6. Arkham Asylum Batman: Arkham Asylum
Im sure not everyone will agree with this choice, largely because Arkham City is widely considered the better game, but I definitely think that Arkham Asylum was a much better setting. The infamous Asylum has been a massive part of the Batman universe since its inception and this marked the first time we got to truly explore it for ourselves and see the madness that lurked within. The legendary sanctum is a very fun and interesting place to explore, especially when you can find the notes of Amadeus Arkham which chronicle his life, from the moment he decided to build the asylum to his inevitable descent to insanity. This gives further depth to an already massive universe. There are few maps I can think of that are as atmospheric and hauntingly unique as Arkham Asylum. It had a slight animated look to it while also being dark, gritty and realistic. The map was the entire Arkham Island, which was divided into sections, each with different buildings and facilities. Certain areas of the map, such as Botanical Gardens, are controlled by specific enemies, in this case Poison Ivy, which give them their own unique look. Although it was an open world, you could go anywhere at any point in the game, it wasnt the scale of an RPG, similarly to RAGE. There was plenty to do within the map, such as solve riddles and collect Riddler trophies, amass audio tapes of the inmates, discover Amadeus Arkhams hidden messages, fight the litany of random scum and attempt the predator challenges, batarang the irritating Joker teeth and, of course, search for the infamous hidden room. Thats quite a lot for any game and it gave Batman: Arkham Asylum a lot of play time. Even though Arkham City was probably a better game with a map literally twice the size, I felt it didnt have the same atmosphere or charm that Arkham Asylum did. Part of the reason is because I know Arkham Asylum, its a massive facet of the Batman universe, so it really felt like Batman, whereas Arkham City was much bigger and there was nothing as iconic or recognisable about it, besides Crime Alley. The smaller map also felt more traversable than Arkham City, even though the Glide Boost made it much easier to get about in the latter. My preference of the smaller map has me worried about the Batman: Arkham Origins map, which is said to be twice the size of Arkham City. Batman: Arkham Asylum was a brilliant game and a part of that was its perfect setting, which sees Batman in the only place he can be overwhelmed and the only place that makes him self-doubt his own sanity. For that reason alone Arkham Asylum is the perfect stage for a Batman game but once you throw in the excellent gameplay, fantastic voice-acting by Batman veterans, Paul Dini story and the myriad of insane villains, this makes for one experience no Batman, or video game, fan should miss out on.