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Batman: Arkham Asylum |OT| Steroids 'n Counters

Baker

Banned
rhino4evr said:
So now I see sites compairing this to Bioshock? WOW. I will have to grab this. Is it possible to have two excellent licensed games in one year! (Ghostbusters being the other one). I hope this is a trend that continues.
If you thought Ghostbusters was good, you aren't going to be able to handle this game.
 
am i the only one annoyed by the combat? All the special moves require combos and when i do get the combo it never works half the time. Whats the point of grappling someone(all it does is get their attention)?
 
rhino4evr said:
so this one flew under the radar for me..mainly because I have NO faith in licensed games. (Blame the day I spent months allowance money to buy Total Recall on the NES, which may be one of the worst games ever).

So now I see sites compairing this to Bioshock? WOW. I will have to grab this. Is it possible to have two excellent licensed games in one year! (Ghostbusters being the other one). I hope this is a trend that continues.

It's the best licensed I've ever played. More than that, though, it's at once one of the best stealth action, beat 'em up, and Metroidvania games I've ever played. It borrows aspects of many different genres, but nothing stands out as out of place or half-assed. It's much better than Ghostbusters, I can tell you.
 

Haeleos

Member
I'm going to echo a previous poster in this thread, and thank Rocksteady for not loading this game with QTEs. If only more developers would stop using this crutch.
 
Finished the game, loved it all the way through. Yeah the final boss might be really simple and probably the worst of the game but still enjoyable as is all the combat in this game. The game was an amazing experience from beginning to end. I guess the only faults I can find is that I wish they would mix up the combat and predator segements a bit more. Later in the game they make some tweaks to the predator segements but it only happens once, such a shame cause it could have made for some awesome variety in the action. Easily one of the best games I have played all year.
 

Red

Member
Argh, I'm at the end of the game.

That tiny hallway with the 16 thugs was so fucking frustrating, I couldn't see what was going on half the time and kept getting blindsided. Now I'm fighting two titans a handful of guys with no shirts on and I'm having a hard time going for the mano a mano achievement.
 
haldalish said:
am i the only one annoyed by the combat? All the special moves require combos and when i do get the combo it never works half the time. Whats the point of grappling someone(all it does is get their attention)?


I qute literally don't know what you mean.


Ok peeps, LabouredSubterfuge is approximately 11 hours from dominating the shit out of Arkham. Curtains will be drawn and sound sytems will be cranked up unreasonably high. Gaming experience of the calender year, here I come!!!

*Thrusts crotch at laptop screen in a display of misdirected affection*
 

Baker

Banned
haldalish said:
am i the only one annoyed by the combat? All the special moves require combos and when i do get the combo it never works half the time. Whats the point of grappling someone(all it does is get their attention)?
Huh?

Unless by "all it does is get their attention" you really mean "all it does is an unblockable attack that beats the crap out of them and continues my combo."
 
i'm just starting the game and had the boss fight against
bane
. very cool! i'm going to be bummed if we only see
scarecrow that one time where we are in the nightmare and he is giant. scarecrow
is one of my favorite villains :(
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
i'm just starting the game and had the boss fight against
bane
. very cool! i'm going to be bummed if we only see
scarecrow that one time where we are in the nightmare and he is giant. scarecrow
is one of my favorite villains :(

Don't worry. :D
 
Baker said:
Huh?

Unless by "all it does is get their attention" you really mean "all it does is an unblockable attack that beats the crap out of them and continues my combo."
see that doesnt happen for me. i just shoot them and try to pull them.....
 

Baker

Banned
haldalish said:
see that doesnt happen for me. i just shoot them and try to pull them.....
Ohh grapple hook. I thought you meant grapple (wrestling) like the B+Y attack.

Grapple hook is good for a couple things:

1) It disarms people with weapons (least I think it does).

2) It continues your combo. If a baddie is too far away, you can pull him close without losing the multiplier running over to him.
 

Xater

Member
I can't believe that I am digging the challenge stuff. This game just keeps delivering. Rocksteady came out of nowhere and deliver a possible classic. I bet someone at EA is really pissed right now. :lol
 
Xater said:
I can't believe that I am digging the challenge stuff. This game just keeps delivering. Rocksteady came out of nowhere and deliver a possible classic. I bet someone at EA is really pissed right now. :lol

Yup, Pandemic's loss is our gain.
 

Red

Member
Really the only part of the game that I don't like are the
Titan
fights, especially when smaller guys are with them. The combat feels so fluid at all other points, but during these sequences I keep getting frustrated by not being able to instantly dodge or cancel out of attacks, and so much time is spent up against a wall that I can't see what's nearby or behind me. Also seems like Batman's cape is actually a part of his body, because if it's so much as brushed by one of those guys rushing you Batman is sent flying through the air like he was just hit by a bus. It's very, very annoying.

Really bothers me that they occur so many times throughout the game. Feels like the worst parts of the combat are continually being highlighted.
 

Downhome

Member
I'm playing on hard and I'm pretty sure I'm almost at the very end of the game. Am I correct?

I just defeated the Titan (is that what it's called?) in the room where guys kept coming out of the elevators, and now I'm on my way to get Ivy, and I just heard some Ivy and Joker bickering as I made my way. There are snipers everywhere, so that's what I'm dealing with right now.

I don't want it to already be over!!! :lol

I'm sooooooooo glad I decided to play it on hard though, I highly recommend that to all of you.
 

kaskade

Member
Crunched said:
Really the only part of the game that I don't like are the
Titan
fights, especially when smaller guys are with them. The combat feels so fluid at all other points, but during these sequences I keep getting frustrated by not being able to instantly dodge or cancel out of attacks, and so much time is spent up against a wall that I can't see what's nearby or behind me. It's very, very annoying.

Really bothers me that they occur so many times throughout the game.
Yeah I kind of agree. I think if they are alone it was fine. I would rather have them just throw more inmates at me at one time and make me feel like a super badass taking out 20 guys in a couple of minutes than have them break up the flow of my combat. Minor gripe for me though.
 
ravien56 said:
Just got this game for $40 and apparently I have exclusive Walmart DLC for the batsuit armor?

I hate to break this to you, but there's nothing exclusive about that Wal-mart content. You unlock the same suit upon completing the game.
 
Gentlemen (and ladies, of course):

I'm thinking of doing my first playthrough on normal and then have that dangling carrot of subsequent playthroughs on hard in front of me. Or should I just play on hard and that be the end of the matter?
 
So the more I play this game, the more I like the detective mode. I can understand why some might not like it, as it can be easily abused, but if you have some self control, it's great. I'd say I'm out of detective mode more than I'm in it.

The reason it's so great is because it keeps the pace of the game quick. It's a pretty awesome crutch, and it solves one of the most aggravating problems in video games (imo) - when a solution doesn't stand out enough against the background.

I've been able to spot vents pretty easily in the game without detective mode, but the few times I couldn't, I was so grateful that detective mode was there to point it out.

Besides, it's not un-batman like. Hell, Batman basically uses detective mode at the end of TDK.
 

Downhome

Member
LabouredSubterfuge said:
Gentlemen (and ladies, of course):

I'm thinking of doing my first playthrough on normal and then have that dangling carrot of subsequent playthroughs on hard in front of me. Or should I just play on hard and that be the end of the matter?

Play it on hard, trust me. You do not get the full "Batman experience" by playing on normal.

If you want to practice for a few minutes, play the demo. But play the full game on hard, it's far more rewarding.
 
brandonh83 said:
honestly Ghostbusters is a pile of shit compared to this.

Ghostbusters was a standard game that was elevated by it's license. That alone is noteworthy.

Batman AA is an excellent game which makes excellent use of an excellent license. It's in a whole other league from ghostbusters.

EDIT: Hell, it's in a whole other league from most games period. It's rare to see a game click in so many ways.
 

Chrange

Banned
LabouredSubterfuge said:
Gentlemen (and ladies, of course):

I'm thinking of doing my first playthrough on normal and then have that dangling carrot of subsequent playthroughs on hard in front of me. Or should I just play on hard and that be the end of the matter?

I'd go on Normal first, then go for Hard. Getting the combat down first would prevent a lot of frustration.
 

Downhome

Member
ThePeacemaker02 said:
Yeah I kind of agree. I think if they are alone it was fine. I would rather have them just throw more inmates at me at one time and make me feel like a super badass taking out 20 guys in a couple of minutes than have them break up the flow of my combat. Minor gripe for me though.

If they were alone it would be way too easy, even on hard. There's a couple of keys to these parts to make them way easier:

If you sorta ignore the normal baddies, meaning don't directly dedicate too much time to fighting them individually while also taking on the big guy, it'll make things much easier. When they come around, do all you can to counter what they throw at you, then quick jump out of the crowd. By this time the Titan will either be ready to charge or toss something at you. If you do it just right, he can take care of all of the normal guys for you pretty quickly, while you get in a few shots your self now and then when you have a perfectly clear opening. Then when they're cleared out start aiming for the big guy again. Take advantage of riding him when you can, try to time it for when the normal guys are about to come in for the first time. Rinse, repeat. If you do it right, it feels very "Batman-like".
 

Red

Member
ThePeacemaker02 said:
Yeah I kind of agree. I think if they are alone it was fine. I would rather have them just throw more inmates at me at one time and make me feel like a super badass taking out 20 guys in a couple of minutes than have them break up the flow of my combat. Minor gripe for me though.
Exactly. The regular combat is really damn good. I feel like most of the boss fights actually take away from the game. Could just be me (and I'm cranky because of a terrible migraine right now), but besides
Scarecrow and Killer Croc
all the bosses were sort of mundane and forgettable.
Downhome said:
If they were alone it would be way too easy, even on hard. There's a couple of keys to these parts to make them way easier:

If you sorta ignore the normal baddies, meaning don't directly dedicate too much time to fighting them individually while also taking on the big guy, it'll make things much easier. When they come around, do all you can to counter what they throw at you, then quick jump out of the crowd. By this time the Titan will either be ready to charge or toss something at you. If you do it just right, he can take care of all of the normal guys for you pretty quickly, while you get in a few shots your self now and then when you have a perfectly clear opening. Then when they're cleared out start aiming for the big guy again. Take advantage of riding him when you can, try to time it for when the normal guys are about to come in for the first time. Rinse, repeat. If you do it right, it feels very "Batman-like".
I've sort of been doing this, but I spend a lot of time right up next to the big guys, which blocks like 3/4 of the screen, so I'm constantly being pelted by thugs I can't see. On hard the little guys take a long time to be knocked out, even when you're using your opponent as help. I don't like not being able to cancel out of takedowns or counters, don't like not being able to do a dodge roll immediately after being hit or taking someone out. Breaks up the fluidity, which normally doesn't matter much because enemies are sort of on the same page you are, using rhythmic attacks that can be countered by watching for attack animations, but these fights seem like they require more evasive action. It's there that I think the combat is a little poor. I've noticed the camera tends to get hung up on corners a lot, too, so if you wind up at the far end of a room you're pretty much doomed to be gangbanged by a bunch of sweaty thugs.
 

Mrbob

Member
TheSonicRetard said:
So the more I play this game, the more I like the detective mode. I can understand why some might not like it, as it can be easily abused, but if you have some self control, it's great. I'd say I'm out of detective mode more than I'm in it.

.

I agree and do the same. I normally use detective mode to get a layout of the area, and then I plan my attack. It truly feels badass hiding in the shadows, swooping in, and then taking out 6 to 8 baddies in the room without being detected. Their reaction is awesome as they get more and more scared as you pick them off one by one. I love doing inverted takedowns, hanging the enemy upside down and then cutting the rope to scare the others. In fact, you even get a trophy/achievement for this!
 

AniHawk

Member
Mrbob said:
I agree and do the same. I normally use detective mode to get a layout of the area, and then I plan my attack. It truly feels badass hiding in the shadows, swooping in, and then taking out 6 to 8 baddies in the room without being detected. Their reaction is awesome as they get more and more scared as you pick them off one by one. I love doing inverted takedowns, hanging the enemy upside down and then cutting the rope to scare the others. In fact, you even get a trophy/achievement for this!
Inverted takedowns are my favorite part of the game. It's the most I feel like the goddamn Batman.
 
TheSonicRetard said:
Ghostbusters was a standard game that was elevated by it's license. That alone is noteworthy.

Ghostbusters was good, it was just incredibly redundant. I mean I know that most games have you doing pretty much the same things until the end, I just thought it was more stale than usual in Ghostbusters.
 
Chrange said:
I'd go on Normal first, then go for Hard. Getting the combat down first would prevent a lot of frustration.

I think I will, not because I think I'll find hard difficult (gotten pretty good on the demo) but to provide extra incentive to replay!
 
AniHawk said:
Inverted takedowns are my favorite part of the game. It's the most I feel like the goddamn Batman.

There was this one point in the game where I had picked off every person in the room but one. He was freaking the fuck out, rambling to himself. I was just chilling on a gargoyle, waiting for him.

He's looking all around and slowly creeps under me and screams "WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

BAM inverted take down. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

All that was missing was Batman saying, "Here."
 

Hyunkel6

Member
Mrbob said:
I agree and do the same. I normally use detective mode to get a layout of the area, and then I plan my attack. It truly feels badass hiding in the shadows, swooping in, and then taking out 6 to 8 baddies in the room without being detected. Their reaction is awesome as they get more and more scared as you pick them off one by one. I love doing inverted takedowns, hanging the enemy upside down and then cutting the rope to scare the others. In fact, you even get a trophy/achievement for this!

Does cutting the rope require an upgrade? I already have the inverted takedown upgrade, but I can't seem to cut the rope.
 

EzLink

Banned
LabouredSubterfuge said:
Gentlemen (and ladies, of course):

I'm thinking of doing my first playthrough on normal and then have that dangling carrot of subsequent playthroughs on hard in front of me. Or should I just play on hard and that be the end of the matter?

I played through on Normal first and I'm glad I did. Not only is the combat pretty brutal on hard if you aren't used to the system, but it also at least leaves me with an incentive to playthrough the game again (getting the achievement for beating it on hard) since there is a lack of NG+. Not that I wouldn't have played through it again (many times) anyway, but I'm pretty excited about doing everything again on hard mode.
 

dgenx

Made an agreement with another GAF member, refused to honor it because he was broke, but then had no problem continuing to buy video games.
I wanna be the goddamn Batman
 

Zeliard

Member
AniHawk said:
Inverted takedowns are my favorite part of the game. It's the most I feel like the goddamn Batman.

This was the second upgrade I picked, after the critical combos one. I love it.

But seriously, everything I do in this game makes me feel like the goddamn Batman. As far as I've played, there isn't a single thing Batman does/says/thinks that isn't pure Batman.

And that goes for the villains as well. I'm still in utter amazement at how well they've managed to capture the characters and the atmosphere of Arkham. So many comic book games, and licensed games in general, fail hard at this even if their gameplay is otherwise decent.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Hyunkel6 said:
Does cutting the rope require an upgrade? I already have the inverted takedown upgrade, but I can't seem to cut the rope.

Aim a batarang at the rope, it'll slice through it like a hot knife through butter and scare the living crap out of anyone nearby (and knock a villain unconsious if he's standing under his buddy).

Just got the PS3 CE and I dig the batarang that came with it. The game is frigging awesome. It's not just a good Batmangame, it's a good game with Batman in it. Everything you do, it feels like you're the goddamned Batman. Just standing there with 10 thugs coming at you already does that.
Voice-acting is superb and of unparalelled quality (I'm counting Uncharted too, which was my previous top-of-the-charts in the VA-department) graphics are stunning (but meh at times, especially some of the guards :lol

Overall, this is def a GOTY-contender, I'm looking forward to the other games presented this year and curious if AC2, Uncharted 2 or R&C2 can surpass or even match this. This is def the game the next wave of games will be compared with.
 

dgenx

Made an agreement with another GAF member, refused to honor it because he was broke, but then had no problem continuing to buy video games.
:lol :lol :lol at
the Riddle´s tape where he asks a riddle to a doc about the 4,2,3 legs
 
I love the way the cape and cowl look in this game. Which is good, since you spend a good amount of time looking at them. They look nice and thick and leathery.

It gives me serious Tim Burton batman 1 vibes, which is such a good thing. The actual Batman model is very different from any of the movies, though.
 

Sanjuro

Member
Just finished collecting all of the riddles and everything. :lol at the Riddler. The way the characters are used in this game is beyond perfect.
 
dgenx said:
I wanna be the goddamn Batman
2lk3fc8.jpg
 
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