Reviving the Dark Knight's Career in Video Games

Feel that? That soothing breeze blowing across your skin? Summer is ending, and fall is fast approaching. With the changing of the seasons comes the end of the annual drought of games that occurs so often during the summer months, and first out of the gate is Batman: Arkham Asylum, developed by Rocksteady Studios. But can a game based on the caped crusader, a character whose video-game career has been less-than-inspiring, truly prove to be the game to quench our thirst for entertainment? 

Why yes, yes it can. Batman: Arkham Asylum chronicles the Dark Knight's nightmarish slumber party on Arkham island. As is par for the course at this point, the Joker has broken free, is in full control of the Asylum, and is putting Batman through the worst night of his life. The story leads Batman all across Arkham Island, from underground caves to holding-cells, accompanied the whole while by the Joker's caustic wit, as he attempts to liberate Arkham from the Clown Prince of Crime. The atmosphere is dark and cloying, and becomes the games strongest point, as making your way through the Asylum, you will be appropriately disturbed, and intrigued, at the sights you see, from walls marked with wild carvings, to demented inmates who huddle in the corners of their cells, mumbling to themselves and launching at you if you get too close. The game is still based on the comics, however, and as such lends an exaggerated tone to all the characters; however, it's more Dark-Knight than Batman: The Animated Series, and seems to take a particularly significant amount of inspiration from H.P Lovecraft's work on Batman. Driven by the Unreal Engine, the game looks great, although some faces can look slightly disfigured. However, this can be overlooked simply because it generally fits in with the games dark-comic-book aesthetic. 
 
Most of the gameplay you encounter over the course of the game can be broken down into one of three different kinds, which are mixed together to present an interesting concoction. The first third of the triumvirate is the investigation gameplay, which tasks you with finding and following trails of fingerprints, and making your way through the Asylum's maze-like corridors. It's simple, but entertaining, and serves well to make you feel as if you yourself are the genius that Batman is.  

The second of the three flavors of gameplay is the hand-to-hand melee combat. This often occurs in arenas, where you will find yourself facing up to a dozen enemies at once. The combat system is of the Assassin's Creed esque one-button flavor. One button attacks, another counters, a third has you spinning and stunning your enemies for a short time, and the fourth lets you evade hits. The system is fairly simple and easy to grasp, but becomes increasingly rewarding as you get more familiar with it, allowing you to dance between enemies and take out groups of thugs with ease. Here, again, the game succeeds in truly making you feel like the Dark Knight himself, and although it can often be overly simple, it is well polished and rewarding. 

The third and final gameplay type is the stealth-oriented sections. Here, the player is tasked with clearing a room of armed thugs using the various gadgets and moves Batman has at his disposal. Using the usual set of Batarangs, explosions, and grappling, coupled with his trademark inverted take-downs and gliding kicks, this is easily the most entertaining part of the game. These sections are mixed up with various hostage situations, which call for clearing a room without being seen or, in some cases, simply making it through without being seen or attacking a single thug. These sections are highly entertaining, and the only issue I found with them was that, at times, it seemed like the game had one way and one way only that it wanted you to clear the rooms, and if you attempted to dispatch the guards in any other order, you were bound to be seen.

The story here is pretty generic, but it serves well to allow the player to encounter as many classic characters as possible. While most of the story is fairly predictable, there are some extremely clever sequences with one character in particular that provide an intriguing look into the Dark Knight's psyche, and were some of the best moments I've had in gaming all year. Aside from these moments, however, the story is largely forgettable, as are the boss fights, with the last few in particular seeming especially out of place. This is, however, forgivable, simply because of how great the atmosphere is.

What characters you don't encounter during the campaign are otherwise presented to you by way of the Riddler Challenges. These challenges consist of collecting trophies, solving riddles, and other interesting side-activities. This is an example of how to truly add extra content to your game, as the riddles are fun to figure out, the collectibles are cleverly, but not too cleverly, hidden, and the sheer number of them is enough to add several hours to your playthrough. Beyond the story and Riddler Challanges, the player can take part in challange rooms which come in one of two flavors: fist-fight rooms that simply send waves of enemies at you and task you with defeating them as efficiently as possible, and stealth rooms that task you with clearing a room of goons, while presenting you with an interesting set of goals to achieve, as well as timing how long it takes for you to achieve these goals and clear the room. The challange rooms are fun, and while nothing huge, add some extra value on top of the campaign, which will take anywhere from 8-12 hours depending on how much you focus on the Riddler Challanges.

Overall, Arkham Asylum is a great game. At its core, the gameplay is a bit too simplistic, the story is largely forgettable, and the boss fights are less than inspiring. Despite all this however, it combines great atmosphere with entertaining gameplay that truly makes you feel like you are batman, and comes out all the better for it. Will it shock the world? No, but it will hopefully serve to reverse the Caped Crusader's less than stellar video-game career, and is a great way to end the summer and get you ready for the flood of releases you can expect soon.