Topic: Batman: Arkham Asylum getting stellar reviews...

[Pugnate]

MyD, feel free to edit this post to add more review scores bla bla bla...


9.3 from IGN

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/101/1016585p1.html

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the greatest comic book videogame of all time. This is an adult Dark Knight story that is well-told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, has topnotch voice talent, and feel like it's part of Batman cannon

I love the Dark Knight. Aside from the Flash, he's my favorite comic book character. I know, a lot of people say Batman is their favorite, but I really am an all-out Bat-nut. I have more than 100 Batman graphic novels on my bookshelf. I've read just about every Batman story ever written. I'd like to think I'm a tough critic when it comes to all things Batman. Without question, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best game based on a comic book and the more true to the Dark Knight than any videogame, TV show, or movie. It's better than a lot of Batman comics to boot.

Though there is some combat, the focus is on Batman's stealth abilities and his detective skills. Rocksteady got every aspect of the big bad Bat right -- from his use of gadgets, to his intellect, to his unwavering will to pummel evil into submission. This game has references to Calendar Man and Maxie Zeus, along with a great cameo by Clayface and an amazing performance by Mark Hamill as the Joker. Top to bottom this is an amazing piece of work and a real tribute to one of comics' greatest characters.

A- from 1UP

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3175696&p=37

Having Paul Dini, one of the architects of Batman: The Animated Series and several good story arcs on Detective Comics, writing the story/dialogue is huge; if anyone alive knows Batman and his rogue's gallery, it's Dini. In fact, I'll say it: Dini and Mark Hamill's collaboration on Joker here gives us the best depiction of Joker outside of Alan Moore's The Killing Joke and Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

[MysterD]

Can't edit your post.
I don't have mod powers.
However, I can though follow your posts w/ my posts.

EDIT:
Eurogamer
X360 Version -- NINE (out of 10)

CVG
X360 Version -- 9.2 (out of 10)

NZ Gamer
X360 version -- 9.0.

[ScaryTooth]

I've played the demo through like 20 times. Have it reserved, and I cant wait to get out of the hospital on Tuesday!

[iPPi]

It's ridiculously low priced at Future Shop this week... given the reviews and what I tried from the demo, I might buy it now.

[gpw11]

Yeah, the demo kicked ass.  I'm so tempted to buy this and a PS3 instead of waiting for the PC release.

[ScaryTooth]

Picked it up on my launch break today.

Hooking up my new Xbox right now. I'm excited.

[MysterD]

GameSpot - 9.0 for X360 and PS3 versions
Video Review.
Written Review.

G4TV
4 stars from G4TV (out of 5)

[ScaryTooth]

Did anyone else get it? If you have the means, this is a MUST buy. Even if you aren't into Batman.

The game is dominate.

[Pugnate]

Got it for my sister on the 360 just now. I have preordered it on PC for myself. I am going to play her *gift* and report back.

[Xessive]

Well, I caved and picked it up for PS3. So far so good.. Soooo good.

[MysterD]

Well, I caved and picked it up for PS3. So far so good.. Soooo good.

Oh, you gotta let us know how "Being The Joker" is, since that's a PS3 Exclusive.

[Xessive]

Oh, you gotta let us know how "Being The Joker" is, since that's a PS3 Exclusive.

The Joker is pretty cool. You get to use him in the Challenge mode, so far I've only done combat challenges (fighting waves of enemis) and he's pretty hilarious hehe

[ScaryTooth]

The fighting in this game is so fun. I FEEL like I'm Batman. The animations are really good, and there are a TON of them. I swear you see new moves occasionally all the way through the end of the game.

I need to work on my chain combos though. I've had 18, but thats as far as I've got. Still haven't really got the hang of racking up points in challenge mode. I don't get how some of those predator levels are completed in 35 seconds or so. Thats crazy.

[Xessive]

Finished it on Normal difficulty. Solved all the riddles and uncovered the Spirit of Amadeus Arkham. Awesome. It is a phenomenal game.

[MysterD]

Finished it on Normal difficulty. Solved all the riddles and uncovered the Spirit of Amadeus Arkham. Awesome. It is a phenomenal game.

How long did your first run through take (in approximately hours)?

[Xessive]

11-12 hours or so. When you finish the game you can still roam around Arkham Island and solve any riddles you missed before.

I really love the attention to detail RockSteady poured into the game. One little thing that I appreciated (though it's not crucial) was the difference between dead and unconscious bodies. If you look closely at an unconscious body you'll notice the chest expanding and contracting as it's still breathing. It's a very minor thing but it's all these little things that really add to the game's world.

[Quemaqua]

Fuck.  So I just watched a review of this and it looks bloody fantastic.  I'm picking it up for a friend at work because his wife is having a baby (I'm getting you a game for your wife's baby shower because it's the last game you'll ever get to play, har har), but I think I have to get it for me now too.  Damn it.

[MysterD]

11-12 hours or so. When you finish the game you can still roam around Arkham Island and solve any riddles you missed before.

Sweet.

[Quemaqua]

Well, I nabbed it for PS3, and it's as good as everybody said.  Dang.  It's really cool.  Gives me quite the Riddick vibe at times, and even a little System Shock 2 at a couple points.  There's a little bit of wonkiness present here and there, but you mostly notice it because everything looks and plays so generally awesome.  The character bios, little hidden things, riddles, and the upgrade system are all fantastic, and this is probably the best-looking hand to hand combat I've ever seen in a game.  Even when it slows down and zooms in things almost always continue looking smooth and believable.  I really don't think I've ever seen it done this well before.

[MysterD]

Rocksteady would really like to work on a sequel to this game.

Batman Sequel, Wait For It!
[Ure "Vader" Paul]
07:13 am EDT @ September 07th, 2009
Filed under: BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM

Will Batman: Arkham Asylum get a sequel or not? Judging from a huge number of great reviews and generally positive feedback from fans, it is a strong possibility. On the other hand, development studio Rocksteady isn't prepared to make any official announcements on the matter; at least not until they're sure about the sales.

"We'll have to wait and see if anyone buys this," lead narrative designer, Paul Crocker told CVG. "I hope so. We're just really pleased to have been given the chance to work on Batman. I'm a complete comics nerd, I used to work in a comics store... this is a dream come true for me."

Well, guys, I hope so too, because it's been a while since I've enjoyed a superhero game this much and it would be awesome to get a brand new game (provided they keep things interesting and exciting, which isn't going to be easy).

[Quemaqua]

The game just keeps getting better.  I would definitely like to see a followup to this.

[MysterD]

Batman: Arkham Asylum - DLC announced.
Still no details on the DLC yet.

It'll be dropping AT THE SAME TIME for the PC, X360 and PS3.
And it'll be FREE.

[MysterD]

Make that TWO DLC's planned for Batman: AA.

First one - Insane Night; coming Sept 14th.
Second one - Prey In The Darkness; coming Sept 24th.

[gpw11]

Okay, what the fuck?  You can't charge for DLC within a month of the game coming out.  That's just wrong.

[MysterD]

Okay, what the fuck?  You can't charge for DLC within a month of the game coming out.  That's just wrong.

We don't know if DLC #2 is free or not yet...

[Quemaqua]

I hope it's free.  I don't want to have my experience soured, because I freaking love this game.  But I'm not really interested in paying for challenge maps and such.

Nearly done with the game now, though I have a bit to go for pickups and secrets.  This game really surprised me.  Not only did they manage to pack a crapton of supervillains into it, the story seems pretty believable despite it.  I'm really impressed with this thing from the ground up.

[MysterD]

I hope it's free.  I don't want to have my experience soured, because I freaking love this game.  But I'm not really interested in paying for challenge maps and such.

Nearly done with the game now, though I have a bit to go for pickups and secrets.  This game really surprised me.  Not only did they manage to pack a crapton of supervillains into it, the story seems pretty believable despite it.  I'm really impressed with this thing from the ground up.

If I recall in the GameSpot review, they felt no usage of some of the super-villains in the asylum felt like a missed opportunity.

I bet that'd make some good FREE DLC -- have an encounter within the core game w/ some of the villains that didn't get much time in Version 1.0.

What do y'all think?

[Xessive]

I was pretty satisfied with the turn-out. I think the major villains that didn't make an appearance ought to be saved for a sequel rather than squandered on DLC. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the less-than-stellar villains crop up in some DLC.

I really liked the way the Riddler was incorporated into the game. He's not in the area but you still get the feedback and the opportunity to defeat him by solving his riddles scattered throughout Arkham Asylum.

The one character I would love to see in a sequel is Catwoman. There's a lot of potential with her for a plot as well as the possibility of a bonus playable character (much like The Joker on the PS3 version).

[Quemaqua]

Ever since they started doing movies, I've hated every portrayal of Catwoman.  It totally ruined that character for me since I never had all that much exposure to the comics.  All I can picture is this fucking idiotic monstrosity:

[PyroMenace]

Ever since they started doing movies, I've hated every portrayal of Catwoman.  It totally ruined that character for me since I never had all that much exposure to the comics.  All I can picture is this fucking idiotic monstrosity:

Heh, I can picture another actor doing that character even worse. To be honest, I don't know catwoman in the marvel universe very well so I really could give two shits about her and I can almost say the same with almost the entirety of villains in batman but the game still looks fantastic to me.

Okay, what the fuck?  You can't charge for DLC within a month of the game coming out.  That's just wrong.

Sadly that's not all thats been done in DLC as of recently. The Beatles Rock Band which was just released already has DLC songs put out for it, and I liked Harmonix, I didn't see them pulling this shit.

[Xessive]

I like Michelle Pfeiffer! MeOW! Although that portrayal of Catowman was not true to the original Selina Kyle.

This image from the comics is on the right track:


And here's Selina with her newborn child, Helena (who eventually becomes The Huntress):


EDIT:
I can't believe this one slipped my mind, Adam Hughes (devaintART) did some pretty good renditions of Selina Kyle as well:

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, see... that's better.

Though I'm kinda' with Pyro.  I don't really care about villains or Batman all that much, but the game is fantastic even if you aren't really into it (also, Batman is DC, right?).  And actually, it makes a really good introduction to it all, because the more that I play of this, the more interested I am in seeing more.

I always got the impression that it was the more recent Batman stuff that was darker, though it seems like some of the threads go back a ways, so maybe I've been a little off about it.  Either way... man, this game is dark at times.  I love it. 

[MysterD]

Man, I so gotta' play this thing...

Have the PC requirements for Batman: AA PC been revealed yet?

[sirean_syan]

Just play that demo that came out a few weeks ago. If it runs well enough you're good to go.

I'm actually waiting for the PC release myself. I was able to go pretty much full detail with the PhysicX stuff running as well. While the keyboard and mouse setup worked, I'm thinking it might be a good excuse to get a 360 controller going for my computer.

[Pugnate]

Yea I can't wait for the PC release...

We have it on the 360 and my brother finished it... but I am not touching it.

[MysterD]

At least 2.5+ million copies have been sold so far to retail outlets.

I don't know if that includes any PC copies that were sold...ummm...beginning last week....

[Quemaqua]

I just finished it up the other night.  Fantastic, fantastic game.  I'm really looking forward to a sequel, and possibly even playing through it again at some point.  If you aren't too anal about trying to find every last thing (which I tried to do the first time around), it's just short enough that you can just enjoy the story and action without devouring a ridiculous chunk of time.  Really great game.

[gpw11]

Yeah, picked this up on the weekend.  Damn, one of the funner games I've played in the last little while and certainly one of the games I'd keep (as mentioned in the other thread) for a while.  The combat is so simplistic yet fun and there's so much to do it's great.

(click to show/hide)

Hit the Bane fight last night and it was absolutely great

[iPPi]

I picked this one up last week as well and am having a blast.  Like gpw, this is one of the games I've had the most fun with in a long time.

[MysterD]

Patch 1.1 Released for PC version -- which adds PhysX Support.