Batman Arkham Asylum

As part of my trilogy run through of the Arkham Series, I revisit a classic . The game which redefined the gaming industry on the whole and introduced a new concept of making superhero games is Batman Arkham Asylum. It is the first in the arkham series and easily one of the most solid platforms for letting our favourite Superhero  ' Batman ' enter the gaming world. Arkham Asylum is not the first game to test batman's viablitiy as a gaming character, there have been countless games before , but what makes this one stand out above the rest is for us being able to relate to the game's characters, their personalities and batman's association with them. This my friends was not achieved by one single factor but is the result of a host of several factors such as visually stunning animations, superb voice acting , an awesome music score and an array of powerful gadgets. Rocksteady studios happens to be the one who is responsible for bringing this revoluiton in place . A lot of work has gone into developing the look and feel for this game, the animations look fresh, all the characters have been properly designed right down to their facial expressions, giving them a sense of reality . The game has been flooded with detail with hints and clues available just about everywhere, only that we need to understand how the game works in order to discover them. The atmosphere is erry , giving a sense of death and despair, something which is a must have for a game involving Batman and his arch nemisis Joker. Speaking of villans the asylum conatins an assortment of them starting from The Joker, Poison Ivy, Bane , ScareCrow, KillerCroc & The Riddler along with a few others making minor appearences in game. Each of them have become an intergral part of the story and our experience in defeating them. The voice actors especially Mark Hamill & Kevin Conroy deserve special praise for their roles of Joker and Batman respectively. This has been a comeback for mark and he shows why he is one of those few people capable of bringing out the true sadistic nature of the Clown Prince to life and Conroy's hush voice and his deep but subtle mannerisms make it listening to batman all the more enjoyable. Ron Fish and Nick Arundel have done an amazing job of bringing the game to life with their music , each of the villans have their own background scores and themes and this proves to be a major plus point for the game. Gadgets are a welcome note here with Batman being able to use an array of powerful and exquisite gadgets which include the Batarang, the Batclaw, Explosive Gel, Line Launcher , and the Cryptogenic Sequencer all having itricate uses hidden throughout the game and some of them are required to access in-game areas that were previously inaccessible. The experience meter fills up depending on our various actions, our combat style and let us access powerful upgrades for both the gadgets and our combat system . The free flow combat system needs much praise for giving us the feel of a beat em' up style Batman game. All in All  Batman Arkham Asylum was the much needed break not just for Batman but also for the gaming world on the whole. Thanks to you 'Rocksteady' , 'Batman' is Back :D !!!!