I wasn't intending on making this blog. At the time I started this, I intended on just playing one of my favorite PS3 games. But then, tragedy struck. After about an hour of my playthrough, my PS3 just shut off. I tried everything I was capable of doing to trouble shoot down to taking the system apart. No matter what I did, I couldn't fix the issue. It was not a great way to end my week.
And worse, I still wanted to play, so I did something unusual and bought a second copy on Steam. If you know me and how much I pira-I mean-borrow media, to buy a second copy for a game I from a moral standpoint wasn't obligated to purchase demonstrates why Batman: Arkham Asylum should get one of these entries.
In this blog, I will explain why Arkham Asylum is hands down the best Batman game, go through how it successfully adapts the Batman source material, and argue why the future Arkham games didn't quite live up to what I think is a lightning in a bottle game.
If you are faintly familiar with gaming memes, you might have heard of the joke regarding the sameness of critics' takes on media franchises' video game adaptions. Some variation of " the game makes you feel like{insert character}."
While I can't disagree with the overused phrase, I can't look down at the critics during the time when Arkham Asylum was just coming out.
You got to understand that gaming even a little over ten years ago was very different than now, especially for the Batman franchise. Video game adaptions rarely if at all were immersive. Unless you were Spiderman or Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, the idea of a game 'feeling' like anything was a mere fantasy. And as you go back further back in gaming history, you got to suspend your disbelief more and more.
This applied to the Batman series. To give an example, let's briefly go over what was one of the better Batman games, Batman (NES). This is a wonderfully solid game for the system. But if you ask someone for a straight answer, they wouldn't tell you that it felt like Batman. Gotham looks closer to an elementary school theater set than an actual city. Joker would be closer to seven feet tall if to scale to Batman. All in all, it was a simple gamey portrayal of the character, and games that follow the NES title would follow suit. They were more action oriented and other nuances of Batman like the story and noire elements were surface level at best. Usually, you got decent beat em ups alla Batman Returns for the SNES. And other times, you get Batman: Dark Tomorrow and Batman Forever. Overall, the hit or miss quality was pretty expected for a major media franchise at the time. Sometimes you get a Spiderman. Other times you get Spiderman. And yes, I am referring to two different games in that instance. Media franchises aren't the best at titling things.
Then Batman: Arkham Asylum is announced, and everything changed.
It's understated how influential this game is. Before this game, it would be a miracle if a video game adaption wasn't a shovel ware nightmare. Arkham Asylum served as a paradigm shift for video game adaptions. While solid adaptions have existed before, I felt Arkham Asylum was the first high profile release that laid a benchmark future titles would have to compare against. If you want to make money, you got to work for it. And unlike Batman (NES), the latest technical power of the XBOX 360 and PS3 means a truly faithful Batman could be a reality. Essentially, Arkham Asylum came at the right place at the right time.
I will go more in depth into why Arkham Asylum 'feels' like Batman later. But for now, know that since Arkham Asylum, Spiderman started to feel a lot more like Spiderman. Star Wars became more Star Wars. Dr. Strangelove Or How I Stop Worrying and Start Loving the Bomb became more Dr. Strangelove Or How I Stop Worrying-
To reiterate, before Arkham Asylum, Batman games were mainly beat em ups. Arkham Asylum were the first major Batman game to try something new mechanically.
In short, Arkham Asylum can be best described as a Metroidvania. You technically have access to the entire map from the beginning but are obstructed by organic barriers that can only be bypassed by power ups. It's somewhat obvious in retrospect how well this fits Batman. One wonders why this wasn't tried before unless there is some obscure title I'm not aware of. Batman is essentially a variation of Samus. A dark badass with cool gadgets, acrobatic abilities, and a fine ass.
Anyway. the actual meat of the game can be split into three parts.
The first is typical continuation of Batman's beat em up days. You face a group of mobs that you must pummel to near death. It seems like a normal beat em ups, but the goals are different. Remember this game is invoking the feeling of being Batman. The combat isn't trying to mirror the arcade stylings as the combat isn't complex for modern beat em up standards. All attacks can be countered with a single button. There is a clear dominant strategy where your goal is to rack up your combo to multiples of five or eight hits in order to perform quick takedown attacks. Any other variation on this method is either more pointlessly complicated or showing off. The most you need in terms of skill is basic reflexes and planning how you will freeform combo through a group of enemies.
While the combat is almost painfully simple, and some have criticized the combat for that, that isn't what Arkham Asylum is trying to achieve with the combat. It is in essence a power trip. You are playing as a Batman that is collected and efficient. Who by the end of a single night this story takes place in will dispose of multiple super villains. For that reason, the developers made the smart decision to simplify combat in order to bridge the player and Batman closer together. It should be effortless to counter an enemy because it is effortless for Batman.
That's not to say that Arkham Asylum is effortless to play all the time, and this is where the stealth sections come it.
Much how Batman is suppose to effortlessly take down waves of goons. When he is stealthy, there is a clear contrast where Batman is careful and strategic. Why wouldn't he as he faces weapons that could kill him immediately. For some, this where the challenge of the game lies. There is more risk reward involved, and it is telling these sections are where the game throws in the most wrenches. One section will have you take out all the goons at the same time. Another will force you to stay on the ground, etc.
These are my favorite sections in the game. And from a pure cathartic level, it perfectly emulates the quintessential scenes of Batman picking off goons like a slasher villain and instilling the fear that's part of the Batman mantra.
Finally, there is the third type of gameplay where the player has to explore, solve puzzles, or find collectables.
I will admit. This is the most gamey parts of the gameplay. For instance, the collectables are merely that. They try to contextualize them all. But to say Batman is taking time away from stopping a murderous maniac to pick up Riddler trophies that somehow clue him in on the Riddler location is a stretch. Plus, the Riddler doesn't seem to be threatening anyone, so why does Batman care about this?
This isn't even the worst of it as Batman also searches through clues on the "Spirit of Arkham" which have nothing to do with the plot. Of course, I am nitpicking, but the gamey aspects stand out when the core mechanics are so faithful to the source material.
To its credit, when looking at the side content on its own merits, the extra material is fine. I like that it introduces a way to incorporate Batman lore without having to force it into the story, unlike future entries. In particular, I love the audio logs and Riddle challenges. I generally hate listening to audio logs, but Batman's are so well written. It's a beautiful mix of world building, atmosphere, and story telling. They're authentically creepy. Seeing these in over their head psychiatrists trying to treat these psychos is glorious.
At worst, they are a pill to track down on your map. The map is a simple 2D blue print and doesn't take into account the three dimensional space. This leads to situations where you have a hovering location of a collectable, but it could be anywhere on the map since the could be layered on top of one another. There are other problems, but I will save those niggles for later.
So to recap, the collectables are simple, enjoyable, albeit slightly ungraceful additions to the gameplay. The same can be said for the rest of the exploration and puzzles. For starters, one of the many aspects of Batman is his detective ability. This is the first game to really attempt to gamify this attribute, but all they did was a few follow the trail puzzles. And really, you don't do much of the work as all the work is done for you thanks to the Detective Mode feature. I understand I just said earlier that gameplay was suppose to be simplified to bridge you closer to Batman. And while that works with the combat, it doesn't quite work here. Part of the power trip you have in combat is just that exact thing. You feel powerful. In theory, the detective portions should make you feel smart, but it really doesn't. It's more a formality to get you to the next section. But to be brutally honest, it's hard to complain. At least they didn't go the shitty route when designing the detective portions. There aren't degenerate trailing missions or spot the difference nonsense....fucking....sliding blocks, chutes & ladders crap.
God, I shouldn't write these while under medication.
A big question when writing a story for a video game is "why?" In the early eras of games, this question wasn't taken very seriously and serves as a means to wave off off ball mechanics. To reuse an example I made in a previous blog, Samus turns into a ball because Chozo DNA.
As video games began to tell more ambitious and emotional stories, the standard to satisfy the why question has gotten more out of reach leaving games with shards of ludonarrative dissonance. You get notorious memes like why didn't Cloud use a Phoenix Down or an RPG protagonist picking flowers while the world is supposedly ending.
Superhero games have a similar problem. Generally, superhero games try to cram in as many villains as they can to give the game a sense of variety. However, the context for the appearance of these villains feels secondary to the larger story. The example that comes to mind is Spider-Man 3 the Video Game. Where the movie is a straightforward comic book story. The game diverges into weird asides like a gang war and bio experiments. All of that told along side the movie events that feel incredibly disconnected.
What I love about Arkham Asylum is the story is elegantly told. It not only tells a good story, but it does so while still remaining faithful to the structure of the game.
Anytime I try to find a got ya, the game usually has a reasonable explanation for it. Why doesn't Batman have all of his tools at the start (aka the Metroidvania test)? It's because the premise is a surprise attack from the Joker that Batman wasn't prepared for. Why do all these villains show up? Well because they are literally in Arkham Asylum. It's in the title dingus.
Sure, there are some ludonarrative dissonance. As I mention, the Riddler Trophies and Spirit of Arkham feel like asides Batman would have no interest in. The Scarecrow sections are great, but I imagine Batman wouldn't have let him gas him three times. After the first encounter, Batman would have some thingy-ma-jig ready to counteract the gas.
However, there is a point where you can apply some suspension of disbelief as you would a movie or a TV show. It is no worse than the Death Star having a glaring design flaw or how there are functioning cars in the Walking Dead. What matters is the story doing enough to pull you in, and I think Arkham Asylum does it excellently.
And ignoring the ludonarrative stuff, the story is just plain good. It feels like a PG13 BTAS movie which is about the nicest thing I can say for a Batman story. It helps that they brought in Mark Hamill and the late Kevin Conroy to do the voices which makes that comparison more warranted.
There is a nice rhythm and variety to the set pieces where the stealth and action doesn't feel stale. You almost forget that the entire game is set in a sterile psychiatric hospital.
If there was a book on set pieces that are so spectacularly good they feel like they could make their own stand alone games, the Scarecrow sections would be on the cover. Or at least put it near the table of contents. You probably want to put the Bowser levels instead. You know, I am very distracted today...
I racked my brain as to why these sections work so well. And after laying under my table for an hour, I have come up with three reasons.
First, they drastically change the scenery. Part of why you forget the whole game is set in a hospital is these sections drastically pull you out of that setting. They offer a surreal break from the drab and clinical surroundings. And since these sections pull the rug right under you, you feel that change.
As a side note, I really appreciate how the detail of Batman's suit being more ripped and battered as the game goes along. It reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus and how Wander struggles as he walks on a Colossus. Yeah, controlling the character is as effortless as pushing your thumb forward, but the game cleverly makes it feel strenuous. Here in Arkham Asylum, it's true Batman pretty effortlessly dispatches his foes, but this little detail shows that this situation is wearing him down.
Anyway, the second thing the Scarecrow sections do well is integrate Batman's origin without being integral to the story. Batman's origin's is one of the most overplayed devices in story telling. It's right up there with some of the Bible tropes, and Batman's only been around for less than a century! Arkham Asylum does it in a way where they explore that backstory but more elegantly than any Batman story I have seen.
Finally, they manage to change up the gameplay while still using the stealth and combat mechanics. The different perspective as the camera goes wide makes the stealth more about timing and the combat more about quickly dispatching enemies. It's seemingly a downgrade in complexity from the strategic quality of the stealth and the combo system of the combat. But the brevity of these sections means they act more as a reprieve rather than busy work. The tension definitely helps as a giant Scarecrow hovers over you. Though, some of that tension is lost due to Scarecrow's gamey AI path as he spins in circle by default. Maybe with more development time, they could flesh out the concept. I could see Scarecrow sections where a room is littered with creepy Scarecrow clones. Maybe Scarecrow could chase you like Killer Croc. They could even do more little things with the level design they had by adding more spontaneous situations like when make a noise causing him to iron his sights towards the sound.
Gosh, maybe if they made a sequel where Scarecrow was the main villain and they could do more elaborate Scarecrow sections. That's like a gimme premise. There is no way they could fuck that up and make him into a generic unthreatening villain....
Anyway, the Scarecrow sections gave Arkham Asylum a deeper personality and further separate Batman from the shovelware counterparts.
I imagine people's other favorite set piece is Killer Croc's lair, and I wouldn't disagree.
For a Batman game, it's a unique spin that the game has a lot of horror elements. Obviously Scarecrow is intended to be scary, but Killer Croc also has great tension even having that introduction that gives the feeling similar to seeing a dangerous animal in the zoo. You know they can't hurt you right now. What's scary is the emphasis of "right now."
This is the part where the sound design really gets the chance to shine. I like that you can always hear Killer Croc or at least think you hear him. The way the pipes creak. The echo from hitting the metal gates with the sewers acoustics. The water droplets and the pointed quiet. Ooooo, it pulls everything together.
It keeps things creepy. I still feel the effects of the design in my new play through. Because like the rest of the game, the level is fairly easy. It's an essential rhythm of crouch walking with the occasional instance of throwing a Batarang or running away from danger like Crash Bandicoot. But the atmosphere more than makes up for the lack of gameplay tension.
This new playthrough made me appreciate how long this section is. It plays with expectations on how a typical fetch quest plays out. You are never told how much you need to get, and it continually subverts how much you need. Game logic makes you think you need to three. Then after three, your game logic rationalizes that they are going for the rebellious four and so on. It adds an uneasiness as you are not quite sure how long you will have to be in this unsettling place.
I guess the only other worthwhile significant set piece worth mentioning is Poison Ivy. Like Scarecrow, she adds variety to the setting doing a mid-game transformation to the overworld.
She is also the only one that gives a proper boss fight in the game. Granted, that's not saying much. And if I want to be harsh, the boss is just a lesser Diababa from Twilight Princess. However, it is still enjoyable purely as a spectacle. Again, the game is very grounded. Going from a hospital setting to a full out Zelda boss shows the escalation of the story. iT's LiKe ThE gAmEpLaY tElLs A sToRy.
There are only seven villains in the game. Eight if you want to include Riddler since he doesn't appear in-game. That may seem like a lot. But by comparison, Spider-Man 3, which only came out a couple of years earlier, had about 13. Ideally, there would have been more Batman villains, but I admire the restraint Arkham Asylum has for its villains. You get the sense the story and game were designed in tandem. No villain was added unless they could provide a significant story and gameplay purpose. There isn't a moment where the story contrives some bullshit device, so it can include two more boss fights. There isn't some detour unattached to the main story that ruins the flow of the narrative. Every set piece is set properly.
When thinking of the problems of this game, it is hard to think of any that actually affects the any% play through. The closest I could think of as a problem is the boss fights where all of them are fighting waves of basic enemies with some stage gimmick. This is the big sticking point for the final boss which sees a beefed up Joker not doing anything similar to other boss fights. I personally don't mind the final boss, but I can see where people can personally be disappointed with the finale of the game. The story sort of whimpers out as well, but I suppose that's sort of the point. This is another day in Batman's life. Like I said, I am grasping at straws with the problems with this game.
The real problems come from shooting for 100%.
For starters, collectables you need to back track for are a nuisance as levels aren't designed to be backtracked around. It suffers from the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door form of back tracking where the linearity means you can't pop closer to the waypoint your looking for and have to walk through an empty building or climb the same construction. The game doesn't even give you the dignity of exiting you out of the level meaning you have to retrace back once you actually get the item. All of this is exacerbated if you don't know where the items are and have to resort to a walkthrough. An upgrade that makes you run faster or set teleportation points (think the dream needle in Hollow Knight) would have been nice to have. As the upgrades are now, they mainly serve the combat and stealth with very niche applications. And with how simple the combat is, you would be a show off to use them all. I also wish you got a more substantial reward for the Spirit of Arkham quest especially since Batman has no motivation to complete what with Arkham Asylum on fire and all. A cool late game item or even a costume would have been nice. Im not asking you get to play as Luigi. But come on, this game has the potential to put in a fun random thing to use in the end.
However, nothing is as bad as those stupid combat missions. Combat missions require you to build a high combo. I hate these types of missions because very few combat systems can handle that burden of scrutiny. Combo missions ask for a high level of play to the point of precision. So when Batman attacks an enemy thats blocking or your OHKO attack goes to a goon close to death, when you didn't want any of that to happen, that becomes really fucking annoying.
As I said, the combat is quite simple, so for it to expect you to push it to its limit is frustrating. It goes from a fun power trip to a finicky button masher. And on top of that, restarting the mission is tedious as it there is a load time at the start of the mission and in between enemy waves. This is why I would never 100% this game.
Before I end this review, I want to take the time to talk about the sequels. Because likely, I won't have the motivation to talk about them in any capacity after this. Particularly, I want to talk about Arkham City. The one considered the fan favorite out of the four mainline entries.
That sentiment I always felt only made sense in a vacuum. The boss fights are more interesting. The story is more audacious. But other than that, I can't describe Arkham City other than it is just more Arkham Asylum with a layer of sequelitis. The thing about games is that you have to play them, and a lot of faults start to show when looking at Arkham City from a moment to moment experience.
Do you know my favorite part of Arkham Asylum? Well, it wasn't the gliding to the next section with nothing interesting going on, but that didn't stop the devs from making that a larger focus of the game with the new over world. Sometimes bigger isn't always better.
Batman doesn't run fast unless he uses his grapple hook, but you only start to feel that slowness when he has to travel across city blocks rather than through a mental health facility. You don't feel like Batman. You feel like a glorified loading screen with a Batman screen saver. And Arkham Knight and Origins don't fare better as any attempts to speed up this process merely bandaids the problem. Do you want to spam the fast travel button like in Arkham Origins or play GTA like in Arkham Knight? What's that? You want better movement that makes traveling through the overworld more fun? Nah, not on the table.
So while Arkham City has better moments. I mean my God, that Mr. Freeze fight still rings in my head whenever I think of anything Batman. But, I am never inclined to go back to City as I do Arkham Asylum. You will never see me buying a second copy of City as I did with Asylum. Heck, none of the sequels haven't compel me to do more than a single playthough like Arkham Asylum.
Arkham Asylum is the least concerned about perception compared to others in the series. It isn't concerned about being bigger because sequels need to be bigger. It isn't concerned of trying to work in Batman signatures like the bat mobile because that's what a Batman game should do, right? It doesn't force its story to bend the need of bigger is better philosophy, so you don't get insane plot holes like Scarecrow nuking a city that's already been evacuated. It didn't make a PC port so fucking awful that it had to be temporarily removed from Steam. Yeah, that's right Warner Brothers. I don't forget shit like that.
It does one thing, and one thing only. It makes you feel like...
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a case study in nailing your premise. You can have simple gameplay or story. You can even have bad side content. However, if you can achieve your modular goals, those problems almost don't matter. Arkham Asylum epitomizes the parts that matter. It nails its depiction of Batman in both game feel, aesthetics, and narrative design. It is rarely bogged down by modern trends to pad the runtime or fit within a broader audience.
It might as well be my favorite PS3 game. Well ok, Ico is my favorite PS3 game, but that was a PS2 game. Wait, Arkham Asylum was also a XBOX 360. Fucking whatever man. The game is good. Go play it if you haven't. God knows why you haven't play it if you are reading this retrospective. What are you even doing here? This blog is like 5,000 words. Are you seriously {ramble continues aimlessly for another eighteen minutes.)
