XC Review: Batman: Arkham Asylum

This is probably one of the most highly anticipated series of the modern gaming world. Why? I ask myself the same thing. Then again, it was released at a weird time. I can't think of any games as prosperous as Arkham Asylum that were released the same year (2009). Okay, yes, the graphics were exceptional and the animations were as smooth as a baby's butt. It had an extremely long storyline and, in its own Batman-sort-of-way, it kind of felt like Assassin's Creed, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that Rocksteady is trying to be the new Ubisoft, but failing. Besides the somewhat fluent flips and tricks in combat, I think the designers wanted to have an AC-like plot that spanned multiple games—ugh! If you've read the XboxCritic review of Assassin's Creed 3, you'll know what I'm getting at.

Switching back to the topic of controls, Batman: Arkham Asylum felt like one of the most annoying types of games: Button mashers. This just didn't help at all. And, by the way, when people say the combat is "fluent," that just means you'll have to hit Y every two seconds to counter an attack. I honestly have to say I hated the combat, save the stealth kills.

XboxCritic Rating for Batman: Arkham Asylum For exceptional graphics and cutscene animations, however for overrated controls and a weak story, XboxCritic gives Rocksteady's new big thing a 4 out of 5.