Batman Arkham Asylum

[polonyc2]

I've heard about this for some time now but I was never that excited about it...just seemed like another cheesy comic/movie adaptation that was aimed at the kiddie crowd...I was bored so I decided to try out the demo which was released yesterday

the system requirements are pretty steep though...you need at least a 3.0GHz dual core preferred CPU...I'm playing at 1920 x 1440 with AA= 2X and all other graphical settings on High (I even have PhysX set to High and Ambient Occlusion enabled)

I'm very impressed...the graphics are top notch (Batman has never looked better in the Unreal Engine 3) and the gameplay is pretty fun...the fighting mechanics are easy to grasp (even with a keyboard/mouse) and there are several nice wrinkles put into the game (Detective Mode- which helps you scan your environment and the ability to grapple up to objects and swing down or survey the landscape)

the game I hear also follows the Batman mythology with characters that fans of the comics should be familiar with...the voice acting for the most part is also well done (same voice actors as the Batman animated series)...my only concern is that the game might get a bit repetitive...it's also geared more towards consoles...but based on the demo I think I'm going to purchase the game when it is released on September 15th

what's also great about the game is the fact that it supports multi-core processors, PhysX and Ambient Occlusion...very nice if you have a system that can handle it

definitely worth checking out the demo...

Batman .. Arkham Asylum... Start

[polonyc2]

another thing of note: the game is 3rd person POV but I didn't seem to be bothered by it...the game also follows a Checkpoint save system

[zapionics<alt>]

Demo looks and feels great. Plot is promising... I like how it introduces all those villians as you go...

I was just using mouse and keyboard combo of course... but the controls are obviously geared for a console game pad. Might take a while to set it up how I like. Any suggestions there polonyc2?

I sure hope the story is as good as it looks... could be a real winner if so

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

Demo looks and feels great. Plot is promising... I like how it introduces all those villians as you go...

I was just using mouse and keyboard combo of course... but the controls are obviously geared for a console game pad. Might take a while to set it up how I like. Any suggestions there polonyc2?

I sure hope the story is as good as it looks... could be a real winner if so

the demo was pretty short but I really enjoyed it a lot...this game has the potential to be the sleeper hit of 2009...this game was not even on my radar until today...that's why more companies should release game demo's before a game's release to give a game a chance to build some positive buzz and get people who might not have been interested in the game to try it

the demo has a few secret areas which reward the player for exploration and the full game promises lots more...there will apparently be quite a few challenging puzzles to solve as well...I also love the fact that Batman uses no guns and has to solely rely on his unique set of skills...I really feel like Batman in-game and his movement etc are handled really well...the full game also promises open world gameplay with varied (non repetitive) gameplay (I hope so)...seems like you can play the game using stealth or by charging in and attacking...I love grappling up to those Gargoyle things and swooping down on unsuspecting villians...using Detective Mode to get the layout of an area is also very cool

this game is the perfect showcase for Unreal Engine 3's dark, gritty environment...the game performs perfect on my rig...I usually have to disable Ambient Occlusion because of the performance hit but with this game I have it enabled with no issues...this is also the first game I have played where PhysX is implemented really well...when you throw your boomerang things at flags you can see them get torn/shred up in very dynamic realistic ways

as far as setting up the controls it's really up to what is most comfortable for you...me personally I like to have most of my main movement/action controls grouped as close together as possible so as to not have to move my hands all over the keyboard...I use the arrow keys on the keyboard for movement and remapped keys to be as close to those 4 main keys

I recently also purchased an XBOX 360 Controller...I mainly bought the controller to play a PC racing game, GRID, due to the game handling better with a controller...the controller really works well and the Batman demo also might benefit from the controller...a lot of these Microsoft games automatically are configured to use this controller as it is the most widely used controller out there for the PC...you really should give it a try as it does make things easier on games that are built with console players in mind

Amazon.com: Xbox 360 Controller for Windows: Video Games

[polonyc2]

.....

[zapionics<alt>]

I'm getting an annoying freeze and BSOD sometimes when playing this demo... Must be an issue with my setup but I cant see what...

Anyone else experience this? It could be a driver issue... havent had crashes in any other game recently...

Nothing seems to be overheating although I notice my 4870 runs around 78c... but I think thats normal...

If this keeps happening I will have to review my vcores for NB and CPU and MCH... very annoying this

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

I'm getting an annoying freeze and BSOD sometimes when playing this demo... Must be an issue with my setup but I cant see what...

during which part of the demo does it freeze/BSOD?...as always make sure you're using the latest video card drivers and DirectX...other then that try lowering some video settings and see how it runs

EDIT: new Catalyst 9.8 drivers were released yesterday...however they are not yet available on the main AMD Support site- they can be downloaded via the links at the bottom of this post on the Official AMD Blog...

What’s a good title for a Quakecon blog? | AMD at Play

game runs perfect for me...I must have played the demo over 10 times...maybe it's an ATI related issue as the game was built for Nvidia cards and even the AA setting is only available for Nvidia...I finally un-installed the demo as I recently did a reformat but I can't wait for the game to be released on September 15th

**for all Nvidia users: they released a new PhysX driver yesterday which is optimized for Arkham Asylum

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

during which part of the demo does it freeze/BSOD?...as always make sure you're using the latest video card drivers and DirectX...other then that try lowering some video settings and see how it runs..

It happens randomly at any time. I'm always up to date on drivers and such polonyc2... it could be related to the drivers ... or Windows 64bit ... or some other dependancy...

I dont think its heat related... temps seem ok.

I take it as a sign that somethings not right in the drivers when my rig can play anything else and not skip a beat but a new game demo causes blue screens... I'll give those drivers a try.

BTW the game is out here already... but I wont pick it up until I resolve this crash

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

BTW the game is out here already... but I wont pick it up until I resolve this crash

you lucky dog...hope you get the issues worked out...could be just a game bug as sometimes the demo is not the final code...but like you said it's most likely a driver issue

[zapionics<alt>]

That driver resolved it! I'm amazed as I thought I had a hardware issue.

Well I've played throught that demo about 10 times now... mostly because I couldnt make my mind up about it very easily (and the crashes werent helping).

There are a few things to be said from the demo:

Firstly the game is based on the original comic characters and the super hero book, not the movie characters. No biggie, except I would have loved The Joker to have been based on the Heath Ledger/Dark Knight interpretation since that character was so impressive.

Its a real "old fashioned" linear corridor shooter. This isnt a bad thing of itself; I'm just noting its a game of that type. It means that it really needs a great story and other value wow factors to make it worth playing and this is where I'm not so sure... some of the spoken lines sounded really corny... but when I look at the trailers it seems to have a lot of potential scope in variety of maps and characters. These days a game has to provide a great plot and story to capture me, simple twitch and run 'n gun shooters just dont cut it anymore (since I already have heaps of those in my library).

Graphics are excellent, but I notice the game environment is not interactive, so for instance chairs dont move and drawers and cabinets cannot be opened, things cannot be picked up or kicked. This feels a little outdated to me as most of the games I played recently have a more dynamic environment. It means there isnt any point to exploration and so exploration isnt a big part of the game. Once again, not a major issue by itself, but just another thing to note.

I like those games where we can do a lot of exploration which can both be rewarding in terms of experience or acquiring new artefacts or weapons or discovering alternative paths. So this game is not one of those.

It has a real console feel to the action. This is emphasised by the 3rd person view and the control setup and assisted targeting and complex combo moves typically faciliated by a gamepad controller. Setting the keyboard controls to the right combination is difficult and possibly never going to be successful. Also the on screen action is often contrived and orchestrated as is the norm for consoles. Personally I prefer PC games that give me total control and first person view, but thats only subjective.

Taking fire from enemy bullets is prohibitive and this is where the demo was interesting in that stealth is important. It seemed to focus on combat action and takedowns rather than acquiring intelligience tho, or deciding on strategy. There may be provision to avoid enemies and take alternative actions by stealth in the final game, but in the demo you must take down all enemies before you can proceed to next level.

Its got potential, but I may wait for more reviews before I get it. Its not the money its more the time factor for me, I dont want to waste precious gaming time on crud.

[polonyc2]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

There are a few things to be said from the demo:

the game actually does give you the freedom to complete missions using several different methods...you can go stealth, go in fists first, glide in from above etc but to me it seems the game encourages stealth above all else

as far as exploration the game has plenty of secret locations and areas...even the demo had a few and the full game promises a lot more...did you find both Riddler trophies in the game?...they are hidden...did you see the hidden explosive wall using your 'Detective Mode'?...go into all the hidden vents?

you're right about not being able to open drawers/cabinets etc but the environment is built to show off PhysX capabilities so things like bullet fragments, clothing, flags, etc all have realistic components to them...but to see that you either have to have an Nvidia video card (that supports onboard PhysX) or have a deicated hardware PhysX card

the game does have a console feel to it but the controls I found to be very fluid on the PC...even the complex fighting moves can easily be done with the keyboard/mouse if you have things mapped correctly...plus there are only a few basic moves to learn so nothing overly complex which requires a controller

hopefully the story will be good as I don't want to do the same basic moves throughout the entire game...either way I can see this game doing really well based on early reviews and reactions from people who have played the demo...me personally I had no intention of getting this game until after I played the demo...now it's on my must buy list

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by polonyc2

...as far as exploration the game has plenty of secret locations and areas...even the demo had a few and the full game promises a lot more...did you find both Riddler trophies in the game?...they are hidden...did you see the hidden explosive wall using your 'Detective Mode'?...go into all the hidden vents?...

yep... they're not hard to find... I was talking about exploration of rooms and objects... acquiring information and artifacts that way... as in an inventory... something like Bioshock or other recent games...

Originally Posted by polonyc2

...the game actually does give you the freedom to complete missions using several different methods...you can go stealth, go in fists first, glide in from above etc but to me it seems the game encourages stealth above all else...

The gliding from above is part of the stealth approach... but I didnt say anything about that other than its interesting... we'll have to wait and see how stealth is handled in the final game...

[polonyc2]

looks like a new trailer for the game was released a few days back...I just saw it and it focuses on the different weapons/gadgets available in the game...wow, some really unique stuff there that I have not seen in a game before...this game continues to impress...

Batman: Arkham Asylum Video Game, Exclusive Gadgets Trailer HD | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

[polonyc2]

Arkham Asylum could be best superhero game ever

Currently averaging a smashing 92% on review aggregation site Gamerankings, the brand new Batman: Arkham Asylum is already among the year's best reviewed titles

"nearly every review considers the game a must-have, with numerous sites already bandying about 'Game of the Year' talk. IGN takes it a step further, calling it "the greatest comic book videogame of all time."

"it's a thinking man's action game set in the horrific halls of Arkham Asylum, which the Joker has turned into his personal playground filled with villains, traps, and puzzles. It's dark, scary, gorgeous and fun"

No joke: Batman: Arkham Asylum could be best superhero game ever - Plugged In - Yahoo! Games

I'm definitely picking this up when the PC version is released on September 15th ...I think this will be the 2nd best game of 2009 behind Modern Warfare 2

[zapionics<alt>]

Yep, the reviewers are gushing which really bodes well...
but as usual I have a little nagging doubt... I still remember Bioshock and others... most of these reviewers are in the console space...they have a slightly different perspective than PC gamers...

I guess my doubt is around the gamestyle... button mashing and ninja style kick-boxing... all great when your 16... but who knows? Maybe in a few weeks I'll be singing its praises. I sure hope so.