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Batman: Arkham Asylum

Unkillable Cat

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Satori said:

Spoony said:
...for me this was the first game that actually felt legitimately like you were playing as Batman, propably since the original game on the NES.

Hi there, consoletard. Ever heard of the Batman games released before the NES version? You know, the ones that weren't released on consoles and therefore escaped your narrow viewpoint of what constitutes the video game world?

Batman on the NES was only the fourth Batman game released, and therefore does not deserve the term "original" in any way.
 

Silellak

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Unkillable Cat said:
Satori said:

Spoony said:
...for me this was the first game that actually felt legitimately like you were playing as Batman, propably since the original game on the NES.

Hi there, consoletard. Ever heard of the Batman games released before the NES version? You know, the ones that weren't released on consoles and therefore escaped your narrow viewpoint of what constitutes the video game world?

Batman on the NES was only the fourth Batman game released, and therefore does not deserve the term "original" in any way.

Nerd RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

Honestly, as fun as the Batman NES was, I wouldn't say it made you feel like "Batman" at all. I don't remember Batman walljumping around and shooting 3-way gunblasts from his wrists. And, as far as I remember, there were only one or two actual Batman villains in the game. Everyone else was just Generic NPC Enemy from the Generic NPC Army.
 

Vaarna_Aarne

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Silellak said:
Unkillable Cat said:
Satori said:

Spoony said:
...for me this was the first game that actually felt legitimately like you were playing as Batman, propably since the original game on the NES.

Hi there, consoletard. Ever heard of the Batman games released before the NES version? You know, the ones that weren't released on consoles and therefore escaped your narrow viewpoint of what constitutes the video game world?

Batman on the NES was only the fourth Batman game released, and therefore does not deserve the term "original" in any way.

Nerd RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

Honestly, as fun as the Batman NES was, I wouldn't say it made you feel like "Batman" at all. I don't remember Batman walljumping around and shooting 3-way gunblasts from his wrists. And, as far as I remember, there were only one or two actual Batman villains in the game. Everyone else was just Generic NPC Enemy from the Generic NPC Army.
I think the only one was the Joker.
 

Silellak

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Vaarna_Aarne said:
Silellak said:
Unkillable Cat said:
Satori said:

Spoony said:
...for me this was the first game that actually felt legitimately like you were playing as Batman, propably since the original game on the NES.

Hi there, consoletard. Ever heard of the Batman games released before the NES version? You know, the ones that weren't released on consoles and therefore escaped your narrow viewpoint of what constitutes the video game world?

Batman on the NES was only the fourth Batman game released, and therefore does not deserve the term "original" in any way.

Nerd RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

Honestly, as fun as the Batman NES was, I wouldn't say it made you feel like "Batman" at all. I don't remember Batman walljumping around and shooting 3-way gunblasts from his wrists. And, as far as I remember, there were only one or two actual Batman villains in the game. Everyone else was just Generic NPC Enemy from the Generic NPC Army.
I think the only one was the Joker.

There's apparently four, including the Joker:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(Ni ... ent_System)#Villains

How could I forget exciting Batman villains like Killer Moth, The Electrocutioner, and Firebug?!
 

Vaarna_Aarne

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He could have gone for something a bit more obscure than Watchmen as an example how good comics writing can be. How about, say, WE3 or if we need a superhero comic, Grant Morrison's JLA?
 

AlaCarcuss

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Well, I have to say I had my doubts about this game (AA).

The long intro walking Joker downstairs was kind of impressive from an atmosphere/artstyle perspective - but I had serious doubts about the gameplay. My doubts seemed to be confirmed in the first tutorial battle - a fuckin button masher...... or so I thought. Things got a bit better when I learned grappling and inverted takedowns along with the stealth gameplay but it was still a bit too easy and kinda meh . I was playing on normal and stopped in the middle of the medical center and restarted the game on hard.

HOLY SHIT BATMAN! - It's a different game on hard! It took me about 20 tries just to get through the first battle (yeah, I kinda suck at these types of games - took me 2 years to finish Ninja Gaiden Black :-D). This is definately NOT a button masher (on hard difficulty). I have to say the combat is now very satisfying and quite strategic. I know find myself replaying some battles/levels just to try different things.

Don't want this to turn into a reveiw (especially as I'm only about 25% through it), but I think these days, you have to give credit where credit is due. We are renowned here at the codex for bashing every new game regadless of any merrits it may (or may not) have and more often than not - that is justified. The developers have done a really good job with this one - it's not perfect and there are areas that could use improvement, but this is one of the most enjoyable new release games I've played in years (well, apart from Shadow Complex which was freaking awsome).
 

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Unkillable Cat said:
Batman on the NES was only the fourth Batman game released, and therefore does not deserve the term "original" in any way.
I remember playing Batman in ca. 1990 on C64. It had this strange feature - the action was presented in small windows and everytime you went into another location, the previous window moved to the background (the whole screen was littered with them). I was the original boxed version (was it by Ocean?) and the bitch took over an hour to finish loading (most of the time only to see loading error :D).
 

Unkillable Cat

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bozia2012 said:
I remember playing Batman in ca. 1990 on C64. It had this strange feature - the action was presented in small windows and everytime you went into another location, the previous window moved to the background (the whole screen was littered with them). I was the original boxed version (was it by Ocean?) and the bitch took over an hour to finish loading (most of the time only to see loading error :D).

That's Batman: The Caped Crusader. The second Batman game ever released. And the one that most faithfully portrays the 60s-era Batman...actually, it's the only one. GrimDark Batman came the year after and has dominated the character ever since.

(For the curious, the first ever Batman game released was Batman 3D, an isometric platformer/puzzle game where Batman is trying to assemble the Batmobile in his Batcave...a Batcave that's been invaded by Pepperland. It's not an easy game to play, let alone beat. If you know/have played the game Head Over Heels, then you have a solid idea how Batman 3D plays.)
 

Castanova

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Unkillable Cat said:
Batman 3D, an isometric

Brilliant! In one fell swoop, we satisfy the marketing department while also giving the gamers something that's actually playable. They should do this for RPGs from now on. Alpha Protocol 3D anyone?
 

yes plz

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Pathfinder: Wrath
Beat the PC version a bit ago. It was kinda... mediocre. The lack of variety is what really kills it. Each and every fucking boss battle plays out almost exactly the same -- dodge, throw a batarang, punch, dodge, throw a batarang, punch. Why the Hell didn't they make use of any of the other gadgets you get in the game? Outside of exploration I barely used any of the gadgets at all.

You only use the explosive gel like three times -- twice during Poison Ivy and once during the Killer Croc segment. Yet even during those two you mostly just dodge around until you can throw a batarang at them. The only time you use the batclaw during a boss fight is during the Joker one when you have to pull him down. The Scarecrow segments were fun at first but then they just repeated them two more times and threw in a bland brawl at the end of the third one. The Riddler Challenges weren't really challenges at all -- anyone with an IQ in the double digits should've been able to figure out 90% of them.
 

AlaCarcuss

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yes plz said:
Beat the PC version a bit ago. It was kinda... mediocre.

Shit some people are hard to please. If you think this game is mediocre, can you tell me what games you think are great? I'd really like to know because if B:AA is mediocre then they must be off the scale!

Another question - did you play it on hard? As I said in my post above it's a different game on hard, almost every battle becomes a boss battle. Granted, the actual boss fights could have had more variety but for me, it's not about the boss fights it's about everything else in between.

As for not using the gadgets, well that's just a lack of imagination on your part and also suggests you didn't play on hard, because on hard you need all the tools at your disposal. I keep replaying levels just to try out different ways of beating them. The explosive gel that you for some reason didn't get to use much, I found essential. Especially when upgraded to proximity detonation - what a fucking riot that is - placing booby traps around the level and then having the goons chase you over them - awsome :-D
 

yes plz

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I played it on normal. Unless they somehow completely change the game engine when you put the difficulty level on hard, I can't see the game being all that different. With the likes of the triple batarang, remote control batarang, and sonic batarang I can't see myself using the batclaw and explosive gel all that much more than I did on normal.

I'm not saying the game is awful, just that it's far from perfect. It has pretty good gameplay elements, but the game doesn't utilize them in any creative way. The very fact that you have to play the game on the highest difficulty level to get any use out of the non-batarang gadgets proves my point.
 

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yes plz said:
I played it on normal. Unless they somehow completely change the game engine when you put the difficulty level on hard, I can't see the game being all that different. With the likes of the triple batarang, remote control batarang, and sonic batarang I can't see myself using the batclaw and explosive gel all that much more than I did on normal.

I'm not saying the game is awful, just that it's far from perfect. It has pretty good gameplay elements, but the game doesn't utilize them in any creative way. The very fact that you have to play the game on the highest difficulty level to get any use out of the non-batarang gadgets proves my point.

You'd be supprised how different it is on hard. Read my first post above - I found it pretty mediocre too on normal - just a button masher with no incentive to do/use anything else. A few hours in and considering just stopping - I restarted the game on hard. I'm telling you man, it IS a different game - much, much more staisfying and tactical combat.

You have to enjoy a challenge though - because some fights are fucking HARD. For example the battle inside the mansion where you have to fight over a dozen or so guys, some with melee weapons and few (if any) chances for stealth takedowns, is a fucking nightmare - but incredibly fun.

Restart the game on hard and get back to me - I'm sure you'll have a different opinion like I did.

Edit: Regarding the need to play on hard - I think that's just so the casual console tards can play the game on normal and enjoy their button mashing without getting too stressed out. Hard mode is the way the game is meant to be played for the rest of us who like to employ tactics and enjoy the challenge.

BTW - I'm playing the game on PC with all settings maxed including PhsyX and it looks incredible. (just built a new rig with i7 @ 4ghz and a pair of GTX285's in SLI). However, I'm using an 360 controller as I think it suits this type of game better than keyboard and mouse.
 

Felix

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Meh, I played this game on hard from the beginning but it still easy, got bored after Killer Croc and uninstall it, what a waste of money.
 

Unkillable Cat

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Castanova said:
Brilliant! In one fell swoop, we satisfy the marketing department while also giving the gamers something that's actually playable. They should do this for RPGs from now on. Alpha Protocol 3D anyone?

...you obviously weren't around (or gaming) in the 80's, were you?

Either putting "3D" in the title, or claiming through adverts that the game sported 3D graphics was a fairly common practice 20-25 years ago. Why? Because it was very hard to both make a game that allowed you to travel in all three dimensions, or to make a game that sported a First-Person perspective in a three-dimensional environment. IIRC, it wasn't until Incentive came along with their Freescape engine to accomplish the latter (Driller, Dark Side, Total Eclipse I+II and Castle Master 1 & 2).

Look those games up on the internet and laugh at how primitive the graphics are, but that was cutting-edge 3D technology in the late 80's.

In short, what you suggest has been done already.
 

Vibalist

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Playing on normal and is finding it a pretty fun experience. My only real complaint is that searching every corner of the map for riddles pretty much kills the pacing of the game. They should've implemented that aspect differently.
 

Multi-headed Cow

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Played it on normal, really good game. The end boss was disappointing, but the ending itself was fine.

Also, apparently you can go back and look for Riddler goodies after you beat the game. So technically you could ignore them your first time through for maximum Batman.
 

Chaotic Lulz3r

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yes plz said:
It has pretty good gameplay elements, but the game doesn't utilize them in any creative way.

You may have failed to utilize them in a creative way, but that says nothing about the quality of the game.
 

Vibalist

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I have to add also that The Joker is amazing in this game. The laugh, the (un)funny jokes, the overall presentation. With all the praise Heath Ledger got for his role in the Dark Knight, someone needs to give some sort of award to Mark Hammil for his performance here. It takes a good amount of talent to make a character equally funny and scary, but he just pulls it off perfectly. There was even some laugh out loud moments when he made those outragous announcements over the speakers. Best representation of The Joker since Animated Series? I definitely think so.
 

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Unkillable Cat said:
bozia2012 said:
I remember playing Batman in ca. 1990 on C64. It had this strange feature - the action was presented in small windows and everytime you went into another location, the previous window moved to the background (the whole screen was littered with them). I was the original boxed version (was it by Ocean?) and the bitch took over an hour to finish loading (most of the time only to see loading error :D).

That's Batman: The Caped Crusader. The second Batman game ever released. And the one that most faithfully portrays the 60s-era Batman...actually, it's the only one. GrimDark Batman came the year after and has dominated the character ever since.

(For the curious, the first ever Batman game released was Batman 3D, an isometric platformer/puzzle game where Batman is trying to assemble the Batmobile in his Batcave...a Batcave that's been invaded by Pepperland. It's not an easy game to play, let alone beat. If you know/have played the game Head Over Heels, then you have a solid idea how Batman 3D plays.)

only one i remember playing is the one where you are chasing the joker trough a church and you could shoot a wire to climb up on ledges and swing over gaps.

i think i got it somewhere in my huge pile of C64 games.
 

Unkillable Cat

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That's Batman: The Movie: The Game. :P

First stage was a platformer sequence through a factory, second stage driving in the Batmobile (grappling lampposts to make high-speed turns), third stage a Mastermind-type puzzle, fourth stage a flying sequence and finally another platformer sequence through a really tall building...think it was a church, can't remember for sure.
 

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