If you never got around to playing “Batman: Arkham Asylum” then first of all, shame on you. And second of all, GOOD NEWS! They are coming out with a “Game of the Year Edition”. Now I know what you are thinking; “Why should I, a fiscally intelligent and handsome elite gamer, get a ‘game of the year edition’ when I can pop down to the local game boutique and buy the standard version for less?” That’s a good question, so let’s you and I have a talk…
Here is the gist. “Batman: Arkham Asylum” kicked serious ass. I could go on for days about how much I enjoyed this game, but I will spare you the novel, and get down to meat and bones.
The visuals are amazing. It has art that is incredibly well drawn and flows perfectly into the Batman mythos. Dirty and dank sewers drawn so well they may actually cause you to vomit a little. A beautiful panorama of Gotham City in the distance, which may leave you breathless; and character designs that not only pop, in fact some are downright scary, but stay true to the mythology of the Bat.
The voice over was probably some of the best voice over I’ve heard from a video game in years. Everything synced up perfectly, and all the actors were cast perfectly for their respective roles. The game uses the voice over in incredibly unique ways too, sure everyone talks to one another, but during the course of the game The Joker not only taunts you via loud speaker, but his own men too. This leads to some pretty intense, though sometimes funny, verbal exchanges between characters.
The story was incredibly creative, and well executed to say the least. It isn’t easy to make video games of a character that has a seventy year history of unique and interesting tales under his belt, but they found a story that works perfectly. Is it original? Well, some say that the last original stories were that of Shakespeare, while that may be true. I don’t recall reading about the eighty foot Scarecrow with needles for fingers in “Hamlet”, but, admittedly, I am a little rusty on my Shakespeare. Truth be told, if you are really familiar with the Batman comics, movies, and T.V. shows; then chances are you will notice some plots from a variety of older material. Does that matter? No. The writers of this game did an excellent job mixing and matching to form a whole new story line that is just awesome to play through.
The fighting mechanics in this game are some of the best I’ve ever played. I am still impressed when I pick up a controller and dive into beating up baddies. Jumping fluidly from one enemy to the next then bounding back to finish off another two foes is easier than you could possibly imagine. But the fighting in this game is far from easy. The enemies keep coming and keep getting stronger, so don’t think that this game is a walk in a park. No you’re going to have to work for it, but damn is it a hell of a lot of fun.
Stealth mode; was a bitch to get the hang of, but once you do… Man oh man is it fun. Scaring enemies so bad that they practically start crying for mommy, all the while picking them off one at a time through various delightful moves is so much fun that you’ll wish that there were more opponents to hang up by their shoe laces.
But! Even after you finish the story there is more that this game offers; from “The Riddler’s Challenge” game, to the challenge modes for fighting and stealth. “Batman: Arkham Asylum” keeps on giving even after the story is over.
So this is all fine and dandy, but why should you get the “Game of the Year” version? Well you are not only going to get the fantastic game that I just described above, but you’re also getting the downloadable content for the original game built in; New Stealth and Fighting challenges, and something relatively new for video games, 3D. The GOTY edition is set to come with an option to play through the game in 3D, and comes with a pair of “Batman: Arkham Asylum” 3D glasses.
See? Ooo pretty…
If you have never played “Batman: Arkham Asylum”, or played it but don’t own it, get this game. Does it have to be the GOTY edition? Of course not, but heck why not get it? You get an amazing video game, extra content, and new 3D specs that get you closer to actually being Batman. You’d be crazy not to.
Available May 11th, 2010
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I love this game so much I already own it for PS3 and still I’m considering buying this game of the year edition. I’m pretty sure the 3D will be worthless and since that’s really the only advantage this version has over the standard version, I’m not sure why I want to buy it so badly, but I do.