Batman: Arkham Asylum IS AWESOME, buy it now

[Bishbot]

I got the PC version on Friday. I'm bloody loving it. The story mode isn't that hard, but that sort of enhances the Batmanesque nature of the game. Batman is supposed to be VERY good at what he does.

I love the silent predator bits, although I do sort of miss the ability that Batman normally has in comics to leap into a room of armed guards and have all the bullets pass through his cape or between his legs or something. That would be too easy, of course.

The only slight gripe I have is that you pretty much need detective mode on to do anything. This is realistic and clearly that is how Batman would operate, but sometimes you just want to see Batman's world the way you do in the comics and movies. Doing that does sort of unecessarily cripple you though. I would like there to be a bit more of a detailed HUD in "normal" vision mode.

 

[LutherSloan]

I got the PC version on Friday. I'm bloody loving it. The story mode isn't that hard, but that sort of enhances the Batmanesque nature of the game. Batman is supposed to be VERY good at what he does.

I love the silent predator bits, although I do sort of miss the ability that Batman normally has in comics to leap into a room of armed guards and have all the bullets pass through his cape or between his legs or something. That would be too easy, of course.

The only slight gripe I have is that you pretty much need detective mode on to do anything. This is realistic and clearly that is how Batman would operate, but sometimes you just want to see Batman's world the way you do in the comics and movies. Doing that does sort of unecessarily cripple you though. I would like there to be a bit more of a detailed HUD in "normal" vision mode.

Yeah, I finished the game last night, and I agree. I had Detective Mode on 99% of the time I was playing, also so that I could take care of as many Riddler challenges as I could while I moved through the story. Obviously you can't access a bunch of the challenges until the end of the game, where you have all of the gadgets.

 

[RobertScorpio]

WOW , what a great game, just reached the bit where i can now hack and open those electric fence doors....what a great games and I'm hooked on finding all the ? and secrets....oh and the main game is great as well.

I'm having fun just watching my sons (five and nineteen) play it. I am not that good of a gamer (MADDEN is about it) and I don't have the patience to play...

BUT..the animation in this game is awesome. They are playing it on my 55inch Plasma/240hz and...well...IT looks real..too real. They played the damn thing until 4am on saturday. I was forced to play my MADDEN on the small twenty inch flatscreen. I set it up next to the big one so I could watch them play while I was sacking Tom Brady..yeah!!

Rob

 

[Reverend]

Just got the game a few days ago for the PC and it's easily one of the best games I've ever played. Why did it take this long to get Batman done right?
I'm almost done with the story bits (haven't really put much time in on the challenges yet) and I've encountered an odd and rather fatal glitch.
In a nutshell, I'm rounding up some of the last riddler pick-ups before what I presume is a final battle with Joker and on returning to the medical facility, dropping down the elevator shaft to get back to the morgue and whatnot causes a BSOD. Everytime, without fail.
The game has been running fine on a "high detail" from the outset and no other problems, save for a little slowdown in some of the outdoor scenes with detective mode on. I've tried ramping down the settings to "low" to no effect. The error claims to be coming from nv4_disp.dll, though I updated the damn drivers just the other day, knowing this game was on the way.
The really weird part is that that shaft is the ONLY thing that appears to trigger a crash and it's happend 5 times in a row now, without fail.

Anyone else heard of this, or is it just me?

 

[gh4chiefs]

Just got the game a few days ago for the PC and it's easily one of the best games I've ever played. Why did it take this long to get Batman done right?
I'm almost done with the story bits (haven't really put much time in on the challenges yet) and I've encountered an odd and rather fatal glitch.
In a nutshell, I'm rounding up some of the last riddler pick-ups before what I presume is a final battle with Joker and on returning to the medical facility, dropping down the elevator shaft to get back to the morgue and whatnot causes a BSOD. Everytime, without fail.
The game has been running fine on a "high detail" from the outset and no other problems, save for a little slowdown in some of the outdoor scenes with detective mode on. I've tried ramping down the settings to "low" to no effect. The error claims to be coming from nv4_disp.dll, though I updated the damn drivers just the other day, knowing this game was on the way.
The really weird part is that that shaft is the ONLY thing that appears to trigger a crash and it's happend 5 times in a row now, without fail.

Anyone else heard of this, or is it just me?

And THIS boys and girls is why I'm a console gamer.

 

[nx1701g]

Just got the game a few days ago for the PC and it's easily one of the best games I've ever played. Why did it take this long to get Batman done right?
I'm almost done with the story bits (haven't really put much time in on the challenges yet) and I've encountered an odd and rather fatal glitch.
In a nutshell, I'm rounding up some of the last riddler pick-ups before what I presume is a final battle with Joker and on returning to the medical facility, dropping down the elevator shaft to get back to the morgue and whatnot causes a BSOD. Everytime, without fail.
The game has been running fine on a "high detail" from the outset and no other problems, save for a little slowdown in some of the outdoor scenes with detective mode on. I've tried ramping down the settings to "low" to no effect. The error claims to be coming from nv4_disp.dll, though I updated the damn drivers just the other day, knowing this game was on the way.
The really weird part is that that shaft is the ONLY thing that appears to trigger a crash and it's happend 5 times in a row now, without fail.

Anyone else heard of this, or is it just me?

My previous computer did that with Resident Evil 4 and I was forced to upgrade.

 

[Reverend]

I'm not convinced it's a hardware issue since it only happens when I drop down that shaft and hit the bottom. Everywhere else on the island is fine and it's not as if I haven't been down there earlier for the story mission.

For the record, I'm running an Intel Core Duo @ 2.66GHz and 2GB of Ram (used to be 4 but one of the sticks was corrupted) and a Nvida 8600GT. Not top of the line but it should still be competent enough to run any game for a while to come.

 

[Brikar99]

I would recommend checking the official site. They might have a troubleshooting section where others have run into similar problems.

Also... I don't want to be 'that jerk', and insinuate that you're not on the level, but I had read somewhere that the developers had purposefully put in certain glitches that would affect pirated versions of the game.

 

[RobertScorpio]

The animation is so good, I wonder why they can't make a cartoon based IN this Batman universe. Of all the DC characters who could have a 'dark' and more adult orientated show, it is Batman.

Rob

 

[Timby]

Also... I don't want to be 'that jerk', and insinuate that you're not on the level, but I had read somewhere that the developers had purposefully put in certain glitches that would affect pirated versions of the game.

It's not an invalid idea, but from what I recall, in Arkham Asylum's case, the anti-piracy glitch affects Batman's glide and grapple ability, like in the section early on with the poison gas. No glide/grapple = death.

The funniest example I can recall of developers glitching pirated games was with Ghostbusters, in which pirated games made certain enemies (like the candelabras in the Sedgewick Hotel) invulnerable. Watching forums explode with people raging against those creatures was hilarious.

 

[Brikar99]

Also... I don't want to be 'that jerk', and insinuate that you're not on the level, but I had read somewhere that the developers had purposefully put in certain glitches that would affect pirated versions of the game.

It's not an invalid idea, but from what I recall, in Arkham Asylum's case, the anti-piracy glitch affects Batman's glide and grapple ability, like in the section early on with the poison gas. No glide/grapple = death.

I just wanted to give Reverend the benefit of the doubt, y'know? I don't want automatically assume that just because there's trouble, it's because of some illegal action on his part.

And that Ghostbusters thing does sound hilarious!

 

[Reverend]

I assure you it's a legal copy from Amazon (I didn't fancy the huge download from steam) though as luck would have it, after giving the game a rest for a day, the issue had disappeared.

Perhaps it was just my graphics card overheating, though it is odd that it only happened in that one place. I suppose it could be the sudden strain of preloading an entire floor's worth of map as you're falling pushed something over the edge, but that's just speculation.

On a related note, does anyone know why windows live would refuse to log in? I had this problem last year when I got Fallout 3, but never really bothered to look into it once I figured out how to get it to play offline. With Batman however it might be fun to see just how far down on the leader boards I can get.

The real problem now is that after exiting the game after starting the fight with Joker (but not completing it), I find I've somehow missed ONE riddle. Darn it. I'm really hating this one-save-per-game system that some of the newer games have started using. I take it you can't keep roaming the island once the story is over?

 

[BigFoot]

^ You can continue collection trophies once you've finished the game.

 

[FPAlpha]

I just started it and am at the point where i get the new grapple hook.

It is awesome.. the graphics are stunning and i just love the visuals of the fights. I can easily imagine how that is Batman's fighting style.. moving amongst his enemies, total awareness so he can react on time to attacks from whatever direction they come.

My Laptop is pretty new and reasonably good so i can play Batman on high settings and it pays off..

The only gripe is the PC controls.. you can't reassign keys and i hate how i have to distort my hand to make Batman crouch and move forward.

Could be solved by buying a new gamepad but too much investment for a single game.. in that regard console gamepads have more advantages.

 

[LutherSloan]

By the way, there is a deliberate glitch in the game, and it's not because of piracy.

In the latter half of the game, there is a point where the screen goes all crazy, and then kicks back into a cutscene. From reading other boards about the game, this was done on purpose to throw people off. It also may have something to do with The Scarecrow.

 

[Jax]

By the way, there is a deliberate glitch in the game, and it's not because of piracy.

In the latter half of the game, there is a point where the screen goes all crazy, and then kicks back into a cutscene. From reading other boards about the game, this was done on purpose to throw people off. It also may have something to do with The Scarecrow.

my mate thought his TV was fucked

 

[broberfett]

I played the game for a few minutes at a BestBuy. I had no instructions and had to figure out what the buttons did. I didn't restart. I just played from where it was. There were no punks for Batman to beat up, but some bodies were laying around in a hallway. I had batarangs and an explosive gell. I sprayed the explosive gell on a door and a body, but didn't know how to set it off. There were some guys trapped in a room and they were telling me about some sort of poison gas.

I ran around the hall a bit. I threw batarangs at the window where the trapped people were. That didn't work. Then I decided I would look up since the ceilings were pretty astronomically high. I discovered the grappling hook. Then I was really able to get around. I pushed through vents and found a room with a big fan to clear gas. It was guarded by joker teeth bouncing around. I took out the teeth and then triggered the fan with a batarang. The game seemed pretty cool. I also very much enjoyed Batman's enhanced view.

 

[Reverend]

I just started it and am at the point where i get the new grapple hook.

It is awesome.. the graphics are stunning and i just love the visuals of the fights. I can easily imagine how that is Batman's fighting style.. moving amongst his enemies, total awareness so he can react on time to attacks from whatever direction they come.

My Laptop is pretty new and reasonably good so i can play Batman on high settings and it pays off..

The only gripe is the PC controls.. you can't reassign keys and i hate how i have to distort my hand to make Batman crouch and move forward.

Could be solved by buying a new gamepad but too much investment for a single game.. in that regard console gamepads have more advantages.

That's what I thought before I picked up USB Xbox360 pad for XP. Initially just to play some old 16-bit emulated games but it came in very hand when I picked up two of the newer tomb raider games from the bargain bin. Now it's all I'll use for the 3rd person games, really worth it for the price. Can't deal with playing in 1st person with it though, I still stick to the keyboard and mouse for that.

 

[Brikar99]

^ You can continue collection trophies once you've finished the game.

Yeah after beating the plot, I've been splitting my time between exploring the island looking for riddles and the challenge rooms.

 

[DarkHorizon]

The only gripe is the PC controls.. you can't reassign keys and i hate how i have to distort my hand to make Batman crouch and move forward.

Could be solved by buying a new gamepad but too much investment for a single game.. in that regard console gamepads have more advantages.

You can reassign keys on the windowed startup screen, by choosing 'Settings' (I think that's right, I'm not at home with the game in front of me). It allows you to set both primary and alternate keys - I have the run/climb/misc function mapped to right shift, for example, so it's easier to use it with the arrow keys.