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September 29th 2009 10:46
Not so insane review of the latest Batman game.
The Collectors Edition (CE) of Batman: Arkham Asylum comes with a large Batarang, a thick booklet with biographies of several villains, a code to unlock exclusive maps online, a mini comic accounting the behind-the-scenes while Batman takes Joker to Arkham, and the game with the obligatory ‘making of’ DVD (sadly not on blu ray for the PS3 version), which rivals the goodies found in Grand Theft Auto 4’s CE. Does this epic CE talk the talk as well? Or is it compensating for something much like Batman’s armour?
Ok that sounded like a low blow to Batman. But he wouldn’t be Batman without his uber armoured suit and gadgets. He is rivalled against characters from the darker sides of their comic book counterparts. Thanks to the developers at Rocksteady, the character designs fit perfectly within the world it is created for. Special mention goes to Harley Quinn. Her costume design is never worn in the comics, but it complements her figure and character so well, I personally, find it better than any of her previous costumes.
Set on an island housing the most dangerous criminals in all of Gotham, how can Batman instil fear into thugs within their own fun house? Well Batman can take out one of their buddies by grabbing them like a slinky as they walk underneath a gargoyle he is perched on. You can stun them by chucking a flying bat-shaped projectile at their heads from a distance or/then fly in, cape out, drop kicking another. Or sneak behind, choke em out, and use your ever-reliable grappling gun to make a quick escape. Or you can use a sticky bomb spray on any surface to blow in their faces, or/then blow a wall with the bricks hitting them into their faces. There are many more creative gadgets and uber moves I haven’t addressed and it is what makes Batman such a satisfying character to play as and make encounters constantly fresh.
Batman’s hand-to-hand combat is equal to none. If Kratos, from God of War, is a brawler, Bruce Wayne is a technician; methodical as well as bad ass. What made the battles so much fun are the extremely responsive controls; there aren’t any delays from button to screen or having to worry about Batman’s animation to finish. You can counter a punch with a devastating takedown, and continue another counter with a single button as much as you like.
One of the most satisfying sounds in the game is Batman’s fist, in slow-motion, connecting into the ugly mug of the last thug in a room. The back stories of the main bad guys are explained in the form of recordings scattered all over the island, the voice acting is so well rehearsed, it makes listening to them a treat, yet can be totally avoided if you prefer to continue running through the story.
Speaking of story, it is built in such a way, that even people new to the Batman franchise can understand who the person under the mask is as they progress through the game. Each comic book villain is fought in unique ways and circumstances, the world changes constantly, which keep back tracking from becoming a bore, and enemies would change vantage points in familiar territories as well.
The only gripe I have is the anti-climatic ending. And the highlight of the game is a certain villain despatched in such a cool way, you couldn’t help but shout PWN! Like many other reviews on the web; Batman: Arkham Asylum is a great game, where every gamer and comic book fan will find there is nothing wrong with having fun playing a guy wearing a bat suit.
GamerVerdict: 5/5
September 24th 2009 15:00
An underrated gem on an outdated system; Yakuza 2 brings modern Japanese opera to Australian gamers.
Disclaimer: With not a single English translation option to be seen, players were treated with the purest version of the story, even if one word couldn’t be understood, it’s better reading subtitles than sub-par dubs, like with anime or manga.
You play Kiryu Kazuma, a leader of a Yakuza family with moral values like a saint. The story, in a nutshell, involves two Yakuza families trying to wipe each other out. Kiryu is then on a mission to save the family, recruit past friends, beat up old and tackle new enemies, solve puzzles, piece together a fragmented past, discover traitors in his ranks, play golf and win a toy for his girlfriend from a skill machine.
The Metal Gear Solid and recent Final Fantasy series were known for their long cut scenes, only to be countered with an interesting and engaging storyline. Yakuza 2 is similar, except replace sneaking around and turn-based/active battles with Beat-Em-Up gameplay. What brings the cut scenes to life is the oriental music playing so subtle in the background, with a song playing appropriately to the events in the scene. Hearing the city noise, as the camera cuts and pans, makes a normal conversation between two characters standing still into something intriguing and you know this game is special. From a film critic’s and Beat-Em-Up fanboy’s point of view; Yakuza 2 does so much right.
When you do get to play in the game’s world, it is absolutely huge and populated. There are many places, like bars, restaurants, game arcades, and even gambling houses to walk into and get distracted by for hours, try winning a stuffed toy in the skill tester machines, it’s quite hard. However, there are times in the game where Kiryu won’t be specifically instructed where to go, so it gets frustrating trying to find the area to go to advance the storyline. This game is also not for people who live on the go. The cut scenes are long, and unless you only like American dramas, then the different pace of storytelling in Asian dramas might bore you.
When Kiryu gets to fight multiple opponents, he can kick, punch, tackle, throw and even tag team against any foe. The greatest highlight of each fight involves a finisher: where Kiryu grabs a fighter, moves into a context-sensitive area, like a wall, and mercilessly smash their face in with his foot or fist, slomo, close up camera shot, delivering the ultimate pwn angle!
The fighting is fun and satisfying ONLY when the game transports you into an open field fighting arena. Horrible camera angles appear when Kiryu has to traverse a multi-floored area, where it would not listen to your commands because it couldn’t pass through a wall. In these sections, the player starts to focus on babysitting the camera, which is frustrating, sometimes Kiryu would have to exit and enter into a room again just to get the camera to follow through without becoming stuck behind a wall.
The worst enemy in the game is the large enemies blocking doorways in the multi-floored areas. They cannot be knocked down, they do not move, and exercise the same attack, over and over. The gameplay screeches to a halt as Kiryu would spend time throwing stuff at them, and if there isn’t anything to throw, sometimes all the player can do is walk in, punch, and walk out, enemy miss swing, rinse and repeat.
The sometimes frustrating gameplay in multi-storied areas and seemingly aimless running around doesn’t ruin the overall experience. It’s a small part in an epic storyline, the way it unfolds and contains as much twists found in Japanese dramas. A likeable main character and cast shows off their personality through the well crafted cutscenes. The literally bone-crunching gameplay is so awesome to watch and execute. Kiryu is placed in a large area he can run around and spend hours wasting virtual money into virtual skill testing machines, play golf, gamble and even impress virtual hostesses. All its elements combine into one of the best storylines and action-orientated game in the market. If you come across it in the ever dwindling shelves housing PS2 games at your local games store, you wouldn’t be going wrong if you pick it up.
GamerVerdict: 4/5
September 24th 2009 13:23
Halo 3: ODST pleases critics, EA reacts to Left 4 Dead 2's Australian visa refusal, and Wolfenstein has been marched off out of Germany.
Halo 3: ODST has lived up to most of its hype from major websites; Major website 1UP given it an A- and IGN given it a 9.0. The game was meant to be an expansion pack, but turned into a full-blown game in itself.
On a related note of small projects fating up into big projects, a possible reason for Half Life 2: Episode 3's long await is for that same reason.
Left 4 Dead 2 won't be coming to Australian shelves because of its high impact violence. Keep in mind Mad World (Wii), The Warriors (PS2), Condemned, God of War, and its own prequel are still on shelves.
The battle for Australian Gamers rights just got uber
Slap to the Australian Classification Board's face by EA! EA's European Communications Director, Tiffany Steckler, told Gamespot they believed adults have the right to choose what games they played. They found it funny Australian movies like Mad Max were as violent but weren't banned. Isn't that the crux of this argument? The classification board also classify films... Personally, consistency can be achieved through a classification body that only deals with video games, or just add an R rating can fix this problem. Anyways...
A Swastika found on an in-game poster has prompted Wolfenstein's recall from German shelves. Use of the symbol is taboo in Germany, which is much more justifiable then Left 4 Dead 2's departure... Which wasn’t even shipped yet!
As you can tell I do endorse the introduction of an R-rating to video games, if EA also holds such a view, I think its about time all the Governor Generals in Australia agree to giving adult gamers freedom to play whatever they like, not just for Australian, but towards the views of what other countries think of Australia.
Its already bad enough we get screwed over with over-priced games and delayed time dates compared with the NTSC region. As an Australian gamer, it does feel like being at the ass end of the world.
Hi Everyone, you must be wondering why GamerVerdict hasn't been making much Verdicts recently.
I'm in the middle of my second run in Resident Evil 5, Yakuza 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4
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There have been many birthday's and events where the ol' Wii streamed in laughter from middle-aged grown ups while playing Wii Sports. Now well over two years later, the sequel has come to inject new content to the party once again
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A man clinging to his car door for dear life as I drive off in it was a hilarious sight! Sadistic, but its ok, it’s just a video game. A video game that try’s very hard to be a realistic depiction of how the real world works.
An unfortunate virtual soul’s blood stains the hood of my car during a mission to catch a motorcycle gang member who stole a client’s money and girlfriend. My car’s radio blares faintly as I walked away from the car. Each pedestrian says different phrases to offend me as I push them out of my way. It is these small details that makes being in Liberty City pleasurable
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When your main character is pilfered of everything he has and chucked out into the gutter, you know you’re playing a Grand Theft Auto game. Chinatown Wars feels like a combination of GTA1 and 2’s style with GTA3 and 4’s controls, which equals into a fun, portable package
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Comments (1)
Comment by Edward 1
on Bioshocked
EducatedInGames
Gamer Verdict
I wouldn't be surprised if you get to play a existing survivor in Rapture that hasn't gone crazy this time. It would be a good concept to flesh out the intriguing backstory to the first game.