Batman:Arkham Asylum demo review

"Hitchhikers may be escaping patients."

The Arkham Asylum demo arrived the 7th, and I played through it twice so far. The action starts off really quick as the Joker manages to escape the two guards, with a little help from Harley Quinn. Batman immediately pursues and the beatings begin. Hand-to-hand combat is a little slow, but it does let you enjoy the brutality that the dark knight dishes out. Tapping the Y button when prompted will counter an enemie's attack, which is satifying.

You may also learn the hard way that the direct approach is not the best choice when taking on armed opponents. You have two other options, you can sneak by them by crouching or jumping around on the gargoyles, or you can pick them off one by one and then escape to safey back to you perch on the gargoyles. This can be quite fun, you get to mess with your enemies' heads just the way Batman should.

Along the way you pick up different characters' bios, which adds for a brief but interesting read. It's nice to hear the voices for Batman and the Joker from the animated show from the early 90's as well. My only concern is that the hand-to-hand combat could get a little repetitive, but I guess we'll see how that plays out. As long as it's evenly paced with the other elements of the game, then there shouldn't be too much problem.

Batman:Arkham Asylum swings into action on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 August 25th, while the PC version arrives in mid-September.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles:Turtles in Time Re-shelled

I just came accross this game in the new arrivals section on X-Box live. Now at first I was excited, and thought, could this be? One of my childhood favorite games has come to Xbox arcade. Well, sort of. I started it up and was disapointed to find that it's been modernized with 3D graphics and very unengaging music. Each of the turtles has stats:speed, range, defence, rush attack and special attack. Now it's been a long while since I played the original, but there's was just something about that good ol' 2D-ness that I miss. Also, the new music is weak, it's just not the same without the original sounds. So if you're not like me, and can get passed these issues you would probably enjoy the game as it looks like a litteral level for level copy. Sometimes though, you can't throw fancy 3D and HD and VD at something to make it better.

It'll be done when it's done

Well Blizzard has announced that Starcraft 2 will be delayed until 2010. There's still much work to be done, particularly with the Battle.net servers. I'm sure lots of fans will be upset by this and start committing suicide en-mass, but it's important that they get the online aspect right. After all, the reason why Starcraft is so great is that the multiplayer carried it on throughout the years. I still pick it up a couple times each year and play until I realize how much I suck at competing with real opponents.

This probably means the beta is going to be pushed back as well. Cry yourself to sleep tonight, it's okay.