Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo Arriving Friday

[Marvin]

The demo for Batman: Arkham Asylum, will be available for the Xbox 360, the PS3 and Games For Windows Live worldwide on August 7. The full game will be available at retail stores nationwide in Australia on September 3rd, 2009. The demo opens as Batman and Commissioner Gorden return The Joker back into confinement at Arkham Asylum. But things soon fall apart as The Joker gains the upper hand and springs a trap, setting Arkham Asylum’s occupants upon Batman.

The demo offers gamers a taste of the fierce FreeFlow combat system, the cunning stealth of the Invisible Predator mechanic, and the feeling of becoming the world's greatest detective as they navigate Arkham Asylum’s imposing Intensive Treatment facility. Players can unlock character bios, as well as get a sneak peak at some of the infamous foes that Batman will encounter within the cavernous and macabre confines of Arkham Asylum.

To celebrate, here's a trailer for the demo.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Demo Trailer - 20.7MB AVI

[Icersau]

just played the demo, my god i cant wait for this game

[G-Train]

If the game was free-roam in Gotham (ala Prototype / AC) I might check it out, would be pretty cool flyin around a dark city tackling badies, but it's set in a cramped, small-scale area like an Asylum? Why?

[Master Chief]

How do you know for sure that you don't venture outside of the jail?

[G-Train]

Well the movie shows one scene thats on the perimeter, but looks as though 99% is inside.

[Master Chief]

even if there isnt any outside stuff, with this sort of game engine id say a sequel is inevitable.

[Batman]

If the game was free-roam in Gotham (ala Prototype / AC) I might check it out, would be pretty cool flyin around a dark city tackling badies, but it's set in a cramped, small-scale area like an Asylum? Why?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no and no. Why is it that people hold free roam on such a high pedestal when it is so incredibly hard to do right? Gotham would be an extremely boring city to roam around. It'd just be dark, grim and full of generic criminals that require the same sort of capture/beat up technique. God, just no.

Just to add more... I am actually quite ANGRY that you think free roam would be a good idea. Look at any other super hero / hero (hell even any free roam game... they pretty much all suck) and just think of how BLAND they are. Just because this game has a decent engine doesn't mean it has the capacity to make roaming around beating up bad guys doing scripted crimes entertaining.

Geez.

Oh man that would just be terrible.

Just plain awful.

[Icersau]

did you even check out the demo g-train? or are you just basing what you have said on what other people have written? and on top of that, the game is pretty much based around the idea that you have been trapped inside the prison by the joker and harley quinn, this is explained in the first scene of the demo, the game is called "batman: arkham asylum" not "batman: gotham city" i think it would be pretty pointless to have another freeroam game out there when only a handful of them actually get it right.

i really wouldnt want batman games to go the way spiderman games went -_-

i dont mean for this post to sound like im attacking you, but take it as you will.

[Batman]

I meant for my post to sound like I am attacking you.

[Master Chief]

I mentioned the good engine, but I never said anything about free-roam... just variety.

[G-Train]

"did you even check out the demo g-train? or are you just basing what you have said on what other people have written?" - So I don't have an oppinion of my own and simply regurgitate what I hear? Ya, that couldn't be seen at an attack at all. If you want to get into what you hate Batman, here's one of mine: People who abuse you and then add "no offense" on the end of the sentence, as if they're being diplomatic. If you actually read my second post, you just might get the gist that I had watched the movie.

Icer, the name  "batman: arkham asylum" was designed for/in conjuction with the game, devs don't come up with a name and then tailor the game to suit it, obviously if the game was free-roam it wouldn't be named after a building.

I didn't say the game wouldn't work, I said I didn't understand why the devs would constrict the game with such an expansive world to work in. Yes, *some* free-roam games (Such as Spiderman) suckass hardcore, but if you put a list together I doubt the vast majority are horrible. AC - Prototype off the top of my head did somewhat well IIRC.

At no point did I say "This game is going to suck" I said I personally wouldn't be interested in yet another 3rd person stealth/melee combat hybrid - you want to bitch and moan about poor genre history, try that one.

[Master Chief]

There haven't been any good stealth games in a while though. MGS4 is almost 2 years old now.

[nshady]

Good stealth games.

[Icersau]

Icer, the name  "batman: arkham asylum" was designed for/in conjuction with the game, devs don't come up with a name and then tailor the game to suit it, obviously if the game was free-roam it wouldn't be named after a building.

The developers didn't create the name or story behind this game, this story has been around since the 80's, and this particular story arc takes place inside arkham asylum where batman is trapped by the joker and other criminals he put in there after they had taken it over so yeah, im fairly sure they knew the name before production started.

[nshady]

I tend to side with Batman here. I'm much more interested in a Batman stealth game than a Batman mindless third person open world game. It's not like Spiderman - he doesn't rush off to save people from burning houses. He'd just be mindlessly knocking off generic baddies. In an enclosed environment, it's almost like a puzzle game.

[Batman]

If you want to get into what you hate Batman, here's one of mine: People who abuse you and then add "no offense" on the end of the sentence, as if they're being diplomatic.

I didn't do that!

If you actually read my second post, you just might get the gist that I had watched the movie.

Huh?

I didn't say the game wouldn't work, I said I didn't understand why the devs would constrict the game with such an expansive world to work in. Yes, *some* free-roam games (Such as Spiderman) suckass hardcore, but if you put a list together I doubt the vast majority are horrible. AC - Prototype off the top of my head did somewhat well IIRC.

It's not really constricting the game by not making it free-roam though =/. Also, I think you will find many, many people will say both AC and Prototype grew very dull very quick. Repeating the same thing in an "open" world does not equal fun. Hell, I didn't even think GTAIV was any good and its probably regarded as one of the best (for some reason) in the free roam genre.

It's just a bit silly to say a game cannot reach its full potential fun-wise by not... being another genre. Another genre which rarely ever works.

At no point did I say "This game is going to suck" I said I personally wouldn't be interested in yet another 3rd person stealth/melee combat hybrid - you want to bitch and moan about poor genre history, try that one.

Why? It's not really overdone or overhyped like the open-world/free-roam genre is =/. I can name like... Metal Gear as the only good series in that genre.

You stink, no offense.

[Napoleon Insists]

I love AC and still run around the city fighting people and climbing. The engine for that game is SICK.

That said I think the appeal of this game is in its close range puzzley stealth and fighting. Prototype was cool but like a lot of free roam games the game world felt really loose... they seem to be more about the character jumping around being silly, and you could take any chunk of the buildings or environment and it wouldn't matter. It seems like sort of sloppy design I guess.

AC I felt, though the activities in the world were a bit lacking, the actual environment melded perfectly with your movement and it sort of sucked you in further to the game world.