My thoughts on Batman: Arkham Asylum

Several months back I commented on how the game Batman: Arkham Asylum was in the works just when it was first announced. It’s been a long while and I’ve been waiting for a good time to comment on it again as trailers, screenshots and further announcements where made.

Furthering one of my original comments, I’m excited that

Paul Dini wrote the storyline. He’s my 3^rd favorite Batman writer and judging from the snips we’ve seen of the storyline, this looks to be very interesting. I’m hoping he can throw in some cool twists and turns rather then it being a simple “Batman goes in, Batman gets the Joker, Batman goes home” type story but even if it is, I’m sure there will be some cool moments.

Though as optimistic as I am for this video game I can’t help but remember Spider-man: Web of Shadows. A great looking game that turned out to be mediocre and “just okay” like most super hero games nowadays. The only really good super hero video game in these last few years of gaming I can think of was Ultimate Spider-man but that’s it.

Though still this game doesn’t look like it was made for a cheap buck or to ride on the success of the Dark Knight. Mostly since it has absolutely nothing to do with the movie. Though I also have to admit that Batman has had much better luck with video games then other super heroes. There’s the classic on the NES and other great games.

Another thing that gives me hope is that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are returning to their roles from Batman: the animated series. This along with Paul Dini has lead this game to be called “the Ultimate Batman game” and I must admit with those 3 factors alone it has a lot going for it.

The game also looks great, characters like Joker and Killer Croc all have a cool updated more realistic, to an extent at least, look and it really is great. Though graphics have never really been a big thing for me. Textures look dark and eerie and Arkham’s overall design looks very impressive. Enemies are a little bland looking, just your typical thug type enemies in clown masks. Still the game looks very well done, nice detail and very visually appealing.

The gameplay is where it looks solid, it has a cool mix of action/beat ‘em up from games like God of War and Stealth/Detective work from games like the Splinter Cell or Metal Gear series. This looks really cool and to have just an awesome mix of the two so that you wouldn’t be spending too long sneaking or too long fighting. I do have a high hope that we’ll get plenty of fun detective puzzles that are both challenging and interesting as it seems nowadays the puzzles in action games have gotten dumber and dumber. This is a chance to have some really solid challenges along with great action.

Overall I’m really looking forward to this game, I have a PS3 so it’s a must have come June. It’s got incredible talent on it, a great gameplay design and it seems to really fit the Batman Universe nicely. As a Batman fan I can only be hopeful for this great looking new game coming out in June. I thought I’d have more to say really but I guess what more there is to say is simply that it looks good, there’s incredible talent behind it and as a Batman fan this really has my attention and while I’m a little cautious, my hopes are still high for a good Batman game.