Best of 2009: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Maybe I should preface this with the disclaimer that I am a gigantic Batman nerd.  I have been since I was about 3 years old, and my love for the Dark Knight has only grown stronger.  And I should also explain that we Batman fans have had to slog through terrible Batman game after terrible game, just hoping that the next one will be good.  So with all that being said, I LOVE THIS GAME!!!

OK, let's scale back from that freak out.  From what I've read, you don't have to be a Batman fan to enjoy this game.  It's just a really good game.  But I believe that being a Batman fan makes it even that much better, because when you're playing it, the atmosphere, the characters, the story, and the controls all just feel right.  This truly feels like a Batman experience from top to bottom.  For the first time, a video game developer has made a game where you actually feel like you are the Batman. 

A huge thing working in Arkham Asylum's favor is the cast for the voice work.  Kevin Conroy is reprising his role as Batman.  If that isn't enough to excite you, I demand that you go and watch Batman: The Animated Series.  Right now.  Seriously, stop reading this and go watch an episode.  I'll wait.  ...OK, you back?  The guy voicing Batman in that episode you just watched?  That's Kevin Conroy.  That's why I was so happy he was involved in this.  He is Batman in my mind.  That is how Batman sounds.  And adding to that, in the role of the Joker, we have the one and only Mark Hammil.  Yup, Luke Skywalker.  But his ultimate role for me will always be the Joker, as that dates back to the Animated Series as well.  I think they got a few other voices from the cartoon in there, so most of the cast sounds the way I'm used to hearing them talk.  That's a big deal when the developer is trying to sell you on an authentic Batman experience.

Yet the great voice work could only carry the game so far.  If the cast had terrible lines or unnatural dialogue, then none of those guys could really salvage this game.  Yet the characters all behave and act the way you would expect Batman characters to.  I have to imagine a lot of credit goes toward Paul Dini.  Who is Paul Dini, you ask?  Why, he was one of the main writers on Batman: The Animated Series!  Yeah, you might be able to tell by now that I'm kind of crazy about that show.  But I'm crazy about it for a good reason.  It was a kid's show that didn't dumb down the characters for it's audience.  In fact, I think the writers had a better feel for Batman and his world than some of the comic writers creating the "official continuity".  The writers on that show had an obvious love for the Batman, and the way they told his adventures just clicked well.  That was the way Batman should act.  He wasn't too brooding, yet he still had a burden about him that compelled him to keep fighting.  This carries over to the game.  Paul Dini was one of the main writers, and I have to believe he brought over his experience from the cartoon and was able to give it just a slightly darker and more mature tone.  Not too much, but enough to make you feel like you were really in Batman's world and trying to bring down this circus of homicidal maniacs.

But this is a video game here.  And if the game play is no good, then all the other stuff is just a waste of time.  Thankfully, the gameplay is great and fits perfectly into a Batman game.  Combat in this game is not about surviving each encounter, as is usually the focus.  This is Batman, and if some random thugs can give him a real fight, then he might as well hang up the cape and cowl.  The Batman in Arkham Asylum can not only take on twenty thugs at a time, but he can theoretically take them out without taking a single hit.  That's the draw of the combat in this game: you try to dismantle each group of bad guys in the most awesome way possible.  It seems really simple at the start, but you soon become addicted to stringing together attacks, counters, and special attacks to keep the combos going and see if you can make it out flawlessly.  It's incredibly fun, and makes Batman seem like the awesome superhero you know from the comics and movies.  This is only enhanced by the stealth portions of the game.  Stealth in games is usually about making you feel like the prey, and hiding to survive.  In Batman, it's almost the opposite.  Batman can only take a few hits, since these guys have guns and he only has body armor, but you still get the feeling that Batman is the predator in these moments.  You slowly take each goon out, one by one.  When another one drops, the remaining guys get more and more freaked out, until you finally bring them all down to the ground.  You often do this with the aid of Batman's gadgets, which all feel useful and are vital in exploring the Asylum.  As you progress, you get better gadgets and upgrades that allow you to retrack your steps and discover new areas and items.  Yes, this is a Metroid-vania game.  The backtracking is kept to a minimum, though, so you always feel like you're moving forward.

In the end, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a game that effectively puts you in Batman's shoes and allows you to feel how awesome it is to be the Dark Knight.  Rocksteady has created an incredibly fun game and put it in a great atmosphere with a story that fits well within the Batman world.  If you're not a fan of Batman, there's still plenty of stuff in here for you to enjoy.  If you are a fan, well you probably already know all this, since you've likely played and beaten it by now.  And it was great, wasn't it?  Yeah it was.