14 DAY TRIAL // The action adventure genre got quite a few good entries in 2009. Consider the high marks and good reception Uncharted 2: Among Thieves from Naughty Dog and Sony got, and the way A Crack in Time managed to revitalize the Ratchet & Clank series. But the action adventure title that laid claim to most of my gaming time has been Batman: Arkham Asylum, the title created by Rocksteady, which has just been announced to be receiving a sequel in 2010.
Arkham Asylum has been a surprise mainly because of the burden that it bears gracefully. After all, good superhero videogames are few and far between and the Batman title managed to convey the sense of power the character has in the comics and in the movies while also introducing a variety of challenges that seem very appropriate and are well anchored in the lore of the comics’ universe. The Joker, as the main antagonist, is superbly characterized and well voiced and his convoluted evil plan actually makes some sense.
The supporting cast is also interesting, but the Scarecrow bits at times seemed a little out of place in the experience. And Rocksteady had the vision to include a lot of unlockables, which flesh out the history of the Asylum itself and of the various main characters in the world. It's just enough to make fans of Batman collect them all while offering a bit of the mythology to gamers who are more interested in the combat.
And this is the biggest stretch of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the element that makes it a great game rather than simply a good superhero experience. The brawling is fluid yet every blow Batman lands on an enemy feels heavy and devastating. It's like a deadly ballet that can be enhanced by unlocking new finishing moves and meeting more specialized foes.
And for those who are more at home in the shadows, the Bat can easily use his grappling hook and his batarangs to take out enemies from afar, without attracting much attention. A little more variety in the boss fights might have been interesting but it’s still the most solid hand-to-hand combat experience in years.
For both fans of the Batman lore and those who know the character only tangentially, Arkham Asylum delivers a polished videogame, with a good narrative and complex combat and that's why it is our Action Game of the Year.