I'M BATMAN!
| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.40 |
| Overall | 9.40 |
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Superhero games have never really been the highest quality games. Just recently some superhero based games are beginning to buck that trend. Even with that occurring there has never been a time where superhero game and GOTY contender has ever been mentioned together, until now. Rocksteady studios has taken elements and ideas from many of this generations best games and made sure those elements fit into the Batman universe. Even though you may see hints of Metroid, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, and MGS it never feels like this game is a knock off of those titles. It is a Batman game first and every gameplay element is there to make you feel like you are the freaking Batman. I was so pleased to find that Arkham Asylum wasn’t just a linear action title, sure the narrative takes you in one direction but the actual game world is open to you. Like a Metroid title many areas are out of reach, or require an item you don't yet have. The game world is actually quite impressive, it's not huge or anything but it has plenty of nooks and crannies to feel like exploration is a major part of this title. Tons of hidden Riddler challenges are scattered all around to make the exploring rewarding. Many of these Riddler challenges just have you finding hidden ? trophies but some are actual riddles given by the man himself. These are basically solved by taking a picture of an item hidden somewhere in the environment, so it never gets to hard, I wish they would have actually would have given us something that would make us think. As you find these various items you gain exp points and unlock items like character bios, models, etc. The pacing is spot on; as you play you will constantly be entering new locations, new gameplay scenarios and new toys to play with at the right moment. The combat is maybe this titles most interesting element cause it simplifies the beat em up style combat but not in a way where it feels cheap and easy. On the contrary the combat is authentic Batman combat, it looks right, it feels right. All that is needed are simple button presses at the right moment and Batman does a dance of destruction. After you upgrade all of batman's combat moves you only have like 9 different moves you can perform but they all fit with the character. My only complaint is that I wish the actual story mode mixed up the battles with harder enemies or different scenarios more often. Too often it was the usual group of thugs, maybe a knife wielding one or two. The coolest part of the game is when you enter what the devs call predator mode. When there are guards with guns you need to hide up in the shadows (on gargoyles) and figure out a way to take out the guards without being seen. Fans of MGS, like me, will be right at home as you find new ways to torture these poor henchmen. Out of all the moments in the game this makes you feel like Batman more than anything, there is nothing like swooping down, grabbing a thug and pulling him up by a wire just to leave him hanging there for his buddies to find. The enemy AI truly shines in these segments. Now I am not going to say it has the best AI, they aren't the best at pursuing. If they see you they will come after you but after a few seconds of being out of their field of vision they will completely forget to look up. Once I had a sniper spot me, he followed me behind a rock where I hid, after 2 seconds he started looking elsewhere. Also these guys have no lateral vision, you can be choking a goon right next to another one and he will never notice. But what they do well is react emotionally, as you take them out they get more afraid. Their search patterns will become erratic, sometimes what was a team of goons will separate and start to say "every man for themselves". It's completely unpredictable what these guys will do, well besides the fact that they wont look up. These predator segments are a ton of fun cause you have so many gadgets and ways to take them out. Torturing the henchmen is very fun. Much like combat, my one gripe with these segments is that they fail to take it to the next level, they fail to really change things up. There is one room late in the game that removes a certain component that you rely heavily on and forces you to approach the room a different way. Why that is only done in one room baffles me. Why didn't they find ways to restrict different tools or make tiny tweaks so that you always aren't using the exact same strategy. To round out the single player campaign are the boss fights and some platforming sections, yes platforming. The boss range from average to good, maybe one great one but never reaches the levels of a game like MGS. The good thing is that for the most part they never take the Batman villains out of their element, Batman will never get into a massive fist fight with someone vastly inferior to his fighting skills. The best boss fights add new gameplay elements and actually mess with your mind. When you put it all together you get a game that gives you a great variety of gameplay elements and constant surprises. I just wish the designers went that extra step with the combat and predator segments, to me it felt like there was never much of a difficulty spike, it kind of stayed constant from beginning to end. Luckily there is another mode that fixes all that but more on that later. I have yet to speak of what is the aspect that brings the story mode together, the atmosphere and feeling of authenticity of this being a true Batman experience because of the stellar voice acting of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. The story is very well done and to me it's one of the best versions of the Joker I have ever seen. That intro section had my jaw on the floor, you don’t do anything gameplay wise, you just watch the Joker interact with guards and mess with Batman. I was watching this unfold and I felt like it was a new Batman movie. The whole game is like this, the dialogue is among the best of the generation. Please take the time to listen to the conversations between henchman and always listen to what the Joker has to say. The developers have brought Batman's world to life, YOU ARE BATMAN. This game will be like porn for the Batman fan, it is oozing with Batman easter eggs all over the place. The story mode by itself to me makes this a 9.0 game but Rocksteady didn't stop there, they added a challenge mode which is as addicting as the very best side modes of any game I have played (like say RE5 Mercenaries). Above I stated I was disappointed that the story mode didn’t change up the combat or predator sections enough, well in this mode they go wild with ideas. The combat sections put you in increasingly challenging waves of enemies, a mix of all types of enemies, and a scoring system to achieve the best combos. It's challenging, its addicting and its a load of fun. That isn't even the best part, the predator sections turn your average predator room from the game into a puzzle game. Each map gives you three objectives to perform. These objectives require you to use all your moves and tools in certain ways. It forces you to completely rethink your strategy for each challenge and if you'd like you can go for the best times. To achieve the best times you must figure out exactly what order and on who do you complete these objectives to get the quickest time, it's basically a giant stealth puzzle. To be honest I like these specific gameplay elements in these maps more than how they are used in the story mode. I am hooked on this mode. Oh and if you have a PS3 you get to play as the Joker which changes the way you play approach these rooms even more. Batman Arkham Asylum is one of those perfectly polished titles. It uses Unreal Engine so you may have seen graphics like these before, still it's a beautiful game to look it. As I said before the voice work and sound is as good as it gets. The music is all original and yet it sounds familiar to anyone who has watched the Batman movies or cartoon, they have similar stylistic elements. The story mode will take anywhere from 11-15 hours, plus there is tons to do after, replay value is no issue. Even if you take out the Batman name you have an action/adventure title with all the elements you would want. It has exploration, puzzles, fun combat, stealth, and sublime pacing. But you can't take out Batman cause that is what this game is, it is a Batman simulator. How cool is that, you get to play Batman in this amazing game. This is easily one of the best games of the year. |
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Posted by Dvader Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:21:40
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robio (10m)
It's an amazing game with fantastic production values.
Kaz is proud to have the best version on the PS3.
Excellent review, I basically agree with everything. I just need to play more of the challenges but from what little I have played it's awesome stuff. The atmosphere is certainly phenomenal. Arkham is nicely laid out and great to explore. Joker's many lines had me chuckling and characters are spot-on to what I expected them to be. Totally loved Batman's encounters with one villian in particular and his battles with him were so damn cool, especially the last one. Thumbs up for me.
Thank you Kaz for reading. lol. Ask, you needed that GS code to get the dem bones map.