Product Description

Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.

Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner, Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series. With amazing graphics and a moody, immersive setting, Batman: Arkham Asylum offers diverse gameplay options that push the envelope for all action, adventure and superhero games.

• Utilise the unique FreeFlow combat system to chain together unlimited combos seamlessly and battle with huge groups of The Joker's henchmen in brutal melee brawls
• Investigate as Batman, the world's greatest detective, by solving intricate puzzles with the help of cutting edge forensic tools including x-ray scanning, fingerprint scans, 'Amido Black' spray and a pheromone tracker.
• Face off against Gotham's greatest villains including The Joker, Harley Quinn, Victor Zsasz and Killer Croc.
• Become the Invisible Predator with Batman's fear takedowns and unique vantage point system to move without being seen and hunt enemies.
• Choose multiple takedown methods, including swooping from the sky and smashing through walls, and use the predator camera get a closer look at the action.
• Explore every inch of Arkham Asylum and roam freely on the infamous island, presented for the first time ever in its gritty and realistic entirety.
• Experience what i

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1484 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Eidos
• Released on: 2009-09-18
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Windows XP
• Format: DVD-ROM
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Dark Knight returns in the first game to do him justice in his more than 20 year history in video games. Not based on any specific comic book or movie it takes all the best ideas and visuals from all of Batman's many incarnations to create a unique spin on one of pop culture's greatest icons.

Arkham Asylum becomes the backdrop for Batman's most dangerous challenge

Killer Croc has never looked more imposing or been more dangerous

Batman must discover the deadly secrets behind The Joker's masterplan

Stalk the minor criminals like prey and strike from the dark when they least expect it

The entire game takes place within Arkham Asylum, where The Joker and his allies have overtaken the facility and set a trap for Batman. This is no simplistic beat 'em-up though, with Batman forced to prove his status as the world's greatest detective with a number of complex forensic style puzzles.

When it does come to combat though you must still use your cunning as much as your fists, as you stalk unaware enemies and distract them with the bodies or screams of their cronies. With believable physics, superb graphics and a serious adult tone this is more than just another superhero tie-in.

Key Features

• Rogue's gallery: Battle all of Batman's greatest foes, including The Joker, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc.
• Final Knight: Gain experience from fights and puzzles to improve and add to Batman's abilities via a role-playing game style skill tree that lets you customise the Dark Knight as you see fit.
• Dynamic duo: Target the most dangerous foes from the shadows with a special takedown move and then move in to stun or attack opponents with the game's intuitive combo system.
• Detective comics: Batman must use his brain as well as his brawn, with CSI style puzzles solved by an array of bat-gadgets including a multi-use interactive visor.
• Animated avenger: An original story written by comic book and Batman: The Animated Series legend Paul Dini - plus Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker.

About the Developer: Rocksteady Studios

Only found founded in 2004, this London based developer's first game was the well received first person shoot 'em-up Urban Chaos: Riot Response for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Their first game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (and PC) is comic book license Batman: Arkham Asylum.

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Customer Reviews

Finally! A console port that actually deserves the score it got.
I'm not a fan of console games. I generally find them far too short and the majority of them lack substance, to the point where I wouldn't pick them back up after a few days of play.

Batman is no exception.

However, this has got to be one of the most enjoyable games I have played in recent months. After about 16 hours of gametime, I completed the game on normal, and (rare for me) I started a new game, and carried on playing. Before I go into a rant about what I enjoy most, I'll give a quick review of the game first.

The starting movie shows the Batmobile heading to Arkham Asylum, The Joker, having threatened the Mayor of Gotham City, has been apprehended by Batman. Upon arrival at the Asylum, Batman insists on accompanining The Joker, as he has an uneasy feeling about the ease with which he captured The Joker. Naturally, The Joker breaks free, springing his trap, which is only the beginning his diabolical plan.

From there, the game breaks down into several 'mini-games'. The first, is combat vs unarmed henchmen. This is a complete hoot. The combat skills at Batman's disposal are fantastic. LMB attacks the target nearest to Batman (in conjunction with keyboard direction), whereas RMB will catch an attack, and counter it. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun, but once you have the hang of it, you can easily control a fight from start to finish. The game has a huge array of moves available, and all of them look amazing, but sadly, you can't choose which will be used. But bouncing from henchman to henchman, unleashing devastating moves on each one is prehaps the best feature of this game. Even being heavily outnumbered, the ability to counter never means you are at a disadvantage. As long as you are fast enough to hit RMB, you can get through an encounter with 8 henchmen without taking damage. And it is joyful to watch. Each time you are about to land a final blow on a target, the game world slows down just long enough to aim for the next target, with the points you can earn being based on how many attacks you can chain together. Additional moves are also available, but I will mention that later.

The second 'mini game' occurs everytime Batman enters a room with armed henchmen, and by armed I mean guns. Batman has a detective mode, which allows him to see through walls, pick up trails, and solve puzzles. When detective mode is used in a room with armed henchmen, it allows you to track them, even when they walk into positions where they couldn't be seen. This part of the game is all about stealth takedowns. Taking the time to plan, then pouncing when an opportunity presents itself, and above all remaining undetected. For should you be spotted, the gunfire aimed at you will kill you quickly. As an aid, there are gargoyles dotted around the roof area that can be used to evade gunfire and mainly to lose the attackers so that they have no idea where you went. Many of Batmans abilities can be used here, such as stunning one with a Batarang, swooping down to land a two-footed kick into one of them, and being able to silently pick one up that is below you being available. As you progress further into the game, these set-pieces become more challenging, but the choices you have for silent takedowns also increase as well.

The third 'mini game', and the one I liked the most, occurs early in the game. The Riddler, aka Edward Nigma, contacts you through your comms link, telling you that he has placed many riddles around Arkham Island, which he challenges you to decipher. The reason I like this, not just for replay value, is because many of his riddles refer to some of Batman's enemies throughout the years, ones who aren't actually physical in this game. When you decipher the clue, you will unlock a biography of the villain, which gives a brief description of who and what they are, as well as the date that they first appeared in Batman literature. Also, some of the patients in Arkham Asylum have recorded interviews that can be found, giving a brief insight into their insane personalities.

With every henchman that you kill, or puzzle that you solve you will gain XP. Nothing new there, each time you fill the XP bar you will have the choice of a new ability. Some of them give more health, some more abilites that can be used in combat. Some however, are necessary to completing The Riddler's puzzles. So choose wisely.

So, what else does this game have? For one, the graphics really are outstanding. Everywhere you go, the level of detail will impress you. More importantly, the sound is even better. The music is always perfect for the situation you are in, as are The Jokers continued taunts aimed at you. After he takes control of Arkham, he frequently appears on the many displays laughing at Batman, or on the tannoy outside the main buildings. Even if you die, The Joker will be there laughing at you until the retry option flashes up.

So, bad points now.

First, the game is a bit short, but then, console ports always are. In terms of replay factor, yes The Riddler's puzzles will keep you interested for a while as you try to solve them, but sadly there is always a map available that shows the exact location of each answer, so over time this will be a failure to keep any of us playing this game. However, there is also a challenge mode, that consists of many random encounters where the aim is to maximise your score. This includes normal combat as well as the silent takedown format. This increases the replay factor, but then that depends on how challenge orientated you are.

Second, although I love the combat, the boss battles are quite lame. Many of the opponents you will encounter fight in the exact same style as Bane does, which is fun at at first, but after a while seems to be a bit lazy. Difficulty increases by combining normal henchmen with the bigger ones, but this accounts for many of the boss battles, and after a while gets quite obvious.

So, to summarise. This game wont be on your playlist 2 weeks after buying it. By then, you will have discovered everything, done everything, and grown quite bored with it. But in those 2 weeks, you will have an endless amount of fun playing this, you will raise your expectations of what a console port onto the PC SHOULD look like, and at no point will you ever regret buying this. It really is that good (for a console game).

A truly great game
Graphics, atmosphere, presentation..all superb

I play with the keyboard & mouse & and the controls are pretty user friendly.

Voice acting is just superb, drafting in three people from Batman: The Animated Series, Mark Hamill (Joker), Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn).
I have to say that Mark Hamills' Joker really does stand out. Money has not been spared on any aspect on this game. It really deserves the good reviews & ratings from the various game websites & magazines

My one small gripe is that you can't manually save the game; it goes past a checkpoint & autosaves so if you pick an upgrade and you realise it's not the one you want but have passed the checkpoint, you're stuck with it.
It's certainly not an issue to knock a star off though. It means I'll make better choices the next time I play it.

This is such a playable, enjoyable game that I think people that aren't Batman fans would enjoy this. Treat yourselves, people

Enough of this review! I need to jump back on the game & show the bad guys the error of their ways.

One of the best games I've ever played
This game has to be one of the best ever made. The graphics are are so atmospheric and if you have a modern PC with a good graphics card you can be sure of a visual treat. That's not the only thing though, the voice acting is the best I've listened to for a long time, Joker is suitably mad without being too over the top, Poison Ivy suitably sexy and Batman himself with just the right amount of menace. The background music also add to a very polished game that shows time and care were taken throughout.

The game oozes style and is very large I'm not sure how long I've been playing but I'm not even half way through and the story has me hooked.

The game has a large amount of fighting in it with the player having to string fight moves together to gain experience points I have to admit I'm not a great fan of beat-em-ups but the fighting is tempered with being able to use stealth to take out un/armed opponents which I enjoyed greatly, to clear an area without the bad guys knowing what was going on was very satisfying.

Most of the game is spent with the player POV just to the right and behind of Batman looking over his right shoulder the POV took a bit of getting use to but now seems second nature, I've got the game on a 19" wide screen and it's fine but I'm not sure what it would be like on a smaller screen. Best thing to do is go to the games web site and down load the PC demo (a big advantage to PC over consoles).

This is a Windows Live game.

Extras abound from the background stories of the villains and other characters (including which comic they first appeared in) to various challenge modes that allow you to compare high scores with friends and the rest of the world.

To sum up if you like Batman this is a must, the care taken and the details sets the bar very high for future games of this type. I think this is one of the few games I've played that is worth every penny I paid for it. Even if you don't like super hero games I still recommend you at least try the demo or you'll never know what you are missing.