Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo Impressions (PS3)
Games featuring familiar and iconic comic book characters typically are terrible, mainly because they’re linked to a movie. The most recent Wolverine game slipped out of this trap primarily because it only became a movie tie-in mid-way through development. Batman: Arkham Asylum, from Rocksteady studios, is completely free from a movie tie-in despite last year’s stellar Dark Knight movie and the media to date have had me optimistic, but cautiously so. The game couldn’t feel as cool as the videos made it look. Something would go wrong along the way, and maybe it would be good but not great.
Today the demo has hit the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live. I took the PS3 version for a spin and if the final game is like this, Batman fans of any kind are in for a treat.
Gameplay
The videos to date have focused on two aspects of gameplay. The first is brawling with a peppering of counters and a cinematic finisher or two when a fight is over. The second is the stealth mode where Batman uses the old gargoyles and other architecture of Arkham to flit about the larger rooms and take out enemies as best he can. Defeating enemies or eliminating problems with a batarang nets Batsy some bat points of some kind. I’m not sure if they can be spent on something or not.
Brawling does indeed feature the cinematic slowdown at certain points of a combo that I’d seen in previous videos of the game and it works to enhance the combat. I’d worried that was just a marketing gimmick before but the demo proves that it’s in the game and since it’s entirely a single-player affair it works very nicely.
Graphics and Sound
I’m very surprised at how nice everything looks in the demo, although I will admit the videos on GameTrailers showing the Xbox 360 version do seem to look a bit cleaner. As an Unreal Engine game you’d expect some strangeness and texture issues here and there but the areas you play through look great and show excellent detail. The detective mode is a heads-up display that Batman’s cowl gives him to highlight grapple-able structures and clearly marks the orientation and heart rate of regular enemies below and whether they are armed or not. Detective mode also will highlight breakable items and other aspects of your environment. Faces of ordinary folks not in cowls or bearing huge grins and crazy amounts of makeup do seem to look a bit off as you’d expect in other games, but it doesn’t come across as a problem.
The brawling sounds, the voices of the enemies, Batman’s voice, and the Joker’s voice are all excellent. Even Harley Quinn sounds great. All of Batman’s wonderful toys — you use the grapple and the batarangs in the demo — also sound believable.
Story
So how does Batman get locked in the Asylum? It’s a quick and easy setup and it works very well as a comic book introduction. The demo abbreviates the introduction that’s hinted at in a cinematic you see when you’re finished with it, but the gist of it is that Batman has captured the Joker and is returning him to Arkham. He does turn him in, and Joker enters Arkham, which quickly comes under his control. It’s up to Batman to enter the lion’s den and, I imagine, subdue the population of Arkham as best he can, and bring the Joker out.
The mood of the game perfectly fits my own non-comic-book-reading knowledge of Batman, and having what sounds like the voice actor from the most recent TV series I’d seen definitely boosts its authenticity.
Content and Conclusion
The demo runs you through some brawling and tours a few major tactics of stealth gameplay in what generally amounts to a meaty offering of what I would expect will be in the final game. One thing it stops short of is a boss fight, but the video preview at the end shows you some of what you’re in for.
All in all the brawling is satisfying, the stealth gameplay is fun and keeps you from charging into harm’s way, the main character voices are excellent, and the story holds together very well. Get the demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum. It has bumped it up higher on my list of game releases to keep an eye on, and it’s put all of my concerns about the game I could think of to rest.
Tags: Batman, Batman: Arkham Asylum, dc comics, rocksteady
22 Comments »
Leave a comment!
I had the same feelings as you, Paul. At first, I fell in love with all of the media for the game, but I soon became skeptical that it wouldn't hold up. After the short time I've had with the game, it makes me feel sad that I'm saving my money for something else. The gameplay is so simple, yet the game makes it seem complex. Brawling is done using only two buttons, but Batman will use a bevy of dynamic moves depending on the enemy's position in relation to himself. I'll definitely keep this game on my radar, and I'm highly considering picking it up eventually, if not right away.
Already preordered. Bit of a shock hearing the animated series voices on these ultra-grim character models, but I soon got over it. Kind of hope there's an option to turn off the silly bat visual effects that seem to accompany ever major accomplishment.
I'm ready to call this the best Batman game since Adventures of Batman & Robin on Genesis.
Those fluttering bats can stay if those are points you can spend on upgrades. Then they'd be like the bolts in Ratchet and Clank clattering into your inventory.
Something to be wary of is the larger environments. The video shows some outdoor-like areas, and GameTrailers shows some noticeable tearing on the 360 version of the game with larger texture areas like a couple of scenes showing open water. Also no way of knowing how good/bad the boss fights are from a controls/repetition/other point of view. A final review will hopefully touch on any problems with those.
I have enjoyed the kiosk demo that has been floating around for awhile now. I was ready to download the PC version of the demo, but alas, it is not posted up yet. I will probably download the demo on all three to do some visual comparisons, but it is pre-ordered for the PC (yay, another GFW Live title for the shelf). Yes, Ia m achievement whoring with this game if it is good.
On sale (pre-order) with a code at Amazon: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/?f=1386
Finally found and installed the PC demo last night. Plays wicked smooth with everything on high. Only got up to the first bad guy holding the cop hostage, but it was really cool.
Two words: glide kick.
They don't really bother me either, but for some reason I doubt the score will be used for buying items. I think they just popped in that score counter to give the game a more arcadey feel.
I forgot to write about the character profiles, too. The select button brings up a grid of character profiles including basics about their stats and skills, a description of their history, and video recordings for the Joker. The profiles are visible anywhere and give lots of good backstory.
Yeah, those were great. I checked them out at the main menu after I played through the demo. I'm not sure what it is about the game, but I felt compelled to read every single character biography. They really are giving those without much knowledge of the Batman comics, or franchise in general, a lot of insight about the Batman universe.
I really liked the audio interviews with Joker. I hope they did those for all the baddies. Can't wait to hear some hippie psychiatrist try to interview Killer Croc.
They were completely awesome. I want an interview with Dr. Light after he went apeshit insane on the Titans. He might be an interesting interview after how badly his head got scrambled.
I want some showing how The Joker managed to screw up Harley Quinn's mind. It would be cool seeing how he manipulated a psychiatrist.
Finally found and installed the PC demo last night. Plays wicked smooth with everything on high. Only got up to the first bad guy holding the cop hostage, but it was really cool.
Two words: glide kick.
They don't really bother me either, but for some reason I doubt the score will be used for buying items. I think they just popped in that score counter to give the game a more arcadey feel.
I forgot to write about the character profiles, too. The select button brings up a grid of character profiles including basics about their stats and skills, a description of their history, and video recordings for the Joker. The profiles are visible anywhere and give lots of good backstory.
Yeah, those were great. I checked them out at the main menu after I played through the demo. I'm not sure what it is about the game, but I felt compelled to read every single character biography. They really are giving those without much knowledge of the Batman comics, or franchise in general, a lot of insight about the Batman universe.
I really liked the audio interviews with Joker. I hope they did those for all the baddies. Can't wait to hear some hippie psychiatrist try to interview Killer Croc.
They were completely awesome. I want an interview with Dr. Light after he went apeshit insane on the Titans. He might be an interesting interview after how badly his head got scrambled.
I want some showing how The Joker managed to screw up Harley Quinn's mind. It would be cool seeing how he manipulated a psychiatrist.