On Sunday, I finished the rather marvellous Batman: Arkham Asylum (beating Eleanor by some small margin). Well, at least the normal difficulty campaign – I still have to find and solve all of the Riddler’s riddles and I’m sure there are some pesky teeth still chattering around somewhere. I spent five hours playing back to back on both my weekend mornings and I even dreamt about a better way of clearing one of the rooms in the pumping station. The game grasped me in a way I haven’t experienced since Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.
Strange as it may sound, I like to know why I enjoy games. It’s primarily so I can look out for similar themes in other titles to make better informed purchases but it’s also nice to know what makes me tick. Batman was an exception to my usual knowledgeable purchase, our very own Dan simply said, “Buy it” and despite the demo not striking a chord with me I did; his gaming time is as precious as mine so I trust him implicitly. Having now beaten the Joker, I’ve been thinking about why I’m enjoying it so much and I’ve come to the conclusion that it echoes much of what I’ve been waiting for Splinter Cell: Conviction to deliver.
Many of the basic traits are shared: room clearance, lock picking, gadgets, using the environment to your acrobatic advantage and the whole night/detective vision choice. I’m not suggesting that Batman is a rip off, far from it; creating room clearance by stealth and room clearance by Rambo as separate game types is design genius and the voice acting and fighting system are worth the price alone. However it’s no coincidence that what I get out of this game is the same as what I’ve got from Splinter Cell.
I know many people are impatiently awaiting Conviction’s release and in lieu I hope that Batman: Arkham Asylum further whets the community’s appetite for this kind of gameplay. I was excited about Splinter Cell: Conviction two weeks ago, now I can barely wait.
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