How a Man in a Pointy-Eared Cowl Found Redemption

Like my Rock Band 2 review from a couple weeks back, this one always manages to elicit a smile; it looks all professional and everything! The game is a still a proof of concept that amazing stuff can be done with even the usually restricted licensed title.

When it comes to the legacy of Batman in regards to videogames, it's safe to say that even our mothers probably know of his tainted reputation. Not that other superheroes don't have issues (see: Superman); but if any of them would, in theory, translate into the realm of interactive entertainment perfectly, it would have be the Dark Knight.

Just like filmmakers before them, development studios are finally getting that epiphany that maybe there's more to caped crusaders than big muscles and the obvious super powers. Most of the time, they're tossed into a brawler game of some sort; which is a travesty for poor Batman, because to me he's always been more about the detective work and analytical skills than fisticuffs. While a game about inner monologues and waiting to apprehend foes would not make for the most exciting plays, Batman: Arkham Asylum does an admirable job of blending the thirty seconds of action gamers crave with the sensible and thoughtful approach that Batman takes going about his business.

The deliberateness of how he does things is driven home right at the beginning: Batman walks everywhere. If you hold down a button, you have the option to run (and in certain situations you'll need to); but more often than not, you're supposed to study your surroundings and think about the best way to tackle a situation. To further prove the point, Batman also has what's called detective vision, a screen filter that shows you points of interest, escape routes and enemies within a room. I loved the fact that when I entered a new area, I'd have to stop and think about how I traveled across it. There's some obvious finger pointing as to where your next objective is, but there's an organic openness as to how you get there. There was many times where I'd successfully meander my way to a goal while taking out prisoners and have my pride of accomplishment taken away when I saw multiple possibilities on the way back. It's a marvel in both game and level design.

Dont' get me wrong, Arkham Asylum has brawling (which is pretty fluid), but that's not usually your best option. In another wonderful nod to the character of Batman, you often play the part of the hunter rather than the prey. As you slowly pick away at large groups one at a time, enemies start to panic and go paranoid; often avoiding helping each other in a sad attempt at salvaging their own worthless lives. I wanted to make a joke about the ungodly amount of gargoyles you can climb on in Arkham, but it's a concession I'm willing to make for more strategic combat.

Also helping build mystique are those wonderful gadgets Bats keeps stocked in his utility belt. The batarang moves beyond being a mere distance attack and can also be used to hit switches, cut loose people hanging from a rope (often times of your own volition) and disorient baddies. There's other gadgets as well including explosive gel, a grapple gun and decoder; each that sound simple in usage but become increasingly versatile the further into the game you get. It's one thing to add an experience system to your game; it's another to get it right by making said upgrades something more substantial and less superfluous.

Perhaps the biggest endorsement I can give to Arkham Asylum is the fact that it delves deeper into Batman's menagerie of foes than any other form of media beyond the comics. Each one is carefully re-imagined to live in a much darker interpretation of Gotham City; replete with solid voice acting (which I'm sure you've all heard about), interesting use of their gimmicks and creepy interview tapes that take a lot of them from goofy and colorful to homicidal and psychologically damaged. My favorite by far was Scarecrow, whom changes the way you play the game as he drugs you up and digs into what makes Batman who he is. Most of them follow the same pattern-based tropes you've seen since the 8-bit days; but that doesn't make them any less satisfying. As interesting as Bruce Wayne is as a damaged character, we all know his motivation; it's nice to see someone go further into what makes his villains tick.

The only thing that didn't sit well with me was the fact that the darker characters are set-up in a plot that sticks to it's comic book roots. Not that that's a total fun-killer; but it started out as promisingly sinister as the characters involved, so I was disappointed when the twist happened that revealed the Joker's reasoning as to why he lured Batman into Arkham and then staged a coup. Even up until the end game, conversations gave me the willies...and then you get a weird, cop-out of a boss battle that left me wondering what the hell just happened. I'll chalk it up to a personal preference; looking at it a bit more subjectively, it's probably just their way of paying homage to Batman's roots and comics in general. I was just hoping for something a little more classy; the steroidal shenanigans at the end smell of Todd McFarlane.

I began to wonder if I was playing the same game as other people; I've noticed a lot of comparisons to the now officially over-cliched "Metroidvania" genre, but I felt that game was more like Ocarina of Time, albeit with sadistic asylum escapees and eleven-foot crocodiliasapiens. The grounds of Arkham serve as the hub, and it's dungeons are places like intensive care, the mansion and the oddly placed botanical gardens. I suppose the comparisons come in with all the nick-knack gathering you can do such as the aforementioned interview tapes and the Riddler's ungodly amount of riddles and collectibles to find. It's not something I want to over-analyze, it's just a funny semantical observation I saw. How about we just call this type of gaming structure an "adventure" from now on?

It's rare in this day and age for a game to capture my attention so much so that I ignore other games and life priorities in general just so I can get a little bit further into it, but Batman: Arkham Asylum does it and with aplomb, no less. It's easy to see that it does a great service for games based on comic books; but I think it does gaming at large that same service as well. Even the biggest of cynics would grin maniacally as the played out their gray shirt and Underoo fantasies. And just remember, it could be worse: they could have always included rubber nipples. It's a crazy thing to say, but this is a good, nay great, Batman game.