Batman: Arkham Asylum - Tick tock, feed the Croc

[Slippery]

anyway, like i said before, the game is great, worth playing but i feel that people deserved to know about its short length before forking out $100 for it.

Having not read the >> review I'd think that's a fair point, a sentence along the lines of "taking around x hours" or whatever is still useful information, especially for kids who cannot afford many games and want to get a lot of time out of them.

[RunningMild]

research my purchase? isnt that the point of reading hyper reviews, to get the definitive answer?

No one review can be a 'definitive' answer, because everyone has a different opinion. That's just the nature of reviews. Hell, as some people have mentioned, Hyper may not have mentioned the 'shortness' of the game because it may not have been an issue for them, or it may have taken them longer to finish the game so they didn't feel there was a problem there to begin with. That's their opinion and they're entitled to it.

The only way to get a definitive answer is to read a variety of reviews and reach a conclusion based on that. Metacritic helps greatly with this.

anyway, like i said before, the game is great, worth playing but i feel that people deserved to know about its short length before forking out $100 for it.

I actually knew about the short length before purchasing it because I heard another review mention it. :p

Having not read the >> review I'd think that's a fair point, a sentence along the lines of "taking around x hours" or whatever is still useful information, especially for kids who cannot afford many games and want to get a lot of time out of them.

I actually think that kind of sentence is stupid, because it differs for everyone and shouldn't be used as if it's a scientific fact. I always end up taking longer than the reviewer did, so whenever a reviewer says how many hours it takes to complete a game I kinda ignore it because it's irrelevant and useless IMO.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I actually think that kind of sentence is stupid, because it differs for everyone and shouldn't be used as if it's a scientific fact. I always end up taking longer than the reviewer did, so whenever a reviewer says how many hours it takes to complete a game I kinda ignore it because it's irrelevant and useless IMO.

That, and you don't know that the reviewer actually finished the game. Finishing a game is not needed to give a review about it, you just need to play it enough to get a good feel for it.

[Sweating Bullets]

Sweet! Managed to get the 40 hit combo!!!!!

[Slippery]

That, and you don't know that the reviewer actually finished the game. Finishing a game is not needed to give a review about it, you just need to play it enough to get a good feel for it.

Unless a game is garbage, I'd argue otherwise.

[Stevorooni]

Another free map pack is now available on the PSN

[Azzaman]

But if, as was the case with Arkham Asylum, you finish the game in one to several sittings because you can't stop yourself from playing it then something has gone horribly, horribly right!

I didn't even think the game was really that short. Maybe not long, but hardly short. The experience was more than worth the price of admission.

EDIT!
Oh, and Hyper's led me in the right direction on so many occasions in the past I'd be more than comfortable recommending their opinions on games. >.>

I agree if a game keeps you coming back after completing that it bears special mention. The obvious point here being multiplayer. Though how many games keep you coming back?

tbh I still haven't sat down and played this game (only fired up - and loved! - the demo) so I can't argue one way or another on this particular game, but to me when I'm dropping $100 on a game, I want it to last a bit more then 1 night.

[Slippery]

Well to be fair Azzaman, that'd be a long ass night.

[Azzaman]

Well to be fair Azzaman, that'd be a long ass night.

I'm arguing more in general, not necessarily with batman. Perhaps a new thread is in order good sir?

[aubergine]

Well to be fair Azzaman, that'd be a long ass night.

Could we say... an INSANE NIGHT?

Wow, that was so cool of me.

I must take a lot longer than other people to play games, but I like to spend time looking around corners and also just appreciating the artistic design in games, literally just.... looking at stuff. For that reason I couldn't really measure how "long" a game like this is.

I enjoyed **** out of it though on my first playthough (on normal) then found that the difficulty hike to the combat was very significant when moving on to Hard, giving the game a compelling level of extra challenge that is missing from most games.

By that I mean that, I find if you have mastered a game on normal than the leap to a new difficulty setting can be barely noticeable sometimes. Resident Evil 4 for example. You know where the ammo drops are, the weak points, have mastered the controls etc. I want my hard modes to be HARD, not an extra 10% health tacked on to enemy sprites.

For my system of measurement, if I even want to play a game though a second time that's enough to put it into AAA territory. I just don't have time to waste on middling experiences that I've already had.

I doubt I'd personally give the game a 10, though it's minor things that prevent it getting that extra point, and they are only things that I think about in hindsight - eg they didn't bother me while playing the actual game.



While I think it is good game design and subversive to remove "boss battles" and replace them with... "boss sequences" or something, I was left wanting for a chance to knock Killer Croc's teeth in.
The "Bane" boss fight is repeated over and over with the charge, batarang, beat-up then ride mechanic carrying over to the Titan Henchmen battles. This was fine but I think something else could have been added... perhaps increasing mutation by Titan resulting in a different set of attacks by the henchman?

Pretty much my only criticisms are a lack of battle variety, yet given that it's half the game it's a bit important. The game is carried, magnificently, by the investigation and stealth mechanics, level design, writing, voice acting, artistic design and all the attention to detail like Batman's costume wear and tear or changes to the environment that follow the story, and the Riddler collect-a-thon has to be the best integrated game padding ever devised, given that it has (in it's shallow way) an actual narrative reason for being there, and there is a compelling gameplay reason for it being there to with it providing experience and health points and unlocking other game modes, trophies and bios.

If you finished the game in a single night, I think that just means it deserves the top marks because you were complelled to consume it so rabidly.

An expanded, city-based sequel with vehicle sections would be awesome too.

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

I'm not so sure on the vehicle parts. What made this game really awesome for me was the stealth parts and flying through the air. I usually hate stealth games, but I adored this, and being able to grapple up to the towers in the front courtyard and glide down just made this game for me (among other things). If you start putting in a vehicle section, then there's no stealth and it'll be either racing or blowing something up.

Not too sure of the geography of Gotham City, but maybe the next one can be on the Narrows. You chase Harvey Dent into his secret lair, which is really a trap for Batman.

[Stevorooni]

I'd only want the vehicle bits to be a a fun way of getting around Gotham but the actual missions to remain as stealthy action. I'd wonder how they'd handle a full city though, Batman doesn't run people over so the city would either have to be empty of pedestrians or they'd be really good at jumping out of the way.

I think if we get a sequel it will be limited to a particular area again, no massive open world. That's not such a bad thing, I've gotten to know 4 versions of Liberty City, 2 of Vice City, San Andreas, Stillwater, whatever city inFamous was set in, Miami (Scarface), some country (Mercenaries 2), Manhattan Island (Spiderman Web of Shadows), 1940's New York (The Godfather), Oblivion Land, Paradise City, the town from Bully... probably more. It's fun to explore these massive cities but sometimes I just want to play a game where you don't spend half your time travelling to where the next mission begins. The small tight world of Arkham Island still had plenty to look at but it wasn't so huge that I'd never bother to see it all.

[Pauly]

i think what made this game work so well was that it was more like metroid, not gta. a game set throughout gotham city itself would be completely different to this game.

edit: stevo said it better :p

[sausage]

Didn't he just.

[concrete donkey]

What did everyone think of the final Boss battle?

[Vindik8or]

All the boss battles except for Scarecrow were disappointing. They all involved variously fighting goons, evading attacks, and/or chucking batarangs. It's not so bad given how awesome the regular combat is (except the Killer Croc fight, that was just tedious), but really I expected more. Most disappointing is that you don't get to fight Harley at all.

[Cobla]

What did everyone think of the final Boss battle?It was okay. Over a little too quickly I thought.

Like Aub said, most of the boss battles were more boss "sequences" than traditional boss "fights", which I found both refreshing and also a little disappointing. After a few of them (including the last one) I kinda said "is that it?" and didn't have much sense of accomplishment.

They were well put together though.

Hey welcome back to the interwebs btw. :)

[Halt, Hammerzeit]

What did everyone think of the final Boss battle?

I'm of two minds about boss battles through this game. While I wanted to have fights against foes like Killer Croc and Harley Quinn, I didn't really enjoy the boss fight against Ivy or Joker. The Bane fight was alright, but it was basically a continuation of fighting those other monstrosities. I'm not sure how I would have done it differently, though.

[Natrak]

I loved the Killer Croc fight. Prowling about on those wooden planks, Batarang primed, waiting for Croc to make his move as I move onto my objective. I felt it had a wonderful sense of atmosphere and I didn't find it tedious at all.

[Stevorooni]

Yeah the killer croc thing had me on edge the whole time because I knew he was going to burst out from any direction, the scary music would play and I would have to be quick to flick a battarang at him while simultaneously escaping.

[Sweating Bullets]

I think I am on the last Joker fight and it is pretty annoying so far. Just fighting of waves of dudes just to smack him around and then run.
The other boss fights were pretty cool. I would have loved to see Clayface and even the Hush included.

[Cobla]

Yeah I found it annoying until I focussed on taking out the guy who's breaking into the gun cabinet (3rd wave iirc?). Then it was a total cakewalk.

[RunningMild]

I've been playing more fighting maps- so awesome and challenging! In fact, I would say that this game has the best 360 degree fighting system of all time.

Those guys on Good Game were insane to say the fighting was all style and no substance. No substance? Try the Extreme challenge maps and tell me that! :p

[AranchineD]

Well if you compare it to other games that have a fighting system within the same sort of environment and style (like Ninja Gaiden or God Of War) it really isn't that deep, at least that's what I got from their point about it being 'all style and no substance'.

[concrete donkey]

Well if you compare it to other games that have a fighting system within the same sort of environment and style (like Ninja Gaiden or God Of War) it really isn't that deep, at least that's what I got from their point about it being 'all style and no substance'.

assassins creed had better combat. i like that game. i should play it again. maybe i will. maybe i will.

[Spazzallo]

Yes! Got my 40x combo achievment and got hit just as I hit it :). The new downloadable content (round 4) makes it really easy if you can hop on the titans back before killing anyone!

[RunningMild]

For my system of measurement, if I even want to play a game though a second time that's enough to put it into AAA territory. I just don't have time to waste on middling experiences that I've already had.

I think the fact that I've spent more time playing the Challenge maps in this game than I've spent playing some games full stop puts it in AAA territory. :p

On that note, I just finished getting three bats in all the combat maps, including the DLC ones! Except for the infinite enemies one of course. ;)

I loved the Killer Croc fight. Prowling about on those wooden planks, Batarang primed, waiting for Croc to make his move as I move onto my objective. I felt it had a wonderful sense of atmosphere and I didn't find it tedious at all.

Yeah the killer croc thing had me on edge the whole time because I knew he was going to burst out from any direction, the scary music would play and I would have to be quick to flick a battarang at him while simultaneously escaping.

I agree with the above. This game was more focused on atmosphere, story and character than fighting, and in that regard the KC sequence fit like a glove.

Well if you compare it to other games that have a fighting system within the same sort of environment and style (like Ninja Gaiden or God Of War) it really isn't that deep, at least that's what I got from their point about it being 'all style and no substance'.

You misunderstand me. I was talking about '360 degree fighting', and in that regard those comparison games don't even count, and they're not the 'same sort of style' by a long shot.

In Ninja Gaiden, the combos and moves are strictly based around a one-on-one system. Sure, you can jump from one enemy to another with the Diving Swallow and such, but when you attack you always have to focus on one enemy at a time instead of being able to juggle a whole bunch of them. God of War is the same, though you can spin around on the spot and attempt to combo multiple enemies with horizontal attacks or something like that, but it's still designed around one-on-one mechanics.

When I talk about 360 degree fighting engines, I'm talking about a fighting engine designed to let you fight in all directions with ease. Examples include last-gen's Prince of Persia series, Rise To Honour, etc. I'm guessing Assassin's Creed also fits the bill but I haven't played it yet.

The point is, this kind of fighting system is so difficult to pull off and I've seen so many games try it and fail. Batman: Arkham Asylum gives us a 360 degree fighting system that is easy to learn, hard to master, deep, challenging, rewarding, and above all flawlessly executed. That is an extremely challenging, borderline impossible thing to pull off, so to hear someone say that it's all style and no substance (and spend half the ****ing review saying it over and over again no less) really rubs me the wrong way.

If they really were comparing it to games like Ninja Gaiden and God of War than that's just stupid. The games are nothing alike. Sure, AA's system isn't as deep as NGs or GOWs per se, but NG and GOW don't allow you to fight in all directions in the same way that AA does.

[banjoeskimo]

M, right on about the combat. Furthermore, Ninja Gaiden and GoW are far more heavily focused on combat than Batman ever was. Arkham Asylum is just as much an adventure/stealth game as it is a brawler, so to have successfully combined that many elements and done all of them well is quite a feat.

Reviewer is objectively wrong.

[RunningMild]

M, right on about the combat. Furthermore, Ninja Gaiden and GoW are far more heavily focused on combat than Batman ever was. Arkham Asylum is just as much an adventure/stealth game as it is a brawler, so to have successfully combined that many elements and done all of them well is quite a feat.

Reviewer is objectively wrong.

Yeah, to think that Arkham Asylum isn't even a combat-driven game and it still puts 99% of 360 degree combat-driven games to absolute shame. :p

Sands of Time did that too. It was all about the platforming but the fighting kicked arse. Maybe that's the secret to making it work- make it a small part of the game. ;)

[banjoeskimo]

It's by no means the "best fighter ever," but you're right, considering it isn't the focus of the game it's a surprisingly good system. It's deceptive, too. I didn't even realise how deep it was until I got to the combat challenges. You know a game is well layered when you're still discovering new moves on your second playthrough.

[Sweating Bullets]

Just finished this yesterday night. Freaking awesome.
Going thru again to get the riddler challenges. And might start on the challenges later. Then try it again on hard.

[Jickle]

Yeah, to think that Arkham Asylum isn't even a combat-driven game and it still puts 99% of 360 degree combat-driven games to absolute shame. :p

Sands of Time did that too. It was all about the platforming but the fighting kicked arse. Maybe that's the secret to making it work- make it a small part of the game. ;)

I think the combat system in Batman runs rings around the one in PoP. I didn't really enjoy the combat in Sands of Time (sans the fight in that elevator thing, which was great), it was pretty repetitive and way too easy. All things considered I think Sands of Time may have been the better game overall but then that's a somewhat irrelevant argument to make.

[aubergine]

I agree with people saying the boss sequences were great, I appreciated it as a batman-appropriate pacifist-subversion of the boss-battle cliche. However, I would ALSO have liked it to include the boss-battle cliche!

EG, after the Killer Croc sequence, he traps you in a sewer arena and you have to beat the shit out of him while levels of effluent rise and fall. And you don't just batarang him when he charges you.

[RunningMild]

I think the combat system in Batman runs rings around the one in PoP.

I never said anything contrary to that. :p

I only mentioned PoP because it's the only other one I liked. I really should play Assassin's Creed sometime...

[AranchineD]

You misunderstand me. I was talking about '360 degree fighting', and in that regard those comparison games don't even count, and they're not the 'same sort of style' by a long shot.

In Ninja Gaiden, the combos and moves are strictly based around a one-on-one system. Sure, you can jump from one enemy to another with the Diving Swallow and such, but when you attack you always have to focus on one enemy at a time instead of being able to juggle a whole bunch of them.

Dude, if you're focusing on only a single enemy in Ninja Gaiden you'll be dead in about 30 seconds, at least when you're really getting into the game or on a harder difficulty, when (in NG2) you're fighting against a bunch of explosive shuriken throwing ninjas, you're going to be striking out in all directions, rolling around the arena and only hitting an enemy once or twice before moving to the next one unless you have enough time to quickly get in an Izuna Drop (or using another weapon that has a throw), jumping around from enemy to enemy using Flying Swallow and also Guillotine Throw, countering in multiple directions, as well as throwing normal shurikens (like Batarangs) around to stun/keep your combo up and taking advantage of those moments of invincibility you get while performing a roll or performing an UT (and the UT itself is a way of getting from one enemy to another).

Point is, Ninja Gaiden has a system that both incorporates a deep one-on-one system AND a 360 degree fighting system for my mind, it's just that it doesn't automatically jump you halfway across the room when you press attack, you have to actually manually close the distance yourself (either using Flying Swallow or using the roll attack) and be precise with what direction you want to attack. Also, considering what you can do in the game, and the fact that both Batman and NG actually share quite a many fighting elements (shurikens<->Batarangs, jumping and diving around the arena, and the Guillotine Throw is similiar to Batman's move of flipping over an enemy and has much the same result etc.) I think the comparison is actually quite apt.

I haven't actually played God of War but I thought it was the same as NG, but yeah. >_>[/QUOTE]

[RunningMild]

Dude, if you're focusing on only a single enemy in Ninja Gaiden you'll be dead in about 30 seconds, at least when you're really getting into the game or on a harder difficulty, when (in NG2) you're fighting against a bunch of explosive shuriken throwing ninjas, you're going to be striking out in all directions, rolling around the arena and only hitting an enemy once or twice before moving to the next one unless you have enough time to quickly get in an Izuna Drop (or using another weapon that has a throw), jumping around from enemy to enemy using Flying Swallow and also Guillotine Throw, countering in multiple directions, as well as throwing normal shurikens (like Batarangs) around to stun/keep your combo up and taking advantage of those moments of invincibility you get while performing a roll or performing an UT (and the UT itself is a way of getting from one enemy to another).

Point is, Ninja Gaiden has a system that both incorporates a deep one-on-one system AND a 360 degree fighting system for my mind, it's just that it doesn't automatically jump you halfway across the room when you press attack, you have to actually manually close the distance yourself (either using Flying Swallow or using the roll attack) and be precise with what direction you want to attack. Also, considering what you can do in the game, and the fact that both Batman and NG actually share quite a many fighting elements (shurikens<->Batarangs, jumping and diving around the arena, and the Guillotine Throw is similiar to Batman's move of flipping over an enemy and has much the same result etc.) I think the comparison is actually quite apt.

I haven't actually played God of War but I thought it was the same as NG, but yeah. >_>

Fair point, but the actual combos of NG are designed exclusively for one-on-one fighting. There are also moves such as pop-up attacks which are designed to let you keep hammering one guy while the others sit around and watch, and then move on to the next guy. The fighting system is also based around isolating one enemy and taking him/her out before moving on to the next one. You can't just jump into the middle of a pack and fight in all directions without getting killed like in AA.

It's absolutely true that you have to manage the enemies, keep moving and jump from enemy to enemy and such in NG, but AFAI can remember you have to break combo to do that. If you want to perform a long, damaging combo, every hit is going into the same guy. When you fight multiple enemies as you described, you're basically doing hit-and-run attacks until you get an opening to hit a guy with a full combo. You can't actually combo seamlessly in all directions like in Batman, which is the major difference. In Batman, you can hit a whole bunch of guys with the one combo and keep building to better moves and stronger hits. In NG, if you go from one enemy to another, you have to start the combo from scratch AFAI can remember.

Don't get me wrong, NG is one of the best fighting games I've ever played, but I just don't think it has any resemblance to AA's fighting style.

[AranchineD]

Fair point, but the actual combos of NG are designed exclusively for one-on-one fighting. There are also moves such as pop-up attacks which are designed to let you keep hammering one guy while the others sit around and watch, and then move on to the next guy. The fighting system is also based around isolating one enemy and taking him/her out before moving on to the next one. You can't just jump into the middle of a pack and fight in all directions without getting killed like in AA.

Well...they are and they're aren't. You can combo on one guy but if you hold any direction while you're pressing the button Ryu will start slashing in that direction, so if you're against a number of enemies that aren't too big a threat or just feel confident enough in dodging and countering then you can take on multiple guys at once.

But your last sentence and your second paragraph[I]* to me, actually doesn't support your argument. I mean, as long as you're not playing like an idiot, you can just rape everything being in the middle of them and aren't really watching your position in relation to anything because you can attack anyone from anywhere, and you only really get hit if you press the wrong button within the fairly forgiving timing window of those counters (I know on Hard they remove the bright visual indicators but I've played enough of NG for that not to bother me at all anyway, since it doesn't have them in any capacity). I just think ultimately that makes the system a bit shallow; visually impressive, sure, and also fun and exciting but in the end shallow all the same.

Or maybe it's just because the game does let you get right into the middle of fights and win fairly quickly, and I just generally think fighting systems where I haven't had to put almost every bit of effort into learning it to be able to just survive are, by that process, not really that deep.

*I won't quote it because it's just above, but I'll just say you don't lose your combo if you switch enemies, it's based entirely around if you wait too long between attacks, but correcting that doesn't actually change anything really, so no matter.

[aubergine]

The first Ninja Gaiden was too hard
for me, couldn't get past the first level boss guy.

Likewise the fighting in this I'm very hit and miss, with emphasis
on the miss. Doubt I'll get that 40 combo achievement!

Guess I'm an investigator, not a fighter.

[Sweating Bullets]

The 40 combo achievement is very doable. Just keep at it aub. Rumble in the Jungle challenge 2 is the best place to try it - just watch out for the dudes that throw the bricks at you.

On the topic of challenges - has anyone got tips on getting the gold medals?

[Vindik8or]

40 hit combos are doable, especially if you go for that room of 16 guys before the Joker encounter. You have to favour countering over getting that crit hit, though. Missing a counter and fighting the daggers/shock-prod guys are the main ways to mess you up. I've found the best way to deal with the latter is to pick a line of attack that avoids them until you build up 5 hits then point your unblockable take-down at them. Don't even bother with the cape-stun or evade to throw them off, it's not worth it (unless you've already lost your combo/dark-knight bonus).

The other thing you can do is use the time between when you press attack and the attack animation resolves to turn the camera to point at your next target. That is how you aim attacks in this game. I know it's hard to avoid just gawking at how friggin awesome the animations are, but do that, and always favour counters and unblockables over standard hits and you'll get there.

[Spazzallo]

As I said in an earlier post, the 40 combo is very easy to do in the new downloadable content. Just jump on the titans back before killing anyone and swing away! I had a 10 hit combo by the time I got on his back, 34 by the time I got off, and just hit 6 more bad guys whilst diving around everywhere to finish it off.

The hardest combat achievment for me was the one where you have to use all of batmans moves in a single combo. You always forget one :(.

[RunningMild]

I mean, as long as you're not playing like an idiot, you can just rape everything being in the middle of them and aren't really watching your position in relation to anything because you can attack anyone from anywhere, and you only really get hit if you press the wrong button within the fairly forgiving timing window of those counters (I know on Hard they remove the bright visual indicators but I've played enough of NG for that not to bother me at all anyway, since it doesn't have them in any capacity). I just think ultimately that makes the system a bit shallow; visually impressive, sure, and also fun and exciting but in the end shallow all the same.

I actually disagree with that, because once things get serious the counter window feels a lot less forgiving. Also, you can't attack anyone from anywhere, because once you start off you can only do short range attacks. Once you build up to critical hits, you can go flying across the room to hit guys, but otherwise you can't. It's something you have to earn. :p

Or maybe it's just because the game does let you get right into the middle of fights and win fairly quickly, and I just generally think fighting systems where I haven't had to put almost every bit of effort into learning it to be able to just survive are, by that process, not really that deep.

I completely disagree with this comment. Maybe that's the impression you got in general play, but if you don't put 'every bit of effort' into learning the combat system and mastering all the little nuances and tricks, you will never ever get gold medals on the challenge maps. Hell, you won't even survive some of the extreme challenge maps if you just go in mashing the buttons randomly. I was really surprised at how tactical the challenge maps were.

But your last sentence and your second paragraph[i]* to me, actually doesn't support your argument.

My argument is that the fighting systems are totally different and shouldn't even be compared to each other because it's an irrelevant comparison. Is that the impression you got, or do you think I'm trying to argue that AA's fighting system is as deep/deeper/better than NGs?

I've found the best way to deal with the latter is to pick a line of attack that avoids them until you build up 5 hits then point your unblockable take-down at them. Don't even bother with the cape-stun or evade to throw them off, it's not worth it (unless you've already lost your combo/dark-knight bonus).

Yeah, this is the strategy I used. Only bother with the cape stun/evade thing if there's no one else nearby and you absolutely have to attack that guy. Also, you can stun a knife guy with the Ultra Batclaw, so if there's a heap of enemies and you start the map by grappling some of them and you grapple a knife guy, you can get a few hits in on him to start. :p

Another thing I noticed is that once you exceed x5, you will do a slo-mo hit right before a takedown is unlocked. So when you see the game go into slo-mo, start looking around for that instant takedown. If there's a bunch of grunts, maybe hit a couple and then takedown the last one (and if you see the Counter icon, you can counter with a takedown), but if you see a knife guy or baton guy, go straight into a takedown on them. Also, some of the takedown animations are quite long, which gives you a chance to pan the camera around and figure out your next move.

[AranchineD]

I actually disagree with that, because once things get serious the counter window feels a lot less forgiving. Also, you can't attack anyone from anywhere, because once you start off you can only do short range attacks. Once you build up to critical hits, you can go flying across the room to hit guys, but otherwise you can't. It's something you have to earn. :p


Like I said, I personally didn't find the counter window really unforgiving at all, but I've already been used so much to having to counter within a millisecond so that's probably why.

And even if that is the case with the critical hits, I still think it's a bit iffy that you can do it (and considering IIRC it only took 6-8 combo hits before you could start doing critical hits, it means most of a fight you can be doing it).

I completely disagree with this comment. Maybe that's the impression you got in general play, but if you don't put 'every bit of effort' into learning the combat system and mastering all the little nuances and tricks, you will never ever get gold medals on the challenge maps. Hell, you won't even survive some of the extreme challenge maps if you just go in mashing the buttons randomly. I was really surprised at how tactical the challenge maps were.

Well on the first time playing the game at a mate's place who had finished the game, after about 4-5 attempts and learning just how to build up a combo in the game and my friend telling FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP ATTACKING THE TAZER DUDES, I was starting to knock down the challenge maps pretty quickly. I don't know, maybe I just don't see the depth because I started right at the other end of the spectrum with every skill unlocked, or because I'm just a freak. >_>



My argument is that the fighting systems are totally different and shouldn't even be compared to each other because it's an irrelevant comparison. Is that the impression you got, or do you think I'm trying to argue that AA's fighting system is as deep/deeper/better than NGs?

Well, no, you were saying before about how you thought it was wrong to say the game was all "style over substance" and I was just saying even on the game's own merits, as well as compared to games which I still think have similiar fighting systems even though you might disagree, that he kinda did have a point.

[concrete donkey]

well, atleast the graphics are nice.

[Citizen Erased]

http://dipswitchcomics.com/pictures/ds136final.jpg

[RunningMild]

Well on the first time playing the game at a mate's place who had finished the game, after about 4-5 attempts and learning just how to build up a combo in the game and my friend telling FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP ATTACKING THE TAZER DUDES, I was starting to knock down the challenge maps pretty quickly. I don't know, maybe I just don't see the depth because I started right at the other end of the spectrum with every skill unlocked, or because I'm just a freak. >_>

Yeah, maybe you're just naturally gifted, whereas I have to train and work for my ****ing gold medals, grumble grumble... :p

Well, no, you were saying before about how you thought it was wrong to say the game was all "style over substance" and I was just saying even on the game's own merits, as well as compared to games which I still think have similiar fighting systems even though you might disagree, that he kinda did have a point.

Yeah, I think the system is great on it's own merits and compared to similar games. Just opinion I guess.

[Sweating Bullets]

Finished all the Riddler puzzles and I still don't quite get the Chronicles of Arkham puzzle ending :/
Probably because I skipped listening to them.

Now onto the challenges.....

[RunningMild]

Finished all the Riddler puzzles and I still don't quite get the Chronicles of Arkham puzzle ending :/
Probably because I skipped listening to them.

Of course you wouldn't get it if you didn't listen to the others! :rolleyes:

[Tukenstein]

I just went through my character bios looking for the character with the voice closest to the CoA voice. Turns out I was spot on. =p

[Stevorooni]

The evidence pretty much pointed to who it was anyway, although when I first went back to where they were last, I didn't notice where I had to look.

[Nic Xtreme]

I didn't realise that was the big secret? I thought we were supposed to know it was them? :/

[Stevorooni]

It was pretty obvious, they may as well have been wearing a shirt that said ""I'm that Arkham Guy!

[Sweating Bullets]

Hell yeah! Just got the freeflow combo perfection achievement. The combat system is pretty good now that I have gotten a better hang of it.

[Pai Mel]

Anyone seen the PC version yet? I have 2 copies (Asian version) coming my way from Play-Asia, shipped on the 22nd. I don't know if I should get rid of my Xbox version and begin the game anew on PC.

[Slippery]

I think even without PhysX the pc version looks a lot better, thats me comparing it on my pc to the Ps3 demo.

[Pai Mel]

So you have it it PC already? Did you also get the Asian version?

I have an EAH4670 VGA card so no PhysX stuff for me anyhow.

[Sweating Bullets]

Hell yeah! Shock and Awe managed to get the 3 medals!! Just a tad over 30K - I nearly did the whole thing without getting hit but then douche punched me in the head.

[Vindik8or]

So you have it it PC already? Did you also get the Asian version?

I have an EAH4670 VGA card so no PhysX stuff for me anyhow.

Nah man, get it from Steam.

[adam_91vn]

That graphical shit that happened made me think that my 360 was gunna RROD :(

[Sweating Bullets]

That graphical shit that happened made me think that my 360 was gunna RROD :(

I noticed Batman coughing and I said to myself Scarecrow encounter. And then when the screen ****ed up I thought it was a RRoD. Then the intro fired up I thought I must have had a power surge until I saw the Joker. Very clever trick the developers used tho. I read on another forum that some dude thought his had RRoD again after just getting it back and threw his pad down really freaking hard and broke one of the shoulder buttons.


I just need to finish it on hard to get 1000/1000. Shock and Awe on extreme was a pain to get but thankfully managed. It was the timer that kept getting me - was able to get 30K without a whole lot of problems but the last round was pure hell.

Will aim to get it completed on hard once my exams are over.

[RunningMild]

Hell yeah! Shock and Awe managed to get the 3 medals!! Just a tad over 30K - I nearly did the whole thing without getting hit but then douche punched me in the head.

That kinda reminds of that bit from The Dark Knight where he says to Lucius "I want to turn my head". ;)

I noticed Batman coughing and I said to myself Scarecrow encounter. And then when the screen ****ed up I thought it was a RRoD. Then the intro fired up I thought I must have had a power surge until I saw the Joker.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. When I saw him coughing I was ready and waiting for the Scarecrow encounter. Then when the game 'jammed' I thought WTF, but I waited a bit and while the screen was black I heard Scarecrow laughing and thought 'hang on a second', then when the intro started and the Bat Signal was changed to look like Scarecrow's face, I knew it was fine. Also, the fact that I was prepared for a Scarecrow bit and STILL got caught off guard is pretty damn impressive IMO.

By the way, that guy who threw down his controller and broke it? SERVES HIM RIGHT FOR BEING SUCH A ****ING IDIOT. I mean, you can hear Scarecrow laughing less than two seconds after the jam. :rolleyes:

[Zace]

Nah man, get it from Steam.

PC is shit, get it for PS3. Everyone knows PS3 is the better version Vindik8or.

[Vindik8or]

PC is shit, get it for PS3. Everyone knows PS3 is the better version Vindik8or.

Well yeah. Of course. Except I felt like spending my money on something of value rather than giving it to the Sony CEOs so they could spend it on bukkake hooker orgies.

[concrete donkey]

ps3 is shit. get it for 360. everyone knows 360 is better

[Pai Mel]

How much is Batman AA on PS3? $120?

On 360 it is around $60 - $70.

On PC it's just a lil over $40 and can run at higher res.

Do the math.

[AyatollaofRocknRolla]

I've had an untouched copy of ODST sitting on my shelf for a week but wanted to see this through first. The pacing on the game was really well done, maintaining the momentum all the way through.

I'm keen to go back and get the rest of the collectables and get stuck into the challenges. I still need a bit of work with building combos though.

[McChimp]

I'm wanting to get back to this to find more of the Riddler stuff and have a second play-through on a harder difficulty, but I just picked up Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma and I'm guessing that'll be chewing up some time for the near future.

[Zace]

Well yeah. Of course. Except I felt like spending my money on something of value rather than giving it to the Sony CEOs so they could spend it on bukkake hooker orgies.

The developers still get their money. You probably pirated it anyway which is causing the downturn in game companies profits and some of them closing.

WAY. TO. GO.

[RunningMild]

The developers still get their money. You probably pirated it anyway which is causing the downturn in game companies profits and some of them closing.

WAY. TO. GO.

He already said a hundred times he was getting it off Steam. :rolleyes:

[Vindik8or]

The developers still get their money. You probably pirated it anyway which is causing the downturn in game companies profits and some of them closing.

WAY. TO. GO.

Hey. Hey. At least I am doing my part to reduce the competition that's out there when we start up in the game development industry. AMIRITE?

[Zace]

Hey. Hey. At least I am doing my part to reduce the competition that's out there when we start up in the game development industry. AMIRITE?



eeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy.
_
( ((
\ =\
__\_ `-\
(____))( \------
(____)) _
(____))
(____))____/----


Still, I going to eat your left hand.

[Hyperblau]

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 just got announced at the Spike VGAwards.
http://kotaku.com/5425116/from-the-vgas-mark-hamill-hints-at-arkham-2-%5Bupdated%5D

They gave out a URL but the site hasnt gone live yet. http://arkhamhasmoved.com/

Should be interesting, dunno about using the same setup of being in Arkham but hopefully if they put the same care into it as the first it should be pretty great.

[Starscream]

Exactly. Hard to top the first game, if it's going to be at Arkham again.

[Gutsman Heavy]

groovy

[Citizen Erased]

awesome, awesome to the max.

[Natrak]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/batman-arkham-spike-tv/59829

It looks to me like by 'Arkham has moved' they mean the inmates have escaped. Maybe Joker's taken over a part of Gotham with the help of his Arkham inmates.

[Citizen Erased]

Looks to me like hes gone and bulit his own Arkham Ayslam.

[borgster101]

Ooohh .. great news! :D

Yeah looks like it's set in the city streets, hence the "insanity" of Arkham has moved to the city itself!

[Stevorooni]

ZOMG!

Looks like The Joker has taken over a chunk of Gotham (including an Amusement Park by the looks of it) and renamed it Arkham. He doesn't look too healthy either.

Can't wait!

[Citizen Erased]

How does Batman deal with a criminal psychopath on life support ?

Also is it me or does it seem a little too early to be releasing a trailer for the sequel to a game that just came out this year ?

[AranchineD]

Come on more complex combat system!

[Sweating Bullets]

Awesome news!!

[Nic Xtreme]

Haha, this is awesome! Here's hoping that the last third of the game is more polished this time round! (Also, first person mode for non-combat situations...please!)

[RunningMild]

Come on more complex combat system!

Actually, while I think the core of the fighting system is fine as it is, I think there is a way they could add more complexity without ruining the whole thing. Remember how 'takedown' and 'throw' required pressing two buttons at once? Make it so that there's more of those moves, but you can only choose two at a time. I never used the throw so I'd love the chance to unlock something better and map it to that button combo...

(Also, first person mode for non-combat situations...please!)

God no, that would suck. :p

(unless it was optional...)

[Stevorooni]

Hopefully they'll improve the bat goggles so that you can still see the pretty scenery, seeing as you spend 90% of the time with them switched on

[aubergine]

There's no surprise there's a sequel, and set in the city, but didn't expect an announcement so quickly. This game shouldn't be out until 2011 if it's going to have decent developement time, although the main slog would have been achieved already.

[REQUIEM]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/batman-arkham-spike-tv/59829
.

That looks sweet as.

[Stevorooni]

Mr Freeze and Talia al Ghul (daughter of Ra's al Ghul) in Arkham Asylum 2? (http://kotaku.com/5520444/two-voice-actors-out-arkham-asylum-2-villains)

[AranchineD]

Tali


OOOHHH

a


Oh :(

[ElPresidente]

Hehehe, that gave me a giggle. :P

[aubergine]

All this talk about Arkham City lately made me want to play the first game again, so I bought the B:AA GOTY. It only seemed to be released in small numbers and comes with a dubious, non-excitement-inflaming 3-D function. I wasn't sure about spending $70 on it (JB) since I can get the normal edition for $40-$50.

Here's the thing though, it turns out it actually works really, really well. I'm playing it on a HD monitor (not sure I'd like to try in on a SD TV given the loss of detail in 3-D) and I was geniunely surprised at how effective the 3-D effect is. I mean, it uses a variation on the old Red/Blue glasses (more magenta/green in this case) and there is expected loss of resolution and colour information, but it's by no means as severe as I'd expected and the 3-D really is just beyond my expectations.

A second reason why it's a good purchase is another unexpected 'bonus' (if you care for such things...) - the achievements are duplicated. The xbox treats B:AA GOTY as a wholly seperate game to B:AA, so there's another thousand or so points up for grabs (might be more than 1000 as the disc also includes the downloadable challenges released after-the-fact.)

Also, the game remains completely ****ing brilliant.

Is the 3-D, challenge maps and achievement points worth an extra $20-$30? Not sure, but it's certainly worth checking out. I got other people from my house to come watch the opening sequences in 3-D and everyone was as surprised and impressed as I was.

[Vindik8or]

There's no surprise there's a sequel, and set in the city, but didn't expect an announcement so quickly. This game shouldn't be out until 2011 if it's going to have decent developement time, although the main slog would have been achieved already.

It's gotta be quick. It's an expensive business keeping a video game studio open, but here's the thing. They've already got an engine developed, so really now they're mostly creating assets and content with a few minor tweaks and changes to the engine, which is much less involved and intense than developing a game from scratch (first you must invent the universe).

[Pai Mel]

If you play the normal and GOTY edition on PC, then you get achievement points as well... or so I heard.

[Vindik8or]

OH MAN! Achievements points are such good value! UNH! YEAH! Gonna get me some of that shit.

[aubergine]

It's a bit of a who-cares thing I know, but I was still taken by surprise when the "unlocked" tags were popping up. Mainly I wanted to encourage people to check out the 3-D effect. I was considering taking it back in the grace period and just getting the cheaper non-GOTY version, but wound up (after showing others) that it's worth hanging on to.

[Vindik8or]

The 3D bit should be a free patch, not an impetus to buy a whole new edition. For the PC version there was probably some neckbeard who wrote a 3D patch in anticipation of the original game coming out.

[aubergine]

They have to deliver the glasses to you though, as well as pay a license to the 3-D tech company. Maybe as a low-cost patch, but still, getting the glasses out...

Would have been a better idea to have it in from the get-go. Maybe Arkham City will have it from day one.

[Vindik8or]

Oh right, I didn't read that far into it. I thought it was just enabling 3D display on 3D tellies. Sheesh.

[aubergine]

No no, it works on ANY TV or monitor, using a variation on the traditional red/blue process. Like I said, it works surprisingly better than I would have thought and makes buying a $4000 3-D tv look even more retarded than it already did!

[Starscream]

All this talk about Arkham City lately made me want to play the first game again, so I bought the B:AA GOTY. It only seemed to be released in small numbers and comes with a dubious, non-excitement-inflaming 3-D function. I wasn't sure about spending $70 on it (JB) since I can get the normal edition for $40-$50.
...

It's around $35 imported from the UK.

[Australian Ninja]

It's around $35 imported from the UK.

One of these days, BAM, ZOOM, straight to the moon!

[Ninjalada]

When doing challenges, what is the difference between normal Batman and armoured Batman?

Had a go at the Shock And Awe one, managed to get past the first round once when I got lucky takedowns on the two knife dudes. Don't know how you're supposed to do it.

[Munky]

It's around $35 imported from the UK.

Which is a rip off since I picked it up in London for 10 quid ($15.28) a month and a half ago from HMV in London.

Also picked up Beatles: Rock Band for 6 quid.

They were also flogging Vanquish for 10 quid.

[Dunkurtin]

2/9/2010

[Sweating Bullets]

When doing challenges, what is the difference between normal Batman and armoured Batman?

Had a go at the Shock And Awe one, managed to get past the first round once when I got lucky takedowns on the two knife dudes. Don't know how you're supposed to do it.

It has been a while since I played last but I think the differences are purely cosmetic - nothing else

Start with the early challenge rooms. You should be aiming to clear each round with little break in combo as possible in that you dish out all the 9 moves (it is 9 different moves right) so you maximise the combo meter and multipler

[Vindik8or]

Which is a rip off since I picked it up in London for 10 quid ($15.28) a month and a half ago from HMV in London.

Also picked up Beatles: Rock Band for 6 quid.

They were also flogging Vanquish for 10 quid.

Which itself is a rip off since I got it from steam for $7.50

[Xanafalgue]

So I'm about an hour in now... when does game get gud?

[AranchineD]

Towards the end, when the game starts to not treat the player like a complete moron. And then the last boss wrecks everything again.

[igotnewsuper8systemWRONG!]

So I'm about an hour in now... when does game get gud?

Another gamer ruined by the quality of the ps3 exclusive.

[Spazzola]

quality

ps3 exclusive.

http://www.seniorark.com/Humor/mouse,%20laughing.gif

[Xanafalgue]

Another gamer ruined by the quality of the ps3 exclusive.

Because they're so bad I have to resort to fishing around for average 2 year old games to play?

Well QUITE.

[Munky]

I finally played this over the last two days and it was brilliant.

Pretty much a cross between Metroid, Bioshock and God of War and nailing everything.