Arkham Asylum Review

BlitzKrieg

i'm about 33% of the way through with a 100 or so of the riddles/secrets found.

Addictive stuff, shame I am working the next 3 days.


far too many awesome moments for me so far but

scarecrow's nightmares seriously put this over the top for a batman game as I think its the first game to actually deal with some element of batman's tragic past.

Also I was just reading arkham living hell last night so the numerous nods to characters in that throughout the game made me happy.


Overall easily the best batman game and a very strong contender for game of the year for me, I normally hate hunting down secrets in adventure games (I still wont go back and collect all the shiny orb things in Prince of persia) but Batman has got the nice mix of challange and reward. (though you can trick the riddle detector by finding a high place and scanning everywhere until it says the clue is obstructed, you can then work out where it is roughly.

Also they have surprisingly spiced up the combat as the game continues and the encounters with the rogue gallery are all quality (though

looks like no two face or clayface...or black mask as bossess, sure the 3 of them make brief cameos though and clayface's one is very good

J-blk

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

far too many awesome moments for me so far but

scarecrow's nightmares seriously put this over the top for a batman game as I think its the first game to actually deal with some element of batman's tragic past.

Also I was just reading arkham living hell last night so the numerous nods to characters in that throughout the game made me happy.

I'm about 35% in myself - and those

Scarecrow sequences are fantastic. I've come across three so far and it's amazing how they are introduced each time, catching you off guard and really giving the feeling that you're in Batman's nightmares.

And the combat is awesome, even though it may look easy at first. I much prefer the stealth approach though (inverted takedown FTW!) but in many fights, you can use all kinds of different approaches.

Not sure if you got to this part yet, but how awesome was

the fight with the two mutated thugs, were you can climb on the back of a stunned one and use him to beat the crap out of the other one

.

Haven't enjoyed a game this much in awhile. Will probably complete the story mode over the weekend and have a go at the Challenge Rooms then.

RAIN

I think the riddler things are great, each area has about 3 things to do besides the main objective!

I was surprised how different too the Demo the game is

the intro is fantastic, when the lights go out and Batman has the Joker by the Kneck or when you meet Killer Croc in the corridor

I also LOVE the attention to detail

The Riddlers interview tape's are brilliant also did anyone see the Riddler clues with the Beatle in a Crircle? Reference to Grant Morrisons comic FTW

:eek:

J-blk

RAIN wrote: »

I was surprised how different too the Demo the game is

Yep, I'm amazed they put that kind of effort

into delivering a demo that is not essentially a copy of the first level of the game

, like most demos usually are...

The intro in the full game is absolute class, far better than what the demo showed off.

dunworth1

J-blk wrote: »

Yep, I'm amazed they put that kind of effort

into delivering a demo that is not essentially a copy of the first level of the game

, like most demos usually are...

The intro in the full game is absolute class, far better than what the demo showed off.

True

i'm very happy with the game its the collector edition that let me down

first the batarang is all scarched and then the book isn't leather covered

and the box is different to one i saw online

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/25/unboxing-the-batman-arkham-asylum-collectors-edition/

junglecliff

were has the collectors ed of this and whats the price range..?

dunworth1

junglecliff wrote: »

were has the collectors ed of this and whats the price range..?

gamestop 65 euro

its not the same as in the link i posted above

James Howlett

The only real plus of the collector's edition is the download code for the Crime Alley challenge map. Bat-a-rang really is a let down.

MiCr0

got the regular version in gamestop yesterday for 50euro

very happy with it so far - about 90 mins in so far - and about 3%

thorbarry

Anybody know the price in Xtra-Vision?

EGriff

thorbarry wrote: »

Anybody know the price in Xtra-Vision?

€49.99

thorbarry

EGriff wrote: »

€49.99

not bad at all

Mr. K

Spent the last two evenings playing this, so good! The voice acting, the tone, the combat...just yes. Everyone buy this; doing so will confirm that a good licenced game will sell, so developers will put the extra effort!

Hornswoggle

Just picked up a copy from Smiths in Carrickmines a few minutes ago for €49.99 (€45 with loyalty card btw). Never played the demo, but i'm sold on it after reading all of the oppinions here! Most likely won't get to play it until tommorow though

duploelabs

Picked it up for rental on my lunch, burning a hole in my pocket until I finish work

Sesudra

Picked this up for €44.99 in HMV on Grafton Street on my lunch,just have to wait til 5.15pm now...

johnny_ultimate

More I play the more I'm getting a Metroid / Shadow Complex kind of vibe too - all those hidden areas that are just out of your reach or an upgrade or two away. Arkham is definitely a very atmospheric and detailed location to explore.

RAIN

Arkham really reminds me of Bioshock's Rapture, really detailed, atmospheric enviorments.

Mark Hamil deserves something for his performance, its stunning voice work he even outshines Conroy who I love as Batman.

I love the bit where

Batman walks into a room and a doctor tied up to a table says, ''its a trap Batman'', his reply ''I know it is but not for me'' commence ass kicking:cool:

thorbarry

ahhh jaysis..... i finish work at 5, i will walk down to rathmines and pick it up... i know i'm going to get lashed on too, and then have to wait aaaagggggeeeesss for the bus.. but hopefully it will be all worthwhile

Lamposts

What a game. What a game. What a game. What a game. What a game. What a game.

Blazer

Lamposts wrote: »

What a game. What a game. What a game. What a game. What a game. What a game.

fcuk...have to buy it now

joe123

Whats the cheapest place to get this cheap either online or shops?

Cant face handing over 60 quid for games these days.

johnny_ultimate

Price seems to be 45-50 euro everywhere (45 in HMV / Smyths loyalty, 50 in Gamestop / Xtravision). Paid 50 in GS myself, but just because HMV next door weren't selling it at 6 yesterday, and I couldn't have been bothered trekking back to the shops today to save a fiver!

RAIN

Just splash out on this one, first game iv splashed out on full price in ages.

Those 12 hours of girlfriend free gamin were worth it.

koneko

Goddamn.

Good game is good.

Basq

Was debating whether to pick it up for the 360 or PS3 in Smyths today.

Went with the PS3 in the end, simply because of the whole "Play as the Joker" thing.

Played it for about 20 minutes before my controller died!

thorbarry

I like how this thread dies for about 7/8 hours cos everyone is home playing it. What a fantastic game, you really get the feel that you are the dark knight, great..... and back i go for another few hours

thorbarry

basquille wrote: »

Played it for about 20 minutes before my controller died!

Dude that has to be the worst thing ever, i hope i just needed a charge or something?

Basq

Yep, tis charging but am thinking of watching 'Bruno' instead tonight.

As I know i'll be up til 4am if I start playing now

BlitzKrieg

85% and finished the main story

the comparisons with bioshock well be very common cause it sort of falls apart in the last segment, after so many great moments to decide that the finale will be a series of thug brawls was the biggest anti climax since well bioshock's final boss (they also look eerily similar too.) Its disapointing cause the story had me hooked for the last two days and I was hoping for a bit more of the joker's twisted sense of humour in the *party's* payoff (almost seemed that way when he got batman injected) but the random return of commissioner gordon, and turning the Joker into a big brawler really poured water on the stories firey start. Would have perferred something closer to how the batman of the future movie ended with the joker being on the recieving end of one of those stealth segments. Aside from that the gameplay was top notch with some pretty awesome boss encounters (killer croc's was bloody intense) despite 3 of them being brawler bossess (scarecrow, joker, harley quinn) I felt there was plenty of diversity. Getting 100% on the riddles is great, esp if you are a batman trivia fan as you work out the riddles pretty easily, and the question mark ones vary from bloody irritating to genuis. I am disapointed that the challange rooms are included in the 100% cause while I will do the stealth ones again and again, the brawling ones would only hold me for so long. I think its an easy 9/10 game, if it didnt faulter in literally the last minutes it would have been perfect, it can join the list of great games with crappy endings.