Hands-on with Batman: Dark Asylum

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/03/hands-on-with-batman-dark-asylum.ars

Hands-on with Batman: Dark Asylum
We got to play Batman: Dark Asylum at GDC 2009, and our expectations were more than met. This is a dark, violent, and thrilling take on the character... complete with explosive foam.
By Ben Kuchera
March 27, 2009

While it can sometimes be hard to actually get your hands on a game to play at GDC—people talk about their titles more than they're willing to let writers try them—I was delighted to be able to spend about 20 minutes with Batman: Dark Asylum.

We weren't able to show the story; instead we were offered the chance to play some of the Challenge Rooms, and see how the battle system works out. The good news is that the title looks and feels like Batman; in one room I was using my Batarang to jump from gargoyle to gargoyle in a large gothic area, before swooping down to take out enemies... one at a time.

If an enemy walks below you while you're stalking, you can tap the "Y" button to slide down for a moment, grab him, and string him up. If you're feeling particularly nasty, you can glide away, turn back, and then cut the rope with a batarang, causing him to fall. You don't kill anyone with the game, and the title is keeping a Teen rating, much the same way that Dark Knight was a PG-13 movie with more than enough darkness. In this title, Batman comes off as suitably badass and menacing.

The gadgets are also impressive. There is a Sonic Batarang that you can throw which sends off a pulse to attract enemies to investigate, and then detonates when they are near. There is explosive gel that you can spray on the ground to drop down a level and take someone out. You can throw a Batarang to take out enemies; the right bumper allows the camera to follow the flying weapon. Skulking through the levels, using every trick you can find to battle your enemies, causing them to scatter in terror as they're picked off... it really does feel like you're the godda***d Batman. That's not to say you'll always rely on terror to do your job: you're more than able to take down a group of enemies with some liberal use of acrobatics and misdirection. With one brutal attack I disarmed an opponent and cracked his skull with his own baseball bat, before dropping it, confusing the other two enemies with my cape, and then slamming the fourth into the wall. Delicious. It's hard to describe, but you feel trapped and desperate in the game, yet more than able to tackle the challenges ahead of you.

The other good news is that the voice cast from the sublime Batman: The Animated Series is providing the vocals. I'm tired of Bale's cartoony growl from the movies. Kevin Conroy from the cartoon ironically sounds more like Batman in my head. Mark Hamill is the quintessential Joker, and I'm told that Mr. Skywalker was a blast to work with in the studio, riffing on his lines and providing in-character improvisation for the game. "You just hear his laugh, and it makes you go..." the Warner Bros. spokesmen shivers, and I know what he's talking about. Hamill does a helluva Joker.

The combat is cinematic without making you feel weighed down by the animations. Finishing moves and brief moments of slow-mo to show off a brutal attack give you the feeling of power and weight. This is how the Batman operates: he feels like an almost unstoppable foe, but still human; the world's greatest detective is more than well represented in Dark Asylum.