Eidos most recent release Batman: Arkham Asylum is a thrilling romp through the DC super hero’s world. Combining stellar graphics, voice acting and play variation this game is sure to be an instant classic for gamers.
The story alone is intoxicating. It follows Batman as he tries to capture the Joker, who has escaped police custody and turned Arkham Asylum into a private fortress. As the game takes place within the asylum, the Joker manages to involve a wide array of villains from across the Batman universe in his attempt to dispatch the Dark Knight.
The game play variation of this game is phenomenal. It uses a system similar to Gears of War, but manages to give the protagonist stealth attributes. This is really what differentiates this game from others in its class.
Most games following the third person shooter mentality can become monotonous and boring. Arkham Asylum does not. There are times when the only way to defeat a villain or number of villains is to beat them to a bloody pulp. There is also quite a bit of hanging from and secretly gliding down rafters to knock out an enemy without being detected. Most of the time, though, the game requires a combination of these two, which keeps the play varied.
But the entertaining battle system is not the only area where the game succeeds. The graphics of both the scenery and the characters are incredibly vivid. Much like Epic’s Gears of War, this game changes the location on the player consistently. It opens the gamer’s eyes up to a wide variety of buildings and structures within Arkham.
A mansion, hospital and botanical gardens are just three of the many areas Batman has to explore, each as intricately designed as the other. Incredible lighting also adds to this wonderful experience. Eidos does a wonderful job keeping to the dark and eerie locations which have been a staple in Batman since the first comics.
The characters are also designed exquisitely. The designers do a wonderful job creating more than 20 famous super villains running around Arkham. Each one of these characters is given their own individual story line to go with the incredible design adding more depth to each villain.
An oddly entertaining aspect of this game is the voice acting. In the early ’90s an animated Batman series was created targeting kids and pre-teens. This series lasted for more than five years and gained quite a bit of popularity.
Eidos managed to get almost all of the voice actors from that series to voice their respective characters in this game. They even got Mark Hamill to take on the role of the Joker once again. Although not a major part of the game, this aspect adds a bit of humor and fun for fans of the old series.
All in all, this game is excellent. Rarely do games of this caliber come out in today’s day and age, but (i)Batman: Arkham Asylum is a game worth keeping. It will keep players looking to the sky for the bat signal for months to come.