Batman Arkham Asylum: A Timeless Action Epic
All these years later… gee, what’s it been now? The game originally came out in 2009, so it’s been 13 years??? Good gravy. And with all…
All these years later… gee, what’s it been now? The game originally came out in 2009, so it’s been 13 years??? Good gravy. And with all that age, I couldn’t believe it myself, but this game is absolutely remarkable.
It’s been sitting in my backlog for a long time now, and if I remember correctly back when it was added to my collection I booted it up for maybe an hour or two, and then I moved on to something else… Real shame honestly. Recently with all the Gotham Knights news, I figured it was as good a time as any to jump into the old trilogy that people still revere to this day.
And Boy this game has the right to be revered! Arkham Asylum is such a strong videogame that I’m floored by how well it holds up to today’s standards. The art style they chose, graphically still looks great, the combat is insanely fun, the mix of exploration, puzzles, and action is supreme, and the characters are lively and representative of their source material. It’s bewilderingly good in an incredibly well-rounded package.
The PC port also worked great on Steam Deck (after a few tweaks). Barely engaged the fan in the system. Yet, the fidelity, the experience, it was all so premium. Couldn’t get enough of it. Still have been returning to it for the DLC and challenges, though that’ll change as I move into the sequel and other backlog items.
I’m struggling to find the words to kick this off beyond knowing and saying it was an incredible experience. The story didn’t hold back its punches, and the Metroidvania model they went with served the game really really well. I think this is also a pretty cozy size for an “open world”… it’s just big enough to hide some goodies for you to find, but not too big as to be overwhelming if you want to see everything. I think especially nowadays when a lot of gamers are experiencing open-world fatigue, including myself, the small world size was a godsend and a reminder of what a good, dense open world should feel like.
The characters and the voice acting are top-notch, and the way everything unfolds feels like a spectacular epic that you might have seen on the big screen like during the days of the Nolan trilogy (or whatever your preferred big-screen Batman is).
More than anything I really appreciated how they broke up the game with many different gameplay loops, which made it feel “fresh” the whole time. The team at Rocksteady knew that their golden goose was the combat, that much is clear, but they also knew to not overdo it. So you’ll find yourself in stealthy situations where strategy is key, then you might find a riddler map and decide to find all the riddles in an area. Then a character might have a gauntlet of a few foes for you to face, and then you might have a section where you traverse the world and find a new gadget. It’s incredibly diverse in this way and makes it a really easy recommendation because of the variety of good and GREAT gameplay elements they’re able to shove in here.
But man, that combat needs its own paragraph. I haven’t played a “character brawler” quite like this before… every move Batman throws out onto some goon feels like it has the force of 1000 suns behind it. You can practically hear bones shattering when you finally down a guy, and the music swells gloriously as you face down the last unfortunate soul in the pack, who gets a cinematic slow-motion takedown, which adds such a cool spice to the formula that I just could not help but smile every time. Genuinely addicted to the dopamine high those generated and I’m so glad there are two more games for me to crawl through just so I can keep experiencing that.
I’m really happy that the “DLC” includes a couple of modes that just showcase the combat. I wasn’t super excited about the combat challenges though. I enjoyed the stealth sections in the main game, but the added challenge of nothing but the chase of a high score wasn’t enough to pull me in and complete them entirely. But, they’re there if that slice of the game is your bread and butter!
It all makes for a solid 20–25-hour package that is absolutely timeless and is just about a masterpiece in my book.
There are just a few parts that made me groan, but I have a feeling that those rough spots will be touched up in the next game in the series, which I’m hoping will be something truly special. One of the things I’m hoping gets balanced is “detective mode”. Because it was so overpowered in giving me wall hacks and letting me know where everyone was all the time, I ended up staying in detective mode for a large majority of the game… which seems like an oversight. Maybe if it was connected to a timer or energy or something. But having the choice of seeing the bad guys all the time with the only downside being a blue filter on the whole game versus not seeing the bad guys as clearly with normal colors… It’s just odd that it was something I could have on the whole time and it threw me off. That’s my biggest gripe, I think, the others are really negligible and not worth mentioning.
So overall, if you’re like me and you’ve never played this game before, I ask you… what are you waiting for? This is a really really exceptional game, and I can’t possibly think of a reason why I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Check it out if you’re interested in a fun, action game with light puzzles and Metroidvania elements with the added bonus that you’re the Batman. NameBrand, for sure.