By Jim Rossignol on August 7th, 2009 at 8:39 am.
The Batman: Arkham Asylum demo is up, and weighs in at a portly 2gb. The third-person action game seems to be earning reactions ranging from the satisfied to the hysterical, but at least you can judge for yourself in this instance. You can get it here or here. The PC version of the superheroic skull-thumping game is out September 15 in North America and September 18 in Europe, and will include PhysX support and GeForce 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D, which seems like a 3D too many. Three hefty game footage trailers sit below, making for more Batman action than you can shake a batarang at, should you happen to have one.
07/08/2009 at 08:56 Babs says:
Maybe the special edition will come with a batarang
07/08/2009 at 09:01 Willy359 says:
Bit heavy on the cape. Couldn’t see what the hell was going on. Watchmen was right. Capes are more trouble than they’re worth.
07/08/2009 at 09:03 Dominic White says:
@Babs – you may have been joking, but it actually does.
07/08/2009 at 09:05 Howard says:
@Babs
Nah, an entire, to-scale, Bat-Suit I reckon =)
This could be good. Interested to see. Only thing so far that strikes me in the trailers is how shiny everything is. Like everything is carved out of wax. Meh, might just be in the videos I guess…
07/08/2009 at 09:06 Lars Westergren says:
@Willy359 Not to mention the danger of getting them caught in the door as you are entering or exiting elevators.
Come to think of it, Pixar’s Incredibles had a couple of puns around the practicality and fashion sense of having capes too.
07/08/2009 at 09:08 TeeJay says:
2 Gb … so that’s 17.9 peggles then?
07/08/2009 at 09:23 TonyB says:
Video 2: Insta-fail stealth section? Joy.
07/08/2009 at 09:30 Vinraith says:
@TonyB
Yeah, insta-fail stealth in a game is basically an automatic no-purchase. Even BG&E got on my nerves pretty badly with that crap.
07/08/2009 at 09:43 Risingson says:
PhysX :(
07/08/2009 at 09:43 Bobsy says:
Well BG&E was hardly insta-fail. At least you didn’t always die when you buggered up.
Anyway, is that the cast of the animated series? That’d be a plus.
07/08/2009 at 09:45 Howard says:
Yeah, Insta-Fail-Stealth could be bad. Me hopes its not as bad as it looks…
@Risington
What’s up with PhysX particularly? You don’t have to use is you know…
07/08/2009 at 10:00 Howard says:
Errp… The demo, after finally downloading and unpacking, has just declared that it has known issues with realtek soundcards and may not function on my system. So they are releasing a game that does not support the most common set of soundcards in the world? This seems a little counter intuitive…
07/08/2009 at 10:03 neems says:
You don’t have to use PhysX, but you do have to wait for it…
07/08/2009 at 10:07 Risingson says:
@Edward sure, you don’t have to use it. It’s just a feature that only works with some nvidia cards which, in the other side, don’t work better than the ati cards, and which seems to me just a way to penalize ati users. And i feel penalized! So,like I did with Mirror’s Edge, I will NOT play this game as this game is penalizing me, damn.
07/08/2009 at 10:08 Ian says:
Bobsy: I believe the voices of Batman, Joker and Harley (at least) are from the cartoon.
Also: I’d like to think if somebody sees you in that stealth bit you can take them out before they raise the alarm if you’re fast enough, but even though I’m not hopeful these actually raised my interest in the game again. A bit, at least.
07/08/2009 at 10:28 oceanclub says:
Argh, does no-one like this? As someone whose earliest memory was running around our basement wearing a Batman cape, I was a bit excited that there was finally a good _serious_ Batman game.
P.
07/08/2009 at 10:36 Howard says:
Actually it is pretty good. Those throwing a tantrum about PhysX need to get a bit of a grip as enabling it makes very little difference.
Stylistically this is very solid. It has a good feel and some great design to it. The demo is gonna put some noses out of joint as none of the controls can be redefined (whether or not you use a pad) and for me there appears to be a bit of a stutter or lag or something when swinging the camera about (which was reduced by turning PhysX on, oddly).
It plays well, runs well, the combat is satisfying and the “detective” stuff doesn’t seem to daft. All in all this is looking pretty good tbh…
(On another note about the demo, each time you load it, it forgets all your settings and there is no way to save your game. That is just damned annoying)
07/08/2009 at 10:42 Daniel N says:
I enjoyed it, at least on me 360. I really enjoyed the way it rewards patience.
It’s fun trying to see how many different ways you can kill people in the last room. The inverted takedown, where you kill somebody when they’re underneath the gargoyle you’re stalking on, was probably my favorite. The glass takedown was also fun but too loud for my taste.
The melee combat against unarmed thugs was on the easy side, but I thought it was enjoyable enough just to kick that much arse and the game quickly got to be more challenging (still not too hard once you figure out the controls, though).
Hopefully the finished product is good.
07/08/2009 at 10:43 Dominic White says:
@oceanclub – I think what you’re seeing here is the initial knee-jerk reaction to it being a multiplatform game. The first couple of reviews for the game are in the high-90s, and I’ve heard nothing but gushing praise for the PS3 version demo.
Word is that this one is a gem.
07/08/2009 at 10:46 oceanclub says:
I’m sorely tempted to get the Collector’s Edition with the batarang, if only for the look on my wife’s face.
P.
07/08/2009 at 11:01 Howard says:
Oh. 2 gig for that?! Wowser…
Very enjoyable and I think it just sold me the game but DAMN that was short…
07/08/2009 at 11:08 Diogo Ribeiro says:
I’m predicting a 2GB of demo fail.
First, because as good as Arkham Asylum is looking, I suspect it’s still going down the same route as other comic book character adaptations – in this case, Bats looks like your average skulking thug rather than a detective.
Second, this so is not going to run on my PC.
07/08/2009 at 11:13 Howard says:
@Diogo Ribeiro
I don’t understand your comment. Batman looks like Batman, as he always does. How exactly could he look like a “detective”?
Also its the UT3 engine so it is pretty scalable but if you want the bells and whistles you have to pony up for the hardware…
07/08/2009 at 11:16 Simon Jones says:
Absolutely love it! They’ve managed to perfectly mix the styles of the cartoons, the latest movies and the comics into something rather special.
Most notable thing about it is how slick everything is – the controls and interface always do exactly what you expect and you’re never left unsure of what you can do. Which isn’t to say it’s too easy – you might know what your options are, but you still have to think your way through how best to execute your plan.
The final room killed me a couple of times (love the death bits) before I figured out a Sly Plan to take out all the enemies silently.
So, yes. Artistic, gameplay and design success! Can’t wait for the full game.
07/08/2009 at 11:18 Diogo Ribeiro says:
I was talking in general terms, of how the character is being portrayed. I’m not saying he looks like a random, generic thug fresh out of Goonschool. I’m saying from what I’ve seen across several trailers and assorted footage, that it’s all the same stealth/combat motions that don’t really make him standout from other characters in videogames – when there’s a lot more about the character that could be explored.
07/08/2009 at 11:37 Dominic White says:
I’m just happy they managed to get Mark Hamill to play The Joker again. I think of him in that role more than Luke Skywalker now, as he absolutely nails it.
07/08/2009 at 11:48 CMaster says:
@ Bobsy – there were several insta-fail stealth sections in BG&E – where there were those hovering, invulnerable cannons that would lock onto and blow you away if you got spotted.
07/08/2009 at 11:48 Freudian Trip says:
A big fat Hardey-Ha-Ha at the guy sayin he won’t buy the gae because he can’t support PhysX. “My cape does not flutter through my the air quite as well as my friends cape. I SHALL RAMPAGE THE STUDIO”
Who gives a fuck. Just like dX10, stuff like this is purely visual at the moment because the studio’s aren’t going to cut out potential users.
07/08/2009 at 12:11 catska says:
Seems like a great game. Sad that its getting the delayed PC release because of piracy though. Don’t be fooled by their PhysX excuse when its already up and running in the demo, they don’t want people pirating it on the PC and never buying either version.
07/08/2009 at 12:23 Simon Jones says:
Talking of (presumably) PhysX stuff, it was rather fun to see individual sheets of paper fluttering about on the floor and getting scrunched up underfoot. Makes no difference to gameplay, of course, but it does help towards atmosphere.
On the Batman characterisation: too early to say so far, just from the demo, but the voiceover and dialogue definitely leans towards making him more than just Generic Hard Man.
07/08/2009 at 13:01 Gorgeras says:
It’s written by one of the series writers and has the creme of the series cast. It’s Batman, the animated series Batman; probably the best incarnation of him where he has some of Superman’s strong personality traits.
07/08/2009 at 13:47 Simes says:
Having played a decent chunk of the game, I think it’s worth giving it a shot. There’s a lot more to it than just Generic Tough Guy and that stealth section’s not such a big deal either.
07/08/2009 at 13:56 Maykael says:
I just finished the demo and I absolutely loved it. As someone from this thread said it does reward patience.
Also it’s not instafail. You just have to go gargoyle jumping very fast so that they lose sight of you.
The only thing that kinda annoyed me was the console 3rd person camera with Bats occupying the left 1/4 of my screen. A bit confusing at first but you get used to it. Fortunately in combat and running it doesn’t stay that way.
07/08/2009 at 14:29 MeestaNob! says:
Could everyone who HASN’T taken the time to download the file please stop commenting? I’ve just scrolled through numerous comments about basically nothing.
Yes, the irony of my own comment isn’t lost on me (although demo is downloading as I type this), but crikey, can we just once stick strictly to the topic at hand: Batman demo: GOOD/BAD.
07/08/2009 at 14:45 Simon Jones says:
GOOD
07/08/2009 at 14:46 Manburger says:
Just finished the demo. Good stuff! I like how everything is really smooth, from the fighting to the interface and movement. The combat is a bit on the easy side, though this is just from the start of the game so I assume it will get tougher.
The stealth is awesome! You have a lot of cool Batmoves and gadgets to terrorize your enemies with.
Someone mentioned it might not run on their system, but I think it’s actually pretty well optimized. My computer is just decent, and I could run it fairly smoothly.
07/08/2009 at 15:29 JKjoker says:
wth with the texture problems and tearing in the last part of the second video and first part of the third video ? its the first time i see official trailers with so many obvious problems, i doubt this game will be very bug free
the game looks fun (a little too much slow mo for my taste tho) and i would like a less annoying “glow” or some other indicator instead of a “tap X for quick batarang” that flashes all the time
im surprised at how dated it looks, im hoping to runs fine in my box without upgrading
07/08/2009 at 16:41 Pemptus says:
Really good stuff. I like the fluidness of combat and stealth, genuinely fun. Oh, and somebody mentioned that you can’t redefine controls – you can do that through the setup launcher thingy I believe.
07/08/2009 at 17:03 kurashu says:
Diogo:
I got a P4-3.0 ghz , 2gb ram, ATI X1600 256mb
It ran well with EVERYTHING on (on Very High setting) at 800×600.
It looked good and fps wasn’t crap. Yeah, 800×600 is a shame, but hell, i wanna play the game, not play graphics. (even though they are part of the game =)
But i think Rocksteady did a great job, this game doesn’t feel rushed or ‘ported as usual’ from consoles. Really feels polished.
07/08/2009 at 17:38 bookwormat says:
One would think that a huge international company like Square Enix could afford to distribute its software without bothering its customers with annoying, add-financed third party services like “atomicgamer” or “nzone”.
07/08/2009 at 18:02 Dr. Nerfball says:
Aha, but Bookworm, you are forgetting that Square is one of the great forces of evil on this planet, along with Sarah Palin and Lord Madleson and will make the gamers experience as hellish as possible. And yet we still come back, kinda odd that, huh?
07/08/2009 at 18:02 Dr. Nerfball says:
Gah, Mandleson not Madleson =P
07/08/2009 at 18:03 Abhishek says:
2 gb, huh? I’m hoping that means the demo is substantial in its length.
07/08/2009 at 18:25 Adventurous Putty says:
It’s written by Paul Dini. It’ll be fine, trust me.
OH, and I absolutely love how, even though they got some of the old animated cast together for this, they’re all putting a slightly different spin on their portrayals. It’s all much more down-to-earth — the Joker sounds more subtly sinister (though I surmise there’s a reason we haven’t been exposed to the “full” laugh yet, as he seems to be on the very edge of releasing it and may well do so in a climactic scene), and Harley sounds more…real, I guess, though still whimsical and off-kilter.
07/08/2009 at 18:29 Vinraith says:
@Bobsy
BG&E had some stealth sections where you could fight your way out of an alarm and some where you couldn’t. I’m not remotely referring to the whole game, just a few specific sequences when fucking up and being noticed was instant death. I HATE that in games, even otherwise really, really good games like BG&E
07/08/2009 at 18:34 MysteryLobster says:
Well, it definitely left me wanting more. That last section, where you swoop down and pick off guards one by one, was very satisfying.
07/08/2009 at 19:33 Psychopomp says:
It definitely left me wanting more, but I get the feeling that the game’s going to fall into a rather predictable pattern. Gargoyle swooping for ten hours, with the odd boss fight doesn’t seem like it’s going to stay interesting for long.
I hope I’m wrong, though.
07/08/2009 at 22:30 SuperNashwan says:
I give the demo Escape From Butcher Bay/10. Think I’ll be keeping an eye out for a good deal on this to pick up at some point.
07/08/2009 at 23:03 l1ddl3monkey says:
Liked. I think for once they got Batman more or less right (large angry man dishing out his own type of justice in a silly outfit) and rather than emulate one of the many styles that Batman has been rendered in over the decades they’ve gone for a mix (although I thought it leaned heavily towards Miller’s take on Batman, with Simon Bisley’s Gordon – biggest forearms ever!).
The control scheme wasn’t my favourite and I might actually consider digging out my gamepad for the full game (if it hasn’t seized up from lack of use). All in all it looks like fun.
Is there a Batmobile chase? I’d like one of those.
Final word: BANE!
07/08/2009 at 23:16 Diogo Ribeiro says:
@kurashu:
My system’s a Core 2 Duo, 2 Gb Ram and a GeForce 8600GT. First run through the game was rather laggy. I then updated my drivers, and changed some options, like disabling PhysX (pointless), Bloom (no blidness for me today, thanks), Ambient Occlusion (huh?) and Spherical Harmonic Lightning (lol wut?).
So far it runs very fluidly at 1280×1024, even if most non-important characters like guards seem to have terribly plastic faces, so it’s good to know I was (mostly) wrong. But in the face of several recent releases one tends to grow weary of poor optimizations, especially when it comes to cross-platform titles.
As for the game, my expectations were somewhat spot on. Ever since I’ve been following the game I took a liking to Rocksteady’s approach, and some aspects are simply to good to pass up. The most obvious is combat, which has a very nice flow to it. This is both surprising and expected – it’s a giant step above every single Batman game ever released but it’s also quite par for the course nowadays, considering what several other action titles have achieved (like God of War). Still, no complaints there.
Graphics and art direction are both great with the odd blemish. Jim’s looking rather butch (er, Gordon, not Rossignol, although I haven’t seen that many pictures of him to make that claim >_> ). Joker feels quite right while Harley looks like Jeanette from Vampire: Bloodlines – not bad in itself but not that daring, either. Zsasz looked fairly maniacal but seemed reduced to a gibbering and obvious goon, exchanging his knifing-and-leaving-them-in-naturalistic-poses for a pretty mundane form of torture. Maybe it makes sense considering his situation and all, with no tools of his liking, but that the game throws your way a character with such potential quite early in the game and doesn’t do anything remarkable with him is regretful. Maybe he will be back later on? No idea.
The asylum itself seems rather standard and filled with straight corridors, though. Was hoping for something more like the asylum from the first graphic novel, but of course, that’s not what the developers went for so no point complaining (much).
The range of abilities seems adequate, with corner skulking, silent takedowns and perching atop gargoyles. That you can use several of these abilities any way you want when confronted with areas filled with goons is great but, like Psychopomp, I think they relied too much on the gargoyles. Hoping there’s more nooks, crannies and vantage points to spy and attack from. Besides, shouldn’t gargoyles be outside the building?
Also, while I’m glad when I’m wrong, I also hate it when I’m right. Case in point, even with all the marvelous touches and nuances, I feel I could be playing Riddick with a cowl. Detective Mode, in the face of all other things Rocksteady achieved, is pretty disappointing. There’s the context-sensitive button presses, the hacking minigame of sorts and really, not much else. This is perhaps the area they could have ventured further into, or stepped out of the norm. Maybe this will also improve further into the game but there’s a chance it becomes terribly samey. It’s like studios trying to make a Superman game having no idea what do with the character, when they could actually research him a bit. John Byrne did great things with Supes many years ago, storywise, and devs just use him as an übermensch that solves everything through sheer force. While not on the same level, this seems to go the same way.
It’s got the Batman “look” and part of the “feel”, but for some reason, even after enjoying most of this (I admit I am a fan of the character, though), there’s the nagging sensation something is missing. Some details just feel off, like the Joker talking to a goon through a security system, watching Bats as he takes down the criminal but only kicking in a conversation when the guy’s down. Taking the guy down was an obvious dialogue trigger, and maybe it’s something that can be fixed or is not representative of the rest of the game. There’s also the fact you can escape from armed goons just by swinging from gargoyle to gargoyle quickly.
It seems I trying hard to find things to dislike but this isn’t the case. I want to see this game succeed where all other Batman games failed.
One last note is that the game recognized my gamepad but believes it to be a 360 controller. Obvious problems aside – like telling me to press X or Y when my buttons are numbered – it also reverted my movements, so walking forward is actually going back. All other buttons work alright except this. Anyone else had this problem? For reference, I have a Logitech Dual Action.
07/08/2009 at 23:17 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Also, mad props if they avoid including god-awful, pointless Batmobile sequences.
07/08/2009 at 23:28 unclelou says:
like disabling PhysX (pointless)
Awesome volumetric steam that parts as Batman walks through isn’t pointless! :-)
07/08/2009 at 23:33 Daniel N says:
I have noticed one nitpick that, being an apprentice sound designer for films, is a big deal for me: their audio mixing is purdy bad. Levels on different pieces are so vastly different. You have to turn it up, turn it down, or just keep it up and wince a bit. At least in my experience.
07/08/2009 at 23:35 Daniel N says:
Also, this game is more Assassin’s Creed than Assasin’s Creed was. Freaking love it for that.
07/08/2009 at 23:44 TCM says:
I played the demo.
The game went from “On my radar, keep an eye out” to “The game I most want for the upcoming year”
08/08/2009 at 00:02 Surgeon says:
Willy359 says:
Bit heavy on the cape. Couldn’t see what the hell was going on.
Oh man, the lone cape(d) developer is going to be so disappointed :)
As mentioned on OLL :
Livingstone went on to praise developer Rock Steady, adding that “no one is going to be disappointed because we’ve put in an enormous effort into it.” As an example, he said “there was one person working on nothing but the cape for two years, so there are over 700 animations and sound clips attached to the cape alone. That’s why it looks so beautifully realistic.”
08/08/2009 at 00:08 Diogo Ribeiro says:
@unclelou:
True, but deactivating it gave a considerable performance boost :’(
Just replayed it again. The keyboard mapping is a bit cluttered but works well enough. Certainly better than my delusional gamepad’s reverse movement.
Btw, the comment I made about the minigame is based on what the devs hinted at would be in the game. I didn’t find it on the demo. I wanted to fight that bigass freak, though :( Was that Amygdala?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdala_%28comics%29
08/08/2009 at 00:12 mihor_fego says:
Since one asked, yes the collector’s is coming with a batarang!
I haven’t played the demo, but from what I’ve seen so far, this seems pretty well-designed. Yeah, I would adore the asylum to be based on the psychedelic graphic novel of the same title but, really, do they seem to aim for this audience? Frank Miller’s Batman might have been the grimmest -and surely ain’t the staple- but the last two movies did a great job of reinventing the hero for the masses, more to the Sale/Loeb style.
As for the “detective” Batman, back when he first appeared in the Detective Comics series, he was pretty much inspired by film-noir and pulp-literature private investigators. During the 70′s, films like Dirty Harry or even Peckinpah movies made the gritty, flawed anti-hero popular and many comic characters were created with that style in mind (Wolverine) or radically changed (Batman). I don’t think anyone would really like the “original” Batman anymore…
08/08/2009 at 00:17 James Brophy says:
em, I don’t really get the hoo ha about phisix… it’s a fucking great game. A little annoyed I cant get the special edition battarang through steam.. oh well, have to find a GAME store I suppose.
If I had to gripe..
bats does seem to lack in facial animations. a intense stare is cool when your looking at things.. but when your intensely staring into the middle distance all the time it starts to get a little weird. Kind of like he’s gone blind but doesn’t want to let on.
08/08/2009 at 00:22 TCM says:
@James Brophy:
That would make him some sort of Batman/Daredevil hybrid, which would make him EVEN MORE AWESOME. It all loops in on itself.
08/08/2009 at 00:25 Diogo Ribeiro says:
@James Brophy:
At least he doesn’t have throat cancer.
@mihor_fego:
Perhaps, but even through reinvention his presence is still based on most of the traits he had. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight don’t exactly remove the investigation side of the character, either, although they are less pronounced.
Maybe it is for the best that those elements are kept on a leash – it’s certainly less damaging than getting it utterly wrong.
08/08/2009 at 00:27 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Tempted to pre-order the CE but damn, no way I’m gonna fork over 50€ for that :/
08/08/2009 at 00:36 inanimotion says:
GOOD
08/08/2009 at 01:20 JKjoker says:
ok, after 12 hours i finally finished dling (ugh), the game is pretty good (im hoping more gadgets become available later or the gameplay will get tedious tho), it works nice at very high (physiX off) on my 7600gt + dualcore 1280×768 but i had to drop it to just high or the mouse cursor lags too much, i didnt notice the graphic glitches from the trailers, i love that the game loads behind the scenes while showing you a movie, you wont even notice loading times until you replay it and try to skip the movie
of course like every game these days you have to kill 6 .bik files of unskippable logo videos (ugh again)
and just one nitpick, while the main character models (batman, gordon and joker) look very nice, everyone else is in the wrong part of the uncanny valley, the guards are specially creepy with they huge unblinking eyes when you get a close look at them
the demo is criminally short, about 10 minutes of gameplay and 10 of movies, i expected more for 2gb, still i did come out with a positive impression
08/08/2009 at 01:52 Diogo Ribeiro says:
By the way, if anyone hasn’t snagged the demo yet but are curious about the game you can check out this gallery:
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e148/dfar80/Batman%20Arkham%20Asylum/
I compiled about 66 images from the demo ;)
08/08/2009 at 02:06 JKjoker says:
did the devs ever said what you can buy with the XP ? the demo doesnt show squat about that
08/08/2009 at 04:00 James Brophy says:
The demo moved me from, “maybe, Ill have a look on discount” and “that wont run on my computer” to Got to find the special edition with batarang! So nice to have a multi platform AAA game that doesn’t install like molasses or behave like a pig when you get into it and isn’t filled with massive amounts of graphical glitches the first few times you run it. (Gta 4 i’m looking at you. x box live as mandatory and a 4 Hour session of trying to get the thing to RUN got me very close to asking for my money back from steam. If i’d bought it in a shop I would have simply returned it as not of merchantable quality.) I’ve been sticking with small adventure games recently it’s made me warm to good games again.
08/08/2009 at 08:33 Matzerath says:
I hope super-short demo doesn’t translate into super-short game.
08/08/2009 at 09:01 Simon Jones says:
I put together a little video walkthrough/commentary from the demo, might be of interest to people that are having trouble downloading all 2 gigs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJVlRRbfi8g
Enjoy!
08/08/2009 at 09:11 honolululu says:
I’ve only played the first room so far, but I super slo-mo punched some guy and his head clipped into the column. On the follow through I said, “If I turn and see that column has been destructed I’m buying this game.”
The column was bashed with bits of concrete strewn about the poor sap’s head.
SOLD!
08/08/2009 at 13:15 Ziv says:
physx doesn’t mean it uses the GFX card for it, trine had physx but never touched the GFX card (it had an option for it and apparently it was buggy). what physx gives you is a physics engine similar to havok but better (havok is good if it’s well implemented if it isn’t it sucks. ie: Fallout 3) physx has the option of running on nvidia cards using CUDA but it won’t always give you an advantage; it will in case the game features a lot of particle effects or soft material physics (mirror’s edge had glass shattering and fabric waving and cryostasis had running water).
btw. this means that transferring physx to ati is really easy, all you have to do is write the portion of physx that uses the GPU in openCL or ATI stream
08/08/2009 at 16:33 Adventurous Putty says:
Gentlemen, I have played the demo and…and…
OH MY GOD GIVE ME THIS GAME I NEED IT NOW I WANT ON SO BAD OH GOD OH GOD
08/08/2009 at 17:02 Gorgeras says:
I strongly approve this game. I expect the cape alone will get it’s own DLC.
08/08/2009 at 17:04 Adventurous Putty says:
There needs to be a level composed solely of Batman walking through various rooms at a stately pace as people run away in terror. Because the cape action is JUST THAT AWESOME.
And the prospect of non-Arkham related DLC is absolutely tantilizing.
08/08/2009 at 17:15 Schwerpunk says:
I’ve been excited about this game for a while, but this demo was slightly disappointing. Sure, it’s good, but not really… fun.
It felt small (not in length, but scope) Hopefully, the full version gives you more control, because I felt like I was on-rails the whole time, with the only meaningful choice being between bataranging a thug and crippling crippling, or just crippling him. It’s frustrating, because I feel they’re so close to getting it right.
I’m not talking about RPG-style complexity, here. I would just like a little more seamlessness in switching from stealth to action mode. Right now if feels binary.
I think it’s those gargoyles. They seem so artificial. I don’t feel smart/sneaky when I swoop around amongst them. I feel like I’m in a tutorial training mission, waiting for when they give me the real toys.
It seems like a decent game, though obviously, I expected too much.
08/08/2009 at 17:16 Popular Energy Drink says:
Even at that sizable 2gb, I thoroughly enjoyed the demo. I like forward to the official release. :)
08/08/2009 at 17:16 Simon Jones says:
Yeah, presuming the full game is as good as the demo, I really hope this is the start of an ambitious series that takes in more and more of Gotham City and gradually widens the scope. A full Gotham to drive around, starting from the Batcave and racing in the Batmobile to wherever villains are attacking, perhaps stopping en-route to help people being mugged down alleyways?
Yes please. (as long as it doesn’t fall prey to the rinse-and-repeat Ass Creed gameplay)
08/08/2009 at 17:21 Psychopomp says:
I think the best part of this is how Batman walks.
08/08/2009 at 17:27 Schwerpunk says:
Simon Jones, after watching your demo commentary, I have reconsidered my previous position.
I remain optimistic, but definitely not 60 dollars-optimistic.
Not yet, anyway.
08/08/2009 at 18:44 JKjoker says:
@Schwerpunk: i agree with you, the thing is that the entire demo is the tutorial, its not even the full tutorial since it doesnt get to “how to use the xp” part
so… like almost every demo, it doesnt really show the full scope of the game … (if they at least had left in the first boss fight or something)
08/08/2009 at 19:55 Gorgeras says:
Steam says the game is available in september but the game website announced the release date would be the 28th of august. Something must be done!
08/08/2009 at 20:25 unclelou says:
August 28 are the console versions. The PC version was delayed for a couple of weeks.
08/08/2009 at 20:43 Dan says:
This looks boss, and more brutal than a night out with Steven Gerrard.
Want.
08/08/2009 at 20:59 Kyr says:
Gonna be a great game, walked the demo 2 times.
P.S. A bunch of whiny kids, most of you are. Everybody forgot how to enjoy a game.
08/08/2009 at 21:24 TCM says:
@Kyr:
“Everybody forgot how to enjoy a game.”
This happened about the time harsh game critics, like Yahtzee, came to popularity.
Myself, I have yet to dislike any game I’ve bought, regardless of review scores. Because I can accept flaws, and focus on the fun.
08/08/2009 at 22:16 Taillefer says:
Thanks for that video, Simon.
So, would I be right in thinking that the way it works is: you clear a room, which unlocks the doors, then you move onto the next room. Repeat…? That’s not as ambitious as I was hoping, as it’ll probably end up feeling a bit, uh, gamey. But it still looks like it could be fun. The inclusion of morale was a nice touch.
08/08/2009 at 23:09 Eric says:
I run Windows XP. When I try to run the install exe, it says “exe is not a valid Win32 application” and then it closes. Anyone know what’s wrong?
09/08/2009 at 00:38 Psychopomp says:
That’s fairly strange, Eric…
Make sure you’re updated, I guess.
09/08/2009 at 00:44 Howard says:
@Eric
Your download corrupted. You need to drag it down again
If you have an Nforce MOBO and have the network controller installed, remove it. It fucks things up but good…
09/08/2009 at 01:47 Bluepixie says:
Only played it on the PS3 so far, will try it on the PC too. It really has it’s own unique feel stylistically and looks every bit as good as the screenshots suggested. The environments are suitably detailed conveying the dark, grimy atmosphere of the comic material. The group combat reminds me a bit of Urban Chaos, a little of Oni, but MUCH tighter, easier, incredibly visceral and very satisfying. Stealth take-downs have been well implemented and are necessary as Batman is very prone to swiss cheese impersonations in a matter of seconds.
All of Batman’s movement is brilliantly captured and feels “right”, adn oh that cape! He has the manoeuvrability of a ninja coupled with the stopping power of an artic lorry. Taking a goon out from above, leaving the sod hanging by his feet before swinging across the room to observe is executed fluidly with no complications. Observing his rightfully nervous mate (detective vision shows peoples BPM) stumble up to his friend while The Joker (Mark Hamhill) cackles away in a suitably omnipresent and creepy manner teasing the poor guy, “he’s only a man, like you, in a bat suit!”. The poor dude is put out of his misery when Batman silently glides across the room like a human stealth bomber, planting both boots into his face, a sickening crunch as his head cracks off a steaming pipe.
The demo doesn’t really show off any of the puzzle elements of the game, and it’s a bit short, however……I’d recommend playing it. The is very possibly “the” Batman game some of us have been waiting for.
09/08/2009 at 01:58 Gorgeras says:
Harsh critics are the reason anything is enjoyable at all. I don’t recognise the ‘whiny kids’ most of us apparently are. I’m fairly sure most posters here have been speaking well of the game.
Funny that Yahtzee should be mentioned as the few games he has recommended ARE flawed games; what won him over was precisely because they were enjoyable. No one forgot how to enjoy games; developers forgot how to make enjoyable games and people drastically lowered their standards to accommodate utter tosh, just because it was polished tosh.
09/08/2009 at 02:05 TCM says:
Opinion.
Yahtzee has repeatedly pointed out flaws in games that I have failed to find on my playthroughs, as well as exagerrating the flaws that are there to extremes unheard of. And the internet in general is filled with cynical misanthropes who will condemn games that we have all of 5 seconds of trailer to base our opinions on.
Those sorts of people haven’t been present in this thread (generally speaking), but they are all over the place.
09/08/2009 at 02:21 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Videogame criticism has been around before Yahtzee. So has sarcasm, which is essentially what his rants are meant to be. People who share valid concerns and someone who takes a piss at everything just for kicks isn’t really on the same level.
But hey, opinion.
09/08/2009 at 02:45 Post Maker says:
Opinions!
09/08/2009 at 02:58 coupsan says:
There are no opinions on the Internet, that’s just insane.
09/08/2009 at 02:59 coupsan says:
Oh, also, the demo was great. Combat is brilliantly executed, if not extremely easy.
09/08/2009 at 03:28 Eric says:
Still can’t install via the “demo installer” because of the “not a valid Win32 applicaton”.
Oh this is sad day.
09/08/2009 at 04:39 jalf says:
@Eric: Redownload. And if that doesn’t work, redownload again, through another browser.
09/08/2009 at 06:14 Eric says:
@jalf – Thank you.
Downloaded the installer via IE instead of Firefox and it worked! Strange how Firefox failed me. Odder still that I didn’t find anyone else that had the same problem…
When I would download the “installer” it finished as a 2 MB exe. I figured it was a client that installed the demo via a mirror server or something. I didn’t realize that the actual installer was the full 2 gigs.
I’ll play the demo in a few hours once it’s finished.
09/08/2009 at 06:29 Ziv says:
I kinda enjoyed it, the cutscenes were kinda annoying and long but maybe it’s just because it’s the beginning of the game (right?), combat is neat, detective vision is just a way to make batman more like a detective (it’s a must be and it’s not implemented wrongly so I guess I can suffer it) there was someone who said the sneaking part was insta death-WRONG you can easily fight the last round by quickly going up the gargoyles when they spot you and then take them one by one.
one more thing-STOP BABBLING ABUOT PHYSX IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND IT, please RPS make an article about it so people would understand :( the cape still moves like a soft body even though it’s not accelerated by the GPU on my PC (using 4870+Q6600). GPU acceleration is an potion of the physx api-not all games who say they use physx calculate it on the GPU-only games that use a lot of soft bodies and particles.
@eric: check your internet conection, are you getting this in all files you download?
09/08/2009 at 13:32 brulleks says:
I may not be a games critic, but I know what I hate – and I don’t hate this.
Surely it’s too good for 2009 though…?
09/08/2009 at 13:36 Gorgeras says:
You’re opinions are wrong.
Muhahahahaha! I’m awesome.
09/08/2009 at 13:52 JKjoker says:
i wish they would have more, faster variations for the stealth “crouching approach from behind” silent take down, after the second one i started yelling “just break their freaking necks or gut them like the splinter cell hobo!!!”
i noticed the arm guard spikes clipping the cape btw, im surprised after all the work they supposedly put on it they let that slide
09/08/2009 at 15:15 Funky Badger says:
JKjoker: because Batman’s well known for killing his enemies, or, err, not…
09/08/2009 at 19:51 JKjoker says:
@Funky Badger: i know, im just saying the take downs are painfully slower than in other games, also he is the goddamn batman and he should put ppl lights out faster with a battazer or the vulcan nerve pinch or maybe a kick to the balls so strong it completely silences them :p
09/08/2009 at 19:59 pkt-zer0 says:
The problem with the demo is that it’s just the tutorial part of the game. Heck knows how it’ll actually play like when you’re not being lead by the hand and there’s more variety in the gadgets/enemies. Could be good, could be crap.
10/08/2009 at 06:48 gryffinp says:
I am saddened by the demo’s signs of minor consolitis, (No in-game graphics menu WTF) but at least the game itself looks like solid high-class gaming.
10/08/2009 at 16:19 brulleks says:
Gorgeras says: You’re opinions are wrong. Muhahahahaha! I’m awesome.
Shame about your grammar though.