Batman: Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum isn't perfect. The game hits its peak too early - the last few boss fights, though not "bad" per se, aren't quite as good as the first ones. And not to say that backtracking is a pain, but returning to old haunts in the game's final segments feels flat, compared to the tense excitement of exploring them for the first time.

But that's really the worst I can say. This is a great game; more than just having solid mechanics and playability, it really benefits from the fact that you're skulking around and fighting goons as Batman, and that you run foul of his genuinely psychotic cast of supervillains. Arkham Asylum makes you feel like Batman. And that is fucking awesome.

The reviews I'd seen online generally maintained that the game has a shitty ending, which I wouldn't necessarily agree with it. It is a bit odd, sure - after defeating a mutated Joker (who de-mutates, of course), Batman flies back to Gotham, listening to a radio dispatch about Two-Face robbing a bank. Then after the credits, you see Killer Croc's hand reaching up out of the Gotham river, and grabbing a container of the game's Bane-on-steroids 'Titan' serum. So it might be setting up two sequels? But anyway, it feels just like what would happen in a comic book, and I thought it was plenty adequate to close the story without getting all melodramatic.

Solving all the Riddler's challenges was a blast - each area has a bunch of trophies, audio recordings, riddles and other stuff littered around. Once you get an area's map, it's a simple joy to just follow the clues and tool around. It really gives Arkham Island legs even after all the baddies are gone and the story is over.

There's also a Challenge Mode, where you play out scenes from the game's fighting and stealth segments a la carte. These sound like fun (especially the stealth ones, since there are so many different ways for these to play out); but I've had my fill of Batman for now, so maybe I'll come back for these another time.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a fantastic game, and you should play it.

Progress: 84%, finished story (on normal) and riddles