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.