Collecting Reviews HERE

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Gho-Gerhowev

What is the magazine score?

Check the previous page.

[CapedCrusader1495]

I got the mag guys!

[Gho-Gerhowev]

Originally Posted by CapedCrusader1495

I got the mag guys!

Could you submit the scans on this thread?

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Gho-Gerhowev

Could you submit the scans on this thread?

If I get the scans I will. I'm gonna read through the review first, then I will see what I do next.

[Gho-Gerhowev]

Originally Posted by CapedCrusader1495

If I get the scans I will. I'm gonna read through the review first, then I will see what I do next.

OK, read it as soon as possible. I'm anxious to see! :P

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Gho-Gerhowev

OK, read it as soon as possible. I'm anxious to see! :P

I'm going to try and scan it first

[Ahasverus]

Please! Here is 1am, time to sleep, but I want to awake tomorrow and have a good take of batmania See you tomorrow guys!

[CapedCrusader1495]

Scanning now guys!

[Gho-Gerhowev]

Originally Posted by CapedCrusader1495

Scanning now guys!

Submit them on here when you're done!

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Gho-Gerhowev

Submit them on here when you're done!

What else would I do?

[Gho-Gerhowev]

How's the scanning coming along?

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Gho-Gerhowev

How's the scanning coming along?

I'm sorry but I tried scanning it a couple of times but it just screwed up for some reason There was no new pics or anything though. I will try and write it up for you all

EDIT: I'll write up what it says on the first page as I am currently downloading the demo and the internet is slowing the download down. I'll make sure to write up the rest on the weekend some time

[CapedCrusader1495]

First page:

Batman is really the ultimate bloke. He's so blokey he's even got two blokey names, 'Bruce' and 'Wayne. He drives a cool car, he knows Kung Fu, he's always playing with his gadgets - he's everything we want him to be. And now we can be him, and convincingly so, in the first Batman game ever to actually do justice to the Caped Crusader. Plus as an added bonus, old nancy boy wonder Robin is nowhere to be found.

Batman: Arkham Asylum begins with old Bats capturing his arch nemesis, The Joker, and chauffering him in the Batmobile to Arkham Asylum for a permanent residency in Gotham City's hospital for the criminally insane. But before the wisecracking clown can get comfy in his padded cell, the trap is sprung and both Batman and Commissioner Gordon find themelves locked inside Arkham with its supervillain inmates running wild - evidently the Joker had planned the get caught all along. From there the game begins proper, and it's up to Batman to uncover the full extent of the Joker's scheme while contending with the many other horrors within Arkham.

Asylum Seeker

The first thing you need to be aware of is that this isn't all the typical superhero games we've been suffering up untill now. For starters, its not a movie-tie in and therefore the developers haven't been forced to pad out two hours of narrative with repetitive side missions and the like - Arkham Asylum's plot is exceptionally well paced and crafted, and by setting the game within Gotham City's island prison the developers have kept the storytelling focused and the mood consistently claustrophobic.

In your pursuit of the suitably manic Joker (voiced perfectly by Mark.....

I shall continue writing on the weekend

[Ahasverus]

Hmmmmm, thanks anyway, you did yor best

[cyberw4ste]

Originally Posted by CapedCrusader1495

Plus as an added bonus, old nancy boy wonder Robin is nowhere to be found.

I shun Austrailian OXM.

Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn...

Methinks the author of this review doesn't read Batman comics.

[Ahasverus]

Believe me, 80% of people in the world doesn't like Robin. Only the americans love him, the other people is just "it's ok" or "I hate him"

[DarkKnightDanny]

Originally Posted by cyberw4ste

I shun Austrailian OXM.

Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn...

Methinks the author of this review doesn't read Batman comics.

sounds like he's reviewed the game and doesnt know what he's on about lol

"He's so blokey he's even got two blokey names, 'Bruce' and 'Wayne"
doesnt sound too serious when you put in cheesy puns
the only xbox mag i trust is 360 world

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Ahasverus

Hmmmmm, thanks anyway, you did yor best

Thanks man I shall be writing up the rest of the review later today.

And I kind of agree with you all, I don't think this review reads the comics either. But the review gets better guys

BTW, I agree with on their comment on not having Robin in it

EDIT: Ok guys! I'm about to write up the rest of the review! Please be patient!

[Ahasverus]

Oh man really? Cool

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Ahasverus

Oh man really? Cool

Yep, writing it up now

[CapedCrusader1495]

Here it is guys! Its a long read!

Batman is really the ultimate bloke. He's so blokey he's even got two blokey names, 'Bruce' and 'Wayne. He drives a cool car, he knows Kung Fu, he's always playing with his gadgets - he's everything we want him to be. And now we can be him, and convincingly so, in the first Batman game ever to actually do justice to the Caped Crusader. Plus as an added bonus, old nancy boy wonder Robin is nowhere to be found.

Batman: Arkham Asylum begins with old Bats capturing his arch nemesis, The Joker, and chauffering him in the Batmobile to Arkham Asylum for a permanent residency in Gotham City's hospital for the criminally insane. But before the wisecracking clown can get comfy in his padded cell, the trap is sprung and both Batman and Commissioner Gordon find themelves locked inside Arkham with its supervillain inmates running wild - evidently the Joker had planned the get caught all along. From there the game begins proper, and it's up to Batman to uncover the full extent of the Joker's scheme while contending with the many other horrors within Arkham.

Asylum Seeker

The first thing you need to be aware of is that this isn't all the typical superhero games we've been suffering up untill now. For starters, its not a movie-tie in and therefore the developers haven't been forced to pad out two hours of narrative with repetitive side missions and the like - Arkham Asylum's plot is exceptionally well paced and crafted, and by setting the game within Gotham City's island prison the developers have kept the storytelling focused and the mood consistently claustrophobic.

In your pursuit of the suitably manic Joker (voiced perfectly by Mark Hamill), you'll stalk your way around the hospital grounds and in and out of the various installations - from Intensive Treatment to the Botanical Gardens to Arkham Mansion and more, each area aesthetically distinctive and rich with detail, not unlike the contrasting sections of Rapture in Bioshock(a game that Arkham Asylum draws inspiration from in many ways).

The Joker's goons are out to hinder your progress each step of the way, and you can deal with them with one of two methods. Find yourself surrounded and you'll be forced to indulge in hand-to-hand combat, in a system the game refers to as "Free Flow Combat". Essentially the developers have taken a page out of the Assassin's Creed playbook, in allowing you to perform the coolest attacks possible with a minimum of controller input. There's no need to memorise complex button combos, for the most part you just need to attack with the X buttion, and the rhythmic timing of successive strikes will allow you to string together impressive chain attacks relative to the positioning of the enemies around you. Time your attacks correctly and you're treated yo some of the most seamless fighting we've seen against multiple opponents we've ever seen in a game, with Batman uppercutting a goon, wrenching it out of his grasp and thrusting it back in the goon's face, before jump kicking the first goon in the throat in slow motion to finish him off - all without noticeable hitch in the transition between animations.

It's not entirely simple, however, as certain enemy attacks must be countered with the Y button (you're prompted by a blue bat symbol that appears over their head), and later enemy types need to be overcome with specific methods - for example enemies toting electric cattle prods must be stunned with the B button before you can start pummeling them with X. It's exceedingly straightforward, maybe even a touch too easy, but we think it's pretty justifiable - Batman's a master of a number of martial arts, so it makes sense that he'd be able to dispatch goons with minimal effort, and formidale style.

Of course it's a different story when you're faced with machine gun-toting henchmen, as the Dark Knight obviously isn't blessed with the same bullet-stopping DNA as Superman, and you'll get shot to Batpieces if you attempt to take these guys on in plain sight. Instead you'll need to use stealth, but in the sense of meekly tiptoeing through the shadows, rather you must become a predator; silently picking off your prey and spreading panic amongst the survivors.

Those wonderful toys

By pressing LB you go into 'Detective mode', which casts the environment into a blue hue and highlights the individual enemies in the vicintity, whether they're armed or not, and what their current mental state is (from 'calm' through to 'terrified'). Detective mode also identifies areas of the environment that you can use to your advantage - gargoyles in the rafters that you can hang upside-down from in order to grab an enemy by the throat and drag them up into the darkness, or brittle walls that you can rig with explosive gel to remote detonate when a guard happens to be patrolling past (see 'SHADOW WARRIOR'). Make full use of your surroundings and you can decimate a room full of guards without them ever knowing you were there.

Other gadgets at your disposal include a three-pronged grappling hook attachment that allows you to simultaneously wrench multiple enemies over railings to their doom, or pull down weakened walls from a distance in order to gain entry into new areas. You can also upgrade the humble Batarang to be remote-controlled: the camera zooms in tight behind it as you steer it from one enemy's fractured skull to the next. As you can get your hands on these new items and upgrades, you'll find yourself back tracking to earlier parts of the game find hidden rooms that you didn't have the means to access the first time around - an exploration-encouraging design that harkens back to classic games like Castlevania, Zelda and Metroid.

Speaking of such revered gaming franchises, Arkham Asylum also features several boss encounters, pitting the Dark Knight against some of Gotham City's most notorius supervillains, such as Mr Zsasz, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Each encounter is unique; fighting Bane requires more conventional boss battle methods, in this case luring him into a dashing attack before dodging at the last minute and causing him to crunch headfirst into the wall behind you.

Meanwhile your scrape with Killer Croc is more about survival than acually taking him head-on, and frantically navigating the maze of tunnels in the sewers beneath Arkham using a sonar gadget.

While The Riddler doesn't make a physical appearance, he still makes his presence felt by er, riddling each area of the game with over 200 secrets and puzzles to solve. These can be simple as crawling into an air vent to find one of the green Riddler statues. but others involve scanning objects in your environment to solve a cryptic clue. For example, when the Riddler gives you the clue, "Gotham's greatest family towers over the city", you must find a vantage point of the Gotham City skyline in the distance, and scan the "Wayne Tech" logo on one of the buildings.

Indeed for the most part Arkham Asylum is slicker than Batman's cape in the Gotham City rain, but the gameplay is a touch short of perfect. The heavily context sensitive design that allows the game to flow so smoothly can also occasionally bring about its undoing. For example, the gliding takedown - which has you silently sailing down from the rafters with your cape unfurled in order to give some poor henchmen a Batboot sandwich - can only be performed when the X button prompt appears over their heads. And often it just doesn't appear - for no good reason, which can frustrate. Moments like this are admittedly rare, but you do get the feeling at times that you're only able to play like Batman when the game permits you to do so.

It's also not the most original game, as it features toys and gameplay devices quite clearly lifted from aforementioned games like Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Metroid, Lost Planet and more.

Still, that's a developer's utility belt that's certainly worthy of the Dark Knight, and nitpicking aside we remain convinced that not only is Arkham Asylum the best Batman game ever made - that's not even up for debate - but it's the best superhero game period. In truth, it's just a shade under the two Christopher Nolan Batman films when it comes to doing comic book source material justice in another medium. Which is an impressive feat.

Of particular note is how the game captures not only the physical and mental strengths of the Batman character, but also the emotional weaknesses. Batman not only has to battle with the scum of the Gotham underworld, but also the demons of his past, and the way in which the developers have intergrated the skeletons from Batman's closet into the gameplay is too inspired for us to spoil.

For fans of the Caped Crusader, Batman: Arkham Asylum is an absolutely essential purchase. Yet regardless of whether you're the obsessive comic book-collecting type or not, this is easily the most enjoyable action adventure game released so far in 2009. BAM! POW! MUST BUY!

Verdict:

Pros:

- Immaculate presentation
- Gripping storyline
- Enjoyable mix of gameplay styles
- Challenge rooms extend lifespan

Cons:

- Some context sensitivity issues

The score:

You'd be absolutely batty to miss this- 9/10

Hope you guys enjoyed that! Now I'm off to have a well deserved rest and play the demo once again!

[Ahasverus]

Ohhh yes, you deserve it!!! THANKS MAN!!! Phew, that was long I don't understand this part:

Cons
Some context sensitivity issues

WTF?

[CapedCrusader1495]

Originally Posted by Ahasverus

Ohhh yes, you deserve it!!! THANKS MAN!!! Phew, that was long I don't understand this part:

WTF?

Thanks man!

I don't completely understand it either, I think it has something to do with it not allowing you to certain things. It only allows you to do them when the game tells you to. Like it said, only permits you to feel like Batman when it tells you to.

But they said its admittedly rare.

[TAPETRVE]

All those 9/10 ratings once again remind me of the dreaded Eidos corruption conspiracy. I don't give a rotting roadkill rodent about what they say, but still, there's a sour taste to it.

Be that as it may, I love the demo and cannot wait for the game to be released.

[Joe_Kerr]

here's an interesting pre-review, there's no definitive score given but it sounds like its going to be better than 9/10!

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=220993