Batman: Arkham Asylum: First Impressions
So the long awaited "Batman: Arkham Asylum" demo is finally here. It's the first Batman game to be based on the comic mythos since the goddawful "Dark Tomorrow" and rides in on the wave of hype left in the wake of that Batman movie last year, I can't remember the name of it. There was this guy in it who seemed concerned about people being serious. Maybe he was a shrink or something, or a comedian, he was dressed like aclown or something.
Anyway, instead of a movie based game which, let's be honest, everyone expected (and frankly demanded after seeing how good the film was) we were given "Arkham Asylum" which was probably a much better way round. Not only would it please a larger audience, being based on the comics and featuring Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (the voice actors for Batman and Joker from the 90's animated series), but it allowed for a longer development time and thus was not rushed out.
The game focuses on a break out inside Arkham, orchestrated by The Joker himself and it's up to Batman to contain the inamtes of Arkham.
So the demo arrives, and I deliberately skip the cutscenes, since they'll no doubt be initially unskippable on first viewing in the actual game. I find myself in a room filled with Joker's thugs, with the clown prince of crime commentating from an unseen location. Flung immediately into combat I am told X = strike, which I'd kinda figured as much since that's the button I instantly began hammering.
First thing to note: The combat is fantastic. The developers not only captured how it feels to be Batman, but also how he looks. Much as a lauded "Watchmen: The End is Nigh"'s character animations, Batman's is also spot on. In actuality it's kind of like a blend between Nite Owl and Rorschach's styles. The fluidity and precision of Nite Owl combined with the brutality and blunt force or Rorschach. He definitely gives the impression of a very well built and skilled combatant.
Another thing to notice right away is that he is BUFF. Like almost ridiculously so, taking up a lot of the screen. One humourous comment on GameFAQs noted: "This uses the Unreal engine though right? That sounds about right then..."
For those not in the know the Unreal engine was created by Epic Games, makers of "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament" both noted for their ridiculously oversized main characters.
The designers balanced Batman's strength right too. They wanted him t not have too much trouble with 3 on one odds, since he's trained for years and the thugs are pretty basic level fighters, at the same time though he's not overpowered. Counters don't seem to do damage, but are veryeasy to pull of and lookfantastic, so it still looks like a great fight, without being too easy.
After this brief battle is an encounter with Zsasz a psychopath who carves tally marks into his flesh whenever he kills. He's one of the few "normal" Batman villains who is well known. He's holding an Arkham guard hostage in an electric chair, and threatens to kill him if anyone approaches. A gurad tells Batman, "If he sees you, my buddy's dead!" to which Batman (obviously) replies "He won't see me..."
I run up round the back stairs and grapple on to a gargoyle. From where I have several options. Glide kick in and knock Zsasz down. Batarang him for a stun, then close in to finish him off. Or silently drop behind him and make a silent take down.
I try the flashy approach of knocking the remote out of his hand and then closing for a beatdown, but the batarangs seem to be insanely powerful (or I have bad aim) since it knocks him off his feet. I still swoop in and proceed with a ground takedown, which involves Batman sitting over him and punching him a lot.
The next stage find me in a room with about 6 guards. No problem right? Wrong. These guys are armed, and for a superhero, Batman is still just a man, and guns are lethal. I make use of the gargoyles to scope out the situation and scan with detective vision (lame name I know) which highlights all enemies in skeletal x-rays allowing me to see those behind cover and quite probably giving them cancer too.
The devs were right. There's no guaranteed way of how they will respond to a given situation. These are not retarded MGS guards who will blindly follow one path over and over, save for their inability to look up, they are pretty well organised. I take out a top level guy first with a glide kick, then return to my perch. another unwittingly walks underneath and I swing upside down and perform the classic hanging takedown. The other guards start to freak out. I throw batarangs at walls to spook them more and try and draw them into the glass roofed area. Noone goes there. I am pissed I can't perform teh epic glass smash takedown, so just glide kick/ batarang + ground take down the rest.
All in all this game is extremely promising. The stealth works well, the combat's great, music very Batmanesque and the graphics look slick. Only real problem I've encountered so far seems to be Batman's facial movement. He looks a bit like a puppet from thunderbirds, only his mouth moves when he talks, there's no narrowing of the eyes etc where appropriate. Nonetheless this is only a demo after al so some things are bound to change.
I'll probably end up doing a Let's Play of this, for the benefit of Eoin who'll probably not get a chance to play it. And myself because Let's Plays are fun =P.
Anyway, instead of a movie based game which, let's be honest, everyone expected (and frankly demanded after seeing how good the film was) we were given "Arkham Asylum" which was probably a much better way round. Not only would it please a larger audience, being based on the comics and featuring Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (the voice actors for Batman and Joker from the 90's animated series), but it allowed for a longer development time and thus was not rushed out.
The game focuses on a break out inside Arkham, orchestrated by The Joker himself and it's up to Batman to contain the inamtes of Arkham.
So the demo arrives, and I deliberately skip the cutscenes, since they'll no doubt be initially unskippable on first viewing in the actual game. I find myself in a room filled with Joker's thugs, with the clown prince of crime commentating from an unseen location. Flung immediately into combat I am told X = strike, which I'd kinda figured as much since that's the button I instantly began hammering.
First thing to note: The combat is fantastic. The developers not only captured how it feels to be Batman, but also how he looks. Much as a lauded "Watchmen: The End is Nigh"'s character animations, Batman's is also spot on. In actuality it's kind of like a blend between Nite Owl and Rorschach's styles. The fluidity and precision of Nite Owl combined with the brutality and blunt force or Rorschach. He definitely gives the impression of a very well built and skilled combatant.
Another thing to notice right away is that he is BUFF. Like almost ridiculously so, taking up a lot of the screen. One humourous comment on GameFAQs noted: "This uses the Unreal engine though right? That sounds about right then..."
For those not in the know the Unreal engine was created by Epic Games, makers of "Gears of War" and "Unreal Tournament" both noted for their ridiculously oversized main characters.
The designers balanced Batman's strength right too. They wanted him t not have too much trouble with 3 on one odds, since he's trained for years and the thugs are pretty basic level fighters, at the same time though he's not overpowered. Counters don't seem to do damage, but are veryeasy to pull of and lookfantastic, so it still looks like a great fight, without being too easy.
After this brief battle is an encounter with Zsasz a psychopath who carves tally marks into his flesh whenever he kills. He's one of the few "normal" Batman villains who is well known. He's holding an Arkham guard hostage in an electric chair, and threatens to kill him if anyone approaches. A gurad tells Batman, "If he sees you, my buddy's dead!" to which Batman (obviously) replies "He won't see me..."
I run up round the back stairs and grapple on to a gargoyle. From where I have several options. Glide kick in and knock Zsasz down. Batarang him for a stun, then close in to finish him off. Or silently drop behind him and make a silent take down.
I try the flashy approach of knocking the remote out of his hand and then closing for a beatdown, but the batarangs seem to be insanely powerful (or I have bad aim) since it knocks him off his feet. I still swoop in and proceed with a ground takedown, which involves Batman sitting over him and punching him a lot.
The next stage find me in a room with about 6 guards. No problem right? Wrong. These guys are armed, and for a superhero, Batman is still just a man, and guns are lethal. I make use of the gargoyles to scope out the situation and scan with detective vision (lame name I know) which highlights all enemies in skeletal x-rays allowing me to see those behind cover and quite probably giving them cancer too.
The devs were right. There's no guaranteed way of how they will respond to a given situation. These are not retarded MGS guards who will blindly follow one path over and over, save for their inability to look up, they are pretty well organised. I take out a top level guy first with a glide kick, then return to my perch. another unwittingly walks underneath and I swing upside down and perform the classic hanging takedown. The other guards start to freak out. I throw batarangs at walls to spook them more and try and draw them into the glass roofed area. Noone goes there. I am pissed I can't perform teh epic glass smash takedown, so just glide kick/ batarang + ground take down the rest.
All in all this game is extremely promising. The stealth works well, the combat's great, music very Batmanesque and the graphics look slick. Only real problem I've encountered so far seems to be Batman's facial movement. He looks a bit like a puppet from thunderbirds, only his mouth moves when he talks, there's no narrowing of the eyes etc where appropriate. Nonetheless this is only a demo after al so some things are bound to change.
I'll probably end up doing a Let's Play of this, for the benefit of Eoin who'll probably not get a chance to play it. And myself because Let's Plays are fun =P.