Batman - Arkham Asylum PS3

[Droid party]

The only problems I found were the lame boss fights and other visual things. I'm sure there could be a better way of implementing the detective vision. I played nearly the entire game with it on and I missed out on a lot of the environmental detail in the game. I also wasn't particularly fond of Batman or Harlequinn's costumes and the graphics were unpleasantly jagged and sharp. But those are all pretty minor, as it was definitely a fun game.

I agree about the dtective vision. Playing without it felt wierd but having it switched on lost detail so it was a strange tradeoff. However I actually liked the graphics and the custumes. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

[Ack]

Also, the detective work in Arkham Asylum is done with little player interaction. Batman basically figures shit out himself then tells the player to follow the trail

I'll be honest, I'm cool with Batman telling me what I'm supposed to do. He's freaking Batman, he already knows. I'm just there to experience the awesome ride.

Also, since nobody's said it yet that I saw, I have to give major points for the enemy selection and references. Yes, Joker was an obvious choice, but including guys like Zsasz? Kudos for that one. While the Killer Croc fight wasn't the best, as GamerForLife pointed out, I still enjoyed having to run from that gator-skinned brute. And I'm always happy to see my favorite DC villain get screen time. The more time devoted to the Scarecrow, the happier I am. I'm hoping to see many more favorites appear in the sequel and really hope guys like Ventriloquist and Scarface, Man-Bat, Mad Hatter, and Mr. Freeze get their fifteen minutes of fame. Throw in a rooftop or desert battle with Ra's al Ghul, and I'll buy the game for whatever they ask just for the opportunity to beat that crazy immortal's ass. Hell, throw in a few allies along the way, guys like Robin, Supes, or Green Arrow, and I'll preorder right now.

[Gamerforlife]

Also, the detective work in Arkham Asylum is done with little player interaction. Batman basically figures shit out himself then tells the player to follow the trail

I'll be honest, I'm cool with Batman telling me what I'm supposed to do. He's freaking Batman, he already knows. I'm just there to experience the awesome ride.

Also, since nobody's said it yet that I saw, I have to give major points for the enemy selection and references. Yes, Joker was an obvious choice, but including guys like Zsasz? Kudos for that one. While the Killer Croc fight wasn't the best, as GamerForLife pointed out, I still enjoyed having to run from that gator-skinned brute. And I'm always happy to see my favorite DC villain get screen time. The more time devoted to the Scarecrow, the happier I am. I'm hoping to see many more favorites appear in the sequel and really hope guys like Ventriloquist and Scarface, Man-Bat, Mad Hatter, and Mr. Freeze get their fifteen minutes of fame. Throw in a rooftop or desert battle with Ra's al Ghul, and I'll buy the game for whatever they ask just for the opportunity to beat that crazy immortal's ass. Hell, throw in a few allies along the way, guys like Robin, Supes, or Green Arrow, and I'll preorder right now.

I think having Robin is a touchy subject with some fans. I like all of the Robins, even Jason Todd(after watching the Batman:Under the Red Hood movie, which portrayed him really well in my opinion), but Robin has always been a real contrast to scary Batman with his not so intimidating name, youthful energy and way too colorful costume. I know some people don't want to see him in the Arkham games or even the movies. I read somewhere that Christian Bale even said he didn't want to see a Robin in the next Batman movie

In my opinion, a smart move for Arkham 2 would be to have Nightwing instead. That would keep both the Robin fans and Robin haters BOTH happy

I pretty much agree with everything else you said. I admit I had some fun with the Croc fight too even though it was flawed. What I hope to see in Arkham 2 is some of the fear of Batman that we've seen in the stealth sections of the game carry over to the combat. I want to take out a bunch of thugs and have the last one run in fear only to be knocked out with a batarang to the skull or maybe some sort of taunt button where Batman can scare off a small group of thugs with a menacing gaze. I think I saw something in that Game Informer article about Batman threatening some guys and making them run away

[dsheinem]

Ok, so I finally popped this in after sitting on it for a year or so.

I'm an hour in and, well, I just don't see the acclaim. It is passable, and probably better than most comic-based games, but I have played plenty of games with better stealth, others with better melee, and a few with a better combination of both. Does it take a while to get interesting/fun? Does the hand holding ease up? Does the combat becoming challenging? Granted, I am probably not too far - I just climbed up an elevator shaft after an elevator came crashing down and Quinn went flying up. How long is it, and when does it get good?

[Stark]

Ok, so I finally popped this in after sitting on it for a year or so.

I'm an hour in and, well, I just don't see the acclaim. It is passable, and probably better than most comic-based games, but I have played plenty of games with better stealth, others with better melee, and a few with a better combination of both. Does it take a while to get interesting/fun? Does the hand holding ease up? Does the combat becoming challenging? Granted, I am probably not too far - I just climbed up an elevator shaft after an elevator came crashing down and Quinn went flying up. How long is it, and when does it get good?

I didn't think this game was all that great either at first, but at some point it just clicked for me, it was well after you get to the courtyard area. Also, I liked it better once I understood how to do combos properly during fighting. I didn't really get the combo system until I spent some time with the challenge rooms, which force you to perfect the combos to continue.

[brunoafh]

I too think it's a tad over-rated, but it's definitely a great game. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I started really getting into it probably like 3 or 4 hours in. It starts slow though so I can see what you mean by not being impressed with the first hour.

[isiolia]

Ok, so I finally popped this in after sitting on it for a year or so.

I'm an hour in and, well, I just don't see the acclaim. It is passable, and probably better than most comic-based games, but I have played plenty of games with better stealth, others with better melee, and a few with a better combination of both. Does it take a while to get interesting/fun? Does the hand holding ease up? Does the combat becoming challenging? Granted, I am probably not too far - I just climbed up an elevator shaft after an elevator came crashing down and Quinn went flying up. How long is it, and when does it get good?

It's a solid game that actually does justice to the license, not a genre-busting transcendental experience.

You unlock more options for combat, and more restrictions are placed on you over time. For example, after a little into the game, the henchmen have radio collars, so the rest of them become aware of stealth takedowns - you need to move quickly after doing one. In turn you can unlock options to distract them with a batarang. Harder henchmen types are introduced as well, and get mixed in. It definitely gets more complicated than at the beginning, but if you're expecting Demon's Souls levels of necessary combat proficiency, you won't find it.

I wouldn't say it ever becomes particularly hard (at least on standard difficulty), but the full challenge of the game is finding all the Riddler stuff. As the game progresses, you gain more gadgets to help you in the next sections - but they may also be needed to snag secrets you already passed.

It's not super long - Steam says I played it for 10 hours, so about on par with what I put into the Uncharted games, maybe a little less. Though, I didn't find everything/get all trophies/etc in any of those, just played through them.

[Gamerforlife]

Well, since this topic is back up I have to throw in a few thoughts

Challenge rooms do give one a bit more appreciation for the game. The stealth rooms challenge you to be more creative than the main game does and you discover some things you didn't know you could do from just playing story mode. Getting top rank in some of the extreme combat challenge rooms is pretty hardcore, with the game really throwing everything at you including large mobs, guys with guns and those big Bane-like brutes. One of them even forces you to kill enemies within a time limit, which is kind of tough. You need to pull off long combos in these rooms as well, use your entire moveset AND not get hit to rack up big combos. Getting big combos increases Batman's range and speed which throws another challenge at you as you have to get the hang of controlling him when he starts flying around the screen

The combat system is new and original and perfectly captures the way you would expect Batman to fight. He's graceful, always a step ahead of his enemies and brutal when necessary. It's poetry in motion when you know what you're doing and the counter system really makes it seem like Batman has eyes in the back of his head, which is exactly how he should be portrayed in a video game. The stealth stuff is not the most challenging in the genre, but it does add some new twists and captures the fun of being Batman. Also, 3D Metroidvania is not that common and this game does it well

Hard mode is cool too, since you lose the indicator to warn you of incoming attacks. This makes some of the already hard challenge rooms even more insane. I think aside form doing Batman right, the game just feels fresh. It doesn't follow the usual action game formula(copy Devil May Cry or God of War), it's not a shooter(though you do get to take out armed goons and snipers), it's not a multi-player game, it's not a sandbox game, it actually has a GOOD achievement sytem and it doesn't have any quick time events. I loved Arkham Asylum for being its own game and not jumping on any of the current gaming bandwagons unlike some big name titles(coughUncharted2coughcough)

[env963]

Funny this came back up, about 1 week ago I beat it on hard mode. I think it takes about 3 hours or so to get in the groove of things. Promise if you make it that far its a blast. Finding all the riddler trophies was alot of fun by itself. Honestly i kind of suck at the long combo's, I can only get to around 20 or so hits before i stop.

But like others have said, once you get going you upgrade your gadgets and then you have to go back and use your new gadgets to goto places where you couldnt before.

Just stick with it for a couple more hours.. its an awesome ride.