Not only that, but it was developed by actual lunatics

Oct 7, 2009 09:13 GMT  ·  By

Batman Arkham Asylum is a game that proved superheroes can still be on top of the charts. It was praised by fans and critics alike and was even awarded a world record. With the highest average review score to date, of 91.67, it received the Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever." But the concepts that the game got started around and the finished product are pretty far away. And since it turned out to be a huge success, that proved to be a good thing. Darwin would be proud of Batman's evolution.

The much appraised Free Flow combat system evolved from an entirely different concept. Initially, Batman would confront his enemies in what could be described more as a “dance show-down” than a volley of acrobatic assaults. "Combat went through three distinct revisions - the first one being a full rhythm action game!" said the team at Rocksteady, the developer of the game.

The next stage of evolution was pretty eccentric as well. "The second one was prototyped in 2D, which popped up whenever you got into a fight, and involved colored circles bashing into each other. This actually formed the basis of the final system." How exactly they started at “colored circles bashing into each other” and ended up with actual people knocking each other senseless is a mystery better left unexplored.

The team went on to offer other interesting pieces of information to Game Informer, like the fact that the team that put together the game is a huge Arsenal fan. Some of the sound effects heard throughout the game are made by the audio director's refrigerator and the word “Joker” is spoken 384 times. The actual voices of the developers are present in the game. The mind would boggle as to exactly what characters the programmers could lend their voices to and the answer is a most unexpected one. "When you first enter the penitentiary and are confronted with the wall of sound from the room full of lunatics, this is a recording of the entire development team!" Now that explains a lot.