Jessica Numb3rs

'But I don't want to go among Mad People,' Alice Remarked.
'Oh, You can't help that,' said the Cat: 'We're all MAD Here. I'm Mad, you're Mad.'
'How do you know I'm Mad?' said Alice.
'You must be,' said the Cat,'Or YOU wouldn't have come here.'
~Lewis Carroll 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'

My Mind has been a muddle of ideas as I contemplated what I should say about the wonder which is Batman: Arkham Asylum, already being hailed by most as "Best Game of The Year" Arkham has been awarded ‘Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever’ by The Guinness World Records and has received the highest accolades by most game sites. Well there is a reason why this game has had such a positive reaction, to put simply it is amazing!

The Story for Edios' Batman: Arkham Asylum comes from the ground breaking graphic novel Batman: Arkham Asylum A Serious House On A Serious Earth, in which The patients of Arkham have taken over the Asylum and demand Batman in exchange for hostages. In the Novel Batman is subject to some of his most infamous foes such as Clayface, Scarecrow, and of Course The Joker. This comic would inspire most of the themes, elements and art of the game creating a Gritty True to Life inspiration of the Darkness and Psychological struggles of The Batman.

Major themes also include the side story of the Graphic Novel which could arguably be the more interesting with the Asylums creator Amadeus Arkham. Following the death of his mother, Amadeus Arkham becomes a doctor and works with the most horrific of psychos Gotham has to offer leading him to change his childhood home into what is now Arkham Asylum. The patient who would mean the most to him is "Mad Dog" Hawkins who is plagued with images of the Virgin Mary harking him to kill women and destroy their bodies in a way to prevent them from spreading their dirty Disease...
As disturbing as that is its just a taste into the real darkness the Novel conveys as you are submerged into images of death, despair and horrific mad men whose only want in life is to destroy the innocent using their twisted look on life as the source for unspeakable acts.

Batman: Arkham Asylum's base is such a famous work that its no wonder most would cringe at the idea of turning it into a video game especially when the whole plethora of terrible superhero games has become a reality to most gamers and fans. How did the creators bring to life such a dark version of Batman with out making it too hokey? They did something great and I think it begins with the voice actors. I am a stickler for voice acting in games, if the dialogue is lacking or the voices are weird or don't fit its hard to take the game seriously. With Arkham the cast of "Bat Man:The Animated Series"was used in voicing the major players which for me was something of great comfort. Growing up my after school days were spent watching Power Rangers, X-men and of Course Batman! Hearing the all to familiar voices of Batman and Joker really made it work for me and it became more believable in the Batman universe.

The Next thing was the Story, Although adhering to the basics of the Novel it wouldn't have turned into a great play with out some editing tweaking and adding. In the Game, Batman has captured Joker and personally delivers him into the Asylum. Unknown to all involved Joker has been planning this confrontation with Batman for awhile now and has his leading Lady Harley waiting for him once the doors are closed. Then it takes on the truth to Jokers intentions with the Titan experiment. As Batman explores the Asylum he meets many of his old foes including many references to those who aren't present in the game. The Riddler is only heard as he has "riddled" the island with trophies, puzzles and goodies its with the Riddles that the story of Amadeus Arkham is told including his meet up with Harley and Joker in what is considered "The Great Mystery of the Island" With dream sequences with Scare Crow and a Frightening Run-in with Croc all leads up to the finale, one on one with the Joker. I recommend playing the game to get the full insight as I don't want to spoil things.

The Last Thing that Arkham does right is the visuals, the whole island has been created and every bit of it is explorable and just beautiful. The game takes place as a one night nightmare and so with the darkness and moon shining the Asylum has taken a really haunted look. I can't gush more about the visuals of the landscape. The characters are amazing and are the interpretations of the developers, Batman is still classic looking with Rock Hard Abs, yeah I looked how could you not! The movement is flawless and there are so many details worked in the game it would take ages to tell you all their meanings but if you a die hard Batman fan like me and have read more than your share of the comics and seen the series you will appreciate all the references which would be lost on those that do not know. I would call it a nod to all fan boys. Fret not! If you are not a huge batman fan this game will make you one and is a amazing stand alone in the Batman Universe.

Game Play:
The Game play is done in a way that even your 5 year old could enjoy. The Combo system does this with pressing the hit button you can easily grow a combo with little work and watch as Batman flies and takes out thugs making you feel like a Bad-Ass. Want to up the ante? Try reaching a combo of 40! This requires more thinking and precision of the player making it much harder and more satisfying for veteran gamers.
Stealth is used to take out thugs silently and Batman won't get hurt. Weaving between bad guys Batman will take them down with a simple move and you feel like a Ninja as you bounce from gargoyle to gargoyle. Inverted take-down is a highly recommended upgrade. Batman will go inverted and sweep down from his perch and open wide his cape only to capture the baddy leaving him hanging and his friends shaking.
Sleuthing takes the game to another level as you search for clues using your bat mask. Following trails in search of answers gives a nice change up to the game and you get to play with great gadgets such as line grip, batarang and bat claw.
Challenges are a mode of the game that takes pieces of the story map and gives you a task like eliminate all the baddies with fighting of by being stealthy. The range from easy to difficult and feature the most fun the game has to offer on the side of fighting, combos and sneaking.

***THE DOWN SIDE***
No game is perfect and neither in Arkham Asylum what it lacks in...well it really lacks in. The downside of Batman and a huge disappointment to myself and others is the BOSS FIGHTS! Seriously I can't get over the lack of fighting there is between bosses and I was just incredibly bored and disappointed. You don't actually get up and close with any of the major bad gays and that made me really frustrated and upset. In the Graphic Novel Batman impales Croc...you don't even fight him in the game! The Croc fight was probably the worst as all you did was run away from him the whole time. I would have wished for the one in the novel even as a cut scene. The Fact that the Joker in the boss fight is a huge Titan monster who doesn't want to fight you is also annoying as I would have preferred to punch him when he wasn't on the juice. I was fine with the Ivy and Scarecrow rounds but still they seemed to lack in comparison to all the other things the game did right. Is it worth getting all upset about? No its not but it does need an honorable mention and this is just minor as the game is definitely worth playing over and over again!

My Statistics:
Rating: I will rate it 4.5 Stars
I beat the story in 2 days and played it for 2 weeks,
XBOX points awarded as of right now 43/47 with score of 840/1000