Batman: Arkham Asylum

Genre: Action-RPG / Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Batman: Arkham Trilogy, along with Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight.)

When Batman: Arkham Trilogy released on Nintendo Switch in 2023, it was a long-awaited port of three beloved games that was nevertheless also disappointing, both because the first two beloved installments in this series were lumped in with the underwhelming third installment, but also because that third installment had a pretty rough port job in its Nintendo Switch release. However, now in 2024, we finally have the ability to get these games separately. And while the trilogy bundle still represents the best value if you want to get all three games, players who would prefer to get one or both of the two earlier games now have that opportunity.

The first game in the series, Batman: Arkham Asylum, first released in 2009 on PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and it was something of a revelation. Before Batman: Arkham Asylum released, people generally had a low opinion of licensed videogames. To be sure, licensed games were occasionally good, sometimes even great, but usually they were trash, and they were rarely something so incredible that the rest of the videogame industry would have to stand up and take notice.

But Arkham Asylum wasn’t just ambitious, it was ambitious in numerous ways, and seemingly everything it attempted, it succeeded at brilliantly. Videogames to this day are still making use of the lessons taught by the brilliant work of art and engineering that is Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Let’s start with the license, because that’s what most people see first when they see a licensed game. Where many Batman games simply slap the characters in an underwhelming plot to justify the gameplay, Arkham Asylum brought aboard Paul Dini of Batman: The Animated Series fame to handle the game’s plot, as well getting voice actors Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin to reprise their Batman: TAS roles as Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn.

However, this was not an adaptation of the animated series, but something new that pulled inspiration from throughout the Batman mythos, with Easter eggs hidden throughout the game referencing all sorts of Batman minutia from the comics and their adaptations over the years. Every detail of the game seemed to resonate with authenticity, with this game giving us truly excellent depictions of the characters and locations from the comics in a gripping, well-written story about Joker enacting a plot to take over Arkham Asylum and Batman exploring the bowels of the facility and the island it sits on in order to stop him.

Graphically, the game was extremely impressive for the time, although by today’s standards it has aged quite a lot. The detailed 3D character models no longer look quite as they once did, but the game still has superb textures, excellent use of lighting and shadow, and overall looks great, even if the characters themselves don’t look quite as good as they used to.

The sound fares much better here. Arkham Asylum doesn’t have the memorable film score of the Tim Burton movies, nor the excellent music of Batman: The Animated series, but instead seems to take inspiration from the Christopher Nolan films, atmospheric in a way that makes Arkham Asylum come across as dark and foreboding. The voice acting also deserves a lot of credit here – the lead voice actors are all outstanding here, but this game does a great job with even bit parts like convicts sharing gossip about Joker or quaking in fear at the thought of Batman lurking in the shadows.

However, I said this game was revolutionary, and much of that is the gameplay itself. Unlike every other game in the Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Asylum is not an open-World game, but rather plays like a 3D Metroidvania. Players will be exploring all over the island Arkham Asylum is on as the game progresses, responding to new crises as they arise, but also searching for hidden secrets throughout the island. As you progress and gain new gadgets and new abilities, you’ll get access to more of the island, and find additional connecting paths linking areas you’ve been to previously. This game is a master class in 3D Metroidvania design, and one that very few games have been capable of, even to this day.

In addition to exploration, you’ll also be fighting a lot of goons, and Batman: Arkham Asylum’s combat is so smooth and fluid that it truly makes Batman seem like the absolute force to be reckoned with that comics always paint him as, and gives players a wonderful feeling of controlling that powerful force, effortlessly going from combo to counter to stun to dodge to special. Even to this day, you still see videogames with combat that’s just “Arkham Asylum, but with this character instead”.

Stealth is another area where Arkham Asylum absolutely excelled. Prior to this, Stealth in games consisted mainly of trying not to be seen, and scampering to a hiding spot once you were, or possibly taking potshots at enemies from the shadows while trying to avoid discovery. In Arkham Asylum, Stealth is designed to make the player feel like stalking their prey, moving among the shadows and silently picking off enemies one by one as they reveal weaknesses in their formation. Where in other games Stealth is usually about being vulnerable, here Stealth is a source of power.

Another important element here is detective mode. At frequent intervals throughout the game, players will need to track down a fleeing suspect, or search for a clue they need, which involves switching over to a different tech-enabled visor to analyze something or follow a trail. This may seem simple now, but at the time it was a brilliant way of making The World’s Greatest Detective actually do some detective-ing in a videogame, where other Batman games just tend to focus on the fighting, gadgets, and acrobatics.

However, Detective Mode isn’t just for occasional mystery-solving – it also proved to be highly useful in gameplay, enabling players to easily track enemies in an area, even through walls, floors, and ceilings. Yet again, this is one more feature we’ve seen put to use in countless games since this game was released.

I could go on and on about Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is one of my favorite games of all-time, and it still holds up extremely well today, although you can definitely see the seams more now. In addition to the graphics aging somewhat, I can definitely see how the gameplay was refined in later entries in the series, particularly when it comes to mid-air movement.

On that note, I am aware that many consider this game’s successor to be the best in this series. For my part, I’m torn. While the Open-World games that would follow Arkham Asylum are excellent in a different way, I still have a soft spot for this game’s Metroidvania design, something that I think still makes this unique within its series.

Oh, and before continuing, yeah, this game works fine on Nintendo Switch. It doesn’t really improve on the original release, but doesn’t detract from it either. There’s not much to report here, really.

Overall, Batman: Arkham Asylum is an absolute must-play game, whether or not you’re a Batman fan… though if you are a Batman fan and somehow have not played this game yet… what the heck is wrong with you? Stop reading this and play this game right now. And even for those who aren’t particularly enamored with the caped crusader would do well to check this game out. It is truly exceptional in countless ways, and I cannot recommend it enough.

tl;dr – Simply put, Batman: Arkham Asylum set the groundwork for this series with an absolute massive success right from the first game, with a perfect blend of exploration, combat, fun gadgets, great story, and lots of variety. While some may prefer the Open-World approach of later games, I feel the more focused Metroidvania level design of this game is every bit as valid. In any case, this is an absolute must-play game for any Bat-fan.

Grade: A+

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