STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: GAME - “Batman: Arkham Asylum”

All of Gotham City’s worst, most dangerous criminals all in one location. Sounds like a terrible nightmare… or a Batman fan’s dream scenario for an action game.

Directed by Sefton Hill, and written by Paul Dini, Batman: Arkham Asylum is the first in the Batman: Arkham games. In it, Batman has captured the Joker, and brings him to Arkham Asylum.

However, once they arrive, the Joker escapes with the help of Harley Quinn and his army who have taken over the asylum as part of their plan.

The asylum goes into lockdown, and Batman must fight through the Arkham inmates to stop him.

From the start, you can tell this is Batman game that has its own identity based on the combat system and, of course, the aesthetic and character designs. As someone who did grow up with Batman: The Animated Series and having watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, this was a Batman product that looked gothic and terrifying. Everyone looks twisted and the tone of the story fits along with it.

Then there’s the gameplay and combat system; the other part of the game that is widely acclaimed. The fluid fighting system, having Batman flow through one enemy to another, building up a meter in order to do a quick takedown is a system so seamless, other games has since replicated it in other titles.

I was introduced to this game when I found it in my cousin’s collection of games. The opening scene and voice acting hooked me. It started like a horror movie to me. Not kidding, I was scared, and it didn’t help that the Joker looked the way he did. Then, when it came to actually play the game, I was intimidated (at the time, I didn’t own a Playstation or X-Box console). The combat system was really cool, though the stealth missions were difficult for me at first. Like I said, the environment, the tone, and the set design was so scary it was hard to concentrate. I didn’t want to get shot at or get caught, or even see characters get killed off because of my failure.

Batman: Arkham Asylum was my personal start of experiencing cinematic storytelling in games. Since then, I’ve seen it in its sequels, the Uncharted franchise, The Last of Us, and others. While I have played games that told epic stories (thanks in part to role-playing games), this game got me entranced into its dark world that made me both scared and willing to explore more of it.