The best Superhero game to date (next to Arkham City)

I suspected Arkham Asylum would go on sale after Feral Interactive lowered Arkham City’s price. Although I already played both games on my PC, I grabbed this port in a heartbeat to play on my stock 2013 Macbook Air. So far it’s been preforming great even with the tiny processor on my computer. By capping the frame rate and lowering some of the textures, the game runs extremely well without the fan kicking up.

If chosing between Arkham City or Asylum, I found the open world aspect and gameplay mechanics to be much more fun in City. If you are much more into the storyline and ability to play on lower end devices (like a Macbok Air), you would be better off with Arkham Asylum. Boss fights also feel a bit dated (find a weak spot, hit/stun, rinse and repeat). Fighting isn’t as fluid as in Arkham City (for example: less hot keys to bat gear, no multiple counter moves, etc.), though the simpler fighting mechanics allow for easier mastering (you will be stacking combos in no time!). The same goes for the stealth sections. You are not given a whole lot of options to silently take down thugs, but it’s still a joy to watch them yelp in fear as you take them down clandestinely.

The story is much better than Arkham City though. Based off the graphic novel, Batman winds up in a prison break scheme plotted by the Joker and must restore order before they set lose for Gotham. It’s a dark and cinematic experience simiular to the movies. It ends a little too soon, but it’s a ride worthwile. There’s a smaller roster of villains than in City (I’d only consider three of them to be main characters), however they are very well developed. Kevin Conroy is the epitome of Batman while Mark Hamill’s joker steals the show! The great voice acting can also be found in recordings scattered throughout the Asylum, each offering insight on main and secondary characters. There’s a lot of lore in this game worth finding. Unfortunately, the game was much more linear than I anticipated. Arkham Asylum is open world, but there’s no side objectives beyond collecting riddlers trophies.

Arkham Asylum was a tremendous first step in a great series. It’s a much more linear game, though the simpler mechanics make this great to play on the go. It’s absolutely worth the sale price.

Salsander about Batman: Arkham Asylum