I remember being a child, and waking up every weekend, turning my TV to FOX, and watching the Batman Cartoon. The Dark Knight was always a favorite as he was the only Superhero, who used both his mind and real physical attributes to foil every criminals plan. Now you get the chance to do so by taking control of Batman, himself in Batman: Arkham Asylum!
The game begins with a very nice Intro Video, where Batman is transporting Joker to Arkham Asylum. Apparently There was a fire and many of Jokers Henchmen were captured and transferred to Arkham Asylum, as well as the Joker himself. You take control of batman, and are following A restrained Joker and guards. The voice overs are amazing from the get-go and Joker pulls you in with his humor and ferocious comments. Once you get to the lower level, all hell breaks loose!
The game plays VERY smoothly and has easy controls to go along with it. Although it seems a lot at first, everything is very simple to use and get used too. The Fighting Mechanics are also easy and can be threatening to Jokers Henchmen as it seems Batman, can just about get out of any perdicament while going hand to hand. If the baddies have guns, you better hide as you will be dead batmeat, fast! The only bad thing, is sometimes, you find yourself beating on buttons, and you can find yourself attacking the wrong way, so slow it down!
Graphically, this game pushes the Xbox 360 to the max, as the game is VERY polished and is very clean. I have yet to really see any kind of jagged edges, or areas that didn't look like they matched. Batman is very detailed as well as the gadgets he has available. When characters are speaking, there is no stuttering of the graphics or anything, the voices are perfectly matched with the character models. Even while in a combat situation, everything flows smoothly with both Batman and whatever opponent he maybe taking on.
The Sounds of Batman: Arkham Asylum, are damn near perfect with the cartoon show. The sounds of the batarang, the whooshing of the Cape, and the solid thud of punches are all very realistic. The Voice overs are the best thing to the game, as it features the original Voices from the FOX cartoon! This is a great thing, as now the characters won't seem fake or not up to their character, because it is the ORIGINALS! The music score is strong and brings you straight into the action, and really gets your mindset into the game and surroundings perfectly!
There are also many features to Batman:AA, as opposed to just playing Story mode. There is a challenge mode that allows you to do different tasks as Batman, which upon completion, will unlock more things for you to do! not to mention, you can change outfits and all once unlocked in Story mode! In Story mode, you can also collect what are known as Riddler Trophies which give you more clues and character bios. Now their maybe other things to do but I have yet to get that far into the game.
Achievement wise, the game is pretty steady and allows you to flow through them with ease. Some are challenging as they are collectible based achieves, but nothing to crazy.
All in all this game is a definate BUY and no one need to worry about this game being bad at all, as this game is damn near perfect. Sure every game has it's flaws, but this one has very, very little to complain about. I recommend you get off your butt come the 25th and go purchase this game as it is worth it. Here are the ratings I give!
Gameplay: 9.5
Graphics: 9.5
Sound: 10.0
Controls: 9.0
Replay Value: 9.5
Overall: 9.5
Thanks a bunch for taking the time to read, have a fun waffling!
Gabriel
