Batman - Arkham Asylum
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There is very little I can say that will convince many to ignore the fact that Modern Warfare 2 has broken sales records in the entertainment industry and yet, in my humble opinion, it is by far not the most notable game of the year 2009.
A game of the year should not just be a fine looking game, well paced or break sales records, but first and foremost; "It should blow your expectations away, provide variation in game-play and innovate".
Sure Modern Warfare has a sweet look, it's fast paced, broke sales records, has a complete multi-player package and a nice new co-op feature, but... it did not blow away my expectations. It barely met mine and didn't do much more then live up to the hype. In my opinion, it didn't innovate at all by sticking to a proven multi-player component with only small additions and game-play over-all is the same.
Anyhow, I didn't start this thread to smear on MW2. After all, it's a fine game and was one of the better games of 2009. It's by far the best first person shooter of the year and continues to carry the crown of the first person multi-player component. I enjoyed the single player a lot, even more so the new spec-ops co-op mode and will probably play it again, but it did not get me hooked, nor did it impress me as much as it did many others. I did however want to mention this, as it may help express my personal opinion and feelings on this matter.
I started this thread to express my respect and genuine awe for 'Batman Arkham Asylum'.
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Batman Arkham Asylum first interested me, just before the release of the demo, when I saw a couple of trailers. It didn't strike me to be a blockbuster, but it looked good and I was looking for something different. Once I had played the oh-so-short demo, I thought it to be a fun game and put it on my 'want' list.
Over the next few weeks I got hooked to the unique and challenging combat in the game, especially the 'challenges' and ended up playing for hours at a time... going achievement hunting. The more I played, the less impressed I was with other games and I started getting this annoying feeling of regret for many games bought. Some suddenly seemed a waste of money. Not really (i do love games, you know), but it made me wonder about where quality standards and consumer expectations should be.
Batman Arkham Asylum manages to impress you with great visuals - showing that the Unreal Engine still is more then capable these days (when done right). The game highlights engaging combat that makes you feel like a true bad-ass... a Batman! The thrilling stealth moments can get your heart pumped at times and provides not only a good variation in game-play, but also a completely different thrill of success. The numerous cut-scenes are very well executed and more often then not entertaining. Not once did I feel they are out of place or annoying. The entire atmosphere and story are as pure Batman, as it gets. There's not a moment something feels out of place and characters, animations, sound and narrative fits right in. The numerous gadgets available to batman throughout the game, offer the player just as much freedom as a sandbox title and in all honestly, the entire linear setup, never feels as such. There's always something you can do different.
Outside the story mode, there are the overly addictive challenges that will have your skills tested till your fingers hurt. And... to my surprise, as your skills improve through these challenges, you develop an even better understanding of Batman's character, his skills and ways to tackle all the different situations. It will want you to re-play the game again.
There is such as well paced balance between combat & stealth, story progress and exploration that it's hard to turn off the game at any point without feeling that you're missing out on something. Even solving riddles, or finding trophies will pull you back in to another piece of story that propels everything forward again.
It's hard to explain, just 'how' this game grabs you by the hand and keeps pulling you forward, no-matter your play-style. It's hard to imagine a game that takes a good 10+ hours to complete (more, if you're thorough) actually doesn't let you take a break, for some magical reason or another. There is so much attention to detail in this game it's downright insane. It's all the small subtle things that you wouldn't even notice unless you're paying attention to it, or are looking for it that make this game stand out. Even the narrative adds to the experience. There is not a single moment when I thought that Jokers comments were getting annoying or out of place and for the most part, there's some great humor, totally fitting to the atmosphere of the game and without spoiling anything, there are some perfectly executed twists in the game that will first shock you, then make you scratch your head, followed by an outburst of laughter, leaving you in awe. It's a moment such as this, that you will find yourself truly impressed with what the creators have achieved.
The game shines with polish from start to finish, with no apparent bugs what-so-ever. Secondary character models could be slightly better detailed and some of the guards seem to be reused models. Some of the facial animations and eyes could have been done better, but that's just the Mass Effect player in me, hoping for that final touch. Other then that there's literally nothing anybody could say about this game.
(Note for PC version: enabling physX (to highest settings) can occasionally cause floating leaves or sheets of paper. This, however, is NOT a game-bug, but rather a physX problem.)
I just can't express well enough what makes this game so special, I'm just not a writer... but let me assure you; very few games impress me these days, let alone 'blow me away'. That's the reason why I consider 'Batman Arkham Asylum' to be my personal GAME OF THE YEAR 2009.
Can't wait to see more!
_nGAGE™
