Arkham Asylum

The demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum is out (yeah I know it’s been ages but these posts are on a schedule you know) and god is it lovely.

Above all the others, Batman has always been my favourite Hero character but with a condition; I get to choose what’s canon and what isn’t. Adam West as Batman (while I still adore that incarnation and find it hilarious) is not canon. Robin and Batgirl is not canon. The million half arsed bads from the newer comics isn’t canon. What is canon is the styles from the 90′s cartoon, the Frank Miller comics, the first two Tim Burton films and the latest two from Christopher Nolan. They have something essential in common in that they ‘get’ what Batman and Gotham is – dark, psycotic, gothic, rotten from the inside. Rain, skyscrapers and silhouettes – that’s what Batman is about.

As I said, Arkham Asylum is lovely, because it nails it. There is no Robin getting in the way, nor is there any camp at all, or comedy that isn’t completely black and provided by The Joker – excellently voiced by Mark Hamill (Most of the voices are provided by the cast of the cartoon actually so it’s a treat). Arkham is dark, psycotic gothic, rotten from the inside. It’s Batman as it should be and not only has it got the look and tone down – it plays exceptionally.

The demo gives you a taste of the two things you are going to be doing – fighting and hunting. Don’t forget that Batman is basically just a hard as fuck ninja in a batsuit and the fights are excellent. They flow like a violent dance, it’s slick and seemless as you pulverise goons surrounding you, and you feel in control. You’re not just mashing buttons – it’s calculating fighting but making stuff look awesome is taken care of for you.

The hunting is what I’m all about though. You only get one example of it in the demo but it’s so good I’ve gone back to it a couple of times. There is a room full of guards all with guns – you have to take them out. Batman isn’t bullet proof though, so to go in fighting would be suicide. Instead you pick them off one at a time – (hopefully) silently and swiftly. The guards will catch on to what’s happening though, and they get scared. Once they see one guy strung up by his legs dangling from the ceiling (yeah you can do that) they freak out. Huddling together they try to find you, getting more and more paranoid. Stuff will make them jump, they fire at shadows madly out of fear. It’s amazing to behold as you stalk them from up high, then as one is left alone you fly down from your perch, knock him out, then hide again.


So obviously, the demo has impressed me. I wanted it to be good and it delivered on all fronts. It is just a demo though and it could all go horribly wrong yet but I don’t think it will. I honestly can’t wait for the full release and my preorder has been banged in already. All together: dadadadadadadadadadadada BATMAN!