 Whether you're a devoted fan of the Dark Knight or simply an enthusiastic gamer, BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM delivers exciting, challenging game play enhanced by involving characters and multiple levels of difficulty to offer solid, sweep-kicking value and entertainment. This highlight from the 2009 gaming year spans the best of both worlds: easy to pick up even for casual players yet addictively hard to put down for hardcore platform pros! A superb game design supports superlative graphics which lock you into this dark third-person action adventure as Batman battles his most notorious foes. And battle you will to exciting results as the FreeFlow combat system allows you to combine acrobatic attack moves and defensive strategy against gangs of Joker's henchmen running riot in the asylum. String together chains of fight combinations to earn bonus experience points as enemies grow more skilled and dangerous — whether playing in Easy, Normal or Hard difficulty modes, this required advancement of combat skills keeps players involved through all three levels. Such built-in encouragement for repeated play while avoiding game boredom or burnout is just one of BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM's assets earning must-buy status.
 From the opening sequence, a blend of cut-scene backstory and active game play, Batman suspects that his easy capture of The Joker leads to a trap but fails to realize the Clown Prince of Crime has rigged an inmate riot to take Batman prisoner. Game credits play inconspicuously at the sides of the scene, but it's the combat action that follows which further erases the lines between cinema and gaming. During play as you punch, kick and cape stun Batman's enemies, the game will dive into the action for slo-mo close ups of prime hits and combos seen from dramatic angles — you're still playing but the feel of the action intensifies in a very unobtrusive, highly satisfying way. As more numerous and lethal foes gang up on Batman as he ventures deeper into, blow and above Arkham, your combat skills must grow to stay alive and the on-screen action gets even more furious and fun! The geek thrill doesn't diminish as camera angles zoom into the fray so you can feel Batman's power and peril from behind your controller. Yet you must also master skills of stealth and silent takedowns to earn more bonus points. As so appropriate to the Dark Knight, success of missions rely on intellectual and physical discipline to win the moral and anti-criminal battle — leaving this goal in players' hand is a masterful game design touch.
 A key (and cool) feature of the game is Detective Mode, which at a click of L Bumper activates a hybrid of night vision and thermal imagining which allows Batman to examine and analyze a myriad of hidden details necessary to complete map levels and unlock Riddler mysteries, abilities and trophies. It's primary function is to give the player Batman's penchant for technical stealth and intellectual superiority in defeating enemies. One of Batman's greatest appeals is the painful but realistic fact that he is NOT a superhero: he's a mortal man with weaknesses and limitations, which he de-emphasizes by using brain and armor to deflect the punishment he's bound to suffer. Detective Mode allows players to see through walls and around corners to view the number and status of henchman laying in wait for a fight. Armed enemies appear in blue while unarmed combatants are red — very handy for devising attack strategies when facing bad odds. In this mode, Batman can also read the emotional state of thugs: calm foes are overconfident and fall easy prey to silent takedowns, whereas panicked enemies are on paranoid alert expecting attack from any direction. Players must also stay very aware of the asylum environment, since Batman can perch above enemies, crouch in the shadows and even pull down walls and fixtures to fell combatants. Such precise destruction often reveals clues and hidden Riddler puzzles to solve.
As level difficulty increases, players must constantly improve their skills and strategy to counter these clever game facets and complications. Simply put, this is as close to an actual Batman experience as any game (and maybe film) has ever achieved. You will use Detective Mode a great deal to discover the hidden history of Arkham, but don't spend the whole game with it on or you'll miss the fantastic lighting and texturing of the asylum's dark corridors, crumbling ruins and garden grounds — in short, fight your battles and unlock secrets, but be sure to pause and have a look at this artistically composed game universe, one of the best representations of the Batman universe ever put on screens of any size.
 Joining BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM's lengthy list of wins are the myriad of characters and well-voiced characterizations populating Arkham's fever dream universe. Veteran talents Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill perform as Batman and The Joker to invest both with their insightful expertise from their animated work, backed by artists including Tom Kane (Gordon), Steve Blum (Killer Croc), Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn) and Danny Jacobs (Zsasz) often voicing key villain and supporting roles with equally enjoyable impact. Indeed, this game truly feels like the hybrid of a kick-ass game and one of the best Batman films never made, with high praise earned by noted TV and film writer Paul Dini for scripting the story. Excellent art, technical and environmental creative teams led by game director Sefton Hill deserve equal kudos for elevating what could have been another franchise third-person fighter into a prime ideal of what character-based action gaming can and should be. Beyond Batman's villain opponents and mythology touchstones like Arkham, the gaming experience is so finely, skillfully tuned to what is unique about Batman's modus operandi, history and internal genesis that it amplifies aspects of the character overlooked in feature films. In short, if you aren't already a devotee of the Dark Knight, this game may win you over for good.
Enhancing the game's value is its Challenge Mode, a total of 16 added tasks unlocked by solving specific Riddler Challenges throughout the asylum: Combat Challenge finds Batman in an arena battle against four waves of enemy attacks, and Predator Challenges require specific takedowns of armed opponents testing your combination skills. Both Challenge Modes pit your play against the clock to earn bonus scoring and compare your points against other players ranked at online leader boards. You'll also earn specific achievement medals to complete the full set in Challenge Mode, though you'll want to save such advanced play after you complete story mode and have mastered all of Batman's various attack and defensive combos so you can focus on speed and accuracy. For example, the Perfect Dark Knight Bonus awards you 5000 points if you avoid damage during an entire combat challenge, which is a most challenging task indeed! Special note: BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM offers PS3 gamers to play Challenge maps as The Joker, which is a slight variation on these combat levels in terms of moves and abilities, so be sure to check it out if you run the Sony platform. Personally I'd still rather play as the man behind the cowl and not under the clown white, but the flipside might be fun.
The rare genius of BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM is that the game is as engaging, complex and visually stunning from the opening moments of Story Mode on through to the most difficult and advanced levels of play. An ongoing feast for the eyes and ears (up to 1080p HD image and in-game Dolby Digital audio) in any mode, Rocksteady has developed a stand-out interpretation of a classic comic and film character, which is high praise indeed considering Batman first debuted over seventy years ago. If they had created merely a superbly playable game that would be achievement enough, but this gem delivers the uncanny experience of being Batman, a thrill and challenge any fan will enjoy. A winner in every crucial category — fist-cracking combat, dynamic animation, excellent characters, rich visuals, atmospheric sound and music and challenging modes for all strata of players — BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM earns a Bat-signal spotlight in any gamer's collection of titles.
Sales since its release have verified its status as an instant classic and one of the best games of 2009, as well as the arrival of the teaser trailer for BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM 2, the eagerly anticipated follow-up by Rocksteady Studios. Great news for players: Batman and The Joker's game goes on!
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