There's a lot about Arkham Asylum that's commendable. Being fifteen years old at this point, it all holds up for the most part. The visuals and atmosphere were thoughtfully crafted. Sure, facial animations are a little stiff, but that's to be expected. The art direction, however, is fantastic. The sense of being overwhelmed and confined in an old gothic nuthouse is palpable. Each area is distinct from another and has their own set of traversal puzzles. The music is great too! Dark and brooding; it complements the rest well.
I don't know a lot about Batman, having really only seen the Nolan movies. I can't say that I've read the comics or even watched The Animated Series when it was on. That being said, I recognize the commitment to the ardor of the fans when I see it. Bringing in Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy, and Arleen Sorkin was a stroke of genius. Their vocal performances being the best in the game, obviously. Some of the background actors' dialogue came off a little poorly, but I also love that, so I am not complaining at all.
As for gameplay, it's a mixed bag for me. I thought the variety of gadgets and their implementation were balanced well and used consistently. I leaned on Detective mode pretty heavy because I hated to leave a room with a secret behind. The Riddler's challenges were a bit middling. I loved the ones pertinent to the lore of the series. A cryptic hint about a villain, followed by a scouring of the area for something apropos, and then unlocking a bio for an "obscure" character in Batman's history was a blast. I loved reading about Humpty Dumpty, Calendar Man, Firefly, The Ventriloquist. I found it fascinating learning about these figures that never got a silver screen treatment. Same thing with the patient interview reels. It all gave me a great feeling of immersion in the world to learn all the ins-and-outs of The Dark Knight's greatest foes. The rest of the Riddler's puzzles were pretty hit-or-miss. After those, it was just a random trophy placed slightly out of the way, aligning the crook and the dot of a question mark hidden in the environment, and batarang'ing clacking Joker teeth for the zillionth time. Yawn. If it wasn't for the plethora of unlockables you're gifted for trudging through this mundanity, it would hardly be worth it. Plenty of Challenge missions, trophies, and more to enjoy after the credits roll.
The combat got pretty stale for me. I loved the wealth of different animations in his fighting styles though. Plenty of unique responses to countering enemies with punches, kicks, knives, bats, and guns. The combo meter and flow state of the fighting were very satisfying when it worked. More often than not, I would drop a combo despite being surrounded by enemies. I could just suck, but it really didn't feel like my fault and that got aggravating. Despite it being a more or less fun system, it feels lazy. Enemy variety is lacking. There are some introduced in the late-game, wandering lunatics and massive, carnivorous plant buds, but they're little more than a brief annoyance. The majority of the fights are all the Blackgate prisoners. There are a few different ones. Some have knives, others have batons, but 80% fight the exact same way and rather than spice up combat with more types of fighters, they'd rather overturn a bucket full of them in a small space and have you karate your way out of the hole. It was enjoyable at first, but soon grew predictable. The Venom-injected prisoners were basically carbon copies of the Bane boss fight and thrown in the mix sporadically. You fight them multiple times, so there's little to be excited about. The other boss fights aren't much different. Nothing stood out as remotely memorable, or they were downright stupid. I HATED the Killer Croc "fight". Basically a slow slog through an ugly sewer for some macguffin or another where if you run or linger, Croc 1-hit KO's you and then taunts you on the Game Over screen. Despised that section. Scarecrow was pretty awesome...the first time. It reminded me of Eternal Darkness. Some fourth-wall breaking, phantasmagoric insanity tormenting the Caped Crusader fit the tone of the game wonderfully. Then they did it 3-4 more times. Really wore out it's welcome, by the end. It really went from "wtf is happening" to an eye-rolling rigmarole. And the final boss fight, as you may have read, was notably disappointing. Really terrible, actually. The final confrontation was built up from start-to-finish and it boiled down to a QTE sequence, basically. You fight faceless, generic prisoners more than you do Joker. You aren't even supposed to hit him until it's scripted to do so. Unbelievably lame.
Despite it's faults, I think there is still a fun experience to be had with Arkham Asylum. I can't think of another superhero game around this time that was even CLOSE to being this level of quality. Give it a shot once and I don't think you'll regret it. Especially if you're already a fan of the Bat.
I don't know a lot about Batman, having really only seen the Nolan movies. I can't say that I've read the comics or even watched The Animated Series when it was on. That being said, I recognize the commitment to the ardor of the fans when I see it. Bringing in Mark Hamill, Kevin Conroy, and Arleen Sorkin was a stroke of genius. Their vocal performances being the best in the game, obviously. Some of the background actors' dialogue came off a little poorly, but I also love that, so I am not complaining at all.
As for gameplay, it's a mixed bag for me. I thought the variety of gadgets and their implementation were balanced well and used consistently. I leaned on Detective mode pretty heavy because I hated to leave a room with a secret behind. The Riddler's challenges were a bit middling. I loved the ones pertinent to the lore of the series. A cryptic hint about a villain, followed by a scouring of the area for something apropos, and then unlocking a bio for an "obscure" character in Batman's history was a blast. I loved reading about Humpty Dumpty, Calendar Man, Firefly, The Ventriloquist. I found it fascinating learning about these figures that never got a silver screen treatment. Same thing with the patient interview reels. It all gave me a great feeling of immersion in the world to learn all the ins-and-outs of The Dark Knight's greatest foes. The rest of the Riddler's puzzles were pretty hit-or-miss. After those, it was just a random trophy placed slightly out of the way, aligning the crook and the dot of a question mark hidden in the environment, and batarang'ing clacking Joker teeth for the zillionth time. Yawn. If it wasn't for the plethora of unlockables you're gifted for trudging through this mundanity, it would hardly be worth it. Plenty of Challenge missions, trophies, and more to enjoy after the credits roll.
The combat got pretty stale for me. I loved the wealth of different animations in his fighting styles though. Plenty of unique responses to countering enemies with punches, kicks, knives, bats, and guns. The combo meter and flow state of the fighting were very satisfying when it worked. More often than not, I would drop a combo despite being surrounded by enemies. I could just suck, but it really didn't feel like my fault and that got aggravating. Despite it being a more or less fun system, it feels lazy. Enemy variety is lacking. There are some introduced in the late-game, wandering lunatics and massive, carnivorous plant buds, but they're little more than a brief annoyance. The majority of the fights are all the Blackgate prisoners. There are a few different ones. Some have knives, others have batons, but 80% fight the exact same way and rather than spice up combat with more types of fighters, they'd rather overturn a bucket full of them in a small space and have you karate your way out of the hole. It was enjoyable at first, but soon grew predictable. The Venom-injected prisoners were basically carbon copies of the Bane boss fight and thrown in the mix sporadically. You fight them multiple times, so there's little to be excited about. The other boss fights aren't much different. Nothing stood out as remotely memorable, or they were downright stupid. I HATED the Killer Croc "fight". Basically a slow slog through an ugly sewer for some macguffin or another where if you run or linger, Croc 1-hit KO's you and then taunts you on the Game Over screen. Despised that section. Scarecrow was pretty awesome...the first time. It reminded me of Eternal Darkness. Some fourth-wall breaking, phantasmagoric insanity tormenting the Caped Crusader fit the tone of the game wonderfully. Then they did it 3-4 more times. Really wore out it's welcome, by the end. It really went from "wtf is happening" to an eye-rolling rigmarole. And the final boss fight, as you may have read, was notably disappointing. Really terrible, actually. The final confrontation was built up from start-to-finish and it boiled down to a QTE sequence, basically. You fight faceless, generic prisoners more than you do Joker. You aren't even supposed to hit him until it's scripted to do so. Unbelievably lame.
Despite it's faults, I think there is still a fun experience to be had with Arkham Asylum. I can't think of another superhero game around this time that was even CLOSE to being this level of quality. Give it a shot once and I don't think you'll regret it. Especially if you're already a fan of the Bat.