Image From MTV Multiplayer BlogWhile the demo to Batman: Arkham Asylum has been available on XBOX Live and Playstation Network for a few weeks now, I haven't had a chance to try it out until recently.
I must admit, I came into this demo with a bit of skepticism. Historically, almost every Batman game has been horrible, and the video game based on the Dark Knight movie was cancelled before it was officially announced because of how bad it was shaping up to be. Would this one be any different?
According to early reviews, the answer is yes. It's been scoring very well on Metacritic and the video game podcasts I've been listening to have been hyping this game up pretty hard.
Do I agree? From the short taste I got from the demo, I may be on the verge of agreeing. Graphically, it's very solid. It's pretty obvious the game was made with Unreal 3, as the game does look almost like Gears of War: Batman, including scenes of Batman holding his fingers against his earpiece to communicate to others. The voice acting so far has been great. While I had a little bit of trouble getting used to the controls, overall it felt very good to handle Batman around the environments.
The best part about the demo is that it conveys possibly the best interpretation of Batman in a video game. It has a great mix of brawling, detective work and stealth to make you feel more like the character.
With all that said, I personally won't be picking this up at launch. I could be missing out huge. In the future, I'll definitely be looking out for this one either at a lower price or renting it. For those that do want to pick it up on the day it comes out, you can grab it in stores as early as tomorrow in North America.
I must admit, I came into this demo with a bit of skepticism. Historically, almost every Batman game has been horrible, and the video game based on the Dark Knight movie was cancelled before it was officially announced because of how bad it was shaping up to be. Would this one be any different?
According to early reviews, the answer is yes. It's been scoring very well on Metacritic and the video game podcasts I've been listening to have been hyping this game up pretty hard.
Do I agree? From the short taste I got from the demo, I may be on the verge of agreeing. Graphically, it's very solid. It's pretty obvious the game was made with Unreal 3, as the game does look almost like Gears of War: Batman, including scenes of Batman holding his fingers against his earpiece to communicate to others. The voice acting so far has been great. While I had a little bit of trouble getting used to the controls, overall it felt very good to handle Batman around the environments.
The best part about the demo is that it conveys possibly the best interpretation of Batman in a video game. It has a great mix of brawling, detective work and stealth to make you feel more like the character.
With all that said, I personally won't be picking this up at launch. I could be missing out huge. In the future, I'll definitely be looking out for this one either at a lower price or renting it. For those that do want to pick it up on the day it comes out, you can grab it in stores as early as tomorrow in North America.