Batman: Arkham Asylum - Megathread - One of the best this year?

[BlueCali]

For the most part, superhero games have only managed to be "good" and not "great" in the past. But we may get something very special when Batman: Arkham Asylum releases in June (yep, another potentially hot June title).

According to MCVUK, Eidos says that Batman will be one of the biggest productions of 2009 and moreover, it will "set a new benchmark for licensed video games." As the article points out, this is yet another bold claim from a publisher; you may recall Activision's statement saying that Modern Warfare 2 will be the "#1 entertainment property" of the year. But despite the perceived rashness of such claims, from what we've seen of Arkham Asylum, we're almost ready to believe Eidos. Said head of UK marketing Jon Brooke:

"We expect Batman Arkham Asylum to not only be the biggest game of the summer but one of the stand-out games of the year. It’s as close to perfect as we’ve ever come, it looks amazing, plays beautifully and has a rich twisting storyline with enormous replayability. I’m confident enough to say that it will set a new benchmark for licensed games and it’s going to establish itself as one of our best games ever."

...if that's not confidence, we don't know what is. Brooke also went on to say that they've got some serious advertising and marketing lined up to push the game, and it'll run for about four months. He says it's their "biggest campaign of the year" and they're definitely going to "make some noise." Well, we don't mind that. If you haven't done so already, check out the latest video for the game; the Invisible Predator Trailer. As you can see, this title really does have a ton of potential, and those of you waiting for Infamous - which releases right around the same time - may be faced with a tough decision...

Source: PSXextreme.com - Eidos: Batman

 

[Wreck]

Im getting this, not the CE but the regular one for sure

I probably wont, until I hear people say its "Wolverine" quality.

But if I just got the extra dough around the time I might spring for the CE just cause I like CE's that contain stuff like the above.


I may just catch up on a couple older titles I want. Will see closer to release.

 

[BlueCali]

Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo Set For August 7

Today Eidos has announced that a demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum will release this week on Friday, August 7. The demo will be available on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. This is different from the demo that's been out on demo consoles for awhile now, as it's set to feature the introduction to the beginning of the story mode, instead of the challenge mode.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is set to be released on August 25th. Don't forget to preorder.

http://projectgamers.com/2009/08/04/batman-arkham-asylum-demo-set-for-august-7/

 

[j_rocca42]

don't know why anyone who had both systems wouldn't be buying the PS3 version with the joker...

 

[Horhay]

I am patiently waiting for this game to come out!

 

[mobius387]

you can preorder it for $48 on amazon. check out the hot deals section for details

 

[mobius387]

thoughts on the demo?

 

[Horhay]

The demo was very nice! The button mashing gets a bit more technical, they added counters and flow of fighting with the right button combinations. The Unreal engine looks very nice!

The stealth attacks are freakin cool!

 

[mobius387]

yah, its a great demo, which will hopefully transpire into a great game. for $48 i will pick this one up!

 

[mobius387]

Dev's talk graphics

Our team has had a lot of experience with the Unreal engine. We started looking at the Unreal technology in December 2005, roughly 18 months before starting the game. We've been ironing our skills and polishing our workflow with the engine for nearly four years to deliver the best experience possible with Batman: Arkham Asylum.

During that time the engine went through several iterations and updates. One great thing about the Unreal engine is that the community of developers using the technology is quite proactive and the guys at Epic are always on top of their business, taking good care of the Unreal licensees and their problems through UDN, a forum dedicated to the developers using UE3.

When we started working on Batman: Arkham Asylum we knew the Unreal engine inside out, and we had already started customizing it to get the optimal workflow while also ironing out the elements that were going to stand out in the art style of the game. From day one of Batman: Arkham Asylum production, we were already achieving a very polished look of the game in both technical and artistic terms. The engine gave us a huge opportunity to refine and polish the visual direction during development.

From there we could focus on the visual direction of Batman: Arkham Asylum without worrying about the constraints of the engine, as we knew it quite well inside out from the beginning of production, which was a great position to be in.

One thing for sure is that we didn't want to go for a monochromatic look and feel. We wanted to stay as close as possible to the comics and the way the Batman universe is depicted, dark and gothic.

The idea was to merge two different styles: the Batman graphic style seen in the comics for nearly 70 years through many, many iterations and variations, and something different that only the current gen consoles technology could bring for only the cost of render and shaders: an ultra-realistic depiction of the Batman universe, with a comic book twist.

We wanted the skin of the characters to look like real skin, we wanted the brick and concrete textures to look like real brick and concrete. But at the same time we wanted something more. We didn't want to just depict a realistic world. We wanted to really grab the feel of a twisted and gritty world while wandering in the asylum. This is what Batman is all about art-wise.

We spent a lot of time and passion setting up the lighting and mood in Batman: Arkham Asylum. More than just setting the lighting, I would say that we painted with lights. To carry the true vision of a realistic but comic style to the game, we used hundreds and even thousands of lights to recreate that peculiar dark, moody and colourful vision of Arkham Asylum. Once again, it was very important to make the game colourful while keeping the gothic and grim feel. And once again that's where merging the realistic and the comic style was important, to keep the broad mood dark and gritty in a pure heritage of the Batman comics.

Visually we really pushed the Unreal Engine to its limits in term of capacity. Technically at any point during the game, the engine is streaming as many textures and polygons as it is feasible. The amount of details put into the characters and environments is maxing out the capabilities of the consoles. And when everything art wise was done, we pushed it even more and we polished the artwork for a few months. And then we optimized it, and we polished it even more. I don't think you can get more artwork at once in a console game. The artists really went for that extra mile in term of quality and the result is really worth it.

source: blogs.ign.com/WBIE_Batman/2009/08/07/126330/

 

[dboy99]

i played the demo of this games and i was seriously underrating this game

 

[mobius387]

i played the demo of this games and i was seriously underrating this game

yup, i went out and preordered it from amazon right after playing the demo. only $48 w/shipping right now

 

[Tek-1]

yup, i went out and preordered it from amazon right after playing the demo. only $48 w/shipping right now

me too, pre-ordered at gamestop. i had a credit there and i think there was a preorder bonus for an extra challenge room. i can't wait for this game.

 

[dboy99]

yup, i went out and preordered it from amazon right after playing the demo. only $48 w/shipping right now

if im correct isnt this game suppose to only be 40 bucks.which is a good price for games they will sell more na d sell longer at 40 bucks.



oh and tek i dont think you get an extra room i know you get the joker challenge and on the gamestop commercial i seen batman fightining some kinda skeletons i guess that's what you mean.

 

[Horhay]

I think he is referring to the Scarecrow challenge. Correct me if I am wrong Tek.

 

[mobius387]

if im correct isnt this game suppose to only be 40 bucks.which is a good price for games they will sell more na d sell longer at 40 bucks.

?

its $60 everywhere else cept amazon, which has it at like $53 but then you can apply a $5 coupon to make it $48. where did you see it for $40?

 

[dboy99]

?

its $60 everywhere else cept amazon, which has it at like $53 but then you can apply a $5 coupon to make it $48. where did you see it for $40?

wasnt there a story about it yesterday or the day before it was gonna come out some places for 40 bucks. i know i seen it or i wouldnt have rememberd it.

 

[mobius387]

wasnt there a story about it yesterday or the day before it was gonna come out some places for 40 bucks. i know i seen it or i wouldnt have rememberd it.

the PC version is $40.

 

[Tek-1]

I think he is referring to the Scarecrow challenge. Correct me if I am wrong Tek.

yea, thanks horhay. That's the one I was talking about.

 

[mobius387]

ign review: ps3.ign.com/articles/101/1016585p1.html

Closing Comments
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the greatest comic book videogame of all time. This is an adult Dark Knight story that is well-told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, has topnotch voice talent, and feel like it's part of Batman cannon. If I have to nitpick, I wish the cutscenes looked better as they can distract from the tale and that the AI was a bit more responsive, but those are tiny flaws that shouldn't distract from the big picture.

Rocksteady nailed what Batman is supposed to feel like. Fans, rejoice.

9.0 Presentation
This is what Batman's world feels like. It's dark and gritty. You'll feel Batman's frustration and the terror of hostages. In-game cutscenes and lip syncing could be better.

8.5 Graphics
Batman's forearms are too big and hair tends to look plasticy, but the game looks great in motion. Batman's damage detail by the end of the game is a nice touch.

9.5 Sound
Most of the voice acting is out of the world good. I could listen to the Joker and Riddler talk all day long. The score sets the mood as well. Excellent work.

9.5 Gameplay
At its core, the fist fighting is simple but it is fun. Meanwhile, attacking from the shadows and using bat-gadgets is what being Batman is all about.

9.0 Lasting Appeal
Beating the story and 240 riddles took me 12 hours. If you don't feel like Edward's clues, you'll be done faster. The challenge mode should keep you going if you dig the combat.

9.3
Outstanding OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average) See All Award Recipients

 

[Horhay]

the PC version is $40.

You are going to need a serious video card in order to play this puppy! Newegg has an offer than if you buy certain evga video cards you get the game for free!

I am so looking for an EVGA 260 for $189 that should cover my needs, plus free game!