Okay, this game has been out for a while, but I just got my hands on it last night. I have to say, without attempting to provide any sort of review for the game, it's quite good. Now, keep in mind that i haven't finished it yet, so I'm only speaking from the half-or-so of the game I played, but here are some of my thoughts:
1) A while back I played a demo for this game in a Best Buy or something like that. I have to say, i thought it looked pretty slick graphically (which is always a good way for a game to ingratiate itself with a potential buyer) but the gameplay seemed pretty stale to me. All I remember was being in a dark, dank room in Arkham Asylum playing as Batman beating on the Joker's random Thugs. I played for a few minutes, bashed in some skulls, and put the controller down. It honestly gave me the impression that this game was a Ninja Gaiden or God of War style beat em up game. Except, while games like Gaiden or GoW, are slick, fast and filled with a vast array of moves (Gaiden especially) Batman felt kind of slow and tank-ish to me. I prefer my games to have some flow to the control, and I just didn't get that from the demo, so I lost all interest.
But boy was I wrong! First off, I had no idea that this game contained so much exploration of the asylum as it did. You have an array of Batman's famous gadgetry at your disposal, and it allows you to wander around the moody, gothic grounds of Arkham, gliding, climbing, grappling and (of course) fighting as you go. Batman is equipped with a special visor that puts you in "detective" mode, to help you sniff out clues to figure out where to go and what to do. There is also a lot of well executed stealth scenes too. Batman does not fare so well against guns, so it is often required of you to slink around in the shadows, hanging from gargoyles, and nabbing enemies silently and knocking them out cold. It really makes you feel a hunter stalking prey, like you're in the middle of the dock scene from Batman Begins. It's very cool.
The straight up beat-em-up brawl segments (and there actually aren't as many as you would think) are much more fun than the demo led me to believe, as well. Granted, the combat isn't incredibly nuanced, but the combo's really come from mixing up punches and kicks (the same button, just repeated in time) with counters and special moves you unlock with experience points. As you unlock more moves (take-downs and throws) the combat becomes much more interesting. Batman still is a bit of a clunker, but if you actually understand the combat system (which in my 10 minutes with the demo I couldn't really do) its a lot of fun.
1) A while back I played a demo for this game in a Best Buy or something like that. I have to say, i thought it looked pretty slick graphically (which is always a good way for a game to ingratiate itself with a potential buyer) but the gameplay seemed pretty stale to me. All I remember was being in a dark, dank room in Arkham Asylum playing as Batman beating on the Joker's random Thugs. I played for a few minutes, bashed in some skulls, and put the controller down. It honestly gave me the impression that this game was a Ninja Gaiden or God of War style beat em up game. Except, while games like Gaiden or GoW, are slick, fast and filled with a vast array of moves (Gaiden especially) Batman felt kind of slow and tank-ish to me. I prefer my games to have some flow to the control, and I just didn't get that from the demo, so I lost all interest.
But boy was I wrong! First off, I had no idea that this game contained so much exploration of the asylum as it did. You have an array of Batman's famous gadgetry at your disposal, and it allows you to wander around the moody, gothic grounds of Arkham, gliding, climbing, grappling and (of course) fighting as you go. Batman is equipped with a special visor that puts you in "detective" mode, to help you sniff out clues to figure out where to go and what to do. There is also a lot of well executed stealth scenes too. Batman does not fare so well against guns, so it is often required of you to slink around in the shadows, hanging from gargoyles, and nabbing enemies silently and knocking them out cold. It really makes you feel a hunter stalking prey, like you're in the middle of the dock scene from Batman Begins. It's very cool.
The straight up beat-em-up brawl segments (and there actually aren't as many as you would think) are much more fun than the demo led me to believe, as well. Granted, the combat isn't incredibly nuanced, but the combo's really come from mixing up punches and kicks (the same button, just repeated in time) with counters and special moves you unlock with experience points. As you unlock more moves (take-downs and throws) the combat becomes much more interesting. Batman still is a bit of a clunker, but if you actually understand the combat system (which in my 10 minutes with the demo I couldn't really do) its a lot of fun.
2) During combat, the camera will often zoom in and the game will slow down to focus in on a brutal, knock-down blow from Batman, usually delivered to some poor bastard's face. At first, I thought this was a little annoying. I changed my mind pretty quickly though. It really puts you into the middle of the action, and never actually messes up your combo chain or anything like that. In fact, it actually gives you time to take a quick breather and plan your next strike, so it can be pretty useful. I think it also ties the game to its comic book roots. Those close-ups of Batman laying down some hurt remind me of those classic "POW! fist-to-the-face" panels from the comics. Neat.
3) To not only further the story, but more specifically to help guide the player in the right direction and stay on track, Batman has radio communications with an assistant on the mainland. Occasionally though, during some exploration/detective segments, when it doesn't make sense contextually to have him involved in a conversation, Batman thinks aloud to himself. In one particular moment, you (as a player) need to be prompted to use a scanner to look for a forensic trail. Batman's voice comes over the audio track, wondering aloud to himself if the character who recently fled the area might have left such a trail. I thought this was really odd at first.
If you think about it, it's often necessary for games to actually prompt you to do something. If Batman hadn't mentioned the forensic trail, i could have turned around and left the area, going off in a totally different direction, or spend waaaaay to long poking around the room looking for a spot to blow a hole in a wall or shoot my grappling hook. It's not obvious what to do, and it could have become really frustrating, and maybe soured my opinion of the game, or at least caused me to put it down. So, somebody needed to mention the trail. And as odd as it is that Batman starts talking to himself, it actually would have made FAR less sense to have Batman call his assistant and tell her he thought it might be a good idea to run a scan check. What would her response have been, "uhhhhh....okay...well, you that then. Good idea boss, thanks for telling me!" So Bats talks to himself to give you direction.
This was initially a little distracting. I immediately thought, "why is Batman talking to himself?" But after I gave it a bit of though i realized; this behavior isn't all that uncharacteristic is it? After all, comic book characters talk to themselves CONSTANTLY. The reason for this in a comic is a bit different. In a comic, the writers need to be able to convey the characters internal thoughts and emotions to us, but they usually lack the advantage of a narrator (omniscient or not). Thus, Batman thinks aloud to himself so we can (literally) read his mind. So when video game Batman does the same (albeit for slightly different reasons) it actually makes sense in a funny kind of way.
In another game, a character talking to him/herself in such an obvious way could be over the top. Solid Snake might seem like less of bad-ass and more of a buffoon if he was always pondering aloud how to defeat a boss. Thats why people are always chattering to him on his comm; he doesn't seem crazy if he wonders about something aloud to someone. In Arkham, though, the monologue actually works. It's the Batman game designers adopting a trick that Batman comic book writers have been using forever in order to help their guiding hand remain subtle and concealed. I like that. It seems that in more than one universe, Batman feels the need to talk to himself...
4) The intro to the game is well done. There is a short cinematic of Batman delivering the joker to Arkham prison. Soon after, you take control. Sort of. Batman is limited to walking speed, and none of your moves are executable. You follow the prison guards as they wheel joker through the prison to the highest level security cells, all while the credits appear discreetly on screen. Its actually a pretty familiar type of opening. You move your character without really having control. (Is there a name for this type of opening?)
Anyway, it's actually rather lengthy. I can only imagine the length is by design, as it heightens the tension to a fevered pitch. A friend who was at the time watching me play commented that she, "couldn't wait to see what was going to happen." You KNOW the joker is going to do something (its the motivation for the game) but the length of the scene forces you to stay on your toes guessing when. When that when finally comes, you snap from the highly limited control to full-on Batman goodness and it's go, go, go.
Honestly, if the whole introduction was a cut scene, it would nonetheless become extremely tedious. It's a game, not a movie, after all. By giving the player a teeny tiny bit of control, you are at least giving the impression that the action is underway. This both forces the player to pay attention (certainly more than they would to a cut-scene) and keeps the player from becoming bored before the game has begun; both are very important.
5) I'm kind of a nut for sound in video games. In Arkham I haven't actually noticed much of the music. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure there is any music during most of the exploration of Arkham prison. I actually think that works. Sometimes, lack of music is just as memorable as a good tune (look at Limbo). The one thing i MUST comment on as far as the audio is concerned is the voice acting. I figured (maybe I had heard I can't say exactly) that Mark Hamill would be reprising his role voicing the joker. Simply an amazing decision! He is to the cartoon joker what Heath Ledger is to the live action one. I was much more surprised to hear Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn) from the mid 90's Batman animated series picking up their old roles right where they left off. As soon as I heard those two characters speak, I was impressed. They just fit the characters, even in the different design of this particular Batman universe. (Which thinking about it I would describe as a gritty take on 90's cartoon)
3) To not only further the story, but more specifically to help guide the player in the right direction and stay on track, Batman has radio communications with an assistant on the mainland. Occasionally though, during some exploration/detective segments, when it doesn't make sense contextually to have him involved in a conversation, Batman thinks aloud to himself. In one particular moment, you (as a player) need to be prompted to use a scanner to look for a forensic trail. Batman's voice comes over the audio track, wondering aloud to himself if the character who recently fled the area might have left such a trail. I thought this was really odd at first.
If you think about it, it's often necessary for games to actually prompt you to do something. If Batman hadn't mentioned the forensic trail, i could have turned around and left the area, going off in a totally different direction, or spend waaaaay to long poking around the room looking for a spot to blow a hole in a wall or shoot my grappling hook. It's not obvious what to do, and it could have become really frustrating, and maybe soured my opinion of the game, or at least caused me to put it down. So, somebody needed to mention the trail. And as odd as it is that Batman starts talking to himself, it actually would have made FAR less sense to have Batman call his assistant and tell her he thought it might be a good idea to run a scan check. What would her response have been, "uhhhhh....okay...well, you that then. Good idea boss, thanks for telling me!" So Bats talks to himself to give you direction.
This was initially a little distracting. I immediately thought, "why is Batman talking to himself?" But after I gave it a bit of though i realized; this behavior isn't all that uncharacteristic is it? After all, comic book characters talk to themselves CONSTANTLY. The reason for this in a comic is a bit different. In a comic, the writers need to be able to convey the characters internal thoughts and emotions to us, but they usually lack the advantage of a narrator (omniscient or not). Thus, Batman thinks aloud to himself so we can (literally) read his mind. So when video game Batman does the same (albeit for slightly different reasons) it actually makes sense in a funny kind of way.
In another game, a character talking to him/herself in such an obvious way could be over the top. Solid Snake might seem like less of bad-ass and more of a buffoon if he was always pondering aloud how to defeat a boss. Thats why people are always chattering to him on his comm; he doesn't seem crazy if he wonders about something aloud to someone. In Arkham, though, the monologue actually works. It's the Batman game designers adopting a trick that Batman comic book writers have been using forever in order to help their guiding hand remain subtle and concealed. I like that. It seems that in more than one universe, Batman feels the need to talk to himself...
4) The intro to the game is well done. There is a short cinematic of Batman delivering the joker to Arkham prison. Soon after, you take control. Sort of. Batman is limited to walking speed, and none of your moves are executable. You follow the prison guards as they wheel joker through the prison to the highest level security cells, all while the credits appear discreetly on screen. Its actually a pretty familiar type of opening. You move your character without really having control. (Is there a name for this type of opening?)
Anyway, it's actually rather lengthy. I can only imagine the length is by design, as it heightens the tension to a fevered pitch. A friend who was at the time watching me play commented that she, "couldn't wait to see what was going to happen." You KNOW the joker is going to do something (its the motivation for the game) but the length of the scene forces you to stay on your toes guessing when. When that when finally comes, you snap from the highly limited control to full-on Batman goodness and it's go, go, go.
Honestly, if the whole introduction was a cut scene, it would nonetheless become extremely tedious. It's a game, not a movie, after all. By giving the player a teeny tiny bit of control, you are at least giving the impression that the action is underway. This both forces the player to pay attention (certainly more than they would to a cut-scene) and keeps the player from becoming bored before the game has begun; both are very important.
5) I'm kind of a nut for sound in video games. In Arkham I haven't actually noticed much of the music. Thinking about it now, I'm not sure there is any music during most of the exploration of Arkham prison. I actually think that works. Sometimes, lack of music is just as memorable as a good tune (look at Limbo). The one thing i MUST comment on as far as the audio is concerned is the voice acting. I figured (maybe I had heard I can't say exactly) that Mark Hamill would be reprising his role voicing the joker. Simply an amazing decision! He is to the cartoon joker what Heath Ledger is to the live action one. I was much more surprised to hear Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn) from the mid 90's Batman animated series picking up their old roles right where they left off. As soon as I heard those two characters speak, I was impressed. They just fit the characters, even in the different design of this particular Batman universe. (Which thinking about it I would describe as a gritty take on 90's cartoon)
So that was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. If you've played this game, I hope my random observations interested you. Otherwise, play this game!!! Even if you only like Batman a tiny bit, you'll enjoy putting on the cowl for this ride, I promise.
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