Batman Arkham Asylum game review

Yep, I'm on a Batman Arkham binge. I literally beat Arkham Knight, put up my 2 reviews of it, then went into Arkham Asylum, I haven't waited with this review though, I'm already a good 2 hours into Arkham City. So lets review the game that started the Arkham game series.

Here's what you need to know, after Batman returns Joker to Arkham Asylum, Joker escapes and takes the place over, releasing all the inmates and preparing for his big party, to which Batman is invited. Trapped on the island, Batman doesn't have a choice but to play the Joker's games in order to survive and defeat him.

Arkham Asylum is a game that is crafted with a great amount of love for Batman, the island is crammed full of detail and little Easter eggs, and the low lighting and gothic architecture do a great job of setting the mood. That said, the game isn't a technical wonder, screen tearing and texture pop in are frequent and characters have bug eyes and really poor lip syncing, however, the cinematics look good, and the Batman and various villains are all designed really nicely, and you can admire them with the trophies you unlock in the game, which is really sweet. The game sounds cool too, with a decent soundtrack, and brilliant voice performances from Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, reprising their roles from the animated series.

Gameplay is very good, with a simple to use combat system, 4 buttons; hit, counter, stun and jump. This sounds easy, but the combat system is surprisingly difficult to master. once you master it though, and take out a room of 20 thugs without getting touched, you feel like a badass. alternatively, the game's predator sequences are really funny, when you sneak around taking out thugs one by one, and the last guy is completely terrified and shooting at nothing, it's so much fun  to just take out all but one, and then fuck with  the last guy. You can fuck with him using the host of gadgets at Batman's disposal, batarangs, batclaws, smoke bombs, explosive gel, etc, these gadgets can also be used to hunt down the hidden riddler trophies and patient interviews  scattered around the  island. You also solve riddles and investigate things using detective mode, which highlights things of interest and shows you evidence trails. One thing I didn't know about but that I really really liked was the scarecrow nightmare sequences, which I won't ruin, because they're awesome.

There's a lot to like in Arkham Asylum, for the Batman fans there is plenty of little easter eggs to giggle at in addition to the really good and really mature batman tale on offer, for the none batman fans, this game  has fun combat and stealth, and for the completionists there are hours to be wasted hunting down the riddles, trophies and interview tapes. Give Arkham Asylum a shot if you haven't already.