Well regarded as one of the best superhero games of all time, Batman Arkham Asylum is a game I’ve had a long history with. Possibly the game that made me the diehard Batman fan I am today, and the game that sold me on the next generation of consoles and made the biggest case for me to finally ask for a PS3 for Christmas whilst I was previously on a PS2 and a Wii.

Prior to Arkham Asylum, my experience with the Batman series was pretty much similar to most everyone else. I saw Batman the Animated Series and Batman Beyond (or Of the Future, as it was called here) on Toonami, and I’d seen the Batman ‘89 movie and loved it as a kid. Game wise, about the only experience I had was the tie in game on PS2 named Batman Vengeance. But otherwise, that was about it. However, as we went into the PS3/360 era of games, there was about two games that made me desperately want a PS3. The first was the Ratchet and Clank Future series, and the other was Arkham Asylum.

I was late to that generation, having bought into a Wii rather than a PS3 and 360. But some of my friends had a 360 and had picked up Arkham Asylum. With that, any time I got any chance, I wanted to play it. I loved so much of the game immediately. The visual style, the voice actors being Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and others from BTAS, the stealth and combat, so much of it just screamed Batman, and the concept of being entrapped inside a super villain overridden prison just hooked me immediately.

As soon as I got a PS3, Arkham Asylum was the very first game I asked for, along with the Ratchet future series, Sonic 06, and Unleashed, and the Sly Trilogy. From then on, I finally got to play the full game and from start to finish, I absolutely loved it.

Over the years, more games have come out in the time since, Insomniac Spidey, hell, even Arkham City, which people say is the best of the series. But I always come back to the same game over and over - Batman Arkham Asylum remains my absolute favourite of this series. While later games may have evolved the combat, and stealth to an absurd degree, polished the game to a fine shine, and from a mechanical point, all games trump Asylum, I stand by that it’s that early instalment weirdness that really gives Arkham Asylum a unique charm from the other games.

From the word go, Arkham Asylum makes such a insanely good first impression. From the iconic walk through Arkham with a imprisoned Joker, introducing us to Killer Croc, the extreme security measures of the asylum, and the fact that Joker’s goons have been moved here following a fire at Blackgate Prison. As soon as Joker manages to escape, the game thrusts you into a excellent tutorial that doesn’t ever really feel railroaded or handholdy, instead having you do some fights, stop Zsasz from killing some innocent doctors, and dealing with mild platforming and climbing as fight your way through the building you’d just walked through in the intro, battling to get to the open island outside, and start figuring out what Joker has schemed up, encountering a surprise fight against Bane along the way.

The intro really sets the stage for what is a incredibly engaging story, very tight gameplay, very impressive given it’s known origins of being originally a rhythm system adapted into a battle system, and especially for a first try. I think Arkham Asylum is one of those games that plays so well with its incredible combat, stealth, and exploration systems that it would slip completely past you that the game is technically a Metroidvania, it just does such a good job of lightly nudging you along the way.

What is interesting too is while later games are very clearly set in their own universe, Asylum is clearly a product of its era. It is clearly based on the then current run of comics, as evidenced by the character bios and art that is found with the Riddler’s challenges, showing you a massive heap of obscure characters from the comics, and as such, acting as a fantastic entry point for those who haven’t touched the comics before, Arkham Asylum is a perfect introduction to the wider Batman universe, and I very much believe it’s why I love the Batman franchise so much today and read the comic actively.

Speaking of Eddie, I’d also argue Arkham Asylum is the only real game where the Riddler’s now infamous Riddler trophy quests is actually fun to do. With so much of Arkham Asylum being based about indoor areas and enclosed areas, it means that there’s a fairly reasonable number of riddles and trophies to collect, all of which having enough fun Easter eggs to the wider mythos to keep the quest engaging. Hearing Riddler begin to lose it as you complete more and more of his challenges is always incredibly fun, and with the game being a semi open Metroidvania, it makes going back into old areas with new gadgets pretty fun as well. 

I’d say that’s what a lot of it comes down for me. I could sit here and give every single speech about why the game revolutionised superhero games, and how insanely good the combat and stealth is, but most everyone knows all of that. But for as well polished as later games were, I still think Arkham Asylum has this charm. The story feels very tight and everywhere you go feels important to the story. The atmosphere of the world and the world building is just so incredible, making Arkham Asylum a real living place, and making it really feel like the worst place on earth, yet it sells the power fantasy of being Batman insanely well. Effortlessly beating mooks in fights, or picking enemies off in stealth segments, it’s incredible how much Arkham Asylum still holds up even after so many years down the road. 

There’s weak points, the caves is a very annoying area to traverse due to the lack of grappling, the story can start to feel a little off the rails towards the end, and the bosses are infamously not very good, with the majority of them being recycled, and even Joker just turning into a big monster by the end, but it can’t be denied how damn fine of a game it remains for being well over ten years old, even compared to its other entries. And with that atmosphere, the great level design, the unique ties to the comic era at the time, the stellar cast, and the fact that even now, the fun challenges and world building with the riddles, and now with so many games that have evolved and improved on the game’s mechanics, it still says a lot when you can go back to the original, and still enjoy and play it just as well now as you did in 2009. Where even a basic version of its systems still feels so damn incredible. 

Definitely recommend, Arkham Asylum is a fantastic game through and through, especially on PC where most systems can run it at a butterly smooth 60fps.