Batman: Arkham Asylum (2 of 2)

Last week’s post was a bit of a disaster. I’ve since realized that, not only did I fail to account for the various platforms involved, but the supposedly green indicator above an attacking enemy’s head is, in reality, more of a blueish hue. While that may not exactly call to mind the green Triangle button used for counters, I still maintain there’s a certain truthiness to what I spent my time arguing — Batman: Arkham Asylum‘s combat system feels super-hero empowering precisely because it manages, in a very quick time event sort of way, to let the player know how s/he can best proceed.

If you buy what I’m saying above, however, it might seem like Arkham Asylum would be an easy game. That’s not the case. Rocksteady Studios is plenty capable of throwing a lot at you…so much so that processing your ideal next move, even though it’s usually right up there on the screen, can get pretty difficult. Which is part of why Batman: Arkham Asylum‘s hard mode warrants examination: it takes those sorts of warnings and prompts away. Certainly this makes the game tough if you’ve no experience with its nuances, and I like how it forces players to concentrate just that much more stringently.

But why’d Rocksteady stop there?

Batman: Arkham Asylum (1 of 2)

Ah, quick time events. I think I rather love them. While I realize this isn’t a popular position, it’s quite true nonetheless.

Sure, QTEs have often been used poorly over the past several decades. It used to be that they were little more than a simple way to add some interactivity to what would have otherwise been a passive cinematic sequence. But I’d argue that, during these last few years, particularly, they’ve evolved into something quite different. The onscreen prompting that’s always been a hallmark of the quick time event has made its way out of the cut scene and into the gameplay. In fact, this transition’s been so seamless that most haven’t even noticed it. Though several people called 2008’s Prince of Persia “one big QTE,” that’s been the great exception. More to my personal surprise, I’ve yet to hear Batman: Arkham Asylum and quick time events mentioned in the same sentence.

Demostration Nation 2

I can’t remember if there’s actually been a recent glut of demos, of if they’ve just piled up in the weeks leading to and following our recent move. There are now SEVEN for me to play through, and I’m going to jot some notes about each of them.