Thursday, March 08, 2012

Batman : Arkham Asylum and Arkham City



Theres a very good reason I am only doing 1 review for these 2 titles.

Unless you are bankrupt, a few clowns short of a circus, have had a twin thumb-ectomy.. there is no chance you would have bought the first of these exceptional games, and not the second.

Both games are very similar in game play, objectives and style. But both are monumentally brilliant and addictive by themselves.


I never really got into the comics. The awful computer game releases coinciding with recent super hero films have not set the world alight – Spiderman, Superman and Iron Man to name the key culprits here. These 2 batman games are monumentally different from previous releases though.


As previously stated, I have never been heavily interested in comic books, or graphic novels as I will no doubt be reminded is their proper name (thank you Leanord, Sheldon and Penny). There is always a danger in being plunged in too deep when entering this world. Batman addresses this perfectly though, giving you the opportunity to read up on the background of each character (if you want to!), but not making your knowledge paramount in enjoying the game. I suppose though I should draw a slight distinction between the two games.

The first, Batman Arkham Asylum, plonks you right in the middle of a mental institution/correctional facility, as your old nemesis Joker is put away for his crimes. And he stays there and the game ends.






 Ok, fine.

 As predictable as a Liverpool FC statement being cringeworthy, Joker escapes and you spend the game searching through the Asylum and surrounding grounds. Along the way you gain control of Batman’s many gadgets and use them in your quest to solve riddles, challenges and puzzles laid out for you by The Riddler, and fight a large number of Batmans foes.

Batman Arkham City? The same concept, but set inside a cordoned off area of a city. Fighting to find a cure to a disease you’ve picked up along the way (no, not from catwoman), again your side missions are as compelling as the main story line.

Both games are truly brilliant. The combat system in both games is extremely simple, but you’ll need to master every concept to be able to beat the game. As batman you’ll use no guns, but instead rely heavily on stealth and distraction to lure your enemies and pick them off one by one. That or enter into a full on brawl with the grace of a Liverpool FC statement. That is to say, with none. The games look great, play great and are very hard to put down. Even with the main story lines complete and all side mission finished, you find yourself continuing to play the games through, and very tempted to just start the games all over again. A superb game series and I hope there will be more.




This is not normal as a crush.
The final word however has to go to Harley Quinn. The vile voiced woman who features in both games as Jokers assistant, whilst is a brilliant evil sidekick, is crazily annoying. Wondering who voiced her, I googled her. Only to find a host of cartoons and real life women dressed as her. Apparently it’s a common occurrence for comic, sorry, graphic novel fans to have a fetish for her. You are as strange, weird, and idiotic as a Liverp.. Yeah, you know the joke.




Ratings – 10/10 and 10/10
Fair Price - £40 (each)

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