Tales of the Geeky Vixen

So sorry it's been a while since my last review, but life has gotten in the way of making plans for the reviews. It's late and I'm sleepy, so this is gonna be brief. I just had to jump on and say a few words about the new game Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Holy Next Gen, Batman! (I'm playing it on the 360.) When comics and video games, my two favorite things in all the world collide, I'm a happy geeky vixen. When the baby that they make is Arkham Asylum, well, it's a whole new level of happy. I had played the demo when they released it, but it couldn't have prepared me for how great this game is (so far).

We bought the game for Mr. GV, and in all honesty I was excited about the game, but not really about playing it. But let me give you some background about me and Batman. The first superhero comic I really got into was Batman and the Outsiders, and my mom and I went to see the Michael Keaton Batman flick three or 4 times. I watched the old Adam West show, collected Topps cards--I was a fangirl. I loved Wonder Woman, but I was captivated by the Dark Knight. Then the animated series came out, and though I was too old for cartoons, I watched it. I fell in love with Harley Quinn and Paul Dini's writing.

Which brings me to the beginning of the review. The opening cinematic is long, yes, but it really gives you a sense of just how far into the mouth of madness Bats is going. Intermittently along the side credits are rolling, and one in particular caught my eye: Paul Dini is the writer. OK, I'm in. :) Pair that with Kevin Conroy (the voice of animated Batman) and Mark Hamill's Joker, and it's like playing inside an M-rated episode of Batman: The Animated Series. The look of the game is shadowy and dark. The people are a little moist-looking, but that's a small complaint.

Gameplay is extremely user-friendly, at least on Normal. It requires three-dimensional thinking, which takes me some getting used to, but when you're Batman, you have to be a detective and know your surroundings. Features like Detective Mode help you distinguish enemies from victims, and even help you navigate through the asylum. Combat is what you'd expect if you know Batman--hand-to-hand or stealthy takedowns for the most part, but there are some ways you can use Arkham itself to take out inmates. This game is making me better at sneaking around, something I've never been good at in those Tom Clancy games.

In addition to combat and sneakiness, you also have the opportunity to solve 240 riddles from the brain of Edward Nigma himself. I've solved some of them, but in the course of the story it's difficult to take time out from the action to solve a riddle, so I'm guessing there will be a fair amount of backtracking once I've beaten the game. If you're an avid comic reader, especially in the Batman (or the very least the DC) universe, you should be able to answer them fairly easily. The riddles add a nice element to the game, and some of them lead to unlockable rewards.

According to the game I'm at 11% completion, which is cool, b/c that means I'm going to be spending more time in Batman's world than I anticipated. As big of a nerd as I am, though, I can totally see this game having replayability out the wazoo.

Bottom line is this: if you're a gamer and a fan of comics, you'd be remiss in skipping this one. It definitely has something for the comic lover in you. I think this one has mass appeal as well with its unique combination of hand-to-hand combat, cool gadgets, and sneaking around a madman's playground. That being said, though, there are enough delicious comic morsels to satisfy even Comic Book Guy.

It's late, so I'm signing off before my head hits the keyboard. I've got some comics reviews to post, but they will have to wait. Until next time, gentle readers!