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Batman: Arkham Asylum |OT| Steroids 'n Counters

V

vas_a_morir

Banned
I don't think I can say anything about the gameplay that hasn't already been said. I'll simply echo the sentiment that using terror to manipulate your armed enemies was so much fun. It made you feel like the Batman.

Other thoughts:
Damn, man. Poison Ivy was smokin' in this game.

I loved the voice acting. Everyone was great. Mark Hamill is the quintessential joker. There wasn't a second where he wasn't entertaining or failed to execute better than anyone on the planet. I liked the patient interviews, too. I thought the Riddler's tapes were by far the most entertaining. His mood swings to violent and aggressive so quickly from his intellectual snob persona... it's really unnerving because of the contrast. When you first start solving his riddles, he's so arrogant and condescending, but when you start to prove your intellectual superiority, he becomes really defensive. Really, it's the writing that made this game great.

What kind of accent does Harley Quinn have? It sounds vaguely New York, but I couldn't tell you specifically from where. I forgot how much I liked her character. I just wish they did more with Zsasz.

Anyway, GOTY. Here's hoping we get some more Batman action similar to this in the future. A lot of great unused villains!
 
E

exarkun

Member
What is the Dem Bones exclusive maps stuff that Gamestop has on the back of its Batman? A friend of mine bought me the game from best buy while my sister had already bought me a copy from Gamestop. Which should I keep? I want to return my sister's so she can just get me something else (birthday) but was wonder if the gamestop "exclusive" map was available with the other copies?
 
D

Dennis

Banned
So, for those who have finished the game already: how long was your playthrough? and how much of a challenge is the game on normal difficulty?

GOTY talk I hear? PC version can't come soon enough.
 
N

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Just finished my encounter with
Scarecrow
. Goddamn, that was intense.
Even my GF who was sitting next to me was as terrified by the encounter as I was.

This game has all the makings of GOTY written over it. The Riddler Challenges, the freeflow combat, the stealth-aspect, everything is just so near perfection, it's almost scary.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
a) Are there any places you can never go back to?
b) Is there any point where you can never go back at all?
c) Is there any kind of NewGame+?

I'd like to know if there's anything I should be making sure I get in terms of hidden items/challenges as I go along.
 
Dave1988

Dave1988

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
a) Are there any places you can never go back to?
b) Is there any point where you can never go back at all?
c) Is there any kind of NewGame+?

I'd like to know if there's anything I should be making sure I get in terms of hidden items/challenges as I go along.
Click to expand...

No, no and no.
 
P

painey

Member
I think its pretty understandable.. it was great to start with but doing the same thing 20 times kills any excitement or fear because you know what is happening.
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
I got it yesterday afternoon and couldn't stop playing once I put it in. It's an absolutely amazing game and it's shaping up to be one of my favorites this gen. Every aspect of the game is so polished, it's hard to find any faults. Even the story's great. Paul Dini's done a great job so far. I love the rogue interview tapes and the history of the Asylum. Heck, they even make finding collectibles and riddles worth it by tying exp to it.

I played til I
locked up Harley
, hoping there's still quite a bit of game left. Even when it's done I won't rest til I have 100% riddles solved. Achievement names like 'solve Arkham's greatest mystery' make me curious.

It's even better than I imagined.
 
B

bathala

Banned
Just got the game from gamefly and played 10hrs STRAIGHT! this no-loading kept me hook

loving the game, but the second scarecrow stage was getting stale.
 
T

theluma

Member
Downhome said:
There is also a "corner takedown" when you're hiding behind a corner and someone starts to walk by you. I assume you know about the inverted takedown and stuff like that.
Click to expand...

There is?

Do you have to unlock it or is it readily available.
 
Dave1988

Dave1988

Member
Finished it :D Hard, 240/240 riddles, yay!

Amazing experience. They really nailed what it is to be the (goddamn) Batman. I'm really suprised that I liked the fighting segments more than the invisible predator ones in the story campaing. It's probably due to how awesome it looks when you're chaining big combos. I also have to say that the backtracking is done really well in this game. Searching every nook and cranny for secrets scattered around Arkham really is fun. Overall, this game is a blast and I feel that all those 9/9+ scores this game is getting really are justified.


One more thing: did you guys know that this game has 3 semi-different endings?
In the scene after the credits with the crate of Titan flowing on water there are three possibe outcomes; either Scarecrow, Croc or Bane grab it. I got Scrarecrow. Have no idea what influences the cutscene though.
 
DKehoe

DKehoe

Member
theluma said:
There is?

Do you have to unlock it or is it readily available.
Click to expand...

It's there from the beginning. Crouch behind a piece of cover and move out to the corner, when a guy approaches you you will be prompted to press triangle/Y and you will do a takedown.
 
Ephemeris

Ephemeris

Member
oh snap. Left the game paused on the Riddler's Challenge menu and dude let out a creepy laugh, followed by "Puzzling.. isn't it."

I'm sure it's been mentioned before.. and :lol @ the continued dialog
 
N

Nozdeuce

If there was an Official MGO Community Leader, I'd be it
Ephemeris said:
oh snap. Left the game paused on the Riddler's Challenge menu and dude let out a creepy laugh, followed by "Puzzling.. isn't it."

I'm sure it's been mentioned before.. and :lol @ the continued dialog
Click to expand...
My favorite is when he specifically mentions you going on the internet to cheat :lol
 
B

Barrett2

Member
Holy shit at the
3rd Scarecrow encounter
. This is shaping up to be one of the most memorable games I have ever played.
 
T

tim1138

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
a) Are there any places you can never go back to?
b) Is there any point where you can never go back at all?
c) Is there any kind of NewGame+?

I'd like to know if there's anything I should be making sure I get in terms of hidden items/challenges as I go along.
Click to expand...

No to all three BUT you can continue to play after you completed the story to finish all the challenges and collect all the Riddler trophies.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
tim1138 said:
No to all three BUT you can continue to play after you completed the story to finish all the challenges and collect all the Riddler trophies.
Click to expand...

Awesome!

Any tips on the first
Scarecrow
encounter? I keep getting busted after blowing the first wall.
 
V

VibratingDonkey

Member
Thought that fight was easy peasy. I dunno.
Place the gel, take cover behind the wall, blow gel, stay in the middle until he glances over your left, then go for it and duck behind cover when necessary. Fry his ass with the bat signal.

If you've played Shadow Complex before this game that level totally messes with your head.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
So I completed the game on normal, and found all of the Riddler's challenges.

Man, what a game to come out of left-field. Batman really lends itself well to video games, and it's too bad it wasn't done this well until now.

It also scratched an itch I had for action-adventures I didn't know I had. I just loved playing it, and I really couldn't stop (I lost a little sleep over it). It kinda reminds me of Resident Evil 4 in a way. The game wasn't super lengthy (I think I sunk 15-20 hours into it), but it managed to keep things fresh. The only part of the game I really did not enjoy was
Killer Croc's lair.
It just dragged on way too long. All the levels/dungeons/buildings were very well thought out. Finding a new nook or cranny was great and you were rewarded for it right away. I love Batman's gadget. The zipline, batarang, grapple, they all make you feel like you're Batman. And the combat, although kinda simple, worked really well. I didn't get bored despite there pretty much being only one type of boss battle.

Everything involving
Scarecrow
was absolutely goddamn fantastic. Trippy and a great way to work in story with the game. Loved the voice actor they got for him, too.

And that's another thing- the voice talent was all there. Except for Sharp and Gordon, everyone hit their marks. Even though Mark Hamill's too old to do the really high pitched laugh, it was great to hear him again. It seemed he and Arleen Sorkin had the toughest time doing the voices again, but either they got more into it the more the game went on, or the more I got used to it. Kevin Conroy was fantastic. The comic book Batman today (or, well, two years ago), is really an asshole. This felt more like B:TAS Batman.

The one big part of the game I hated were the graphics. Batman looks all right, and Ivy looked good, but everyone else ranged from bad to hideous. I got used to it as the game wore on, but for a long time I felt it was like watching Mass Effect whenever people were talking. I guess it'll reach more people this way, but I would have loved to seen the game cel-shaded. It would definitely age better and make the game unique.

But aside from that, it was damn good. I don't think upping the ante is too difficult for a sequel either. Have it set in Gotham City.

I don't know what it is, but DC's really having some good luck with Batman lately. They found a way to make the non-comic stuff not suck (well, at least on film and games).
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
One of the smart things they added to the combat system is that the multiplier resets when you miss a hit. That's a good way of rewarding you for not button bashing.

After playing the demo I thought the battle system was the one aspect that could get a little stale, but now I see that they've really put a lot of thought into it and it's deeper and more varied than I initially thought. Getting 3* on those combat medals may even get hard. I have yet to pull off a perfect freeflow combo.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
Darunia said:
One of the smart things they added to the combat system is that the multiplier resets when you miss a hit. That's a good way of rewarding you for not button bashing.

After playing the demo I thought the battle system was the one aspect that could get a little stale, but now you see that they've really put a lot of thought into it and it's deeper and more varied than I initially thought. Getting 3* on those combat medals may even get hard.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I somehow managed to 3* the second combat challenge but not the first. I was doing something like 24-hit combos. And the great thing is that Batman actually moves like Batman. He fights like Batman and counters like Batman. Just awesome.

Another minor thing I noticed was that you can't roll off the edge of things. You can run off the edge of things (to start gliding), but you can't roll. If you were trying to evade or just move faster, and you rolled off some ledge, it would get very annoying, very quick.
 
J

JoeFu

Banned
Got the game yesterday and got to
bane
I died about 3 times then had to go to work :( . Stuck at work right now too. Can't wait to go home and play it again.
 
Y

yamo

Member
This game wasn't even on my radar untill today! I think i'll get it for the ps3 instead of waiting for the pc version.
 
P

painey

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
God damn son, this
sniper courtyard
is tricky. Those two at the far end building are like whuuuuuut.
Click to expand...

go into detective mode and you can see their sniper beams, it makes them useless as its so easy to kill them.
 
F

feel

Member
It's safe to say this Arkham Island will be joining the videogame locations Hall of Fame (shadow moses, rapture, etc). It's just so beautiful, well designed, with fantastic atmosphere and shock full of detail/easter-eggs.
 
X

Xater

Member
I'd really like to get a post mortem on the development of this game. Someone at 1up or Giantbomb make that happen!
 
LabouredSubterfuge

LabouredSubterfuge

Member
People with the PS3 version were saying that there were various trailers and documentaries that showed up on the video section of the XMB. It's not coming up for me though. Am I mistaken??
 
R

Rapping Granny

Banned
LabouredSubterfuge said:
People with the PS3 version were saying that there were various trailers and documentaries that showed up on the video section of the XMB. It's not coming up for me though. Am I mistaken??
Click to expand...

Weird, it shows up for me.
 
T

T'Zariah

Banned
Alright I'll come out and say it. The sequences with
Scarecrow
is in my TOP FIVE moments this Gen. This GEN. DLC, with TDK costume and it's PERFECTION. ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.
 
S

Saya

Member
I need some help, I think I'm stuck.

I'm in at the part where you have to chase down Harly at the penitentiary (the gas filled room after the bomb). I saved the two guards that were hanging above the water with the electric current in it and now I'm stuck. So I can climb to the area above to where the guards are and use the electrical device thing from the edge to reach the switch on the wall below, but when I get the green frequency Batman just puts the device away and nothing happens. The room is still filled with happy gas.

Btw, I love this game. I'm playing on hard and it's like the perfect difficulty. Very challenging sometimes, but also very rewarding.
 
B

bodyofanamerican

Member
Anyone have advice on catching counters at the right time in Hard mode? Getting my ass handed to me!

edit: Also, I just noticed the henchmen building
the big Joker door outside of the Visitor center
at the beginning of the game! So great!
 
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