Batman Arkham Asylum Game Of The Year Edition
Towanda Tuning
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman and written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini, Arkham Asylum was inspired by the long-running comic book mythos. In the game's main storyline, Batman battles his archenemy, the Joker, who instigates an elaborate plot to seize control of Arkham Asylum, trap Batman inside with many of his incarcerated foes, and threaten Gotham City with hidden bombs.
The game is presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on Batman's combat and stealth abilities, detective skills, and gadgets that can be used in combat and exploration. Batman can freely move around the Arkham Asylum facility, interacting with characters and undertaking missions, and unlocking new areas by progressing through the main story or obtaining new equipment. The player is able to complete side missions away from the main story to unlock additional content and collectible items. Combat focuses on chaining attacks together against numerous foes while avoiding damage, while stealth allows Batman to conceal himself around an area, using gadgets and the environment to silently eliminate enemies.
Development began at Rocksteady Studios in May 2007, with a 40-person team that expanded to 60 people by the project's conclusion after approximately 21 months. Among others, the game design was inspired by Batman-penned works of Neal Adams and Frank Miller, and Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth graphic novel. Built on Unreal Engine 3, Arkham Asylum's production underwent several variations, refining both gameplay such as the combat system, and the central story, resulting in the removal of plot elements and some of Batman's main enemies, who did not fit the tone of the rest of the game. Rocksteady began developing ideas for a sequel months before Arkham Asylum's completion, hiding hints to the sequel within the game.
Arkham Asylum was released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles in August 2009, followed by a Windows version. The game received critical acclaim, particularly for its narrative, atmosphere and combat, though some criticism was directed at its boss fights. Upon release, many reviewers called it the "greatest comic book game of all time."[1][2] It won several awards, including Best Action Adventure game, Best Game, and Game of the Year from various media outlets, and it held the Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever". It has been cited as one of the greatest video games ever made. The game received a "Game of the Year Edition" in 2010, and a remastered version for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released in 2023.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure game viewed from the third-person perspective. The playable character is visible on the screen and the camera can be freely rotated around him.[3][4][5] The player controls Batman as he traverses Arkham Asylum, a secure facility for the criminally insane located off the coast of Gotham City.[6] The opening areas of the game are linear, serving as a tutorial for the moves and approaches available to the player. Once the player emerges onto the island they can freely explore the game world, although some areas remain inaccessible until certain milestones in the main story.[7][8] Batman can run, jump, climb, crouch, glide from heights using his cape, and use his grapple gun to climb low structures or escape to higher ledges.[8]
Arkham Asylum features a series of challenge maps separate from the game's story mode that are unlocked while playing, and others are available as optional downloadable content (DLC). The maps focus on the completion of specific goals, such as eliminating successive waves of enemies in combat, and subduing patrolling enemies while using stealth. The methods and variety of abilities used to achieve these goals earn an overall performance score that is ranked online against other players.[5][8] On the PlayStation 3, the Joker is a playable character in the combat and stealth challenge maps via optional DLC; he must confront the asylum guards and police commissioner James Gordon. The Joker has his own combat abilities and weapons, such as a handgun, exploding chattering teeth, and x-ray glasses which allow him to see opponents through walls.[16]
On compatible systems, the Microsoft Windows version uses nVidia's PhysX software engine to produce realistic, dynamic interactions with the game world. With PhysX enabled, some areas contain smoke or fog which reacts to Batman moving through it, while with PhysX disabled the fog will not appear at all. Other effects include dynamic interaction with paper and leaves, surfaces which can be scratched and chipped, and dynamic, destructible cloth elements such as banners and cobwebs.[17][18][19] The "Game of the Year Edition" features the ability to play the game in 3D on any 2D television using anaglyph 3D glasses.[20]
After the Joker assaults Gotham City Hall, he is caught by Batman and taken to Arkham Asylum, which temporarily houses many members of the Joker's gang, who were transferred after a fire at Blackgate Prison.[34] Believing the Joker allowed himself to be captured, Batman accompanies him into the asylum. The Joker's plan is revealed as Harley Quinn takes over the security and the Joker escapes into the facility, aided by Frank Boles, a corrupt guard who kidnaps Commissioner Gordon.[35] The Joker threatens to detonate bombs hidden around Gotham City if anyone tries to enter Arkham, forcing Batman to work alone.[36] Tracking Quinn to the medical facility to rescue Gordon, Batman is exposed to the Scarecrow's fear toxin. After fighting off Scarecrow's hallucinations, Batman finds and subdues Quinn before rescuing Gordon. The Joker then directs Batman to the captured Bane, who has been experimented on by asylum doctor Penelope Young. The Joker frees Bane and Batman fights and defeats him by ramming him into the ocean with the Batmobile, during which Quinn escapes. Afterward, he goes to a secret Batcave installation he had hidden on the island, where he restocks his gadgets.
At the penitentiary, Quinn releases Poison Ivy from her cell before being imprisoned by Batman. Quinn accidentally reveals that Joker has a Titan production facility in the Arkham botanical gardens. Batman travels there and learns that Titan is created by genetically modified plants. He learns from Ivy that the spores required to create an antidote are found exclusively in Killer Croc's lair in a sewer. Afterward, Joker injects Ivy with Titan, enhancing her powers, and she begins to ravage Arkham Island with giant mutant plants. En route to Croc, Batman encounters Scarecrow again and pursues him into the sewers. Scarecrow is attacked by Croc and dragged underwater. Batman recovers the necessary spores and subdues Croc before returning to the Batcave, but can only synthesize one dose of the antidote before Ivy's plants breach the cave and destroy his equipment.
Among various Neal Adams and Frank Miller-penned Batman stories, Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth was an inspiration for the game's design.[44] Producer Nathan Burlow said the narrative and atmosphere of the 2007 game BioShock influenced Arkham Asylum's design.[45] Director Sefton Hill said the influences of the gadgets and abilities that can be combined and used in different ways came from The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. The design team isolated the components that they felt made Batman, and exaggerated these elements. Design ideas which contradicted these facets of the character were dropped, and other elements of Batman, such as his refusal to kill his enemies, were strictly enforced, which provided additional challenges in allowing the player to have complete freedom in the game without transgressing on that fundamental aspect of the character.[46] Arkham Asylum was chosen as the setting because it confined the player to an area containing several enemies, whereas in an open city setting he could receive help, return to the Batcave, or otherwise be able to distance himself from his opponents.[41]
The development team wanted to include iconic aspects of the Batman mythos, and decided early on in production to have Conroy, Hamill, and Sorkin reprise their roles in Dini's Batman: The Animated Series as Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, respectively. Hamill has thousands of lines of dialogue in the game, and Conroy has relatively few in comparison. After seeing character models of the Joker's Arkham Asylum appearance, Hamill decided to portray the character as dark and gritty while retaining a clownish and playful nature.[43] Although the game features references to plot events in both The Animated Series and Batman comics, the story does not directly follow any singular story or depiction of the character.[21][41]
The game took approximately 21 months to complete; Rocksteady began development with a team of 40, which had expanded to around 60 by the game's completion.[47] Combat was considered one of the greatest challenges in developing the game; the system went through three iterations. Rocksteady originally developed the game's combat as a full rhythm action game. It was later set in 2D, which involved colored circles crashing into each other during fights; the final system was based on this 2D model.[48] Combat was designed to be unique for Batman, and was given a simple control scheme to reflect the ease with which Batman can perform the moves.[49] Arkham Asylum was built on Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3.[46][50][51] Eidos president Ian Livingstone said one developer spent two years working on Batman's cape, using over 700 animations and sound effects to make it move realistically.[52]
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