Last week, we braved the cold weather and hit the original Gotham, New York City to check out the highly anticipated Batman: Arkham Asylum. Although it was an eyes-only meeting, the game looks amazing, from the drop dead gorgeous visuals to the excellent voice acting. While it's still too early to call it a killer app, the pieces are there to breathe new life into the Batman franchise.
By the looks of it, Arkham Asylum appears to be the ultimate fan service. It's a 3-D beat-em-up starring Batman, The Joker, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn and several other characters from the franchise. It also gives us the opportunity to explore the infamous asylum in its entirety, as well as enjoy an original story penned by Batman author Paul Dini. Taking place across a single night, The Joker allows Batman to capture him, breaks free and then runs amok within the asylum for reasons unknown. As the Caped Crusader, players must thwart the clown's evil schemes while pummeling thugs and classic villains.
Much of the action revolves around FreeFlow combat. Similar to the game Two Human, this allows you to seamlessly bounce off enemies (up to 15 at a time) in order to kick everyone's butt in a matter of seconds; think of it as one big pinball machine. We watched as Batman easily punched a goon's face and then decimated an entire room, leaving behind a trail of unconscious baddies in his wake. However, that's but one way to take people down. If you prefer something a bit more dramatic, you can break through walls or knock someone out by hanging upside down.
In addition, the Dark Knight can use several gadgets including his trusty Batarang, a fingerprint scanner and a pheromone tracker. While that stuff sounds great, we were much more interested in Invisible Predator Mode. This lets Batman see through walls and his enemies (you see their skeletons). Not only does it look cool, but it also helps you prep before attacking; knowing how many baddies are in a room eliminates surprises. Since Batman can only take a few shots before dying, we plan to use this mode quite a bit.
Overall, the game looks incredible. Rocksteady, the game's developer, has thus far done a wonderful job bringing Arkham to life and populating it with heroes/villains. The gritty visuals, combined with the exquisite character models and excellent voice acting (Mark Hamill reprises his role of the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series) makes for a very impressive presentation.
That said, we'll reserve judgment on Batman: Arkham Asylum until we get the opportunity to walk through Arkham on our own. Until then, same bat time, same bat channel.
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