Become the silent predator in Gotham’s prison for the insane

In Batman: Arkham Asylum, you’re trapped with the Joker and a crowd of dangerous crazies, all out to take down the dark superhero.

This massive 2 gigabyte demo lets you start the story, and experience some if the tricks the Batman has up his sleeves (or on his utility belt!). There’s the melee “free flow fighting”, which makes for great looking cinematic brawls, although you are only required to click your mouse repeatedly. Then there’s detective mode, which is like x-ray vision, and allows you to creep silently around while monitoring enemies through walls.

Batman: Arkham Asylum looks fantastic. It’s certainly the best looking Batman we’ve ever seen, and the acting and cinematic sequences are worthy of a movie, let alone a video game. The gameplay is mixed. Sometimes it feels more like an interactive movie than a game, as you are essentially creeping your way from one cut scene to another. Batman has plenty of cool moves, and they are perhaps too easy to do. The stealth parts feel especially staged, as dumb armed guards turn their back on you in order, allowing you to creep up and silently take them down.

Despite simplistic gameplay, Batman: Arkham Asylum is still a cool Batman game, and while this demo is a fat download, it really does look beautiful!