Batman Arkham Asylum

Number one son bought a copy of Batman, Arkham Asylum yesterday, and spent the evening playing it while I watched. Very, very good. Batman has managed to recapture the joker after a suspiciously easy chase and accompanies him to the asylum to make sure the joker is properly re-habilitated. And of course it all goes wrong.

The action seems quite linear, in that you have to work your way through a series of challenges to unravel what has happened and rescue everyone, but the thing I really like is the whole setup. The artwork and sound have been beautifully realised to create a very impressive environment in which batman has to make every move really count. I especially like the “detective view” which seems to work just like those “X-Ray” specs you saw advertised on comic books claimed to. Batman himself is nicely gritty and ironic, and very mortal, for all his gadgets.

Great fun, and another example of just how close to film realistic video games are getting.