25 Hour Watch

Platform: X360, PS3, PC

Developer: Rocksteady Studios

Genre: Action

Released: August 25, 2009

Putting aside Lego Batman, the Dark Knight hasn’t seen a successful video game adaptation in a long time. But the lack of successful Batman games hasn’t stopped their development by any means. Dating all the way back to 1986 a Batman game has been released every two years or so, usually to coincide with the release of a Batman movie (whether it be a major motion picture or some sort of animated feature). The development of these games has never been handled with love and care, so to speak, so the product has always been sub-par…that is until now.

Arkham Asylum is Batman’s most recent entry into the video game world. It is a third person action game for the PC, X-Box 360, and Playstation 3 developed by Rocksteady Studios. The basic premise of the story is this: the Joker allows himself to be caught by Batman in order to lure him into Arkham Asylum, lock down the island, and slowly release all the criminals and murderers upon him. Truly Arkham is the perfect setting for a Batman game and allows for the logical inclusion of any and all villains without some insanely convoluted plot. The story is faithful to Batman lore, but original unto itself.

Since the Joker has control of Arkham he observes and narrates the action via loudspeaker. This quickly sets the eerie atmosphere and establishes a game of cat and mouse which unfolds between Batman and the Joker as the story progresses. Longtime Batman fans will notice that nearly all of the voice actors are reprising their roles from Batman: The Animated Series. This includes Mark Hamil’s unmistakable and frightening rendition of the Joker. It quickly becomes apparent, while playing this game, that the developers are big Batman fans themselves and did their best to stay both faithful and respectful to the universe in their design.

The gameplay in Arkham Asylum really captures the essence of Batman as a character: part detective, part shadowy predator, part brawler. Clues, such as fingerprints, will guide players to and from areas of confrontation throughout the game. Activating a feature called Detective Mode causes the screen to be washed over in a transparent blue x-ray which highlights relevant clues, objects that can be interacted with, and even enemies in a red-orange glow. This view is incredibly useful from a strategic standpoint as enemies can be seen through line of sight blockers like walls, but it is also extremely helpful for progressing through the game quickly. When your path is obstructed, you’re lost, or you need to sneak around detective mode will make destructible walls or ventilation shafts obvious. Sadly, the usefulness of detective mode is also its greatest fault. There’s no downside to having it turned on so for the sake of efficiency you’ll end up spending most the game under a haze of transparent blue instead of enjoying the gorgeously dark and noir-ish visuals.

Playing the role of a detective is fine, but the real fun in Arkham Asylum comes from taking out henchman. Combat transitions seamlessly between sneaking around and picking-off enemies from the shadows to mixing it up in one-versus-many style brawls. If you stumble upon a room filled with semi-automatic wielding henchman it’s probably time for predator combat. Batman can use his grappling gun to lock-on to a nearby ledge, railing, or gargoyle and quickly move about the higher reaches of any area. From an elevated position you can then glide down to kick and incapacitate an enemy, throw various types of batarangs to stun or distract, and even use your grappler to string an enemy upside down from a gargoyle in classic batman fashion. Variety is the really entertaining part of predator combat. You can do anything from simply sneaking up behind an enemy and taking them out to blowing an adjacent wall open and finishing them with debris. As the enemies in a room begin to the dwindle their level of fear will rise. Fear stricken enemies show visible signs of terror and will band together and patrol the room in pairs. The level of fear will continue to rise until there’s only one enemy left, who’s so paranoid and alone that he can be dispatched quite easily.

Groups of enemies without guns will often impede the progress of Batman and while predator combat can sometimes to be used on these enemies as well, they are typically huddled together in tight masses that call for a more straightforward approach. This leads to brawls that are not unlike those in Assassin’s Creed. Enemies will spread out around Batman and charge as the opportunity arises. If an indicator appears above an enemies head it means their attack can be countered with the same colored button. So you’ll spend some of your time going on the offensive with single button combos and the rest reacting to and countering enemies. The brawls get a bit more complicated as the game introduces enemies with knives that must be stunned before they take damage, enemies with electrified batons that can only be attacked safely from behind, and enemies that wander off to find firearms or things to throw at Batman. There’s also a combo ability system that makes devastating attacks available after Batman has chained together a sufficient number of hits within a single Brawl. Adding to the overall feel of combat, heavy blows to the head will blur the screen and enemies rendered unconscious go rag doll in entertaining ways.

Dispatching enemies awards experience, which in time will level Batman and afford him new abilities. You can choose the order in which these abilities are unlocked and gain upgrades to throw multiple batarangs at once, increase Batman’s health, and so on. This feature is supplementary so don’t expect an RPG style leveling system or vast skill tree here. Most of the abilities are passive, but the customization is a welcome addition that gives a real sense of character building.

The action in Arkham Asylym stays fresh by rotating between detective work, predator combat, and brawls and by periodically adding new gadgets to Batman’s arsenal. There’s even a small dose of exploration and platforming thrown in to make transitional moments more interesting. The boss battles are climatic, especially the atmospheric and fear-heavy battles against the Scarecrow and Killer Croc and the voice work and character design in this game simply gush personality. There’s a real sense of power that comes from quickly taking out groups of henchman as the Dark Knight and whether it be from the shadows or in a brawl it is EXTREMELY satisfying. Arkham Asylum makes it truly difficult to put down the controller until you’ve wiped that taunting grin off of the Joker’s face.

My Score: 9/10

You can find other reviews, as well as downloadable games, mods, and other game related content on my website: PhantomTap.com