On an Island Full of Overdressed Lunatics
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a masterpiece. Who would've thought?
Published: October 5, 2009
A couple of years ago, Joel Schumacher and Tim Burton killed the Batman. Not literally, although come to think of it it sure seemed like both acted consciously, instead they made a bunch of movies that no matter what the Dark Knight must have done in order to piss them off, he didn't deserve. After a few years of silence in the mainstream entertainment department (with mainstream I mean movies, tv and video games – though the latter can't really be called 'mainstream,' can it?) a chap who runs by the name Christopher Nolan almost appeared out of thin air and made the greatest Batman movie to that day – Batman Begins. While the movie itself was very much what fans of the source material demanded, the compulsory video game adaption that came alongside its bigger brother very much proved once more that licensed video games suffering a release date close to their major Hollywood blockbuster counterparts usually suck hard. Instead of paying any respect to the source material they usually only serve a single primary purpose; a cheap and easy way to cash in on the movie's success.
You are probably asking yourself by now how all of this is relevant to Batman: Arkham Asylum, a game that clearly wasn't developed with any of the older or newer bat movies in mind, and instead is very much everything the hardcore Batman comic book fan has been having wet dreams of. Well, it came as a pleasant surprise that no crappy video game came alongside last year's movie of the year, and to some even movie of the decade – The Dark Knight. Instead, the people responsible for handling the license seem to be slowly but steadily learning how one can please fans by delivering a quality product that treats its source material with the necessary respect while in the process bringing a new audience to the table – even at the risk of taking a tad longer to develop than the usual 6-10 months of production time most licensed titles are granted. In the case of Batman: Arkham Asylum that “new audience” is the millions of hardcore gamers that might have only ever seen a movie or two and are now compelled to jump in on the hype that has been surrounding the game ever since its release a couple of weeks ago.
Developed by Rocksteady, the guys behind the surprisingly neat though far from perfect Urban Chaos: Riot Response, Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place in, you guessed it, Arkham Asylum. Arkham is Gotham's institution for all the super criminals that have encountered Batman during his 70 years of comic book law keeping, and while the place is supposed to “heal” its “mad” inmates, throughout the game we just couldn't shake the feeling that part of Gotham's madness is coming from within those ancient walls built upon a gigantic rock on the shores of the east coast city.
But let's cut to the chase by letting us tell you something about the game's contents. The tale begins with one of the game's many fantastically animated, very atmospherically acted and sharply written pre-rendered cutscenes portraying how Batman races his Batmobile to Arkham in order to drop off the clown that seems to be in a surprisingly good mood. While the franchise's most iconic villain obviously has something planned, the Dark Knight plays along in order to discover Joker's true intentions. The rest of the story is for you to play through as it's best experienced as spoiler free as possible. Let me tell you this much; the plot itself is not the kind which will draw you in because of its gigantic twists and turns; instead it's the overall atmosphere and constant feeling that you are part of what is going on that will keep you aching for more. You don't just control Bruce Wayne as Batman, no, you become the Dark Knight for the entirety of the single night the game takes place in. A batsuit that takes damage and a Batman that very much bleeds and hurts as you and I would only adds another layer to the already fantastic sense of immersion.
You are probably asking yourself by now how all of this is relevant to Batman: Arkham Asylum, a game that clearly wasn't developed with any of the older or newer bat movies in mind, and instead is very much everything the hardcore Batman comic book fan has been having wet dreams of. Well, it came as a pleasant surprise that no crappy video game came alongside last year's movie of the year, and to some even movie of the decade – The Dark Knight. Instead, the people responsible for handling the license seem to be slowly but steadily learning how one can please fans by delivering a quality product that treats its source material with the necessary respect while in the process bringing a new audience to the table – even at the risk of taking a tad longer to develop than the usual 6-10 months of production time most licensed titles are granted. In the case of Batman: Arkham Asylum that “new audience” is the millions of hardcore gamers that might have only ever seen a movie or two and are now compelled to jump in on the hype that has been surrounding the game ever since its release a couple of weeks ago.
Developed by Rocksteady, the guys behind the surprisingly neat though far from perfect Urban Chaos: Riot Response, Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place in, you guessed it, Arkham Asylum. Arkham is Gotham's institution for all the super criminals that have encountered Batman during his 70 years of comic book law keeping, and while the place is supposed to “heal” its “mad” inmates, throughout the game we just couldn't shake the feeling that part of Gotham's madness is coming from within those ancient walls built upon a gigantic rock on the shores of the east coast city.
But let's cut to the chase by letting us tell you something about the game's contents. The tale begins with one of the game's many fantastically animated, very atmospherically acted and sharply written pre-rendered cutscenes portraying how Batman races his Batmobile to Arkham in order to drop off the clown that seems to be in a surprisingly good mood. While the franchise's most iconic villain obviously has something planned, the Dark Knight plays along in order to discover Joker's true intentions. The rest of the story is for you to play through as it's best experienced as spoiler free as possible. Let me tell you this much; the plot itself is not the kind which will draw you in because of its gigantic twists and turns; instead it's the overall atmosphere and constant feeling that you are part of what is going on that will keep you aching for more. You don't just control Bruce Wayne as Batman, no, you become the Dark Knight for the entirety of the single night the game takes place in. A batsuit that takes damage and a Batman that very much bleeds and hurts as you and I would only adds another layer to the already fantastic sense of immersion.
