Arkham Asylum/Arkham City

[Diabolical]

How is it we have no thread for this game and upcoming sequel?

I picked up Arkham Asylum a couple of months ago when Best Buy had it for $20 (so did Target, but they were always conveniently out of the game) and I played the shit out of it.
You'll be hard pressed to find a better superhero game.
Great visuals, action, controls, story (Paul Dini) and voice work (not only do Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy do their thing, but Arleen Sorkin returns as Harley).

I haven't finished with 100% yet (some of those damn Riddler trophies and such are a pain in the ass and I don't want to look all that shit up online). I haven't played much of the bonus content either, just tried some of the challenges a few times.

I can't wait for the sequel, Arkham City. This type of game opened up to an entire city? Count me in, especially if they are going to introduce more of the rogue's gallery (and hopefully allies) that we didn't see in Asylum.
The only bad part about Arkham City is that the game will be Mark Hamill's swan song as Joker.




And I'd be lying if I said I didn't think Harley and Ivy were hot.

[Rollo Tomassi]

The Riddler clues become much easier once you get those maps so that they show up on your mapscreen as little flying question marks. Some of them are still real brainteasers, but knowing exactly where to be on the map helps a lot.

I didn't get into the 'challenges' so much either. Like you, I played a couple, but when I scored like 700 pts and the challenge expected you to score 40,000 or some inane high number in order to get an achievement, I was like WTF? Pass.

The main gameplay story itself is awesome. Anybody who hasn't played it, let me just say it will remind you why you loved Batman in the first place. Jumping down from the shadows and laying into a dozen thugs in a ballet of perfect game controlled acrobatics is a visceral experience.

Aside from the hotly designed Harley and Ivy, Scarecrow's design in the game is also one of the coolest ever. The syringe fingers are just too cool.

[anarky]

Makes me wish I had something other than a Wii. Seriously, this game has made me more tempted by a non-Wii game than any other.

Did Harly buy her boots and bra from Two-Face's tailor?

[Diabolical]

Have you tried the game in 3D? Once I saw they were analglyph glasses I skipped it, even though its supposed to be a new type of analglyph image.

The Riddler clues become much easier once you get those maps so that they show up on your mapscreen as little flying question marks. Some of them are still real brainteasers, but knowing exactly where to be on the map helps a lot.

I have the maps, which did help quite a bit. Its probably impossible without a map. I've spent far too much time trying to figure some of them out, while I accidentally discovered probably half of them.

I didn't get into the 'challenges' so much either. Like you, I played a couple, but when I scored like 700 pts and the challenge expected you to score 40,000 or some inane high number in order to get an achievement, I was like WTF? Pass.

The minute I finished my first one and saw what the online scores were, I pretty much gave up. I tried once or twice more, but it was clear it was going to be a waste of time.

The main gameplay story itself is awesome. Anybody who hasn't played it, let me just say it will remind you why you loved Batman in the first place. Jumping down from the shadows and laying into a dozen thugs in a ballet of perfect game controlled acrobatics is a visceral experience.

Much like Spider-Man 2 (for PS2), this is the first game that actually makes you truly feel like the character.

Aside from the hotly designed Harley and Ivy, Scarecrow's design in the game is also one of the coolest ever. The syringe fingers are just too cool.

All the characters have great designs. At first Bane looks a bit overdone, but then you see how he plays into the story and it works. Joker is a great combination of various looks. Zsasz is great, but Killer Croc is a little too big, IMO.
I love the nods to other characters like Two-Face, Penguin, Ra's al Ghul, Mr Freeze, Calender Man, Scarface, The Creeper and Clayface.

Makes me wish I had something other than a Wii. Seriously, this game has made me more tempted by a non-Wii game than any other.

Wanting this game was one of the 'Cons' when I was thinking of buying a Wii.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Oh man, that level where you have to go down into Croc's "lair" is seriously creepy. Especially the last part getting back out again. It's one of the few times where I've been playing a game and my heart was racing by the time I finished.

The Clayface "cameo" is cool as well.

I like how they took elements of several different "Jokers" over the years, but instead of looking like a mishmash, its like the "definitive" version. Having Hamill's voice talent helps considerably though.

[Diabolical]

Oh man, that level where you have to go down into Croc's "lair" is seriously creepy. Especially the last part getting back out again. It's one of the few times where I've been playing a game and my heart was racing by the time I finished.

I know what you mean. It takes some serious self-control to not start running, especially at that last part.

[Diabolical]

[Rollo Tomassi]

The only way this franchise could get any cooler was if they had a co-op feature where you could play with a friend as Robin or Nightwing.

Maybe by the time they do the third game, it will be on a next gen console and you'll be able to play throughout ALL of Gotham. Booyah.

[Diabolical]

According to Wiki a 2 player co-op mode was considered, but dropped so they could focus on making the game better, rather than spending the extra time figuring out how to do two players.

[Diabolical]

A buncha news for Arkham City in recent weeks.
Arkham City will be 5X bigger than Arkham Island.
Two-Face, Riddler and Penguin are in the game.
Catwoman will be a playable character for about 10% of the game.
Robin will also be a character, but not in the game. I think it's like the Joker stuff in AA. Bullshit.

And I found this pic online today. It damn near gave me a boner.
It's not too clear how to unlock them yet, as most of the info was from a UK site and pertained to the UK pre-orders.

[Robin]

And I found this pic online today. It damn near gave me a boner.

Holy Bat-Impostor, Batman! The Joker must be disguised as you and trying to give Diabolical a boner!

[Rollo Tomassi]

I hope those different skins aren't exclusive content for all the different retailers like BestBuy, WalMart, Gamestop, etc. That would suck. It would also suck if they were unlocks for the different challenge areas because I suck at those.

[Diabolical]

Picked up Arkham City today.
I played about an hour and a half before I had to go to work.
Good God, it is awesome.

In terms of gameplay, its like a continuation of Arkham Asylum. It feels like disc 2 of the first game. The story picks up like 6 months after.
Right off the bat (no pun intended), we get bits of a bunch of classic rogues, so that's cool.

I downloaded Catwoman before I started playing, so I'm not sure how much of her story is in the regular game if you don't download her. Playing as Selina is pretty cool. The best way to describe her style is that she plays like the Spider-man.
And I suspect there are at least 2 Catwoman skins (The Long Halloween and TAS) since they are in the viewable character models immediately.

[Rollo Tomassi]

I have told my family that this and Assassin's Creed are possible Xmas gifts. I don't know if I can hold out though. The next two months are going to be crazy long.

[anarky]

The Arkham games, Assassin's Creed games, and Red Dead Redemption keep whispering to me, "Get a PS3 or XBox." Still not worth the price for a handful of games, though.

I can't fathom why they can't release a version with fewer levels, or less AI, or something, for the Wii. Not like it wouldn't sell, y'know?