Blockbuster.co.uk - Batman: Arkham Asylum: Close Up

Pulling on his trusty cape and cowl, Blockbuster.co.uk's Marshall Julius ventures deep into Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Smart, satisfying and richly authentic, Batman: Arkham Asylum draws on seventy years of Batman mythology to ensure unparalleled pleasures for Batfans, while the varied game-play, level of detail, depth of challenge and sheer, giddy fun factor guarantees a memorable experience for gamers in general. Strongly reminiscent, in terms of environment and atmosphere, of the almighty BioShock, if you ignore the Batman license for a moment and focus purely on the way the game plays, looks and feels, it truly is an amazing piece of work. And when you add the Batman license, the decades of mythology, the wealth of colourful characters, the style, visuals and the emotional punch, it's clearly something very special indeed.

"We wanted to create something totally authentic", explains game director Sefton Hill. "We were inspired by the psychological elements of the Batman comics, the detective elements. We see Batman as a kind of mythological figure to the villains. And we wanted you to feel like that."

Developed by Rock Steady, who enjoyed considerable success in 2006 with PS2 title Urban Chaos: Riot Response and have been working on this ever since, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a mixture of all that's best about Batman, the character, from his peerless fighting ability to Sherlockian detective skills, and Batman, the series, from the lively dialogue to the ingenious plots. We're deep in the DC universe with this one, and there's nowhere we'd rather be.

Instantly absorbing, the game opens with Batman escorting a freshly re-captured Joker back to Arkham Asylum, a masterpiece of Gothic Tech which is one part creepy castle, one part weird science lab, one part madhouse and one part prison. A character in itself, Arkham is a living, breathing environment, a dark and textured setting for a game that deserves nothing less.

Written by Paul Dini, who masterminded the best of Bat's animated adventures and created the character of Harley Quinn, the Joker's demented girlfriend, the game benefits hugely from the definitive voice talents of Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as the Joker and Arleen Sorkin as Harley. From the opening minutes of the game, with the Joker taunting his stoic arch-enemy as the two venture ever deeper into the twisted heart of Arkham, it's apparent that Dini, the voice cast, designers and developers of this remarkable game took it every bit as seriously as the writers, artists, animators, filmmakers and stars of the very best Batman comic-books, 'toons and movies.

A couple of minutes in, while the credits are rolling, while Conroy and Hamill are doing their thing and you're just circling the camera around Batman to appreciate the shadowy, detailed beauty of the 3-D environments, you reach the end of a corridor, a guard summons an elevator, and when one arrives, out steps Killer Croc. Enormous, scaly and malevolent, he hurls some trash talk towards you and it's hard not to be intimidated because that's when you realise you're going to have to fight him at some stage in the game. And not just him, but many of Batman's toughest and most psychotic enemies. Only you're the Batman, and being intimidated is not an option. You're the Batman, because that's how this game makes you feel. Not that you're playing a game, but that you're involved in what's happening to the extent that you ARE the Batman, and by the time you face the Croc, you'll be ready.

Batman has a feeling that something's not quite right, and his worst fears are confirmed when the Joker breaks free of his shackles, wastes a few guards, and assumes control of Arkham, freeing the inmates and aiming them squarely at Batman. It's going to be no easy task defeating them all, rescuing the hostages and re-taking Arkham, but if anyone can do it, it's you.

Easing you into the action, the first level doubles as a tutorial, giving you time to master Batman's skills, at least the skills you're able to access at the top of the game as there'll be ample opportunities to upgrade your talents along the way. At first you're encouraged, though, by the relatively simple combat mechanics, busting the heads of several low level henchmen via just four buttons: attack, counter attack, evade and stun. Once you master the free-flow combat, however, and you understand the intricacies of combining your moves and stringing together massive combos, your fighting style comes alive. The more impressive the combos, the more flamboyant your moves, packed with slow motion close ups of villains receiving exactly what they deserve.

There's so much more to Batman, though, than fighting. "He's scary when he has to be," explains Dini, "and strong and analytical. The detective aspect is a big part of it, because we thought that would add a lot of bonus value to the game if he has to stop, go through files about certain characters, or pick up a discarded object or something and go, 'This is a clue.'

"He analyses it - he has a linkup to the Bat computer so he can analyze certain things or chemicals that he finds - and it gives him the clues to proceed. He has some infrared vision, so he can see different things in the dark and he, you know, it's all the tools he needs to proceed in that area. I like the fact that he's not just a brawler in this; he has to be a thinker as well."

Beyond the fighting and detecting angles, there's a stealth aspect as well, because Batman isn't bullet-proof, after all. When faced with multiple shooters, he has to figure out how to best take them out, leaping silently from gargoyle to rafter, swooping down on them like a bat out of Hell, or creeping up from behind and knocking them unconscious before they're even aware they've been attacked. Finally there's a cool collecting angle, with stacks of extra, unlockable content just waiting to be discovered. Really there's no end to the pleasures built into Batman: Arkham Asylum, and they're ready to be discovered, on your Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, direct from Blockbuster.co.uk.

"We're really proud of Arkham Asylum", says Hill with due pride. "This is the game we always wanted to make."

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