REVIEW - Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Superhero games have a poor reputation in the video game world.  Developers know that a great many video game fans are also comic book fans, and that therefore any game with a superhero on it will sell healthily - even if the game is below par.  This had led to a constant stream of (at best) poor quality titles that disappoint year after year.  Throw in the almost always dreadful tie-ins to any superhero movie that is released, and it has led over the years to mass cynicism about games with Batman/Spiderman/X-Men etc on the cover.

Batman:Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady) destroys this trend, and provides what may very well the best superhero game ever made.  Yes, it's that good!  It is to superhero games what Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay was to movie tie-ins.  Which is convenient as the two games are very similar in style.

The Dark Knight Returns...again

You play Batman (surprise surprise) who has apprehended the Joker once again, and is escorting him to Arkham Asylum - the place where Gotham's most dangerous psychopaths are kept in high-security conditions.  Thankfully Rocksteady have resisted the urge to try to imitate Heath Ledger's Joker (which would almost certainly looked like a cheap rip-off), and have instead created their own version of the infamous character; and one that is more faithful to the earlier comic books.  Joker (voiced by the excellent Mark Hamill) is a genuinely funny character, and remains interesting throughout, and heads what is an excellent line of characters that brighten up the game.

Mark Hamill is excellent as Joker

Sure enough, within the first few minutes Joker breaks free and quickly takes over the Asylum with his gang of hoodlums, with Batman left trapped inside and wondering whether this is really what counts as "high-security" nowadays.  It is up to the Dark Knight (voiced by Kevin Conroy) to rescue the innocent people trapped inside (including Commissioner Gordon) and to stop the Joker from using the Asylum as a place from which to wreak havoc upon mainland Gotham City.  As it is based on the Grant Morrison graphic novel of the same name, you can see how this is pretty standard comic book fare, and the game does feel like you are playing through a genuine Batman story as opposed to a set of levels with a Batman theme thrown in as an afterthought.  The game's comic book roots means that the dialogue is often a little stilted and over the top, (expect lots of close ups of a snarling Batman staring into the distance and muttering, "Joker....") but it adds to the feeling that you are playing a Batman game in a genuine Batman world, and the story will keep you playing to see how it turns out.

At first glance the gameplay appears to be a standard third person beat-em-up, but as the game develops, the combat comes into its own and the "Batman" style of combat really begins to shine.  The game alerts the player as to when an attack by a henchman is being prepared by some white lines appearing about the henchman's head, allowing the player the block in time, and the system allows you to pick your next target before you've finished pummelling the present target.  This means stringing together combos is quite do-able, and the system as a whole feels very satisfying.  There were plenty of times I couldn't help but cringe at the slow motion punch (and a very expensive dental bill) being delivered to a henchman by ol' Bruce Wayne.

As Quiet as a Bat

He's behind you...

In addition to just 'biffing' various henchmen with various types of combos, the stealth aspects to Batman's character work really well.  The game allows you not only to take cover behind walls, but allows the player to use the Batclaw to launch Batman up to various stone gargoyles that are suspended as decorations around large rooms.  From there with a tap of a button, Batman can glide without a sound between gargoyles, and from there plan a variety of stealth assaults such as dropping down and stringing a henchmen up on the gargoyle, setting up a distraction, or just swooping down and putting the boot into the bad guy's chest.  Batman's "detective mode" assists in this by allowing Batman to see a unique infra-red meets X-ray display of his surroundings that quickly allows the player see through walls and objects, and to figure out how many enemies are in a room and how many of those are armed.  It even allows the player to monitor the henchmen's heart rates, so you can judge to what extent they are aware of your presence.  It makes the whole experience a little cleaner, and a lot less frustrating.  This is not just some crowbarred in stealth segment, it is an integral part of the game.

As Arkham Asylum progresses and the player finds themselves with more and more enemies - many of which are armed with health-draining machine guns - the stealth becomes absolutely vital.  While the combat is intuitive enough to allow the player to fight off a hoard of unarmed baddies using the game's excellent counterattack and combo system, once the guns come out you can forget just wading in unless you want to be riddled with bullets in seconds.  It is therefore vital to the game that the stealth aspects work well, and thankfully they do.  In addition to the gargoyles, Batman can set up distractions, arm explosives to catch guards unaware, take them out with the Batarang (Batman's boomerang) as well as whole set of other tactics that can be used to thin the herd.  As the player progresses through the game, new upgrades become available, which allow even more options in both combat and stealth, constantly breathing new energy into the mechanic.

It results in an experience that is lots of fun to play through as you soar about through parts of the environment, slowly picking out one guard after another as they become more and more distressed and frustrated at their inability to find you.  Then, when you finally swoop down from your perch and take out the final, panic stricken bad guy and the game rewards you with a slow-motion view of the final punch, it is difficult not to chuckle wolfishly with delight.  It's exactly what a Batman game should be all about.  The game's difficulty remains solid without being too tough, meaning that when you die, you will know that it is your fault, and not down to some perceived fault or unfairness in the combat system.  Some areas might take a full ten minutes to clear out, and it feels a lot more like Metal Gear Solid than I was expecting.

What a Croc!

Yet it isn't just stealth and action; Batman: Arkham Asylum manages to keep the action very fresh by implementing a whole slew of different areas throughout the game.  The boss segments are evidence of this; such as the periods with Scarecrow, who takes you into the depths of Batman's subconscious, and Batman must then sneak around the level, avoiding Scarecrow's sightline, until he can reach the Bat-signal and shine it in Scarecrow's face.  My personal favourite was the level with Killer Croc, where Batman has to tred carefully through a sewer level (yes I know, but trust me it's good!) trying not to alert Croc to his presence while Batman collects a necessary chemical.  Not only is the level extremely tense, but when the enormous Croc intermittently jumps out of the water and chases after you, leaving you to only flee and throw Batarangs at him as quickly as possible before he insta-kills you, it is a genuinely terrifying set of moments that is up there with the Resident Evil series.

Combat is more than just button-mashing.

Where the game does suffer is in terms of variety of environment.  Your main areas are the main Asylum, the gardens, some caves and the Mansion.  That's about it really.  Yes, there's a sewer level, and there's one or two areas of the asylum that differ, but generally you'll be walking around in dark gardens or dark laboratories or prisons.  Now granted this is a Batman game and it would be out of character for the developers to transport the player to some beach in California, so we know that most environments are going to be dark and a bit drab; but sticking the player on a pretty tight island and letting them know they aren't getting off it for the whole game feels a little bit restrictive.  This is by no means a free-roaming game and you will see the same environments time and time again.

Riddle me this!

Yet Arkham Asylum makes up for this lack of variety in a number of other ways; most notable the characters.  Although the two main villains are the unusual, but strangely likeable, Joker and sidekick Harley Quinn, there is also a whole band of others that follow along, such as the aforementioned Killer Croc and Scarecrow, the seductress Poison Ivy, and the Riddler - whose side-quest puzzles make up the primary side missions of the game.  These puzzles are usually discovery puzzles - trying to find a clue based on one of the Riddler's riddles and then pressing a button to acknowledge that you've found it.  It may sound dry, and sometimes it is, but working out the riddle, and then discovering what it is referring to is a fun process, and the clues will often make reference to other areas of the Batman mythology and other Batman villains, which will be fun for Batman fans in particular.  Although nothing outstanding, they provide a fun way of making sure that the player doesn't just rush through the game as quickly as possible, and for those completionists out there, they will add significant length to the game, as some of the locations are quite tricky.

Expect lots of Batman moodiness and scowling.

The story mode is a solid 12-15 hours if one takes little notice of the extra challenges.  If one does, then the game easily exceeds the 20 hour mark.  From there, there is also a "challenge" mode, whereby the player can unlock a whole set of challenges - either stealth or plain combat - similar in a way to Resident Evil Mercenaries mode.  How well you take out the henchman (with bonus points available for dispatching them in certain way) will determine your final score, which can be compared with friends and the wider online community.  I initially dismissed it as a tacked on mode, but when I tried it out I found myself surprisingly hooked by the whole thing, and it can easily hook one in for a number of hours.  The game is therefore very good value for money, even if the story mode might not be the most replayable mode in the world.

Arkham of the Covenant?

From a Catholic perspective, Batman: Arkham Asylum is up and down.  One of the notable things about the game is that henchmen aren't killed, but merely knocked unconscious.  This is a nod to Batman's surprisingly blood free past, and it is pleasing to see that the game follows in this tradition.  Batman has never been one for killing, instead choosing to knock bad guys out and bring them to justice.  It may not sound much, but when one is so used to headshots and over-the-top blood letting in videogames, to see a defeated bad guy lying dazed on the floor with stars around his head is a refreshing change.  Yet, even though it may share in the "BIFF!!" "POW!!" heritage of the Adam West Batman in that respect, the tone of the game is one very much one of the Christopher Nolan movies, and therefore this game is not one that is suitable for children or teenagers.  Although bloodless, the violence is significant and rough, with the fighting being close to beat-em-up levels of violence.  Additionally the game includes some scantily clad women, with a few fleeting instances of lower rear female nudity.  Throw in the issues raised in many of the villains' past, including abuse, disfigurement, psychosis etc, and you have a game that is really best played by adults only.

The themes of Batman: Arkham Asylum however are generally very positive.  Batman's mission is to rescue innocents, save lives, and to bring the bad guys to justice.  This is not a one man killing spree, but a rescue and arrest mission, and is therefore comfortably in line with Catholic concepts of justice.  The only other red flag I would raise is about the way the game treats mental illness.  Although it is made clear that Arkham Asylum is a place for the criminally insane, the game at time risks associating mental illness with violence and criminality.  Although the game does not come close to making this link explicit, it is somewhat clumsy in its treatment of mental illness, and it often appears that the game brackets people into two categories; either one is entirely normal, or clinically insane and a psychopath.  While I am sure the writers and developers had no intention of making any unfair generalizations, at times Arkham Asylum unwittingly comes close to re-enforcing some unfair and inaccurate stereotypes about mental illness.

Conclusion


From a technical perspective, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a superb game, and an enormous surprise considering the track record of superhero video games.  Arkham Asylum is a well-crafted and thoroughly absorbing 3rd person action adventure.  The stealth aspects work very well, as does the combat system, and it is supported by a solid story mode, a slew of side missions and extra challenges, and some marvellous acting and character development that make this game a joy to play.  Arkham Asylum puts you into the role of Batman and allows you to do the things you have always wanted to do as Batman, and in a way that will draw in even those who aren't big fans of the franchise.  Arkham Asylum could do with a few more environments, and sometimes the game risks lacking in variety, but it takes little away from what is a truly excellent title.

From a Catholic perspective, this is a game that is acceptable for adults, but not recommended for gamers any younger than that.  The game promotes themes of justice and respect for innocent life, and provides a combat system that results in few dead bodies, and almost zero bloodshed.  However, the game's dark themes, instances of lower rear female nudity, some scenes of chemical mutilation, and the unsatisfying treatment of sensitive issues surrounding mental illness make this a game that parents will most likely wish to keep out of their youngster's consoles.

The technical rating for this title is 9/10
The Catholic rating for this title is A-III -- adults.