Preview: Batman: Arkham Asylum (360)

The plot is simple. Batman having caught The Joker is delivering him to Arkham Asylum where the imprisoned villains have set a trap. With an original script penned by Emmy Award-winning Batman writer Paul Dini it’s safe to say there’s going to be more to the story than meets the eye. Not to mention the fact that veteran voice actors from the cartoon Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy will be supplying the voices of The Joker and Batman respectively.

In simplest terms Arkham Asylum could be described as a brawler, but doing so would be a great injustice. While at the forefront you’ll be dispatching thugs left and right, the way you do so is where this game will come to life. Stalking enemies from the cover of darkness and using a variety of gadgets from your utility belt all come into play. After all, Batman is just a man, not a Superman, so using your environment will be crucial.

Fans will no doubt be what Rocksteady have at the forefront of their mind while developing the game. “In Batman: Arkham Asylum Eidos and Warner Bros. are building a true action adventure game experience worthy of gamers and fans,” said Phil Rogers, CEO of Eidos Interactive. “Players become Batman, like he has never been seen before in a video game, as he fights through intense circumstances in Arkham Asylum utilizing his intuitive detective skills and aggressive melee attacks.”

“Batman: Arkham Asylum offers players the chance to battle Gotham’s worst villains with Batman’s physical and psychological strength in a graphically distinct and story-driven game,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “We look forward to working with Eidos on expanding DC Comics’ world-renowned character Batman in the game space with a noticeably different feature set in an incredibly dark interactive environment.”

Dark being a good word to describe it. It all looks gothic, moody, and everything you’d want from a Batman game. Some character designs can be a little off putting, the hilariously large Commissioner Gordon muscles being the obvious one, but it gives the game a nice, unique style. It’s easily one of the best looking games we’ve seen. You can actually see each little detail of the bat suit, this isn’t just a model being painted, you can actually differentiate the suit from Bruce Wayne underneath. If you know what we mean.

To tempt fans from parting with more of their money, a limited edition will also be available, though at the moment it’s only been confirmed for release in North America. Rather than just in a tin like other so called ‘limited editions’ this one actually feels worth it. You get a behind the scenes DVD, a exclusive downloadable map for the challenge mode, Arkham Doctor’s Journal (featuring notes on inmates), and easily the best of them all, a 14” Batarang with stand. Yes, that is not a typo or a joke. It comes with an actual Batarang. We really hope we see this on European shores.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is available for PS3 and Xbox 360 shortly and it’s shaping up to be the best game of the summer.

Words by Adam Gulliver