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[Hydrogen Bluebird]

First off, Arkham Asylum is a great game, and the best Batman game to date. With that said, I really think there's a flaw with the game's Detective mode. Detective mode is so useful and really essential to getting past some of the tougher parts of the game. The problem is that the player will rely on it too much that he ends up playing most of the game in it, meaning in a wire-frame type view. The game had excellent art and graphics for its time and I feel like some of it was wasted/disregarded because of the game's detective mode.

Anybody else think this way?

EDIT: I apologize if this has been discussed before.

 

[Salsa]

herewegoagain.jpeg

common complaint, many people mentioned it, they are changing it a bit so that wont be the case on Arkham City



personally i never had any issue. It was handy but i also enjoyed the vistas and overall look on the game, i wasnt needing to have it on ALL the time

 

[runnin_blue]

First off, Arkham Asylum is a great game, and the best Batman game to date. With that said, I really think there's a flaw with the game's Detective mode. Detective mode is so useful and really essential to getting past some of the tougher parts of the game. The problem is that the player will rely on it too much that he ends up playing most of the game in it, meaning in a wire-frame type view. The game had excellent art and graphics for its time and I feel like some of it was wasted/disregarded because of the game's detective mode.

Anybody else think this way?

I felt exactly the same after playing it. I wanted to marvel at the graphics but dm ruined it.

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I feel like I didn't spend that long in the mode. I flicked it on when needed to check enemy placements etc, then swiftly back off.

I mean, I do see the issue, but it just wasn't one for me.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

I actually hated how detective mode made the game look, but it was necessary for determining enemy patrols. Regardless, I tried to use it as little as possible when not searching for Riddler clues.

 

[Salsa]

EDIT: I apologize if this has been discussed before.

oh i wasnt trying to invalidate your thread or anything, sorry. Im not sure its been discussed much on GAF actually, but ive seen the Rocksteady guys address this as a recurrent complaint they had from users. Its even on some videos i think.

 

[randomwab]

I don't know. I've played it on both PC and 360 and each time, I flicked into detective mode, saw what I wanted to see and flicked back out. If you're staying in detective mode, it's your own fault.

 

[daviyoung]

I barely used it. It was basically like Metroid Prime's visors, except that game was damn epic. This game is pretty short and easy to replay if you miss something.

 

[Ubersnug]

Have to say that I never once seen it as an issue or something that got in the way. Like a few folk have said already, I would switch it on when I was stuck or wanted to quickly check my surroundings. Once I was happy and aware of what was around me I would then switch it off again.

TBH, I felt that leaving it on for any length of time was detrimental to the experience.

 

[tiddles]

Replaying this again at the moment... I wonder if they would have fixed it by making you hold the button/trigger to stay in Detective Mode, rather than toggling it? This way you would only activate it when you needed it...

 

[Salsa]

I barely used it. It was basically like Metroid Prime's visors, except that game was damn epic. This game is pretty short and easy to replay if you miss something.

man i dont know. I think after finishing it for the first time my first thought was "this is the game with the most perfect lenght ive ever played". It lasted just what it needed to last. Never dragged along and it ended right before some of the mechanics could begin to feel repetitive (big dude who i must evade to hit a wall then jump on him to punch thugs, etc)

Got all the riddles on my second playthrough (first on the steam version) and:

perfect lenght

 

[daviyoung]

man i dont know. I think after finishing it for the first time my first thought was "this is the game with the most perfect lenght ive ever played". It lasted just what it needed to last. Never dragged along and it ended right before some of the mechanics could begin to feel repetitive (big dude who i must evade to hit a wall then jump on him to punch thugs, etc)

Got all the riddles on my second playthrough (first on the steam version) and:

perfect lenght

Ah, I don't mean doing the collections. It took me about 8 hours to play the campaign, I didn't do any of the Riddles and only got the obvious ? symbols. This was recently though and I'm clearing my PC backlog up. I'm sure I'll attack it some time in the future before City to pick up the rest of the symbols.

I was comparing it to Metroid Prime, which is the closest game I can think of with such a similar 'detective mode'.

 

[V_Arnold]

To be honest, OP, I spent around 5% of my time in story mode in Detective mode, because it was not THAT important, I only remember one tiny place where it was really vital to use it, and that is about it. Other times, if you have to check something, you switch, memorize what you saw, switch out, go.

 

[Salsa]

Ah, I don't mean doing the collections. It took me about 8 hours to play the campaign, I didn't do any of the Riddles and only got the obvious ? symbols. This was recently though and I'm clearing my PC backlog up. I'm sure I'll attack it some time in the future before City to pick up the rest of the symbols.

I was comparing it to Metroid Prime, which is the closest game I can think of with such a similar 'detective mode'.

oh no i realize, i was just taking apart your post and replying to only the bolded aspect.

8-10 hours for a first playthrough is still good though, specially when they're that good

 

[Lord British]

I found this at times on the PC version - I remedied it myself by flicking it on and off like a snapshot to scope out enemies in a trice.

 

[Striek]

I have a similar time to Salsa's and it was pretty perfect. I'm not a comic-book fan at all, only got Batman this year on steep sale because its hype was overbearing, yet I loved all the intricate fanservice the riddles/secrets etc. provided. Also its moderately challenging, but not overly challenging (on hard). Just the perfect degree to make it worth doing.

I also felt there was too much time in detective mode (in regard to riddles mostly), but it wasn't that bad.

 

[TheExplodingHead]

I personally loved the way Detective Mode was handled, it was a sort of Metroid Prime approach. Where you are sort of forced to go in and out (even if just for the sights) and going back through areas with it on and off gave the retraversal a cool aspect. Hopefully that isn't changed too much in AC.

 

[Hasemo]

Yeah, I had the same problem as the OP. Thing is, I don't like feeling like I've missed something while playing and I overused DM because of that.

It was the same for me in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, although I don't even remember what the alternate vision did there.

 

[daviyoung]

It was the same for me in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, although I don't even remember what the alternate vision did there.

I think it was to find stuff your claws could stick into and to point you to an objective.

 

[iirate]

Ah, I don't mean doing the collections. It took me about 8 hours to play the campaign, I didn't do any of the Riddles and only got the obvious ? symbols. This was recently though and I'm clearing my PC backlog up. I'm sure I'll attack it some time in the future before City to pick up the rest of the symbols.

I was comparing it to Metroid Prime, which is the closest game I can think of with such a similar 'detective mode'.

Comparing most games to Metroid Prime is a bad idea, to start.

For the record, I loved AA. It is in contention for my Game of the Gen. Yes, detective mode could have been better implemented.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

I think it was to find stuff your claws could stick into and to point you to an objective.

Pretty much, and I think it helped the player find dog tags.

 

[Hasemo]

Ah, right. And it was easier to focus on the enemies, as they really stood out from the background in that vision.

 

[daviyoung]

Comparing most games to Metroid Prime is a bad idea, to start.

Why is it a bad idea? A lot of things in AA reminded me of Prime, not just the detective mode.

 

[Murkas]

I felt the same way as OP. Has this been addressed in the sequel? It would have been perfect if they got rid of the blue/orange screen takeover.

 

[Majora]

I felt the same way as OP. Has this been addressed in the sequel? It would have been perfect if they got rid of the blue/orange screen takeover.

From the latest Edge:

Detective Vision, which proved too corrosively useful in the first game, has been gently hobbled. While it was possible, even preferable, to play the entirety of Arkham Asylum with it on, it's now great for environmental analysis but not much else...it comes down to the balance of information it offers. Now you'll be able to use it for crime scene investigation, but when you turn it on you lose navigation tools like the compass and waypoints on your HUD, so you won't want to have it on forever. It's become a tool, rather than a crutch, in other words; a gizmo to try out when you've arrived at a new location rather than a perk to augment your entire journey.

 

[JimboJones]

I had it on a lot, didn't bother me though, I preffered just playing the game and not analyzing graphics :S

 

[Saty]

It was all part of the game's brainless mode which included zero A.I., easy stealth kills, seeing enemies through walls and the game giving away how to defeat the bosses in the loading screen if you dared to die even once.

 

[Deleted member 81567]

Couldn't they just make the screen a bit darker or lighter to show detective mode is in use so we don't have to stare at a blue screen all the time?

 

[MarkMclovin]

I hardly used it. Only did when I really needed to or if I wanted to plan an awesome ambush.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Its obviously a common complaint Rocksteady actually got a bit annoyed by it citing in interviews it would be overhaul for Arkham City so all the art ect didnt go to waste.

However that been said if your playing with it on all the time you have no one to blame but yourself, Iv played AA 4 times now and currently on my 5th replay and iv never felt iv had it on too long and it rarely ever is on more than a minute at most.

As for "really essential to getting past some of the tougher parts of the game" i disagree, The game flowed for me and i think for most of the other people who played it, there was no stopping and starting due to difficulty i cant think of situations where Detective mode would make the game easier for you, outside of blow this wall up which more often than not was either painted differently or cracked open both of which give you the indicator without using detective mode.

8 Hour Story is great for a game like this, You encounter a recurring villain 6 main bosses and 2/3 sub bosses and multiple mini group encounters than could be treated as sub-sub bosses. The story and pacing never feels rushed, what needs to be elaborated on is and overall the experience is great.

Its the best superhero game in years yet people seem to go out of their way to throw complaints at it for no damn reason. 8 Hours is standard for a game now the game ranges from between 7-11GB big on various systems so they couldnt squeeze more in if they tried.

No to mention the wealth of challenge maps and side mission the campaign is filled it.

 

[matrix-cat]

I've seen so many people make this complaint, but I really never felt the need to leave it on at all. Why would you want to play a whole game in neon purple? It let you see enemies through walls but it made impossible to see just about everything else, so I just snapped it on and off whenever I needed to see where dudes were.

 

[angular graphics]

Wait... you could DISABLE it????























Joking of course but sadly I feel like I almost played the whole game with it enabled to not miss anything :\

 

[autobzooty]

I didn't have a problem with it the first time I played it, but I beat it a second time just recently and noticed it much more. Really hope they take care of it in a smart way for Arkham City.

There's a lot of ways they can handle it. Personally, I'd prefer they just give me that tactical information 100% of the time in the stealth sections, and just make it less intrusive. A simple icon to show there's an enemy behind a wall instead of turning the whole screen blue and putting giant red skeletons on it.

There was no reason to turn detective mode off, so why not just remove detective mode altogether and always give that information to the player? It's not like detective mode broke the gameplay or anything, it just looked really ugly.

Also while I'm complaining, remove gargoyles for hard mode, plz. There's so few stealth games out there, I really just want a challenge, and gargoyles just made life way too easy in AA.

 

[toddhunter]

 

[Suairyu]

I've seen so many people make this complaint, but I really never felt the need to leave it on at all. Why would you want to play a whole game in neon purple?

Because the game design explicitly encourages and rewards you for doing so. Yes, I self-medicated and turned the damn thing off wherever possible but that doesn't mean the optimal way to experience the game design wasn't to leave it on every moment.

edit - haha, bravo, toddhunter. Meme posting done right.

 

[matrix-cat]

Because the game design explicitly encourages and rewards you for doing so. Yes, I self-medicated and turned the damn thing off wherever possible but that doesn't mean the optimal way to experience the game design was to leave it on every moment.

I'm saying I never needed to force myself to turn it off, though, and I've always found it weird that people could stand to keep it on. Maybe it's just me but I always found it difficult to work out the level geometry in Detective Vision because I couldn't see which walls were where and just how far away the guys I was seeing were. I'd usually just flick it on, make a note of how many guys and roughly where they were and then turn it off. I never felt that I was at some kind of huge advantage keeping it on 100% of the time because the only thing it does is show you when there are guys behind walls.

 

[Suairyu]

I'm saying I never needed to force myself to turn it off, though, and I've always found it weird that people could stand to keep it on. Maybe it's just me but I always found it difficult to work out the level geometry in Detective Vision because I couldn't see which walls were where and just how far away the guys I was seeing were. I'd usually just flick it on, make a note of how many guys and roughly where they were and then turn it off. I never felt that I was at some kind of huge advantage keeping it on 100% of the time because the only thing it does is show you when there are guys behind walls.

Fair enough, but most people didn't have that problem and did find it a huge advantage to leave it on all the time.

 

[matrix-cat]

Didn't you ever try going after a guy you thought was on the other side of a wall and realise he was just standing there in front of you? I think that happened to me once or twice ;P

 

[Ushojax]

I never had it on for more than 5-10 seconds at a time. It never bothered me.

 

[Suairyu]

Didn't you ever try going after a guy you thought was on the other side of a wall and realise he was just standing there in front of you? I think that happened to me once or twice ;P

I hate to break it to you, but maybe you're just not cut out to be the goddamn Batman.

 

[matrix-cat]

I hate to break it to you, but maybe you're just not cut out to be the goddamn Batman.

Bro, I'm Batmannin' without the gadgets, that's way Batman-er.

 

[Suairyu]

Bro, I'm Batmannin' without the gadgets, that's way Batman-er.

Next you'll be Batmannin' without the prep-time as well. That is no way to Batman, sir!

 

[Fjordson]

Thinking back on my playthrough, I don't think it dampened my enjoyment of the game, but I do feel like it was overused.

Of course the amount of time that it's activated is totally up to the player, but I felt hampered without it.

 

[Toppot]

I left it on a lot to see where all the extra's were and enemies etc. When I occasionally flicked it off I'd go 'wow, this game looks great' then immediately wonder what great views I'd missed for the last 20 minutes =/

Of course it's my own fault but gameplay wise its the best way to play. I'm glad they have fixed it for Arkham City. I must go though the game again some time.

 

[FGMPR]

It was all part of the game's brainless mode which included zero A.I., easy stealth kills, seeing enemies through walls and the game giving away how to defeat the bosses in the loading screen if you dared to die even once.

I really enjoyed AA but I absolutely agree with this. I hated being told what to do whilst I was still figuring it out. I don't think I've come across a game that treated its players like idiots quite like this one, even if it was an extremely slick production.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

used it for no more than the time necessary to lay out a quick plan. Never bothered me, I actually quite liked that

 

[roddur]

guys, i'm having a problem with detective mode. i'm using keyboard and the detective mode is unassigned. how can i assign a button to it? pls help

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

A lot of people have brought up how you can just play the whole game in detective mode and that ruins the look and wastes all the effort they put into the visuals, but the way I worked around this problem was to choose not to use it all the time. I wanted to see the graphics so I made sure I did. I trust other people who actually cared about seeing the graphics did the same thing.

It's one of those problems that's only a problem because OCD gamers feel like because it's there and it's unlimited they have to use it constantly.

 

[Ponti]

Only used it when it was needed. Even if it wasn't I only ever flicked it on for a few seconds just to take a quick look for any hidden spots or to spot enemy locations.

 

[Boney]

Yeah I thought it was handled pretty badly. Being able to spot any enemy location without any penalty at all really brought all the stealth parts down by a lot for me. So not only were they any good for the start, due to, this cheapened them out by a lot.