Rocksteady's Arkham Asylum was definitely the Batman game we deserved, and the one we needed right now, after decades of uniformly terrible video game adaptations for the Dark Knight had us doubting it was even possible. The Arkham series are the first titles that actually made us feel like the comic book hero, letting us glide about the place on his cloak, firing off the wonderful toys, chucking Batarangs at people, all that fun stuff. Plus the mechanics did a great job of mimicking how we imagine being Batman is, with the fighting system and the detective mode covering the rest of the bases. The story was pretty good and all, penned by comic book and cartoon veteran Paul Dini and taking in all the major members of the Caped Crusader's rogues gallery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60H6GwFxYg Plus the voice acting was top notch, with the classic Animated Series' stars Kevin Conroy and Luke Skywalker himself Mark Hamill as Batman and The Joker, respectively. Which made it all the more disappointing when a game full of clever puzzles, smooth fighting and some genuinely unique aspects - especially those nightmarish Scarecrow sections - along with the decent plotting all chucked out the window by a crappy final boss. The Joker isn't supposed to be a physical threat to Batman - it's all about the traps he puts other people in, the psychological stuff. Which doesn't work in a game, so they dosed the Clown Prince Of Crime up with steroids and had you fight him. It was terrible. And that was how it ended. Snore.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
