I know I’ve said that I wouldn’t buy Batman Arkham Asylum because a game made from any franchise is usually utter crap meant to leech as much money from crazy fans who’ll buy just about anything with their favorite hero plastered on it. I kept hearing people say that the game was good, and brushed the compliments off as a description of a less mediocre game which is only cool because Batman looks real in it or something. Either way, I ended up buying the game after all when I actually took the time to sit down, read some reviews, and watch some game play videos. It looked good.

Not only does Batman Arkham Asylum rock for a series spin-off, it rocks as an independent, grounded game which offers a variety of game play ranging from elaborate hand-to-hand combat, handy gadgets, detective work, as well as espionage action, and a whole lot of riddle solving. Let me underscore the fact that this game is above and beyond being merely “good,” as it almost feels like playing as Solid Snake on steroids.

The story kicks off with Batman escorting Joker to Arkham Asylum after capturing him, with the lingering suspicion that something has to be up since the latter proved to be entirely too easy to capture. True enough, it turns out that Joker had calculated a twisted plan to take over the asylum, and of course, buckets of his henchmen have been relocated to the asylum prior to that due to a fire burning down part of Blackgate Prison. While being escorted to his cell, Joker manages to break free with the help of the ever-loyal Harley Quinn: Arkham Asylum falls under Joker’s control. As the story opens up, Joker’s true motive behind tearing the asylum to shreds is made known: he wants an army composed of Banes, and since the venom formula was being researched by one of the doctors on the island, he thought he would get his often-thrilled hands on it.

Luckily, Batman is not stranded on the island alone, since he has Oracle on radio giving him tips, and reporting any information. He also has a vast array of gadgets which serve to make his life on the island a little less dramatic.

Speaking of gadgets, they enrich the game play generously. Batman starts off with the mandatory grapple and Batarang handy, but his inventory grows as the story unfolds. You will soon find yourself equipped with the option to throw multiple Batarangs, a Sonic Batarang, a Line Launcher which enables you to glide horizontally to a parallel wall, a Cryptographic Sequencer (see: hacking tool) and my personal favorite: the Batclaw. The Batclaw allows you to launch a hook into an inanimate object to manipulate your environment to create cover, or hurling it into an enemy, effectively knocking him out, or better yet, disarming him and knocking him out.

Stealth constitutes a large part of how the game is meant to be played, since we all know (at least those of us not living under rocks or are too busy watching soaps on TV) that Batman takes in most of his enemies one by one, and with deadly subtlety. …Minus the deadly part. He is able to simply sneak up behind them, but it does not stop there. Of course not, what are you thinking? Apologize! Batman is able to freely use the environment around him, starting with Gargoyles, fragile walls, sound diversions, hanging upside down froma gargoyle, only to swoop down and pluck the poor, defenseless murderers from the ground then knock them out, allowing his handiwork to hang on display for all enemies in the vicinity to admire, as well as lose their cool over. He’s also able to use ventilation shafts to sneak around enemies, sometimes even under them.

A large portion of the game is spent sneaking through corridors, solving riddles, finding your way around doors bolted shut, as well as elaborately building your combat skills. As your experience more encounters, you are entitled to upgrades which allow you a wider arsenal of gadgets, stronger suit armor, combat moves, as well as strengthened gadgets.

None of this undermines the story or the characters, since along your long journey, there is some thorough combing of villains’ disturbed psyches due to audio interviews scattered across the not only vast, but stunningly macabre island. You will literally spend hours just moving around the massive map, which while portraying an island does a very convincing job of letting you know that it’s a pretty big island with pretty big buildings on it.

The encounters with each villain are delivered in as dedicated a manner as one would expect from any game: glimpses of each one’s lack of  sanity, even Batman’s wavering one is tightly bound to form a surprisingly near-perfect package. Your encounter with Harley is nothing like your encounter with Scarecrow, who in turn is arguably far more horrifying to face than Bane, and so on.

I honestly had no idea the game would be this good. I’ve spent hours hanging from gargoyles, gliding across Arkham, kicking baddies in the face, knocking them out, getting knocked out by them, disarming them, glaring dangerously (I’m not to be trifled with, I will glare) at Bane, and getting goosebumps when encountering Scarecrow. This game’s mechanics are so ridiculously tight, and once that is paired up with an intriguing storyline which will pull you in makes for a game that is difficult not to revisit in the future. It does not stop there, as there is a challenge mode, and unlockable character models which become available as you solve riddles.

That, and Batman is so strong!

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