in which Nick plays Games: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Borrowed this from my coworker on several recommendations. I was playing Brütal Legend prior to this, and will likely resume today or tomorrow.
Things I Liked:
- Kevin Conroy! Mark Hamil! Arleen Sorkin!
- The control scheme was solid.
- The story was surprisingly good.
- Batman was effectively brutal (the bone-crushing hits) and terrifying (the inverted takedown, which was the first upgrade I bought).
- The various Bat-tools were, for the most part, useful.
- I like how the cape got progressively more trashed the more often you died. I did pretty well up until the last sequence, but I still had some rents under the right shoulder.
- No escort missions! WOOOOO!
- I found myself humming the old 60's Batman theme as I vent-crawled, and I often would mutter "I am the NIGHT" as I took people down.
- The upgrades were, for the most part, fun.
- Clayface was freaking awesome, even if we didn't get to see him change.
- Riddler was surprisingly fun - the voice actor was solid, and the little snorts and jokes he made were amusing.
- I like that all of the collectibles tied to the same hunt for stuff, rather than multiple, totally unlrelated items to find.
- The Scarecrow sequences were FUCKING TRANSCENDENT. Holy CRAP. I saw the first one coming when Batman inexplicably coughed (I paused and pointed it out to Laurel, and she didn't believe me until the camera started leaning), and saw the same cough for the second. No fucking clue how I missed the third, but man - good stuff.
Things I Didn't Like:
- Button masturbation to open EVERY FREAKING CRATE or PULLWALL. Really? It didn't add anything to the experience but tedium.
- The final sequence, starting with the birthday hats. I HATE that the game interpreted "big climax" to mean "lots and lots of mooks". It meant that you HAD to learn the combo-system, even if you could have made it through the entire rest of the game without it. It made me far more frustrated than it really should have, given how much I enjoyed the rest of the game.
- The final fight was a joke, especially since they regenned health between bouts. Which was ridiculous given that they didn't the fight JUST BEFORE.
- After all the hype about Killer Croc, his sequence was short and stupid.
- Most of the 'big' fights were the same fight - Bane, the big minions, the last fight, etc.
- Why the flipping FUCK didn't I have the super Bat-Grapple from the goddamn get-go? I'M THE GODDAMN BATMAN!
- Why the hell would Oracle and Batman blow their identities ("Bruce", "Your Dad", etc) over the comm, especially after Riddler compromised it?
- While I appreciated the sheer number of characters (seriously, who the fuck is Aaron Cash?), it was a bit distracting.
- The graphic-wanking was a bit much. The Batplane's entrance? Or how every new item needed to be oogled for some reason? Yeah, that.
Verdict:
If I say "Batman" and you immediately think "I AM THE NIGHT!", THIS IS YOUR GAME.
Things I Liked:
- Kevin Conroy! Mark Hamil! Arleen Sorkin!
- The control scheme was solid.
- The story was surprisingly good.
- Batman was effectively brutal (the bone-crushing hits) and terrifying (the inverted takedown, which was the first upgrade I bought).
- The various Bat-tools were, for the most part, useful.
- I like how the cape got progressively more trashed the more often you died. I did pretty well up until the last sequence, but I still had some rents under the right shoulder.
- No escort missions! WOOOOO!
- I found myself humming the old 60's Batman theme as I vent-crawled, and I often would mutter "I am the NIGHT" as I took people down.
- The upgrades were, for the most part, fun.
- Clayface was freaking awesome, even if we didn't get to see him change.
- Riddler was surprisingly fun - the voice actor was solid, and the little snorts and jokes he made were amusing.
- I like that all of the collectibles tied to the same hunt for stuff, rather than multiple, totally unlrelated items to find.
- The Scarecrow sequences were FUCKING TRANSCENDENT. Holy CRAP. I saw the first one coming when Batman inexplicably coughed (I paused and pointed it out to Laurel, and she didn't believe me until the camera started leaning), and saw the same cough for the second. No fucking clue how I missed the third, but man - good stuff.
Things I Didn't Like:
- Button masturbation to open EVERY FREAKING CRATE or PULLWALL. Really? It didn't add anything to the experience but tedium.
- The final sequence, starting with the birthday hats. I HATE that the game interpreted "big climax" to mean "lots and lots of mooks". It meant that you HAD to learn the combo-system, even if you could have made it through the entire rest of the game without it. It made me far more frustrated than it really should have, given how much I enjoyed the rest of the game.
- The final fight was a joke, especially since they regenned health between bouts. Which was ridiculous given that they didn't the fight JUST BEFORE.
- After all the hype about Killer Croc, his sequence was short and stupid.
- Most of the 'big' fights were the same fight - Bane, the big minions, the last fight, etc.
- Why the flipping FUCK didn't I have the super Bat-Grapple from the goddamn get-go? I'M THE GODDAMN BATMAN!
- Why the hell would Oracle and Batman blow their identities ("Bruce", "Your Dad", etc) over the comm, especially after Riddler compromised it?
- While I appreciated the sheer number of characters (seriously, who the fuck is Aaron Cash?), it was a bit distracting.
- The graphic-wanking was a bit much. The Batplane's entrance? Or how every new item needed to be oogled for some reason? Yeah, that.
Verdict:
If I say "Batman" and you immediately think "I AM THE NIGHT!", THIS IS YOUR GAME.