Island, the location of Arkham Asylum, home to many of the Batman universe’s most nefarious and insane supervillains. The decision to let the game play out on the iconic location of Arkham Island, rather than creating an open-world game set in Gotham or a series of levels designed to cover Gotham City’s highlights, is an inspired one.
It allows Rocksteady to create an organic environment for the game, one that is as believable as the spaceship in Dead Space or Bioshock’s undersea city. Batman’s arch nemesis, the Joker, and his mistress, Harley Quinn, have seized control of the asylum. It’s up to Batman to restore order and uncover what their true intentions are.
Batman: Arkham Asylum could loosely be described as a third-person action adventure with stealth and platforming elements, but that would be to miss the point. Some critics have labelled it a “Batman simulator” — which is a far better description because every element of the game is designed to draw you into Batman’s world.
There are some light puzzles that involve using a special visual mode to track down clues and villains, but they’re all about making you feel like Batman, the world’s greatest detective.
There is plenty of unarmed combat, designed to show off Batman’s prowess as a martial artist. Though you can button-mash your way through the combat, it’s more satisfying once you’ve learnt to get the timing of your combos and counter attacks right.
There is also a stealth component to the game, but it’s about turning you into Batman, the invisible predator striking out at his enemies using gadgets like the batarang and explosive gel before disappearing into the shadows. And of course, along the way, there are boss fights with many of the most dangerous villains from Batman’s wonderful gallery of rogues.
The game is polished to a mirror-like shine with spectacular visuals and audio. The character models for Batman and the main villains are beautifully done and worthy of the best comics featuring the character.
Arkham Island is rich in detail and atmosphere, only let down a few muddy textures here and there and somewhat generic designs for the thugs you spend much of the game fighting. The moody musical score also deserves to be singled out — it’s worthy of the work that Hans Zimmer or Danny Elfman have produced for Batman movies in the past.
To create an authentic Batman experience, Rocksteady drew on the talents of writers and actors who have worked on Batman projects in the past. It secured the talents of many of the voice actors from the Batman: the Animated Series, including Kevin Conroy (Batman), Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn) and Mark Hamill (the Joker).
Hamill’s gleefully malevolent interpretation of the Joker ranks as a favourite among many Batman fans, and he is given plenty of good lines to work with in this game.
The game was scripted by Paul Dini, who has written a number of Batman comics as well as episodes for the animated series. Like the comics by Frank Miller, Grant Morrison and Alan Moore, and the films by Nolan, this game takes a dark and serious approach to the character.
Expect to take about 10-12 hours to complete the game on the normal difficulty, though completionists will be able to spend many hours more playing out the game’s challenge mode maps and hunting down the many collectibles hidden in the game world.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a lovingly crafted piece of fan service by a development team that cares deeply about the character and his fictional universe. But it is also a great videogame in its own right. It’s the game that the Dark Knight both needs and deserves. — Lance Harris, TechCentral
- Reviewed on Playstation 3. Also available on PC and Xbox 360