Upon first hearing about Batman: Arkham Asylum, the video game, one could be forgiven for assuming the worst. After all, how many comic book to videogame adaptations have actually been any good? However, after watching the gameplay videos and reading up on the development of Arkham Asylum, it becomes apparent that this one may actually turn out to be a decent game.
Billed as an action-adventure game, Arkham Asylum is being developed for Xbox 360, PC and PS3. It will be based on the source material (comic books) as opposed to any of the movie adaptations, which is the first sign that it may be different from other comic to movie to videogame spin offs.
Rather that following any existing Batman story, Arkham Asylum will feature an original plot line. Paul Dini, the man behind Batman: The animated series is writing the story, and Wildstorm productions, an American comic book publisher, will be working on the character designs. Batman’s voice is being supplied by Kevin Conroy who is well respected for his delivery of Batman’s voice in numerous animated series’, and Mark Hamill (that’s Mr Luke Skywalker to you) will be supplying the voice for the Joker, a voice role he has become quite well known for in recent years.
The only thing that has our confidence a bit shaken is the fact that Rocksteady Studios is working on the title. Rocksteady created Urban Chaos: Riot Response, which wasn’t terrible, but it did not exactly set the world on fire and was in all honesty a bit B-grade. However, bygones we say, and from the looks of things, Arkham Asylum is a step up from their previous work.
Gameplay
The majority of the game will be experienced from an over the shoulder camera angle. The focus of the action will be divided between combat and detective work. The entire game will be set on Arkham, which is an island, and will be free roaming and to a degree open-ended. Batman will even have his own makeshift Batcave on the island.
Combat
From what we can gather, the combat in Arkham Asylum will be fluid and detailed, and if executed correctly should offer a nice balance of accessibility and complexity. Sometimes Batman will use brute force to pummel his victims, while at other times cunning, surprise and of course, gadgets, will be the order of the day.
Basic combat will make use of three buttons; attack, stun and takedown. There will also be combat multipliers which when manipulated correctly will not only look totally awesome, but will also give Batman “experience”, which can be used in an RPG style skill tree (It seems they don’t make games these days that don’t have some sort of character progression.)
Being the Dark Knight and all, players will have to play stealthily a lot of the time. The developers have been quick to point out that this is not due to any inherent weaknesses in Batman, but is just coherent with the “predatory” nature of this caped crusader.
Detective Work
Apart from the combat, players will also be tasked with the challenge of having to piece together clues. This will be implemented by having Batman use his high-tech gadgets to complete a series of forensic puzzles, and has been compared to the CSI games. We are not sure what to make of this, but given how cool the general gameplay is looking, we are willing to concede this one to Rocksteady and hope for the best.
Apparently Batman will be able to equip a detective visor, which engages a special clue finding view, highlighting points of interest and scanning information into Batman’s database.
Batman: Arkham Asylum will open up with Batman escorting the Joker to be incarcerated in Arkham Assylum. When the Joker breaks free, Batman has to pursue the insane villain through the asylum. Players will come across a number of well known Batman villains, including The Riddler, Mr Freeze, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Two – Face and the Penguin as he pursues the Joker through Arkham.
If all goes according to plan, then Batman: Arkham Asylum may be the best comic book based video game yet created.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is due out on June 23. Owners of the Playstation 3 version of the game will be able to download The Joker as a playable character in challenge maps.
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