Batman Arkham Asylum ..

Where do we start… Well from the beginning is always a good place.

The game starts as Batman is driving towards Arkham Asylum with the Joker confined to his back seat. Upon arrival Batman flings The Joker out and they walk into Arkham Asylum, this is where we meet Commissioner Gordon as well. After exchanging pleasantries. Batman hands over The Joker to the Arkham guards for safe delivery back to his padded cell. At this moment Batman senses something is wrong but it’s too late. The Joker breaks free from his two guards that are escorting him and quickly ends their lives.

While this is happening Harley Quinn, the Jokers psychopathic girlfriend has taken over and is now in control of the security room and granting access to the Joker to escape .. but escape to where ??

At Arkham Asylum .. normally all the criminals of Gotham city are wanting to get out of this place. But this time the Joker has set a trap to bait the bat, and this time his evil plan might work. He has sealed Batman in and the rest of the world out. Anyone coming close or attempting to enter Arkham Asylum will face dire consequences .. The Joker has positioned explosives around Gotham city, anyone come near and BAM BOOM KABOOM !! Gotham City will be a pile of rubble.

It seems that The Joker’s plan to keep Batman in and the rest of Gotham city out has succeeded. Batman is now trapped inside with the most craziest of criminals Gotham city have to offer. He must use everything he has disposal to combat, survive and restore order.

The Batman Arkham Asylum Demo on Xbox 360 is 1.6gb in size and will take you through the basics in game-play and investigation skills that Batman has at his disposal.

Starting off your treated to the basic moves. Pressing X will unleash a fury of quick attacks with a spectacular slow motion finishing punch to drop the low life criminals that The Joker has unleashed upon you.

Next you’ll learn the counter, pressing the Y button at the perfect time will reverse the goons attack and allow Batman to hit back in a flurry of quick attacks with the X button.

Your moves don’t end there. You have the option to attack a downed goon with pressing the RT and Y. This will allow Batman to restrain goons before they can get back up and cause more trouble.

The action is very smooth and you can chain some pretty impressive combinations with your light and heavy attacks.

In the demo Batman also has access to his trusty Batarang, pressing Up on the thumb-pad will select it, then holding down LT will allow you to aim for targets. Once a target’s spotted it will lock on and allow you to release the Batarang with deadly accuracy.

One of the most impressive abilities that Batman will have at his disposal is the Investigation ability. With a quick press of the LB your view changes to a scan style x-ray vision type of view. This will give Batman a clear view of his enemies and also all other objects that he can latch and propel himself to. For example the wall mounted Gargoyles that Batman uses to keep himself well hidden from view. From the safety of hiding up above on the Gargoyles you can unleash a variety of attacks. Focusing on an enemy Batman can perform a Gliding kick that will knockdown his enemy then if your quick enough perform the RT and Y (to take out the goons before they get back up)

Another cool attack from the Gargoyles allows Batman to hang upside down and wait for his enemies to walk directly under him. At that time a quick press of the Y buttom will allow Batman to swoop down, grab and fling the unsuspecting victim leaving them hanging by their feet till they fall unconscious.

This is only the tip of the iceberg in the demo There will be many many more skills and gadgets for Batman to play with once he makes his way further into the Asyulum. Another cool addition is the enemy database catalog. Once you come into contact with a Gotham City villain a profile is uploaded to Batman’s PDA that provides him with useful information and also audio recording. The Jokers audio tapes are quite amusing to listen to.

Batman is due out for release in early September. Make sure you download the demo from Xbox Live and give it a go. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. And I believe this will be one Batman’s greatest adventure yet.