Batman: Arkham Asylum IS AWESOME, buy it now

[unimatrix7]

...is out now, globally, on the PSN and Xbox Live. I downloaded it this afternoon, preparing to be underwhelmed on three grounds. Firstly, I'm not a comic book fan. Secondly, (kind-of) movie tie-in. Thirdly, Eidos.

But I am rather impressed. The visual design and presentation are immaculate. As in, first class. The combat engine doesn't seem to be anything revolutionary, but it feels satisfyingly solid. I'm not usually a fan of stealth stuff either, but the way Arkham Asylum incorporates it is pretty engaging and not overburdened (as far as I can tell) with endless magical trinkets that make you vanish into walls or what have you.

What say you all?

 

[Servo]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I've played through it twice, and I'm pretty impressed. It looks great, it plays great, and it's very cool to hear Conroy and Hamill voicing Bats and the Joker again. I'm a big fan of games like Splinter Cell, so I love the stealth elements, and the combat, while not particularly intricate, looks and feels awesome.

I was looking forward to this game anyway, and this demo has only solidified my decision to buy it on release.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I enjoyed the demo. I guess I was still in Wolverine mode from that game earlier this summer so I kept trying to play the game as a beat 'em up initially and kept getting shot to death. I thought it was cool that you actually have to be stealthy, really makes you feel like the Bat.

I plan on picking up the full game in a few weeks.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I didn't really like the demo that much. I like the voice acting and the art style but I'm just not a fan of stealth gameplay so I didn't enjoy playing it very much.

I might pick it up when it hits $20 or $30. I'll most likely be getting the PC version since someone has already modded Batman's costume and I like the look more then the default costume.

 

[Jax]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

Played it once (I plan to play it several times) and I enjoyed it overall but there are some annoyances like all games ...

* While I would prefer a look closer to the more reality based films I have no problem with the more cartoon look and feel it works well for a video game.

* Nice to see some old characters and cannot wait to see more famous villians in the full game.

* Combat and stealth are fun especially when I jumped over this dude and cracked him in the jaw just as he turned around in slow mo it looked so cool.

* However its annoying when you do a glide kick and it only stuns, a little silly especially if there are groups of people.

* The batarang should stung for longer or pin people to walls

* Takedown option is a little glitchy when you knock people down, doesn't always appear

* Should be a disarm button though the normal fight counter moves are so cool.

I hope the game is quite non linear but most likely it won't be BUT anyway despite the issues, which can be worked on I will probably pick up the game though not at release I will want a price drop as virtually any game is not worth the £35-40 tag I think £30 is much better minimum.

 

[Jax]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

Okay played it two more times and loved it even more...hanging over a ledge and grabbing them up into the air is so cool. Deffo getting this

 

[TheBrew]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I played through it quickly, but I found a lot to like. I'm going to play it through a few times and start looking for some depth in the system. The last area with the five guys seems ripe for experimentation.

 

[Arrqh]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I played the demo on PC (though with a 360 controller) and it was a lot better then I was expecting... I generally "felt" like I was Batman the whole time, especially in the last room, and that was pretty awesome. My biggest concern is over the combat... it felt really easy and button mashy, though I've heard that apparently the demo is locked into easy difficulty so maybe that won't be a problem in the full game. I'm gonna be on vacation when the game is released anyway, so I'll just read reviews before I decide to pick it up I guess!

 

[Jax]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

The last area with the five guys seems ripe for experimentation.

Deffo...

I've enjoyed different ways of doing it and become quite efficient at taking them down and love the ledge pick up either from standing on it or hanging off it. I've heard when there tied up you can use your batarang to cut the rope down will try that.

 

[unimatrix7]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

Yeah that last area was great fun. I've done it about five different ways so far, each time I enjoyed it immensely.

P.S. Does anyone else get a Bioshock vibe from the game? In terms of the atmospherics, anyway.

 

[LutherSloan]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I'll have to check this demo out later, as I have been interested in this game for some time.

 

[Brikar99]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

Sounds cool! I'll have to grab it after work!

 

[Jax]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

P.S. Does anyone else get a Bioshock vibe from the game? In terms of the atmospherics, anyway.

Not really and I don't want any Bioshock vibes because I loved the demo but disliked the full game. One thing that seem odd was the game seemed a little too light in the lighting department it seemed odd that they didn't spot a guy in a BAT costumed...hope the full game is a little more darker in the shadows like Splinter Cell games.

 

[Arrqh]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

P.S. Does anyone else get a Bioshock vibe from the game? In terms of the atmospherics, anyway.

Not really. I mean, sure, they're both gloomy and creepy but so are a lot of things... it certainly does have an art deco edge to it, but again that's hardly something I associate purely with Bioshock (especially because that was pretty heavy in Batman: TAS as well). If anything, Bioshock was designed to creep you out a bit by suggesting an asylum like environment... while Arkham Asylum actually is an asylum environment. So I can see why you might say you get a Bioshock feel, but really they're just both sourcing from the same types of material I think.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

For anyone interested I did some research on IMDB and the following characters are voiced by the same voice actors as Batman TAS:

Spoiler: AA characters

Batman
Joker
Harley Quinn
Penguin
Two Face
Mr Freeze
Poison Ivy
Clayface
Alfred
Commissioner Gordon (though his voice sounds very different in the demo)

The following characters have different voice actors:
Barbra Gordon
The Riddler
Killer Croc (done by the voice actor who did Mr Freeze on The Batman)

 

[PKerr]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I played it last night and even though it was going to be a day one purchase for me last night made it a 100% day purchase.

 

[Reverend]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

For a two GB demo that was a very short play though, at least it seamed so to me. I do like it, however I think I'll wait for the reviews to come in before I make it a purchase as in my experience, games with this much polish tend to be a little on the short side. Even then I'll probably wait to the price drops to around a tenner on Amazon, which with PC games isn't usually very long at all.

 

[PKerr]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

BTW Submit a pre-order with Amazon and use the code 5OFFARKM and get it for $48.49.

 

[Chris3123]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

For anyone interested I did some research on IMDB and the following characters are voiced by the same voice actors as Batman TAS:

No, that list is incorrect. Only three TAS actors have actually been announced as reprising their roles: Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamil as Joker, and Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn. You won't find any mention of any of those other voice actors reprising their roles on any legitimate game site.

Never use IMDB as your sole source for information. If you can't also find the information on a legitimate website, it's most likely fake.

 

[TheBrew]

Re: Batman: Arkham Asylum demo

I've been experimenting in the final room of the demo and I found a cool take down. I isolated one of the guys and did on inverted takedown from one of the gargoyles (so that he is hanging). After grappling to the closest perch, I waited for one of the guys to check him out hanging. Then I used the batrang to cut the rope and the knocked out guy fell on top of the investigating thug and knocked him out.

This kind of experimenting really makes me hope that the rest of the game is this deep for how you can approach situations.