Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition

I've played it at least 3-4 times since it launched and it never gets old, despite the obvious age. It's the first entry of the Arkham franchise and the sequels have built heavily on it, sometimes improving, sometimes not. Highly recommended.

Arkham Asylum changed everything for Batman when it comes to his video game career, showing that not only can Batman video games be great for fans, they can also be great games for non-Batman fans. You don't need to know anything about Batman to understand anything in this game, all you need to know is that Batman is the hero and Joker is the villain, simple and straightforward. The story has this basic idea but it remains interesting with how deep the Joker's plan turns out to be as you progress the game, witnessing the dark secrets of Arkham Asylum as you see innocent lives caught in Joker's chaos. The presentation with the atmosphere, graphics, and art style builds up the world in a way that not even later Arkham games were able to capture. Gameplay in Arkham Asylum is split into two styles, FreeFlow Combat and Predator. Combat takes up a good majority of the game and it is satisfying to master. You start off doing at least three punches before Batman can start freeflowing to take down thugs with his martial art skills, from there you can knock enemies onto the ground with each hit. However, thugs always come in numbers so you'll need to play smart by knowing when to do counter-attacks or to evade to maintain your combo. Predator encounters are also great fun, having Batman take on armed thugs who can wipe him out at any second if caught. Early on they don't seem like much as you mainly do just silent takedowns, but as you progress through the game to get more gadgets, you can find ways to lure thugs into traps and even take multiple thugs out at once. The Predator encounters let you be the physical embodiment of fear as thugs grow more terrified with each takedown. This game also features Detective Mode, allowing you to plan out your next attack in Predator encounters and help you explore the asylum for hidden secrets, Batman: Arkham Asylum is amazing, plays well with an Xbox One/Series X controller and at high settings. Still worth playing to this day!

Discovered that gem 13 years too late. A game from an era where developpers actually delivered solid experiences. Masculine characters, playboyhot women, dark and gritty ambiance, amazing stealth action gameplay. A story worth of a movie. Actual love and care for the source material. There's nothing like silently taking down the terrorised henchmen while the joker makes fun of them. You don't just feel like Batman. You are the Batman !

I have played this game for only 1 hour yet, so I can't give a full opinion but I can already say this is very very good work. I was not sure I would be able to play it with keyboard and mouse but, as I already said, it is very very good work, it is very playable with keyboard+mouse, it is obviously more comfortable to play with a controller, I tested both and both are very good to play with. If you like Batman, Comics, and Video Games, I bet you'll like this game. Most (all?) people who worked to make this game were true professionals working together, I can feel it when playing. You can't be wrong choosing this one even if it is a bit old now.

A great action game. Wish there wasn't any backtracking but even that didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the game. 8/10