If Batman were a Russian citizen, he would have been receiving a pension for ten years already. He turned seventy this year. But Gotham has its own laws, and if you are a superhero, then you have to live until oblivion. But Batman is not yet in danger of oblivion. Last year, the film The Dark Knight was released, which captivated millions of viewers, robbing them of a billion dollars (three weeks first place on IMDB seems to hint. ), and just recently the game solemnly went on sale Batman: Arkham Asylum. So Mr. Dark Knight is not going to splash around in the calm waters of Lethe. But what worries us now is whether the project from Rocksteady Studios? Moreover, it’s interesting, not like a simple errand run like "Watchmen", but as something more serious, deep, Notcomic. After all, the developers took the classic universe as a basis, and not the one created by the director Christopher Nolan (Christopher Nolan).
Back to the classics
"Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" captivated the most diverse audiences thanks to a different approach to the interpretation of history. In comics and old films, all the heroes are deliberately unreal, somehow cartoonish. Such characters simply could not exist in the real world, they are fabulous, from their clothes and makeup to their motivations, ideas and thoughts. Nolan brought them to life. His Joker is a regular psychopath. Yes, he is talented and charismatic, but it is easy to imagine him in our world. The Scarecrow is not some freak running around in a funny outfit, but a practicing psychiatrist.
And after such success, such a successful interpretation of the old universe – Batman: Arkham Asylum. true to the classics. Monsters, mutants, clowns and comic schizophrenics.
And the plot itself is like an episode of an animated series. After all, the action takes place over the course of one night inside the mental hospital-prison Arkham. A small island with the heel of various buildings and underground communications. No large open areas, open field battles. Only corridor, room, tunnel and other types of fights. But we still have to get to the battles, but for now.
. Batman drags the Joker into the fortress-madhouse. Of course, everyone is already waiting for him: the cell has been prepared, guards have been posted, prisoners have been transferred to a stricter regime. After all, one of Gotham’s main criminals arrives in prison.
However, it quickly becomes clear that it’s not that Joker doesn’t even want to be forced to undergo treatment and look at the guards through bars all his life, but simply won’t. He had a plan for a long time to start a riot in Arkham, take over the entire island, and then do something even more fun. The police receive information that all of Gotham is mined, criminals are carrying out the boss’s insidious plan, and the world is one night away from destruction.
They see him like this
But I want to warn you right away: the plot is still rather weak. There is no subtext, morality or skinning of vices. But the presentation is so tasty that I can say with confidence that this is one of the most charismatic games on PC.
Batman: Arkham Asylum — an example of a fundamental approach to creating a game. If you have never encountered bats before, and have only seen people in makeup at the circus, then after visiting the local psychiatric hospital you will almost certainly fall a little in love with the Batman universe. With just one project, the developers were able to introduce us to the most key personalities of this world, convey their attitudes, their thoughts and desires. As we progress, we will find audio recordings in which psychiatrists talk to prisoners. They will tell us a few words about each one, and then the villains themselves will either open their souls to the doctors, or, on the contrary, hide them. We’ll "see" Harley Quinn go crazy, Poison Ivy charm a doctor, and Scarecrow drive a shrink crazy.
And we will personally meet many https://bettingsitesnogamstop.co.uk/review/madcasino/ thugs. Let’s understand why the guards never go down into the sewers to Croc, we’ll see how ambitious and inventive the Riddler is, who hid dozens of prizes at all levels. And we will feel in our own skin what it means fear, who gives birth to the Scarecrow.
And the heroes are not just evil, stupid, stupid and with a desire to take over the world. They are all curious and interesting to meet. So, even if the developers did not follow Nolan’s path, they were not completely satisfied with the old trodden path either. Arkham Asylum – another vision of the universe.
How does a man-bat live??
In reviews it is customary to clearly name the genre of the game. Like, this is a turn-based strategy, and this is RTS. Dot. Half the battle is done, the reader has already understood almost everything himself. I can’t do that with Batman. Third person action? Yes, of course, but how much will that tell you?? You can narrow the definition a little by adding ". about a superhero". More specific associations immediately emerge. Not long ago Spider-Man: Web of Shadows was released, two parts "Watchmen", other stuff of various kinds about people in rubber masks. But all this is not the same. You can’t equal Arkham Asylum with games that only teenagers like and are very. enthusiastic adult. We have a serious adventure project ahead of us.
Many comic book games use the classic scheme, where you have to move from the beginning of the level to the end and kill everyone on the way. We killed a hundred thugs, ran a thousand meters, please go to the next location. Here is level one. Arkham Island. It’s monolithic, like a section in Resident Evil 2. We run around it and constantly discover something new.
Moreover, throughout the game something changes on the island. At first everything is calm and nice, the prisoners have not yet gotten out, the guards are trying to quell the riots, the ambulance is parked in the alley and the orderlies are hiding behind it. But time passes, all sorts of different events happen, and therefore the Joker places snipers on towers, wild madmen who got out of the psychiatric hospital run around the perimeter, and doctors are killed and hanged. Every time you go outside you will see something new.
Arkham Asylum reminds me of the first ones Metal Gear Solid. We are among the enemies who are planning evil on a global scale. All our friends are somewhere far away, and they contact us by radio. Information comes in, and Batman urgently needs to get from one point to another. But we are on an island that is controlled by the Joker, and therefore we won’t be able to wander around wherever we want. We must look for workarounds, crawl through the sewer, jump above the ceiling and fly on our wonderful wings.
By the way, as in M.G.S, our hero has a whole range of different devices. For example, the so-called “detective mode”, with the help of which we not only see through walls, but also find people by fingerprints or. fumes. There is a famous batarang and a grappling hook with which we climb walls. Lots of things. This allowed developers to set even more complex tasks for us.
We forcefully teach goodness
But Batman, of course, not only wanders around the island and tries to solve the mysteries of Arkham and the Joker. You will have to smash faces on fists often. Moreover, all battles can be divided into two types. The first is that we simply burst into a crowd of prisoners and arrange a classic superhero fight. It comes out very cheerful, and most importantly – beautiful. Such fights cannot be called difficult, but they are definitely spectacular.
The second type is completely different – tactical. We find ourselves in a huge room with a high ceiling, several tiers and stone gargoyles on the walls. And our task is to eliminate all opponents (Batman does not kill enemies, but only knocks them out; he probably wants the Nobel Peace Prize – Obama was given, and the bat-man is worse?). But here it’s not enough to just jump into a crowd of enemies and quickly punch everyone in the soup. Prisoners walk around with machine guns – one extra action, and Batman dies from an excess of lead in his body.
Therefore, we have to constantly invent winning tactics. Eliminating one enemy is not a problem. You can jump behind him and stun him, or hang from the gargoyle, grab him and hang him by his legs. It’s not forbidden to just knock it out with two or three strong blows – there are plenty of options. But there is a problem: as soon as one of the criminals is defeated, everyone else runs to him. And together they are not exactly strong, but they shoot, the bastards, quickly and accurately – it’s no longer possible to act openly.
But this problem can also be solved for those who wear a mask with ears. We can, for example, quickly fly to the other end of the hall and grab one of the running fighters. Another way is to mine the approach to the fallen enemy. Everyone will gather near him, and we will blow them up. Often you just have to wait until your enemies disperse. If they walk at least two by two, then it will be easier for us. We knock out one with a batarang, and jump onto the second with both feet forward. We shoot down, stun – and again up to the gargoyles.
It may take a separate article to describe all the tactics. After all, every hall in which we fight is special. Somewhere, in addition to the gargoyles, there is also a room with a glass roof, a large network of ventilation, holes in the walls, many secluded corners, high bookshelves and many other objects. Arkham Asylum really often makes us just sit for a few minutes and think about what is the best thing to do. And I assure you that it is not always possible to find the right solution right away. And more than once you will hear the cry of a prisoner: “Batman is dead.”!»
Want to talk about it?
However, the vocabulary of the local bandits is not limited to this phrase only. The game is extremely chatty. Someone’s always saying something. Wherever you go, there are conversations. We’re just crawling through the ventilation, we hear: somewhere prisoners are exchanging phrases. Like, why don’t they have weapons, if Batman comes, then it’s over. Another thug replies that the weapon is rubbish – he wants to split the mouse’s head with his fists. At the same time, we can calmly crawl on and not hear how their communication ends.
When the opponents were rummaging through the library, they argued about something for ten minutes. But we could just jump down and beat them up without even listening to the first sentence. It seems that the island is real, and even though almost all the prisoners are similar to each other, they talk, invent something, shout and argue. This is just wonderful. And what’s especially good is that these aren’t any scenes you can’t miss. If we don’t want to listen, we’ll run past (for example, sometimes we come across news broadcasts, but we can only hear them in one room – move on, we missed everything).
But, of course, the Joker talks the most. Throughout Arkham there are televisions or megaphones, through which he communicates either with us or with the bandits. Every time we enter one of the rooms, he says something.
Moreover, he does not speak monotonously and monotonously. Joker can be quoted in full. Any phrase is at least somewhat interesting. When Batman quietly knocked out one of the bandits, he was heard: “The Eared One took one of you. And now they are not having a romantic date, what are you worth??!“Or another time, when we had just entered the room, but had not yet touched anyone: “If you miss Batman again, I will lock you in cells and release laughing gas. However, why not do it right now?? This is fun!»
And audio recordings with the Joker are a real gift: “The patient nicknamed the Joker does not make contact. “For several days now I have been trying to communicate with him to no avail,” says the female voice of a psychiatrist, “but today I will try to use a different method.”. The Joker instantly retorts: “Oh, don’t make me blush. I have a girlfriend". But not only words play a role, but also intonation itself. In general, the developers were able to keep the bar and confirm that the Joker is one of the most interesting villains.
It’s time to finish. Like, the game is amazing, period. But I want to warn you – you shouldn’t complete it in two or three days. It is advisable to extend the pleasure over a week, or even two. IN Arkham Asylum amazing atmosphere, but the actions are still monotonous. At first everything seems amazing, every discovery is a masterpiece. But just as a repeated joke turns into stupidity, so even the most excellent idea sets teeth on edge. So relax and take your time. Two hours a day – and you will only have positive emotions. Without a doubt, this is one of the best games of the year.
Pros: delightful atmosphere; abundance of humor; interesting discoveries from developers; beautiful appearance; excellent presentation of the plot.
Cons: monotony of actions, the game gets boring closer to the end; weak plot; many interesting finds are repeated repeatedly.
