The game that started it all, the game that sent the superhero genre gliding, the game that has been bested twice in its franchise: Batman: Arkham Asylum.
AA might be a game that is hard to get into for people who have been playing the newer installments in the series, but once you get past an admittedly slow opening and the lack of some series staples, this game becomes a atmospheric romp through a hell of Gotham's making.
Batman himself flows like water through both close quarters melee and stealth, with rhythmic combat and loads of gadgets used to set up traps on unsuspecting enemies. There is never a dull moment in the core gameplay... that is until you get to the bosses. I hope you like fighting the same damn thing 6 times in a row.
The level design is still to this day some of the Arkham series' finest. It's set up sort of like a metroidvania, wherein you'll backtrack through maps you've been through with new traversal tech to counter new obstacles. Coupled with going through levels is some of the most deranged, unhinged, and dark designs and character interactions. I still to this day have never played any other games that capture AA's atmosphere, not even later games in the series hit the highest highs this one does (maybe City sometimes, but not all the time).
Arkham Asylum, while outdated, is still a game I implore everyone to play at least once. There isn't too much like it and it is in a league of its own.

This was actually a lot of fun! The atmosphere is top tier and I loved exploring the dark asylum.

Batman’s rogue gallery is amazing and they’re all done so well here. Their designs and voice acting - particularly Mark Hamill as Joker, but also Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn and Dino Andrade as Scarecrow - sell the characters so well.

The combat is pretty fun too; taking on a huge group of enemies is incredibly satisfying.

Normally, licensed games tend to be games that, while they have a bit of substance thanks to the intellectual property they are based on, lack something that makes them unique and usually feel like generic games. Well, it's quite the opposite for Batman Arkham Asylum, this is a game that not only represents the Batman universe in a great way, but takes advantage of that world to present a very solid and well-designed game.

I think saying that this game is a “Metroid Fusion in 3D” isn't too far off the mark, as it has a pretty similar structure. Batman Arkham Asylum rather than being an action game, is one of adventure, in which we have to explore Arkham Island, which is divided into several areas that we will unlock as we get more gadgets throughout the adventure. I especially like how in the closed areas we have to make our way by making use of all kinds of alternative paths and the tools that Batman has at his disposal until that moment, making that, navigating in these spaces is something very entertaining due to the good map design that this game has, shining a lot in the stealth sections where we have to eliminate enemies with caution, or in those where discovering where we have to go is not something clear.

Exploration is favored by a high level of attention to detail and a lot of secrets that hide a lot of easter eggs to the comics, which if we are attentive and inspect can give us the biography of the referenced characters in question. Although I like it, I think it would have been better if the rewards for exploring also translated into benefits or improvements for our character, since the only things that are unlocked are the biographies that I mentioned before, voice recordings and 3D models, in the case of collecting the Riddler statuettes, these are a collectible that is very wisely hidden and is very entertaining to discover, it becomes a little trivial by not granting benefits in the gameplay, ending up being additions that only the most curious will appreciate.

The story begins with Batman taking the Joker to Arkham Asylum, but as part of a very good elaborate plan by the Joker, Batman gets trapped in this place full of criminals and super-villains with the only desire to cause chaos around the place and wipe out all the cops and the hero who put them there in the first place. Although the story is somewhat simple, the central premise serves to give rise to many interesting situations, as certain events occur throughout the story that can cause disruptions in some places on the map and put Batman on the ropes many times, and it's always great to see how the solution to the problem is reached thanks to the hero's high ingenuity.

The combat is somewhat simplistic, which I don't necessarily see as a bad thing, as it's extremely satisfying to pull off large chains of combos and fight large numbers of goons at once without getting hurt. The boss battles are also very entertaining, and each one proposes a different dynamic to be beaten, my only complaint is that the battles against the sub-bosses (strong goons) are reused so much that they become a bit repetitive in the long run.

Something that fascinated me about this title is its art section. It hits the nail right on the head with the kind of grim and gloomy setting of the Batman universe. I really enjoyed exploring the map of this game thanks to this, as I would sometimes get lost contemplating the beauty of the exterior structures and landscapes, or even some of the interior areas of the buildings.

Conclusion
Although I didn't get to play it at the time, it's easy for me to appreciate how this game set the bar high for what a superhero game should be. Batman Arkham Asylum doesn't just settle for being a simple action game of the character, it goes beyond that, building a game with an immersive and interesting world, making exploration a fundamental part of the experience, achieved thanks to brilliant 3D map design.

Esse jogo é MUITO BOM. A atmosfera é aterrorizante, fazendo alguns momentos parecer até um jogo de terror. A história é simples, mas efetiva. É impressionante como esse jogo literalmente estabeleceu o parâmetro para os futuros jogos de herói que iriam todos se inspirar neste. Gosto como os enigmas do Charada são implementados nesse jogo, talvez seja o que melhor fez isso na franquia, considerando que você vai descobrindo mais e mais sobre aquele universo e os personagens, enquanto anda naturalmente pelo mapa coletando os troféus, charadas, etc. Acho que minha única critica são as boss fights: Apesar de ser bem único e criativo em algumas (Espantalho, Crocodilo, Hera Venenosa), eu acho que eles subaproveitaram os chefes “Titan”. Tipo, literalmente é sempre a mesma coisa que você tem que fazer pra derrotar todo capanga Titan que aparece na sua frente, que todas são praticamente a luta contra o Bane reciclada, aí pra piorar, eles fazem a batalha com O ÚLTIMO CHEFE CORINGA, ser super anticlimática e sem graça. Fora essas ressalvas, é um ótimo jogo que revolucionou o mundo dos heróis nos games.

For someone who is really into comic book superheroes like myself (Mainly from Marvel, TMNT, and Hellboy) it's probably surprising to some who know me that it has taken this long for me to finally get to this highly regarded series of games. Whether it was me expanding my horizons and taking care of my long backlog, or being influenced by the insanity of r/BatmanArkham, I bought the four main games on sale last year and finally started with Arkham Asylum. I was worried that I wasn't going to view this game the same way as those who grew up with it and perhaps find it overrated or even hate it, but that ended up being the complete opposite.

Arkham Asylum ended up becoming such an incredible and refreshing experience that I thought it would be best for me to list all of the positives I have for it in bullet points.

- The story was very simple to understand but it gave a lot of room to a lot of worldbuilding as well as plenty of fanservice for longtime Batman fans. The characters were portrayed very on point and none of them felt like they had any out-of-character moments, especially with the game's incredible voice acting from just about everyone.

- The world of this game, while I assume smaller than what future installments are going to have, was pretty fun to explore, and the buildings you explore throughout the game made it so there was a lot to do in this small open world. Nothing in this world felt like filler and I enjoyed exploring every part of it.

- The graphics managed to hold up extremely well even after 15 years (Note I am playing the PC version that is based on the original version and not the Return to Arkham remaster). The art style managed to have a great balance of being stylized to help the heroes and villains look just like how you would expect them to while still being realistic and not being too out of place. The environments and aesthetics have a perfect blend of being dark and moody without ever feeling dull and it was always a treat to see how the world changed over time.

- The controls for both combat and stealth feel simply wonderful. It manages to have a beautiful blend of being easy to understand but needing a lot of effort and precision to fully master. It was surprising just how much I got a kick out of these controls and it was always rewarding when I was able to pull of either part flawlessly, which I do enjoy a lot.

- The soundtrack, while nothing over the top or mind-blowing, fits the dark and serious tone of the game very well and nothing ever felt out of place. There may be a chance later on I could find some of these songs to be forgettable, but in the context of this game, I think they feel great.

- Some of the sections in Arkham Asylums are what I consider to be some real highlights that make it stand out. Ranging from the Scarecrow sections, especially the third one that threw me way off, the Killer Croc section, and the final chase reminding me of Crash Bandicoot, the Poison Ivy, and Titan Joker fights both being great climaxes to the game, there are plenty of things that really help this game stand out.

- I ended up enjoying getting the various collectibles way more than I thought. Unlocking the Spirit of Arkham tablets was really cool especially when hearing over the various audio logs. Collecting the audio tapes for the villains was a great way to introduce people to what some of Batman's most famous villains are like without ruining the pace of the story. However, the main highlight of this game and I assume later titles are the Riddler trophies and the riddles. I ended up enjoying collecting these way more than I thought and it was always cool to revisit previous locations and see which trophies I ended up missing or couldn't get prior, and the ending for getting them all felt really satisfying.

- The only real issue I have with the game is how repetitive a lot of the boss fights can be. As much as I enjoyed fighting Bane when I found out that the Titan Enemy fights are very similar to Bane, I was rather bummed out, and those fights tend to feel a bit samey. I didn't hate the boss fights, I still find them pretty fun, but the games boss fights don't pick up until the final ones with Ivy and Joker.


Overall, I gotta say, this was quite the introduction to this series and has gotten me curious as to how future games with follow. I ended up having a fantastic time throughout the entire time I was playing it and it helped me remember the appreciation I have for Batman and his cast of characters. This is one game I can easily recommend to any superhero fan to play if they haven't done so already.