Arkham Asylum Review

dunworth1

mika27 wrote: »

Where can I pre-order the collectors edition?

i just preordered the collectors edtion in game stop for 65

min 5 euro deposit cant wait for it

BlitzKrieg

just finished the demo

It looks good coming from an unreal engine game, though the character animations seem a bit stiff in some cutscenes. Controls are for the most part spot on, excpet batman feels a bit rubbery in his movement when you are simply walking, he swings from side to side a bit. But its fine if you duck all the time (which feels more natural for batman.) Aside from that after seconds when each new element is introduced I had it down with ease and by the end of the demo I was already mixing and matching them (knocking someone out as they walk under a gargoyle using a batarang then swinging over to it and doing an inverted takedown as they get up and so on)

Level design wise the game has a very strong Chronicles of Riddick feel to it, not only visually but also in how it plays, which is not a bad thing by a long shot. The game actually gets it spot on getting the feeling of being The Batman

Voice work is nice, Mark Hamill is on fire, they also have multiple dialogue path's set up (near the end of the demo if you jump the goon talking to joker, he will change his conversation to match your actions, or you can wait til they finish up.

Combat is easy to get to grips with, looks fantastic, it doesnt seem broken from the demo and it moves easily with the stealth gameplay elements, as do the range weapons (its very easy to change combat on the fly and distract foes.

My only complaints really is the rubbery movement and a pure fanboy moment when they had batman say something that I felt was out of character.

After you take down Zazi, if you talk to the gaurd beside the one that was killed by him batman says that he should put zazi down permanantly

My only other somewhat serious complaint is that it might get repetitive if all the objects you can swing to are gargoyles. Its a good visual que, but with the detective mode it should be possible to diversify it a bit to other objects like light fixtures, flagpoles etc.

Outside of that, lots of characters from the comic (woot! Gordon and oracle) not to mention a host of bonus info and profiles (including more great joker moments with the interview tapes.


Overall this has gone high up in my wishlist, I just need to watch the reviews in case some broken elements surface later in the game or if it doesnt expand on the good mechanics that fprms the base.

Moiph

The demo is quite good, although a bit short. The camera kinda annoys me a little at times but other than that I cant see much to complain about, definitely going to pick it up anyway!

jayteecork

Downloading the demo right now.

Mr. K

Played through it there, really enjoyed it. The presentation is great and the gameplay is suitably smooth. You kind of click into the Batman style as you take down enemies, it's rather cool!

Hopefully this will silence the doubters and naysayers! Roll on August 28th...

James Howlett

Very nice. The little details are there, like the way the cape follows Batman as he turns. Going by suggestions in the demo

it might not all take place inside Arkham

, which would be super sweet.

Gonna be a purchase, and the collector's edition with batarang at that.

tman

Absolutely ****ing fantastic stuff... The room at the end of the demo gives a real taste of what will come in the full game... I just loved stealthily picking off a couple of them (+1 for the inverted takedown love), then watching from the shadows as they become more and more terrified and group together... Wait for one to stray from the flock and pick him off, then glide back into the shadows feeling like a total badass:D
Some games make you feel like a badass when you pull some slick moves off, this one makes you feel like the Batman, who is pretty much the ultimate badass!
Hopefully this will be region free, as I'm pretty damn skint at the moment!

Superb voice acting on Mark Hamills part as well... Fairly OT, but I would love to see him in a movie instead of all the voice acting he seems to do these days

cobrastarship

so this must be good then i was looking on xbox there today and they did see it ?

tman

cobrastarship wrote: »

so this must be good then i was looking on xbox there today and they did see it ?

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-GB/games/default.htm
Right at the top of the game demos section there... I just queued it to download from there

LD 50

Gotta agree with everyone here. The game feels really smooth, the enviroments are top notch, the combat is smooth and fast, provides small hints above attackers as to when they're going to strike so you can counter, making you not only look like the Batman, but fight like him too.
The only problems I had with it was the dailogue sometimes seemed to be out of sync with the movements of characters mouths, or badly mapped. It just looked unnatural.

Overall though, Very Good. Definately getting this, only question is normal version, or CE

docdolittle

I don't know what's wrong with me playing games lately... I died in the demo... That never used to happen... I'm getting old.. :rolleyes:

joe123

Well I seem to be going against everyone else here. Was really looking forward to getting this but now im not so sure. Graphics are good but the combat is pure button mashing and way to simple. If you keep tapping Y the whole time they never touch you and if you keep pressing x you can look away from the screen and theyll all be knocked out.

There doesnt seem much to it to be honest. You press detective mode and therel either be a air vent glowing or a gargoyle to go into or swing up to respectively. Its far to easy and I can see it get getting repetitive fast.

General summary. Good graphics, VERY basic gameplay, gives you a good feel of being batman,Not much to do.

Il have to wait for reviews to see if theres actually more to it because judging by the demo youl be sick of it after an hour. Have a feeling it could be a very short game.

rizzla

Didn't like it either. Will still be keeping an eye on it though. The story seems interesting but I just didn't like the combat.

jayteecork

Thought this was just a modern update of the old beat em ups like Street of Rage.
You just hammer the buttons.

Plus the game really takes you by the hand for the Gargoyles and stealth sections.
Doubt I'll buy it full price.

RAIN

great demo, combat is great the game promises to make u feel like Batman and it does,brilliantly. Feels like an episode from the old animated series and that to me is an achievment in itself. I'd like to hear some examples of a thitd person game that's combat is better then this? Prince of Persia?Assasins creed?all 1 to 3 button combat.Could u hang upside down and watch your enimies hearts getting faster as they try to figure out where batman is? No. In the devs own words this is an aggresive stealth game and if you go back and play the demo again you will see there is several ways to approach each situation, the game leads you to a situation but it gives you the tools to everything else anyway you want.

Visuals are really impresive attention to detail is great, Wayne enterpises made equiptment etc, I like the way the Bios mix lots of differnt variants from past stories together to fit their story.

I'm realy looking forward to the full release.

mailrewop

i'm after playing the demo around 4-5 times and i still want to go back for more. one part really stood out for me yesterday when playing it, i was near the end of the demo where you have to take out the 6 inmates in the room and i was down to the last inmate and he started getting scared and all of a sudden steam came out of the boiler and he fired a few bullets at the boiler. Mark Hamill as the joker is just fantastic. i love the line he says "look at all the new security, how's a guy suppose to break outta here"

RAIN

have you noticed that even in the demo the dialouge changes when u have to restart the mission. Joker has extra lines that just pop up now and then. I love that last room, so many options and ways to take people out. Under the floor from the roof etc etc. I also love that you can manually control the way you glide when u jump from height. Ok as wet as an otters pocket for the rest of the game.

NunianVonFuch

It's a fun game and I definitely see myself picking it up upon release, but I do have one concern as mentioned by others - the combat. It seems the exact same as the hand-to-hand in the Watchmen downloadable game, similar moves too. I reckon that'll get old fast!

But the quality of the story and the decent stealth sections make it worth the bang for my buck.

bmdmac

Played the demo last night looks really good, but talk about Eidos shooting themselves in the foot. The game looks good and plays well, think it will a fun game while the wait goes on for a few bigger titles.

tman

jayteecork wrote: »

Thought this was just a modern update of the old beat em ups like Street of Rage.
You just hammer the buttons.

Plus the game really takes you by the hand for the Gargoyles and stealth sections.
Doubt I'll buy it full price.

This is just the introductory section of the game though, the full thing is obviously going to have harder combat and will leave you to your own devices once it has you used to the basics...

RAIN

Alot of people mentioning that they played Watchmen game........please tell me it was only the demo?

chrislad

RAIN wrote: »

Alot of people mentioning that they played Watchmen game........please tell me it was only the demo?

Unfortunately, not. I read the novel, saw the film and I said "Sure, why not!?". I don't think I played past the first level. *shudder*

thorbarry

i dont think i can actually wait any longer for this game.... dang

mika27

Me neither...i'm actually pi$$ed off now that the demo was released so far before the game. Oh well, I guess i'll just play through it again

RAIN

Iv played the demo bout 20 times, Its savage!

RAIN

Very cool look at some of the gadgets you get to use in the game

mailrewop

will you be able to go back to areas that you've played through or after finishing the game can you start again with all your gadgets cause when you are in the room where you have to save the guard theres a wall that can be knocked down.

faceman

I liked the demo but I hope there is alot more variety and challenge in the game. It seemed very linear and formulaic in how you deal with each scene.

BlitzKrieg

I replaid the demo just now and I must retract one of my complaints. Turns out it wasnt batman who said a line that was out of character so Batman is pretty much in character .

Replaying it and trying different things showed me new tricks and treats. I didnt notice the first time that you can wallhug at corners to spy on opponents and do quick batarangs, also hanging upside down for kicks and sh*ts and specific takedowns in certain areas. (the detective mode tells you the glass in one room is fragile and if you are on it when a perp is underneath you can do a takedown on him through the glass.

Also judging from the trailers there are gonna be numerous of those things you saw at the end of the demo in the game, sort of like ogres from resident evil 4.

mailrewop

when you hang people upside down, you can also throw your batarang at them to cut them down. it doesn't do anything but its fun