Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition

Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition
91
Metacritic
96
Steam
94.688
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$4.99
Release date
26 March 2010
Developers
Steam reviews score
Total
96 (40 050 votes)
Recent
95 (889 votes)

Experience what it’s like to be Batman and face off against Gotham's greatest villians. Explore every inch of Arkham Asylum and roam freely on the infamous island.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition system requirements

  • OS: Vista/XP
  • Processor: 3Ghz Intel or AMD or any Dual Core
  • Memory: 1GB Ram(XP)/2GB Ram
  • Graphics: PCI Express SM3 NVidia 6600/ ATI 1300
  • DirectX®: 9
  • Hard Drive: 8GB free space
  • Sound: Any onboard sound card

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Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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PercDaXanz
PercDaXanz

One of the best Super Hero games to touch this planet! Only took me 16 hours of play time to beat though :(

eagleisadreamer
eagleisadreamer

Awesome game, but it feels simplistic once you play the other games.

If you have a Nvidia card, you'll may have to find the "Legacy Physx drivers".and "Rigid Bodies PhysX Patch"

I can play this on my modern PC, in 4K and max settings.

SpkrOfTheDed
SpkrOfTheDed

Holy tea baggers Batman! The game that started it all. Do you want to be the bat? Here's a good start. Straight lovable SON!

ConnorFrithh
ConnorFrithh

So simple yet so great. One of the greatest games of it's time and of all time. Seriously as simple as it was it is still my favourite Arkham game out of the series.
I remember when I was 9 when it first came out and I would replay the game so many times it was also the first game I ever got full gamerscore on XBOX.

jacoblapka12
jacoblapka12

Best atmosphere and the "scariest/spookiest" Arkham game. If you like Batman then play this game if you have not already.

sports shoes in disguise
sports shoes i…

I know this game is 13 years old now but I live in Australia so I only finished downloading it like a week ago.

Anyway, Batman. Do I have to describe the premise? He arrests the Joker, Joker escapes and executes his meticulously plotted plan to prove to a stubborn, passive Gotham that stealth games can be fun if your developers are actually competent. Along the way, Bruce faces some recurring villains as well as his own fears of healthcare that doesn’t financially cripple all the goons whose spines he snaps.

The story is pure comic book and doesn’t have much ambition to be more than that. As much as I love games like Deus Ex or Huniepop or Bioshock with complex stories and themes, I’m honestly fine with keeping a story simple so you can let the gameplay do the talking, especially comic book stories. As long as it’s internally consistent. Which it is, with the glaring exception at the core of most superhero stories, that being how the fuck do these villains keep escaping? Were there no other prisons or daycares Joker’s men could be sent to? Maybe build some with that billionaire playboy money? Split up the powerful bad guys so they can’t free each other and team up, like Joker does with Scarecrow? The answer is, of course, that they need to escape for there to be a Batman game, which I will permit. Anyway, letting the gameplay do the talking was a good call, because for the most part it’s fucking awesome.

The stealth is nothing short of excellent. The primary loop is grappling up to gargoyles near the ceiling of a room (that are for some reason inside) and swinging between them, picking your target then gliding down for a quick chokeout and then bouncing before everyone else comes looking for the body. What I find most impressive is how aggressive you can be without turning the arena to all-out action or feeling overpowered.

No amount of teenage boy projection will stop a gang of goons with assault rifles very reasonably stopping you in your tracks, but intelligence and finesse are as quintessentially Batman as rippling abs and combat skill. The key is that the goons’ terror makes them more dangerous, simultaneously feeding your predatory hunger and organically increasing the difficulty the more unconscious bodies they find - they bunch up because they’re scared (both of you and Joker, if they fail), they turn around more often, they’re less gullible with distractions. So, you have to adapt. Pick your moments more carefully, maybe plant some explosive gel behind a window to knock them out, or wrench a gun from one guy with your batclaw and pounce on the other before they can react.

As for being proactive, you’re not limited by crouch walking or guards turning around as soon as you step out of cover. Batman's crouch-walk is mercifully fast, to start with, but also you’re also free to grapple around as much as you want. Generally there’s no one position you have to be in to take a guard out, either. Yes, the silent takedown is often the best, but if they’re twitchy but isolated, you could grab them from above and leave them swinging by a rope tied to a gargoyle. If they walk over a vent you’re sitting in, you can grab them from below. If you’re boring, you can even just glide-kick them and then pummel them unconscious from the front - which is also an option if you get spotted. Batman’s not some sneaky twink to be snapped in half at the first mistake. His aversion to murder also gets rid of a lot of the awkwardness other stealth games can have about combat where you can kill people.

How good the stealth is kinda pisses me off, though, because they clearly didn’t take the lessons to heart for the boss fights. They’re not good. They fall into the age-old trap of forcing you to wait for the one specific opening to do damage over and over again instead of letting you express yourself with gadgets and problem-solving, the case for which The Legend of Zelda has always fought a losing battle. The kind of boss fight where the cause of death is either being killed by an insta-kill attack or slipping up because the repetition had put you halfway to sleep, not because it’s mechanically difficult. The Scarecrow sequences, for example: they’re masterclasses in atmosphere and dread. His sadistic cackle, the way the lights of his eyes make your environment simmer and burn, how small you are against the environment, it’s great. But all you actually do in these sections is wait for him to look away, hold right and crouch and occasionally press A to jump a gap. Then you tip over a floodlight and he dies of skin cancer. Wowee. If this were Limbo or Inside, I’d be applauding it, not so much in a big-budget action game. There’s no tension in video game horror if there’s no risk of screwing up. I only got spotted once because I couldn’t see a ledge-hang gap. And let’s not forget the roided up goons that you beat by learning the attack pattern of getting out of the way when charge then punching them once they’ve hit the wall. Incredible stuff.

As for the combat, it's simple and effective - though that's not always a compliment. You mash X to punch and press Y to counter when your Spider-sense is tingling. The animations are fluid and the audio is satisfying, most of the time you can exit an attack to perform a counter, generally it's a nice translation of the one man versus a hundred vibe into gameplay, but the game has trouble evolving it in meaningful ways.

There are dudes with stun rods you have to jump over or knife-wielders who understand how to block and need to be stunned with your cape, but it routinely runs into the issue that you need to perform sustained attacks and combos despite the combat deliberately forcing you to constantly switch targets. You can't counter their attacks, either, theirs or the Titan-infused bosses, so you have to dodge them. And if you're in the middle of a group, instead of dodge-rolling away you might end up doing a handspring over some guy's shoulders and not actually get far away enough to dodge. It's a choice between taking out the most dangerous enemies early on in a stop-and-start manner or leaving yourself open for a long minute. Both equally annoying.

The main way it evolves is by increasing the number of dudes you fight, which sounds boring but with the stealth and setpieces to balance it out, it may well be enough. It's very satisfying to watch a cyclone of sweaty, muscle-bound men descend upon you while you wonder whether you'll be capable of dispatching them all, then slowly working your way through until you're surrounded by unconscious, broken bodies, panting, bruised and bleeding but still with work to do. Much like the stealth, it's a power fantasy that doesn't leave you feeling invulnerable.

So that’s Arkham Asylum. There are some nice moments that I won’t spoil but generally it’s a very solidly designed game with good pacing and atmosphere.

Exodus
Exodus

The game that introduced the staple for combat mechanics, a game that did justice to Batman's portrayal in video games and a game that will go down in history as one of the best in an iconic series that has even been made.

thewolfpack
thewolfpack

This is an excellent game if you like combat and exploration. There is a good sized world considering the age of the game. You must complete puzzles to get through each portion of the story, but they aren't too difficult to figure out. The more assiduous can work on the Riddler's clues. Little something for everyone.

SpankedYan
SpankedYan

Linear, lots of extras and secrets. Collectibles that make you look and aren't "Go to the obscure area only rendered for this item of 400". I miss these days.

FlungPuPanda
FlungPuPanda

Because of Batman....

But seriously if you are still unsure whether you should buy / play it or not I would definitely recommend this to you. It has the good old comic book appeal to it and gives a good introduction to the Arkham Series.

Please Note the Arkham Series Chronology:

    • Arkham Asylum
    • Arkham City
    • Arkham Origins (Optional / Not exactly part of the trio-logy but a good game none the less)
    • Arkham Knight

AdamFreefall69
AdamFreefall69

Honestly I can agree when people say Arkham City is the best game in the series but this still has to be my personal favourite for movies the first is usually always the best but for games it's not often when the first game in a series can stand next to it's sequel & still have me debating which is my favourite plus as great as City is the setting & atmosphere in this game just can't be topped, it's a timeless masterpiece & made all the more wonderful when you consider the fact that this is not only the first truly tailor made Batman game that puts anything that came before it in it's place but it's also had such an impact on the triple A game market as a whole, to this day there are still companies out there trying to replicate the Arkham formula with it's perfect balance between the innovative combat system & stealth mechanics that truly sell the feeling of what it's like to be the Batman! Both this game, the first of it's kind & it's sequel are a true love letter to the character & even if the other games in the series never truly live up to it's near impossible standards they're all still amazing games & one of my all time favourite franchise.

your_least_favorite_friend
your_least_fav…

Great game; so much to explore and so fun to play. Reminds me of the Spider-Man game, but with a way darker tone. I love the Scarecrow levels, there just so creepy and visually awesome. This probably has to be one of my favorite games I've played.

Kataki
Kataki

Arkham Asylum is like Fallout 3
Genre defying, revolutionary gameplay and bla bla bla
But overshadowed by New Vegas (Arkham city in this case)
It's still great in 2022

(Boss fights are lame though)

Trent Booty
Trent Booty

i review games on steam after i 100% complete them! check out my reviews to see all the games i have completed!

batman: arkham asylum is a action/adventure game developed by rocksteady studios. first thing i want to say to get it out of the way: this game is very good, but doesn't holds up very well by today's standards. the asylum setting is great and looks great. the graphics are solid, and the gameplay overall is very fluid. the success of this game is what launched the very popular batman arkham series. it came out of nowhere as a brand new style of batman game and almost is a metroidvania (but ultimately isn't truly) where there's a heavy emphasis on exploration, and unlocking new gadgets/weapons and going back to older areas and finding new stuff that you couldn't have gotten before. that's where the comparisons end because the stuff you go back and get later in the playthrough are shallow collectibles that are really only fun to get if you're a completionist like i am. another great thing about this game is the entire combat engine, which is now infamous and synonymous with all the modern batman games. if you don't already know about it, just play the game and find out for yourself. the worst thing about the game by far is the lackluster and lame ending/final boss fight. honestly the boss fights overall are pretty lackluster, but some have some decent variety to it, and the core combat against regular henchmen is so fun it ends up evening out, especially because the boss fights are evenly paced, or at least they felt that way to me while playing through the game (best thing about the boss fights is that all the villains that appear don't just feel forced. it's pretty cool how the game and the story progresses). this game is something you can put in a solid 10-15 hours give or take into beating, but any completionists like me will likely put in over 20 hours to 100% everything. this is definitely a great game and i was genuinely surprised having played it for the first time in 2022 by how good it was and how it holds up. there's a reason this was considered the best superhero game of all time when it first came out. it makes me even more excited to eventually play arkham city and the rest of the series. this is a great first batman game or batman piece of media in general.

BombasticLion
BombasticLion

This game was the best superhero game ever made when it came, now only overshadowed by its own sequels

CashMoney
CashMoney

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☐ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

:D

Birkinsmith
Birkinsmith

I've completed this on other consoles but WHY is that first Batarang vs Gas puzzle 7% into the game so hard on PC??

DDM1954
DDM1954

It's a classic and the beginning of the best Superhero game series of all time. The combat may feel a bit clunky by today's standards but is still fun. The story and atmosphere are perfect and capture the feeling of being trapped on an island where everyone and everything wants to kill you. But my favorite aspect is the characters, Batman and Joker are perfect and are my favorite versions of the characters, all the others are great except Jim Gordon who looks horrible. For anyone who likes Batman or superheroes, this is a must-play.

Untitled_1
Untitled_1

An absolutely great game, but don't buy the PC version if you can avoid it. I've been unable to complete the game thanks to a bug that crashes the game and entirely locking me out of windows, forcing me to restart my pc via the ctrl-alt-del menu. grab it on xbox or playstation if you can - at least that way you can guarantee that the game will work the entire way through

neocosmic21
neocosmic21

---{Overall 9/10}---
This is one of the best superhero game I've ever played. Amazing combat, great story, lots of different stuff to do, and the great characters from the Batman brought to life. Really worth playing.

---{Graphics}---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{Gameplay}---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It‘s just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{Audio}---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{Voice Acting}---
☐ No voicing
☐ The VA's just read the text
☐ Acceptable
☐ Good
☐ Very Good
☐ Heart Touching
☑ Feels Alive

---{PC Requirements}---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{Difficulty}---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Average
☑ Challenging
☐ Punishing
☐ Why am I doing this to myself?

---{Grind}---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You‘ll need a second live for grinding

---{Story}---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Excellent
☑ Amazing
☐ It‘ll replace your life

---{Characters}---
☐ Forgettable
☐ Cliche
☐ Not Great
☐ With some personality
☐ To be cherished
☑ Bad-ass
☐ I will miss them

---{Game Time}---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee - 10 hours or less
☑ Short - 10 to 20 hours
☐ Average - 20 to 50 hours
☐ Long - 50 to 100 hours
☐ To infinity and beyond - 100+ hours

---{Price}---
☐ It’s free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ Wait for a sale
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{Bugs}---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Some, but bearable
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

Drosophila Melanogaster
Drosophila Mel…

So about 11 and a half hours in of my first playthrough I beat the main story and achieved 69% completion (nice). I wasn't sure if I would like this game or not because the only things I know about Batman are that he has no parents, he dresses like a bat, and fights crime. Never seen the movies or read any comics. However, I am happy to say that even if you are as ignorant as me you can enjoy this game!

Pros:
You really feel like the world's greatest detective. While playing you are solving puzzles and riddles.
Great level variety. A very nice mix of beat em up levels, puzzles, platforming, etc. served to you in such an order that you never get bored.
Sensible difficulty increases - as soon as you get comfortable with something the game switches it up
The environment is extremely interactive; if you step on a pile of papers they fall, you can punch the glass out of windows, etc. it's really fun.
Amazing voice acting and character models.

Cons
It feels short but I did only pay $5 for this game.
Boss fights get repetitive, especially when titans are involved.
The game feels fairly hand-holdy. Batman will say out loud what you have to do and everything is conveniently marked on your map.
Doesn't feel like a huge incentive to go back and get 100% completion

Overall I think most people will enjoy this game. I couldn't wait to come home in the evenings and finish it, but it isn't very long and the endgame isn't going to win any awards. However, the main story, characters, and gameplay were way ahead of their time and it's obvious why this won so many awards on release. While it's over 10 years old it definitely doesn't feel stale or dated.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ

I am an 52 years old man with cerebral palsy and lung cancer.
I play this game for coping with my condition, my wife refuse to give me head and just handed me a sloppy hand job.

TheFrosty101
TheFrosty101

What can I say, this is a must buy for anyone that loves batman. This rose the bar for super hero games and laid the groundwork for games like it in the future, like spider-man.

RexGH
RexGH

Haven't finished the game, but I have to say, for being over 10 years old, the graphics and game-play are amazing. You will not be disappointed in your purchase. Even if you are, you can refund the game if you play less then 2 hours.

Crisis
Crisis

An excellent execution on a bunch of previously known ideas. The way the map opens up gradually with each update, while at the same time allowing for sandbox-type arenas where you can use multiple approaches to win and memorable puzzle boss fights, all done in such a way that none of it overstays its welcome. You've seen all of this done before, but in few games does it all fit together so neatly and smoothly as in AA.

The combat system is fun if a little shallow in the long run and there is something to be said about the gimmicky actions you do throughout the game that give the gameplay some variety, such as the detective mode bits.

In terms of presentation there's a great attention to detail here. Great graphic and music design as well as excellent voice performances for all the main characters.

It's an obvious recommendation to anyone who is looking for a character 3rd person action game with plenty of detail and atmosphere, as well as good combat.

tki_scatter
tki_scatter

Fantastic game. Great action, visuals that hold up bizarrely well given how old this title is, solid premise, and an exciting plot from front to back. Some of the combat gets a bit tedious near the end of the game, but that really is my only criticism. This is a tightly packaged single-player campaign, assembled with the kind of design discipline that was rare even in 2010. Combat isn't terribly difficult, but the game gives you enough interesting tools to make you want to clinch each victory with style, encouraging you to self-police how you roleplay Batman taking down a crowd of goons.

Great music, great voice-acting, I very much enjoyed every minute of this title and recommend it to anyone who likes single-player campaigns with light Metroidvania elements.

Mirbeau
Mirbeau

Arkham Asylum is a classic for a reason and nearly twelve and half years later is still holds up both in terms of it's gameplay and visuals. It is more clear than ever playing modern super hero games such as Insomniac's Spider-Man how much this game inspired the style of super hero combat.

Still well worth a play, and I did so on the steam deck with no issues what so ever. Locked to 40 FPS and used the latest GE-Proton without any noticeable drops during my run of the game. You could play this at 60 I think without too many drops but it looks just as good at 40 so save yourself some battery!

Knockerdanger
Knockerdanger

Still holds up. Played the Demo back before the game came out. Played the actual game when it came out like 3 times. And now in 2022 I bought the Arkhamverse Bundle and played them in order again. This one still has great atmosphere. I swear back then it felt thrice as long.

Smartalec246
Smartalec246

Batman: Arkham Asylum was the only Arkham game that I played growing up. It felt good to come back to it after a decade. The game as a whole still holds up - with some issues included. My main frustration was not being able to cancel out of certain moves in combat, which would lead to untimely hits and death.
The hard mode is a challenge, but far from impossible. I was able to complete it in about 9 hours with all Riddles.
Overall, it is a nice game to return to, even if it is held back by the limitations of being a 13 year old game.

Blue Lobster
Blue Lobster

This game is fantastic, I love this game i played it a lot during my childhood and even now it holds up even tho the movement can be a little jank by today's standards.
Still one of the games of all time.
Also if u want a reason to waste your time get 100% achievements.

the_banananator
the_banananator

Great experience with good voice acting, fighting mechanics and story. Although I did experience some input delay and I was in detective mode for most of the game

snakerakt
snakerakt

This game is a great introduction to the Batman arkham series, sets up a great story for the next game.
Entirely worth the price

SquirtyMcFly
SquirtyMcFly

awh yeah, now we're talking. Even though the game is old, it still delivers a one in a lifetime experience of pure goodness. One of the best Batman outfits you'll see in all media platforms - he is buff, he kicks a#$, and above all, our boy Kevin Conroy voices him. What a bloody bargain to be a Batman fan mate!

☪︎olour
☪︎olour

10/10. Great game from my childhood, well worth it. Leaving this review after completing 100% of the trophys, heres video of the final 2 i unlocked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lig1f7xWbLw

crimefighter999
crimefighter999

One of the first Batman game by Rocksteady. Almost a decade old and still looks great. Bought on sale and after adding some tweaks ran perfect on Deck with the odd crash. Honestly if you haven’t played this and you have a steam deck, what you waiting for….

colin19570929
colin19570929

The game no longer works on Win11

L3ft Handed Gam3r
L3ft Handed Gam3r

I cant believe ive slept on this game! Somehow i completely missed the release and only just discovered it. Quality fun all the way through. Looking forward to the 2nd one now, which i hear is even better.

AdiRath
AdiRath

Now I see what the hype's all about.

Talilover
Talilover

Harley Quinn make my peepee hard

Game is pretty good too

redsawq4
redsawq4

A masterpiece that holds up extremely well even after all of these years.

vengeance
vengeance

i really love this game and its way ahead for its time. i am very close to getting all the achievements, but i get the unhandle error which lets me play the game on the lowest resolution which ruined the game.

overall 10/10

i have tried many things. but it dont work

mop
mop

very nice game, still fun even in 2022

DavesTheName
DavesTheName

Even in 2022... This game does not disappoint! If you have not tried the Arkham series then this is your reason to.

AscendJoker
AscendJoker

The Arkham series is quite the spectacle for the character of Batman. Fells pretty solid playing as him and fighting with some of the most infamous criminals from his comics. First time playing Arkham Asylum and so far it's got my attention

whalcomb
whalcomb

Some of the stealth aspects I found frustrating at times. Overall I have enjoyed it. The story has been good the graphics are good. Voice acting is fantastic. Combat can be a little clunky at times. Will definitely end up finishing this one and I bought it on sale with all the Arkham games so trying to focus and actually finish a story line for once.

Rezz
Rezz

I was 75% through grinding collectables when I realised this was not fun and I'd rather enjoy everything else the game has to offer.

Crazymanj5
Crazymanj5

Haha, line launcher goes brrrr