A Solution to Boredom

Having played the demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum I knew that I had to buy the game.  The game takes place on the island that houses Arkham Asylum.  Arkham Asylum is the high security prison where the “super criminals” of Gotham are kept under lock and key.  Batman has captured the Joker and takes him to Arkham only to realize that the Joker has plans for him and the jail.  This game provided the perfect amount of action, puzzles, and variation in game-play.

The action in this game is just purely amazing through the use of the Free Flow Combat System.  With skill the player can move between opponents punching, stunning with Batman’s cape, using gadgets, throws, and take-downs.  By stringing the moves together you can get huge combos for purely awesome scenes and extra experience.  On top of that you can also use stealth to perform moves such as the inverted take-down.  While hanging upside down from gargoyle fixtures one can perform an inverted take-down by dropping down, pulling up the opponent, and hanging them from the gargoyle.  To hone your combat skills you can also unlock Challenge modes through solving the Riddler’s puzzles.  These Challenges also have leader boards for added competition.

I find that in puzzle style games there is often either too little or too much action.  This Batman game provides the perfect amount of action to satisfy the player in between puzzles and plot.  The puzzles in this game are primarily related to a “riddle grid” supplied by no other than The Riddler.  There are three types of puzzles which involve finding hidden trophies, solving riddles that lead the player to objects that need a “picture” taken, and killing all the joker teeth in an area.  Of the three types, the riddles are probably the most difficult because they actually require thinking.  The most difficult riddles involve finding a spray paint question mark (?) that can only be found while using the detective view.  Detective view allows the player to see things that are not visible to the human eye.  Usually the top part of the question mark will be in one location, which is easily found, and the bottom part (.) is somewhere much more difficult to find.  Other riddles require the user to find an object visible to the eye.

Many games lack variation that adds to the overall experience.  As I am at a lack of a good example of a game that has almost no variance let me use a game that I liked but lacked a wide amount of variance.  That game is Assassin’s Creed.  Now hold on… I realize you probably liked this game and wonder how it is I could possibly have something negative to say about it but this review is not about Assassin’s Creed.  Anyway, my point is merely that in AC there is very little change in game-play.  Yes you get knew equipment and new areas are unlocked but every area has the exact same types of missions.  In Batman: Arkham Asylum the mission types follow a very nice story like flow which keeps the player guessing at what will happen next.  There are also new types of enemies at many points during the game which require different combat styles to defeat.  Add to that the unlockable equipment upgrades and combat upgrades and the game constantly changes.

This review comes after I completed the storyline to the game.  During the time I also solved all the Riddler’s riddles, which honestly were not that hard.  I still think that I will have fun playing the game as I would like to try it on a harder difficulty as well as play through some of the Challenges modes.  If you are even slightly interested in what I have talked about I would highly recommend playing this game whether it requires purchasing, renting, or just borrowing the game from a good friend.

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