Batman is a character that’s rather familiar with the video game industry as he’s been involved in a plethora of titles over the years. This time, Batman is being brought to gamers by Rocksteady Studios, a relatively new company based in London, England, and he is involved in a completely original adventure based around the infamous Arkham Asylum.

The basic premise of the story is that Batman has managed to capture The Joker, and is transferring him to Arkham Asylum, a prison that’s home to Gotham City’s most dangerous criminal minds. However, things don’t go to plan, as it appears that The Joker had planned everything from the start. He manages to escape, and immediately takes control of Arkham Asylum, leaving Batman to try and thwart his plans yet again.

The story is actually really good. Being a new adventure, the writers had free licence to invoke many of Batman’s famous adversaries. As well as The Joker, there is also Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Bane, Poison Ivy and more. Some who don’t necessarily have a direct role also have small cameos and it adds a lot to the authenticity. Having that many super villains could have been overwhelming, but due to the setting the balance is perfect. All of their roles in the story feel necessary for it to develop, and they aren’t just there for the sake of it. By the end of the game, the story will leave players more than satisfied and it’s one that can certainly be experienced more than once without becoming monotonous.

Gameplay in Batman Arkham Asylum is essentially separated into two categories: stealth and action. Although they aren’t specifically defined in the main game, certain sections demand a more refined approach to allow progression. If a room has 5-6 armed assailants, it will be very difficult to go in without much self preservation as they will have very little trouble mowing Batman down. Taking a stealthy approach is much better, and this is possible by using silent takedowns, and hiding up in the rafters.

However, the more melee-based fights are where the game really shines. Initially the Freeflow combat system might seem basic, as it essentially only uses one button for attack, but after progressing through the game it feels perfectly natural. Pressing the attack button and a direction performs an attack on the enemy there. There are usually quite a few enemies in a single encounter, and having a counter feature helps to level the playing field. It also helps to actually make the combat seem freeflowing, as attacks seamlessly link together. It’s an extremely rewarding system, as special moves and weapons can also be integrated into combos to make it look much more stylish and effective. There is also a reasonable variety with the enemies that are encountered and they can’t all be beaten by just mashing the attack button.

As a nice departure from these two modes, there is also a third, more retro gameplay type. This mode is encountered a few times throughout the game, and it involves Batman attempting to get to the end of a level, in a more 2D plane. It’s a much simpler form of gameplay, but does still involve usage of Batman’s gadgets, as well as melee combat. The levels are also short, and it allows for a nice reprieve to break up the action. It may seem odd to change the experience of a game when the main elements are so successful, but if the scenario is engaging it can work exceedingly well, and that’s the case in Batman.

With the IP so well established, presentation is a big deal and Batman Arkham Asylum passes with flying colours. Everything looks great, and the atmosphere couldn’t get much better. There is also a huge range of locations, despite it being set on a small island. Each of the various sections has a completely different look and feel, with no two places feeling the same. It’s also possible to revisit practically all of the locations in the game, but they don’t necessarily look the same as when initially encountered. The voice acting is for the most part stellar, although Batman can sound a bit tame sometimes. The Joker is especially good, and The Riddler never gets old when his little quips appear.

For being a single-player focused game, Batman also has quite a lot to offer. The story-mode is of a reasonable length, and The Riddler gives Batman plenty challenges to solve. These can range from finding hidden trophies, to solving riddles about items found somewhere in that specific area. The amount of challenges is quite substantial, and will keep players occupied for a decent amount of time. They also allow players to experience the other types challenges. These put Batman in a specific situation which revolves around either combat or stealth. The combat challenges require the player to get the biggest combos, while the stealth challenges task Batman with nullifying a set amount of The Joker’s goons. Each of the challenges is set in a different stage from the game, and there are also extreme versions for those wanting an extra challenge. Leaderboards can also be viewed, so it’s possible to check out worldwide rankings. On the PlayStation 3 version, these challenges can also be played using The Joker, which adds an extra reason to replay as he has a completely different set of tools.

Conclusion
Batman Arkham Asylum ticks all the boxes. It has a great story, worthy of the Dark Knight, it has a great combat system, which is broken up with stealth and other interludes and has a good amount of replayability. It also looks great, and has a fantastic level of authenticity, something that fans will surely appreciate. Simply put, Batman is a stellar action title and one that shouldn’t be missed.

The Guitar Hero series hasn’t been one of my most liked franchises as of late. With the previous releases of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Metallica and Smash Hits it seemed like Neversoft was more interested in making quick spin-offs and it looked as though the franchise was loosing its touch. With the current release of Guitar Hero 5, rest assured this one entry that shouldn’t be missed because it offers a ton of great features and tracks that are sure to please veterans and new comers alike.

One of the major new additions to Guitar Hero 5 is the addition of the Party Play mode. This feature allows you and a group of friends to play Guitar Hero 5 the way you’ve always wanted to play it. Any member of the band is now able to jump in and out on the fly at any part of the song and another great addition is the fact that two or more people can play the same instrument. So every band member can either sing, play bass or guitar and drum at the same time.

Guitar Hero 5’s presentation is easily the best of the series. The menu’s all look great and they’re very easy to navigate so any newcomers can get right into it. Also its great that you can now select your character, difficulty, instrument and game mode all from one menu, its great additions like this that make navigation and playing with friends that much easier. A cool feature that was added for the Xbox 360 version was that you can use your Avatars as an in game character, so I found it pretty funny and awesome when I saw my Avatar dressed in the Storm Trooped outfit jamming out on guitar.

The setlist is definitely the most diverse yet and its sure to appeal to broader audience. You’ve got artists like Iron Maiden, Rolling Stones, Blink-182, White Stripes and Nirvana so what ever decade your from there’s definitely something here for you. Its also cool that the likes of Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Carlos Santana, Shirley Manson and Matthew Bellamy all make appearances in the game but I wished Neversoft would go the extra mile and get more artists to appear in the game because I’m sure we’d all like to see members of Iron Maiden, Rolling Stones and Blink-182 make appearances in a Guitar Hero game.

Don’t expect many changes in Guitar Hero 5’s career mode. There’s no story and you don’t earn money to unlock new stuff like you did in the previous games. Instead you just play through different venues that get the songs harder as you progress, but if you’re finding a song to difficult you can change the difficulty at the career menu instead of having to play an entirely new career like previous Guitar Hero’s. This works great for someone like myself because I can play most of the easier songs on Expert but the later songs in the game I can only do on Hard, so the addition of this feature was very helpful and it saved alot of frustration.

Those that were looking to prove themselves online should be happy to know the Guitar Hero 5 has a bunch of new online modes that are sure to test your skills. New modes include Momentum; where everyone starts on medium difficulty and the better you play the harder the song gets. Do or Die is the other mode where if a player misses three notes then he has to sit out for a section of the song. Also the classic modes like pro-face off and band co-op remain intact but now in band co-op if a single member fails he can be brought back if the other band players are playing well.

With all these new additions this is one Guitar Hero game that shouldn’t be missed. It packs a ton of great party features and a broad setlist that is sure to please anyone. So if you were you like me and thought that the Guitar Hero franchise had lost its touch, then turn the other cheek and pick up a copy of Guitar Hero 5. Its easily the best addition to the franchise since Guitar Hero 3.

Score: 9/10