Batman : Arkham Asylum

[Fiach]

Batman AA is due out at the end of the month. The demo is available on XBLIVE if anyone isnt aware of it and wants to give it a shot.

I tried it and its quite short, which is disappointing, All you get is what amounts to a tutorial.

The story seems strong, Batman is lured to the asylum and imprisoned within by The Joker and Harley Quin, of course the asylum is home to all the villans that the B-Man has incarcerated over his illustrious career.

The game is predisposed towards its stealth element, if you like that then you will be in your ...ummmm ... element (ugh! apologies for using the word element so much). Batman moves incredible slowly and you have to press "A" to get him to move a little faster, if you pull the Right trigger, he will even move more slowly for bat-type sneakage.

He has a couple of different vision types and some gadgets, but essentially you use a vision mode to highlight where the enemies are and either sneak around on foot or hop from perch to perch until behind them, try to execute silent takedowns to achieve your goals.

Batman is also a dab hand at fisticuffs with a nice tight melee system, but cannot take too many bullets unlike the batman from the more recent movies. If you die, the mission restarts from quite near by, so no harm no foul, health replenishes automatically, after a room is cleared of enemies.

The slow movement, constant stealth mode and lack of gore, predisposes me to ignoring this on release and waiting until it hits the bargain bins, I was hoping this would be my next "big" game, but I think that will now be Wolfenstein, after reading some reviews that indicate they havent screwed it up, but actually enhanced the Wolfy franchise.

[spaceboy]

I/we tested it out this weekend on PSN as well.  I'll say while I wasn't overly thrilled with it, my son enjoyed replaying the demo quite a lot. 

The best part IMO is the animations when fighting and doing Bat-stuff like glide-kicking etc.  The melee action slows down and gives you great slo-mo animation.  What I liked was the action is normally paced for a bit but will slow down and zoom in occasionally (esp on finishing moves) and it looks cool.

Yes, if you like stealth and figuring out how to take out everybody silently it should be a good ride, but it certainly won't be a top notch title.

I'm hoping the boss fights will be fun especially with Killer Croc -and of course Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy  ;).

Also, the Joker is voice acted by none other than Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and it's done very well - he doesn't sound like Luke.

For me it's a buy seeing as though my son will like it and we can talk about it and enjoy it together.

[Fiach]

Yes, I'm sure the stealth people will love it, the melee combat as I mentioned before is very tight and quite intuitive.

But for example the glide kick you mentioned Spaceboy, its so "considered", you sneak up, position yourself just right and then you get a glide-kick icon..... theres no..... not quite sure what words to use .... excitement/exhilleration .... on the edge of your seat type of momentum, it feels really sterile.

Prototype really put lots of thrills volatility and complete and utter mayhem into the combat, Wolverine also brought immediacy, instinctiveness and a barbaric brutality, tempered by an animal-like gracefulness into the combat. Batman feels like a punch up, outside the pub on a saturday night, without the added benefit of a few pints of beer to add its rosy glow to the mix :)

Yeah I know, the game does what it says on the box, thats the sort of combat that is mostly associated with Batman, it just feels really boring to me.

I would tend to associate Batman with detection and fighting mostly, Never really stealth though. The game is getting 9 and 9.5/10 scores in the gaming press here, so I guess I'm just wrong :)

[Art Blade]

I was just trying to figure out which platform the game was on by simply looking at Fiach's avatar, but the "Gaming Platform(s):" field is still empty. You can edit your forum profile and add the platform you are using, so other readers can identify easily what game platform you are using and of course game recommendations such as this one can be identified easier. Not a must-do, just a nice feature of our site :)

I reckon XBLive, from the text, means XBox360? (Confused because I have Games for Windows Live)

[spaceboy]

Fiach,  I know exactly what you mean by sterile.  I'd prefer to just be able to execute a glide kick and steer the Batman towards my target.  Or just get close enough for a takedown and know to hit the right button instead of a prompt.  Perhaps there will be some option to turn off some "help" icons in the game, but I imagine the glide-kick is what it is.

It's clearly catering towards a younger gamer with this type of pop-up action - but again, it suited my son fine.  I wouldn't buy it on my own, but he's paying for half so that's good.  :-X

I'll be able to post back more thoughts on the final game after release (we've pre-ordered to get a special challenge map)   Plus the PS3 version has the added bonus of being able to play as Joker in the challenge maps (not sure why we lucked out but that oughta be fun...I'm hoping)

[Fiach]

@Art
The game is multiplatform mate, not an exclusive, although the PS3 version has an exclusive, where you can play as joker on challenge maps.
I'll check that avatar thing out in a bit, thanks for the heads up. :)

Yes it would be great if you could post a review of the full game, as you know the demo is mostly a tutorial, so its unfair to base my opinion on it, as I mentioned, the press here are 9+/10, so maybe the game is more rounded in the full version.

I think another factor, regarding the combat, is I'm playing a game called Too Human, its kinda like Diablo, but you are in the thick of the action, as opposed to using an isometric viewpoint.

The game got incredibly poor reviews (360 game), I picked it up for 7€ (about £5) in GAME, I have to say the game rocks! But I digress, the combat is really fast though, the berzerker just zips all over the battlefield like a duracell bunny on crack!

So when I played Batman, it felt treacle-y slow LOL :D

[Art Blade]

Fiach, I notice you put XBOX into the "personal text". if you scroll further down in the edit profile, below your signature, you'll see Website title and Website URL and then at the end (bottom) the field where you add your gaming platform :)

[Fiach]

Yeah, when I saw the result, I know I'd buggered something up, I was under a bit of time pressure, will sort it later though, cheers :)

[Fiach]

Apparently there was a review embargo, so they may have seemed thin on the ground, if you looked for them. It's rumoured that EA would only allow reviews with high scores to be released, on pain of losing advertising revenue.

Here is a 9.3 review from IGN.

http://ie.xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1016701p1.html

[spaceboy]

interesting.  Yeah, the reviews were high from both Game Informer and Official Playstation Magazine.  GI is normally fair while OPM typically gives high ratings unless its a real stinker...Reading them did make me excited for the game though.  We'll know more in a couple days.

[spaceboy]

So far from what I've seen, the game is very good.  I've only played a bit myself, but I've seen my son play and it's got a nice mixture of combat, stealth, and "puzzle".  He's definitely enjoying it.  I need to get my chance soon.  >:(

Here is a link to some gameplay we recorded of the Challenge maps.  One as Batman and one as Joker (my son is actually playing - he does well I must say).

http://mygamepages.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=14

[JRD]

Batman AA is getting excellent reviews in some sites I usually check...

I read you can go outside tha asylum and wander through the island doing puzzles, is that correct?

This sound like a great game actually...  ;)

[spaceboy]

yes there is a point you go outside on the island but I believe it's part of the storyline - I don't know too much about that part.

[JRD]

So far from what I've seen, the game is very good.  I've only played a bit myself, but I've seen my son play and it's got a nice mixture of combat, stealth, and "puzzle".  He's definitely enjoying it.  I need to get my chance soon.  >:(

Here is a link to some gameplay we recorded of the Challenge maps.  One as Batman and one as Joker (my son is actually playing - he does well I must say).

http://mygamepages.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=14

Excellent vids spaceboy.
The game looks great... I like how the Batman can glide and attack enemies from above...... really cool

And how the Joker is depicted is awesome... great character and he moves as if he was mocking someone, which fits perfectly with him.

spacekid knows how to play for sure, there's a great gamer in him... must the father's blood  ;)

[spaceboy]

Thanks.  Yeah, my wife is probably not as proud of his gaming skill as I am but, that's how the story goes I guess.  There's some other great moves too that we didn't get to do.

A favorite from the demo we did was when on a gargoyle and a henchman walks underneath you, you drop down, zip back up with your grapple, choke the fool, then "hang" him with your never ending supply of rope lol.  He doesn't die but just hangs there.  Later, when another henchman is walking underneath him, send a batarang to cut down the rope and drop the first guy on the second. 

[JRD]

There seems to be numerous ways of defeating your enemy and the fact that they are all wandering around and react to your presence makes for good hunting (no memory tests whatsoever).
Even in closed spaces, this game must be very diversified and fun to play more than once... I really like the sound of that  ;)

[DKM2]

Batman's going to AA....?????

[JRD]

Batman's going to AA....?????

See... a man dreeses as a bat and go jumping from rooftop to rooftop after a guy dressed as a clawn, or as a scarecrow or as a penguin... either it's booze or something nasty!!  ;D ;D

[Art Blade]

 ;D ;D ;D Well said, JRD

In any case, a bunch of clowns like these makes one wonder should one try to cure them or simply shoot them  ;D

[spaceboy]

Here's another video (this time it's me playing)  Batman takes on Bane.  As I play more myself, I'm really starting to like it more and more. Listening to the Joker's henchmen is almost as good as FC2 mercs...Mid battle in the vid below you can hear them asking each other if they're okay...lol

http://mygamepages.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=16

[spaceboy]

This one I think is something OWG experimenters might like.  I call it "fun with explosive gel"  You're supposed to use the gel to break down weak walls in the game.  No saying you can't use it to set traps for the henchmen...

http://mygamepages.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=19

[Art Blade]

Good idea, abusing that gel to blow up baddies. The animation is just plain funny when he bends over and sprays that gel on the floor :)

[spaceboy]

Thanks Art, yeah you've got to give yourself time for the animation to finish or they'll get to you and beat you while your setting your trap...

[spaceboy]

Added a vid to this article.  It shows just level 4 of a challenge map where Batman has to fight off a Titan as well as the henchmen.

http://mygamepages.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=14

[JRD]

Just got the game last week at STEAM summer sale... a real bargain and a game I was willing to play for a while.

I read spaceboy's comments and impressions and was very happy to see someone managed to pull a decent comic books hero game... I have a few B-man's comics myself and really like to have a game where I can play Bruce Wayne's alter ego's role fully on...

I knew the game was pretty linear so I wasn't too fond of purchasing it on release... the saved bucks were very well spent on other great titles as well, so B:AA was a no hurry... but now, as i play it... wow... what a great game  8)

I really like B-man's moves... fighting is smooth and seamless and the variation of attacks is good enought to have you craving for more  >:D ... I'm only at the start but so far all I did was pretty wicked... gliding  attacks and all the kicking and punching I did felt really cool

The whole atmosphere of the game with Mark Hammil voicing the Joker on an outstading w%&k, the Arkham Asylum visuals and the feel of both The Deadly Joke and the Arkham Asylum comics with a twist of Heath Ledger's look makes all Dark Knight's fans in for a treat on this game...

I mentioned this on another post... to me,  B:AA is a warm up to Batman: Arkham City - an open world, sandbox sequel to this woderful game...

Batman: Arkham City - Official Gameplay Trailer - This Ain't No Place for a Hero

Catwoman HD Gameplay Trailer - Batman: Arkham City

Batman Arkham City: Hugo Strange Trailer


...
...
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy
OhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoyOhBoy

***************************************************************************************
Thanks, space!  :-X