Ok, so the demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network exactly a week ago and I've gone through it about five times now. Sadly, I've never had an opportunity with the game before this all-too-brief exposure but all five play-throughs of this demo had me coming away immensely happy that finally, for god's sake, the guys at Rocksteady and Eidos have made a good Batman game. Dare I say great. Although we still need to get our grubby little bat-mits on the final product before we start praising the game as the second coming of Christ (though I've been close).
But what you're reading right now isn't so much a detailed hands-on impression article, but more of an uber Batman fan detailing everything he loves about the game (thus far), maybe a few things he hopes will be included in the final build, and maybe even one or two things that irk him just a bit (and I mean a wee bit) being the hardcore bat-fan he is.
Firstly, let me just say that the presentation of Batman: Arkham Asylum is what will stand out right away to most fans of the character or recently converted fans via The Dark Knight. Everything Rocksteady Studios has done with Arkham Asylum is spot on. Kevin Conroy back as Bruce Wayne/ Batman? Check. Mark Hammill as the Joker? Check. And although we haven't seen him yet in any game-play footage or trailers, they even got Michael Ansara to reprise his role as Mr. Freeze. The same Michael Ansara that turned the once cooky villain into a three-dimensional human-being and helped net Batman: The Animated Series one of its many Emmys.
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Even the look of Batman: Arkham Asylum is outstanding, straddling the fine line between uber realism and cartoon shenanigans. Just taking a look at Batman, with his muscles upon muscles, makes you start to wonder how the hell he could ever fit into that suit. But you literally see it, right in front of you, because the game looks so real (as far as video games come) that you believe a man that massive could rock a bat costume and look like a total badass instead of a dorky dweeb trying to over-compensate.
Then there is the look of the actual Asylum, the setting of our adventure. With its twisted, dank, rusty metal hallways, that provide you no shelter for the gauntlet of terror you're about to embark upon. This is what Arkham Asylum would look like if it was real. A place that no matter how beefed up the security might be, you know nothing ever goes right. Looking at this place through the eyes of the Rocksteady development crew, and the twisted version they have concocted, one wonders why this place wasn't burned to the ground years ago.
