Batman: Arkham Asylum

 Xbox 360
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1377 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,224 out of 1377
  2. Mixed: 82 out of 1377
  3. Negative: 71 out of 1377
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  1. metacritiq
    Nov 18, 2013
    2
    Not fun, I have to agree with all of the other negative reviews. The gameplay is linear, like walking through a movie with only one possible course of action and either you're doing it or not. Combat is okay, but repetitive. I don't understand why people think this is what a "fun" game is. I can play for about 15 minutes at a time and then I think "working on my resume would be moreNot fun, I have to agree with all of the other negative reviews. The gameplay is linear, like walking through a movie with only one possible course of action and either you're doing it or not. Combat is okay, but repetitive. I don't understand why people think this is what a "fun" game is. I can play for about 15 minutes at a time and then I think "working on my resume would be more fun than this." I struggle to understand how this game has a metascore of 92 and a user score of 8.7. It's just Not Fun. I created an account here just to let people know.… Expand
  2. 2CatShakur
    Nov 4, 2012
    3
    After a friend of mine harassed me for basically only playing FPS games, he suggested I give this a try. Based on all the critical acclaim, I decided to give it a go. And I'm sorry, I've got to say, I don't get it. The controls are incredibly clunky. There are way too many irritating collectibles and puzzles. This game is just tedious and very frustrating. One of the few good things I canAfter a friend of mine harassed me for basically only playing FPS games, he suggested I give this a try. Based on all the critical acclaim, I decided to give it a go. And I'm sorry, I've got to say, I don't get it. The controls are incredibly clunky. There are way too many irritating collectibles and puzzles. This game is just tedious and very frustrating. One of the few good things I can say about it is that I was a fan of the Batman comic books growing up, and they stayed very true to the characters. Otherwise, definitely one of the most overrated games of the last few years.… Expand
  3. eye4things
    May 16, 2011
    2
    This game is broken. Two bugs exist that can make it unplayable, and you can only use one save slot, so there is no "going back a bit" to re-do. Other than these two unforgivable bugs, the game is great. I cannot confirm, but think that they both exist in PS3 and PC versions also. One of the bugs can be avoided, and I will help you avoid frustration by explaining how below with as fewThis game is broken. Two bugs exist that can make it unplayable, and you can only use one save slot, so there is no "going back a bit" to re-do. Other than these two unforgivable bugs, the game is great. I cannot confirm, but think that they both exist in PS3 and PC versions also. One of the bugs can be avoided, and I will help you avoid frustration by explaining how below with as few spoilers as possible.
    (MINOR SPOILERS START NOW). Wait until earthquakes, then read the rest and there will bot no spoilers. (SPOILERS START HERE, unless you are were I have asked) When you return to Botonacal Gardens going after Ivy, do not attempt to open any doors in the greenhouse that are covered with vinces. Once through, the game saves you in a room that there is no way to exit. Avoid this one and hope the other (pure chance/luck) doesn't happen to you and it's a great game.    … Expand
  4. Luke
    Aug 26, 2009
    3
    Maybe I'm playing a different game. But the Batman AA game i'm playing suffers from clunky controls, and ok graphics. the gameplay is only so so. I've only played the game for an hour and a half but so far I'm not enjoying it. But the critics love it, so what do I know
  5. MylesW
    Sep 12, 2009
    3
    Extremely overrated. The boss fights are repetitive, the gameplay is subpar, not that much replay value. The graphics and sound make it worthy of a rent, not much more. All reviews fail to note any of the negatives of this game. Watch some gameplay videos, play the demo and rent before you buy or you'll be disappointed as I have been.
  6. hoggys2much
    Jul 8, 2011
    3
    Here is my review of Batman AA.

    I bought this game after trying the demo and thought I would give it a go. Here is my review for this mediocre game: Graphics: The graphics are very mediocre. They were probably good 2 years ago but they have aged badly. I have other games from 2009 and they just kick the heck out of this games graphics. Too dark, a bit bland and totaly unexciting in my    Here is my review of Batman AA.

    I bought this game after trying the demo and thought I would give it a go. Here is my review for this mediocre game:

    Graphics: The graphics are very mediocre. They were probably good 2 years ago but they have aged badly. I have other games from 2009 and they just kick the heck out of this games graphics. Too dark, a bit bland and totaly unexciting in my view.

    Controlls: The controlls are horrendous. At times they are so unresponsive it is beyond a joke. I have lost count the number of times I have pressed "Y" for counter and nothing happend or gone to fire my baterang and nothing has happened and I have noticed on numerous occasions that you have to actually stop running before you can do other moves. Terrible controlls. You can't do anything else whilst running around. Pathetic.

    Gameplay: Very repetative short and mediocre. This is the gameplay, detect fingerprints, tobacco follow trail rinse repeat about 100 times, beat up bad guys rinse repeat, use stealth to get past guys with guns rinse and repeat. After the third time I was like not again.

    The boss battles are the worst I have ever seen in my 30 years of gaming. The final Joker boss battle was the worst most pathetic end of game boss battle I haved ever done in my life. You never fought him. You fought his crap pathetic minions AGAIN for the millionth time. Someone needs to tell the creators the mid game bosses are not ment to be harder than the end game boss.

    Poison Ivy was a joke and as for Killer Croc don't get me started! That is the worst boss battle I have ever seen in my life. Whoever came up with that should be shot! Terrible.

    The length of the game was also trully pathetic. It is the shortest game I own. Someone really needs to tell Eidos how to make games with graphics and gameplay length.

    I can play games for upto 6 hours a day and I did this in 3 DAYS! Bloody hell. Talk about short. I played Lego Batman for the same length of time each day and that took me 2 WEEKS to get it to 100%.

    They had to add those ridiculous riddles to pad out the game because they knew they had created a short game!

    Also there is no replayability value to it whatsoever. Pathetic. Once you do story mode there is nothing left to do in the game except for those boring challenges.

    Story and voice acting: Again horrendous!

    Overall a trully mediocre (at best) game and I am baffled at how this won all these awards. It is the second most overhyped and overrated game I have played only beaten by Assassin's Creed 1.

    It is just another example of the reviewers falling for the hype machine. Someone plaese tell the reviewers what hyping up means as they haven't got a clue!

    Thank goodness I only spent £9.90 ($15) on this as it is not worth anymore than that.

    Overall score 4/10.    … Expand
  7. LeefnaS.
    Sep 28, 2009
    4
    It's like there's some kind of conspiracy to trick me into thinking this game doesn't suck. I think we need more games where you run around and look for stuff and pretend like that's what a 'puzzle' is.
  8. Jacob
    Aug 27, 2009
    3
    The entire world looks incredibly fake, the fighting is very robotic and annoying, and the objectives are not interesting in the slightest. On top of that, they changed Harley Quinn's costume for the worst. From a technical perspective, the lip syncing and facial expressions look like something from the 90s, which really makes the game hard to enjoy. The game didn't entertain The entire world looks incredibly fake, the fighting is very robotic and annoying, and the objectives are not interesting in the slightest. On top of that, they changed Harley Quinn's costume for the worst. From a technical perspective, the lip syncing and facial expressions look like something from the 90s, which really makes the game hard to enjoy. The game didn't entertain me, so i'm giving it a low score.… Expand
  9. BillScurry
    Sep 3, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is wildly overrated, in that everyone seems to think that running around a bafflingly linear environment while mashing the 'X' button during combat is somehow fun. There is no point to any of the combat, or combos, or weapon use, because it's all just part of a redundant routine that plays out exactly the same no matter how many enemies you fight. What's more, some sequences are designed to kill you at least 30 times, requiring you to play the same five minutes over and over again until the AI lets you get lucky. The point I stuffed it back in the box was the time when I walked into a room with six gun thugs and booby-trapped gargoyles, thereby ensuring total failure and unlimited amount of times. This is not fun, and I don't see how anyone could possibly find it fun.… Expand
  10. catchalltrash
    Sep 10, 2009
    4
    I'm about an hour and a half into the game. So far it has been a disappointing experience. The combat is dreadful, navigating the environment is clunky and awkward, character movement is too slow, and the "checkpoint" system needs work. I'm really glad this is a rental.
  11. Broyax
    Apr 14, 2017
    4
    On sent bien que ce jeu a fait l'objet d'un soin très attentif, surtout techniquement : Rocksteady maîtrise parfaitement l'Unreal Engine, toujours beau et fluide sans compter les temps de chargement quasi-inexistants ; ensuite le système de combat au corps-à-corps bien que basé sur une mécanique de mini-QTE est distrayant mais répétitif à la longue. Une mention spéciale (tout de même !)On sent bien que ce jeu a fait l'objet d'un soin très attentif, surtout techniquement : Rocksteady maîtrise parfaitement l'Unreal Engine, toujours beau et fluide sans compter les temps de chargement quasi-inexistants ; ensuite le système de combat au corps-à-corps bien que basé sur une mécanique de mini-QTE est distrayant mais répétitif à la longue. Une mention spéciale (tout de même !) pour la VF, parfaite.

    Sorti de là, il reste que la musique est passe-partout et n'a jamais le caractère épique des 2 premiers films de Tim Burton. Le jeu est très (trop) dirigiste : quand on a contourné un groupe et qu'on lit à la porte suivante "vous devez tout nettoyer avant de continuer", c'est un peu dur à avaler ! les passages "action" ou "furtif" sont de toute façon imposés, pas d'alternative, alors que la disposition de l'île laissait présager une certaine liberté. Les énigmes sont pour leur part assez ridicules et simplistes.

    Destinées à varier le gameplay, les phases "plate-forme" en vue de profil nous ramènent 25 ans en arrière et ne sont pas du meilleur goût. Quant à l'interface, elle est souvent inutilement compliquée comme le nombre d'étapes pour faire exploser un mur par exemple ; manque de suite dans les idées également (pourquoi devoir maintenir la gâchette quand on passe en "furtif" ?...).

    Bref, fidèle adaptation sur le papier d'une licence basse de plafond mais qui ne m'a pas impressionné plus que ça : je ne me suis pas emmerdé mais je ne me suis pas vraiment amusé non plus ! ça manque de passion et on n'a d'ailleurs aucune sympathie particulière pour ce héros bodybuildé qui se prend très au sérieux (contrairement aux films de Tim Burton qui a su voir plus loin).    … Expand
  12. azartffd
    Jan 11, 2021
    0
    good history, controls, the truth for me is one of the best games I've played
  13. herrmoekl
    Aug 3, 2021
    0
    A Masterpiece & the best Game in the Series

    This game is an amazing lesson in atmospherical density and level design, both things in which the prequels while improving on the gameplay, disappointed. It was also the first game ever that really made me feel like a superhero...

Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2009
4
#4 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2009
9
#9 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 78 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 78
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 78
  3. Negative: 0 out of 78
  1. My Gamer
    88
    What may be one of Batman’s worst nights of his life may end up being one of many players’ best experiences of the year.
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  2. Xbox Achievements
    93
    This is certainly not a game for just Batman fans, comic fans or action fans; this is a game that everyone should play and thoroughly enjoy. It looks beautiful, plays like a dream and has a superb mix of action, stealth and detective elements. The combat is intuitive, flexible and surprisingly deep too. Give this game a go and you will not be pleasantly surprise, you will be blown away.
    Read full review
  3. SpazioGames
    90
    Batman Arkham Asylum is a product of absolute value that can count on a cast of colorful characters to build a great game, really fun. The greatest strengths of the production lie in the gameplay built around what are the real capabilities of Batman, mixing action and stealth section, but always related with the universe from which have been extrapolated. Rocksteady's game is certainly the new standard for understanding how produce games under license, adapting for videogaming the very spirit of this historic character.
    Read full review
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