Batman - Arkham Asylum
 

Anyone else excited about this game? Other then being on a big Batman kick lately I'm excited because of the amount of effort that's gone into it's story production alone. It's based in the comic universe but Paul Dini wrote the story and Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamil, and Arleen Sorkin are reprising their roles from the animated series as well. Clancy Brown is also doing Killer Croc*He was Lex Luthor* and James Arnold Taylor is voicing the Riddler*He was Leo in the new turtles movie*.

The graphics are also pretty stunning I think. They captured the gritty look of the comics perfectly. I try not to let shiny graphics pull me one way or another but in this case I can't help it.

Now a potential good story, great graphics, and an awesome voice cast hardly make a good game. The studio making it is called Rocksteady and they only have one game under their belt, Urban Chaos: Riot Response. I've never heard of it so I looked up some reviews to see how it was received. It seemed to get average reviews for the most part but I didn't dig around too much. I'm still excited none the less. I might actually pre-order this one.

Some leaked screen shots
http://kotaku.com/5037545/batman-ark...um-in-pictures

www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/

All I know is the first gameplay shown made the combat look weak as hell. Every time a game uses some kind of glow or spark to signify a hit connecting with an enemy, it's going to have average beat-em-up controls.

I'm hoping I'm wrong, though, cause I'd love a good Batman game.

And why link to "leaked" screens when GT has HD footage:
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/10111.html

If it's even half-assed passable, I'll be happy. I was obligated to buy it upon inclusion of the TAS voice cast. If this and Ghostbusters both kick ass, I'll be set for the year.

I just hope it's REALLY good. It'd be nice to have a great Batman game.

I'm not going to allow myself to get excited about it. There have been 3 other Batman games that looked good from screenshots and trailers only to be ass upon release.

Don't care about the cast and the writing. The gameplay looks weak.

It sounds interesting. The 'detective mode' stuff sounds like crap though; they should not be talking that up.

I really am looking forward to this game. It could just be the Batman fan in me speaking, but my god I'm actually looking forward to this. Fingers crossed that it won't be a dissapointment...

It worked well in Condemned 2 if they used that system here it could be great.

I've not played Condemnded. All I've read about the B:AA one is that you press a button and then things are highlighted to show you can use them. Not exactly worth boasting about.

Having Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and The Joker is a must have game. The game play looks amazing by seeing screen shots and the trailer.

Lately I've been getting pumped for the game. Rewatching old Batman episodes, looking at trailers and screenshots...

Oh god, I feel all giddy and fangirly again.

I'm loving the look and feel of this game. The fact that this won't be some traditional beat-'em-up is what's intrigued me. They're making stealth a huge aspect in this game.

the look is awesome, its gritty and dark as batman should be, its in Arkham and the madness and insanity are well made.
And I love the idea of sneaking around rather than just being a beat'em up.

You guys might wanna watch this over at GT. There's a link to an HD stream there, too.

All I can say is whomg! It's like Splinter Cell style stealth, but with Batman. This is the stuff they should have shown from the start. It looks fantastic.

Is it Hamill? Sounds more like Kevin Michael Richardson.

It's definitely Mark Hamill.

This does look pretty ****in' sweet all the sudden.

That was actually pretty cool. I hope it plays well.

Oh damn! It's like the game is teaching you the art of being Batman. I was just excited because of the writers and the cast, but now it's looking like the complete package. I'm going to have to push aside whatever games I was going to play during the Summer and give this 100% attention.

Want. Now.

Like I said, it was already amazing that we were getting the best Batman actors ever (Conroy, Hamill, Sorkin ect.) in the context of the original gritty comic book mythos. No adaption from an existing adaption. And on top of that, you've got the god of Batman writing, Paul Dini (Batman TAS, Superman TAS, Batman Beyond, Animaniacs, Tiny Toons, Justice League, and LOST) penning the plot. It was sold whether the game sucked or not. But now the atmosphere and gameplay are shaping up to be KILLER. This is definitely a front-runner for my game of the year hopes.

I saw that video. Actually looks really good. And I was more looking forward to seeing the combat...

Also, Shredder, how come you have Peanut's quote with a load of lower-case words and such? Seems odd.

Lawl. Not really. If we were getting original Batman ANYTHING, I think we'd all be laughing pretty hard right now.

Well, I don't acknowledge anything earlier than 1986 Frank Miller Batman, so that's what I was referring to.

That's just the all-caps filter. It acts strange when a quote is included.

Anyway, I'm also really looking forward to this game!

Wow that gameplay footage is wicked, thanks for posting it. I love how it's gonna be random everytime that makes the replay value even higher for me. The graphics look really nice too even in the gameplay.

Arleen Sorkin bitches. GOTFY! That character design is just plain wicked.

I'm as intruiged about this game as any of us here, but screaming GOTY at a title for things like this makes you look all the more ridiculous when you come back whining about how badly a game turned out. Even if it does turn out good, I don't think a 50+ year old voice actress coming on board would have been the turning point.

That was a neat little teaser. I actually enjoyed the music more then anything. It reminds me of how they scored the new films and that excites me because I think that was perfect music for Batman. Quinn was okay, I hate her costume though. She looks like a dominatrix nurse. I think they were trying to cover their asses with it "Like my new costume".

I pre-ordered the big 100 dollar collectors edition. I couldn't pass up a life sized batarang and all the cool extras like the huge art book.

It's TMB, hyperbole is his thing.

Ugh, I really hate Harley Quinn.

Do you mean her design or her character in general? Cuz I like her, just not her design.

Everything about her.

Harley's design kinda looks like one of my friends when she has her hair in pigtails.

That's kinda scary, kinda awesome.

I didn't see the need to make her look like a slut, but this is a videogame, so I also can't say I'm terribly surprised.

True.

Could have been worse though.

In what way, I'm not sure.

I've been saying that since the gameplay video came out. I might just say something different come June, what do you care? It's the fu*king internet and overreacting is my thing. At the very least, this has the potential to be the best super hero game ever.

And Harley Quinn is a total package. The character was partially based on Sorkin, so it doesn't really click with me without her. The one time Hynden Walch did her voice, it was a borderline disaster so I needed to hear the voice to be happy since she's one of my favorite elements of the Batman franchise.

Im really looking forward to this game, been keeping tabs on it since they first said anything about it.

I like how the artists of WildStorm are handling the design work, there probably some of my favorite artists in the US industry.

Plus the whole predator mode looks sweet, thats something they should of had in Batman Begins. That game pissed me off with its damn one path fear attacks....

I played a demo of the game today, and it was pretty decent. Some things come off as kind of strange, but all in all, its pretty neat.

I'll post more soon.

I finally had a chance to play a demo, some time last week.

The demo is basically a battle royale. Your put up against a bunch of inmates, and each time you progress they increase the amount of enemies. The fighting is pretty smooth, but rather simple at first. Once you start to progress through the rounds and the enemies start to double the fights become more hetic and take alot more quick hits and moving around.
You can counter or do a take down, but only when the command to do so is given. The take downs are pretty fun to watch, and really help keep the fight exciting.

It was pretty fun, the joker is a riot. In between rounds the Joker over a loud speaker tries to heckle you, Mark Hamil is still a pretty damn good joker after all these years, that laugh still sends shivers down my spine!

I too played the demo today, on a PS3 kiosk at Gamestop. I love this freakin' game. Even the little Batsy vs. inmates challenge rounds got my blood pumping, and Mark's still got it as Joker... gosh, I laughed pretty hard at the part where he said that if Batman beat them all, he'd give him a night with Harley as a reward... and then considered telling her about it, before he realized it would be a bit more fun if he didn't :lol: