This has got to be around the 5th time I have played this game and I have the same amount of fun with it each time. Batman Arkham Asylum is my favourite of the Arkham franchise and I doubt that it will ever be dethroned.
I think without a doubt it has one of the best atmospheres in gaming. Walking through the empty halls of Arkham Asylum just has this eerie feel to it which makes each segment feel tense and exciting. Being stuck on Arkham island with a great selection of Batman's greatest rogues taunting him just makes for an amazing experience.
Taking a look at the characters, this game of course features the best batman of all time Kevin Conroy(RIP), who will always be the definitive version of batman for me, and pairing him with my favourite Joker of all time Mark Hamill makes these characters amazing off the bat. Of course there are a great cast of side characters most notably Arleen Sorkin(RIP) who played Harley Quinn. As someone who grew up watching the animated series, all these returning actors made me like this game even more. I also really like these renditions of Ivy, Killer Croc and Scarecrow (Even though i much prefer the Knight version).
Gameplay wise it lays out the foundations that each game built upon. I played through the game this time on hard difficulty and I actually found it quite challenging, all it does is increase the damage you take and remove the counter prompt which really makes boss fights more difficult. It of course introduced the free flow combat system and while it definitely is the weakest showing of it, it was ground breaking and lays perfect framework to be improved upon in the next games. Traversal wise, due to the smaller scale of the map there isnt as much focus on it which works in this case luckily. The boss fights/segments in this game are the real standouts of the gameplay loop. The iconic Scarecrow nightmare segments are my personal favourite followed closely by the Killer Croc lair segment, whilst these aren't technically "Boss Fights" they really effectively use the characters without adding a needless beat em up segment. Out of the other boss fights the only real standout is Poison Ivy who has a great fight in this game. The Bane fight is just a tutorial for fighting Titan henchmen and the Titan Joker fight is well known for being disliked as it isn't really a boss fight just a gauntlet of henchmen.
Score and Visual wise this game excels. Obviously this is the Return to Arkham addition which adds a bit more of a polished look to the character models. Whilst i do think the original game looks better, outside of the janky character models this game looks fantastic. The score is perfect mix of creepy and heroic, which is a staple of the games going forward.
Side content wise Asylum lacks any beside the Riddler trophies. Strangely enough in this game only, I actually enjoy the Riddler trophy hunting. Particularly the riddles because they unlock the cool character bios for a wide host of characters that arent in the game. Im definitely glad they decided to go for the more open world feel in later installments so that they could do more with side content because Asylum has no reason to keep playing after beating the main story.
I am going to replay the whole series to see if my ranking has changed since the last time I played them years ago. As of right now Asylum will remain at the top and I dont see it going anywhere. One of my favourite games of all time.
I think without a doubt it has one of the best atmospheres in gaming. Walking through the empty halls of Arkham Asylum just has this eerie feel to it which makes each segment feel tense and exciting. Being stuck on Arkham island with a great selection of Batman's greatest rogues taunting him just makes for an amazing experience.
Taking a look at the characters, this game of course features the best batman of all time Kevin Conroy(RIP), who will always be the definitive version of batman for me, and pairing him with my favourite Joker of all time Mark Hamill makes these characters amazing off the bat. Of course there are a great cast of side characters most notably Arleen Sorkin(RIP) who played Harley Quinn. As someone who grew up watching the animated series, all these returning actors made me like this game even more. I also really like these renditions of Ivy, Killer Croc and Scarecrow (Even though i much prefer the Knight version).
Gameplay wise it lays out the foundations that each game built upon. I played through the game this time on hard difficulty and I actually found it quite challenging, all it does is increase the damage you take and remove the counter prompt which really makes boss fights more difficult. It of course introduced the free flow combat system and while it definitely is the weakest showing of it, it was ground breaking and lays perfect framework to be improved upon in the next games. Traversal wise, due to the smaller scale of the map there isnt as much focus on it which works in this case luckily. The boss fights/segments in this game are the real standouts of the gameplay loop. The iconic Scarecrow nightmare segments are my personal favourite followed closely by the Killer Croc lair segment, whilst these aren't technically "Boss Fights" they really effectively use the characters without adding a needless beat em up segment. Out of the other boss fights the only real standout is Poison Ivy who has a great fight in this game. The Bane fight is just a tutorial for fighting Titan henchmen and the Titan Joker fight is well known for being disliked as it isn't really a boss fight just a gauntlet of henchmen.
Score and Visual wise this game excels. Obviously this is the Return to Arkham addition which adds a bit more of a polished look to the character models. Whilst i do think the original game looks better, outside of the janky character models this game looks fantastic. The score is perfect mix of creepy and heroic, which is a staple of the games going forward.
Side content wise Asylum lacks any beside the Riddler trophies. Strangely enough in this game only, I actually enjoy the Riddler trophy hunting. Particularly the riddles because they unlock the cool character bios for a wide host of characters that arent in the game. Im definitely glad they decided to go for the more open world feel in later installments so that they could do more with side content because Asylum has no reason to keep playing after beating the main story.
I am going to replay the whole series to see if my ranking has changed since the last time I played them years ago. As of right now Asylum will remain at the top and I dont see it going anywhere. One of my favourite games of all time.