Genre: Action-Adventure
Year: 2009
Developed by: Rocksteady Studios
Published by: Eidos Interactive
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS$, XBOX 360, XBOX One, Switch, Mac OS X
#19
Feeling Like: *gravely voice* I AM BATMAN
I’ve said it in the other Batman posts, but it warrants repeating: Batman is the coolest superhero. It also bears repeating that getting Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin and Kevin Conroy to voice their iconic Joker, Harley Quinn and Batman roles (respectively) was a stroke of genius. An underrated, yet equally crucial move was getting veteran Batman writer Paul Dini on board to pen the story. In retrospect, it would have been nearly impossible for Rocksteady to fuck this up. Not only did they not falter, they created a top-tier action game, one that set the bar so high for other superhero games that I don’t believe anything’s matched it in 14 years since.
In a way, Rocksteady didn’t do anything special. The fundamentals of journeying through a linear space using your skills and gaining tools and experience to further your powers, defeating progressively more difficult enemies throughout the adventure is a formula as old as video games themselves. What Rockstar had the advantage of, and what they nailed, is the Batman license. I guess it’s a cheap advantage, but it’s not like we haven’t seen bad video games based on superheroes before.
God, this game still looks great. If the above screenshot doesn’t tickle your fancy at all, I am empathetic to your lack of sense of adventure. Everything is dark, wet and grimy – just as a good Batman story should be. I know this particular game was loosely based on the graphic novel “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth” which had a monstrously inventive art style, but I could barely make out what was going on. I suppose that was the point; Batman, as a lawful, justice-oriented individual is about to enter the madhouse where rational thinking and being good can kill you. You’re going into the lions den, and you put a majority of the criminals in there. Good luck!
The level design is superb. It’s linear, sure. I mean, it’s a prison – that doesn’t lend itself well to open world design (something Rocksteady would try their hand at, successfully in Batman: Arkham City). But I enjoyed the claustrophobic feeling. Paint is peeling, bricks are loose. It’s always dark outside. As soon as you enter the doors, surrounded by lowly grunts and elite super-criminals, you know you’re in for a dogfight. Yet I never felt intimidated. As Rorschach would say “I’m not locked in here with you. You’re locked in here with me.” I love that line.
Combat is a dance, an incredibly fluid system that is fun whether you’re dueling somebody one on one, or being circled by seven armed thugs. You can anticipate an attack, hit the corresponding button press to counter it and then jump over to the next target. If you know what you’re doing, you’ll barely stop for a second as you watch your XP meter grow, and grow. The final attack always results in a dramatic camera swing, it’s so satisfying. Every punch and kick sounds like Batman’s hitting somebody with a lead-covered truck. There are dozens of gadgets and strategies you can employ. Even stealth is fun here.
Stealth! I hate stealth!
Not so in the Batman Arkham games.
Stealth is an asset, not a requirement. No “instant fail” missions where if a single enemy spots you, it’s back to the beginning of the level. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve played it, so maybe there IS such a section, but I sure didn’t run into any trouble doing them. When you go into stealthy Batman mode, everything becomes even more enjoyable. You can see the enemy’s heartbeats, indicating how nervous they are. You can string them up from above. You can distract them with smoke. The detection vision was really difficult not to set permanently on, it’s just so cool and adds another layer of strategy onto an already flawless product.
But where would Batman be without his signature villains? Joker and Harley Quinn are knockouts of course, but it was great to see the new iterations of Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow and Bane. Each one had Rocksteady’s spin on it, but were immediately identifiable. Naturally, their voice actors did a top notch job as well.
It’s a lean experience, clocking in at about 12 hours and that certainly had some influence on its placement on the 500. As my directors and fellow actors are always telling me, less is more. I’ll ignore the fact that they tell me that all the time (I really do need to rein it in), and focus on the message – if you come in at 100% and try to maintain that energy throughout, or for too long, you have nowhere to go. Most video games are too long, and it’s hard not to look at the leaked budgets of Insomniac Games (which sucks, I feel for the workers) and gawk at the estimated costs of each game made. And Insomniac DOESN’T specialize in massive, 80 hour RPGs! I can’t even imagine.
The reason Arkham Asylum is the best Batman video game is that it doesn’t overstay its welcome. I don’t have to spend five minutes traversing the city finding a specific mission objective, or to collect something. Flying across the city is cool, no doubt, but narratively I couldn’t help but think how silly it was for Bruce Wayne to be lollygagging with collecting trinkets when the entire city was under siege.
Considering the plethora of quality that is draped over the Batman franchise, the fact that Arkham Asylum is among the best properties conceived for the caped crusader is astounding. The graphics still hold up, many developers still use the combat system, the characters are unforgettable and the retained voice talent from Batman: The Animated Series elevates it beyond what most licensed games can only dream of aspiring to.
It’s the perfect avenue for newcomers to the genre, or for new Batman fans, or veterans who have read and seen it all. Not for a single second did I think I wasn’t in the hands of professionals who were dedicated to making the best possible Batman video game. They succeeded, in every facet.
The 500 