Batman: Arkham Asylum

"Batman: Arkham Asylum is the ultimate Batman experience, hands down.  Edwin Millheim, ImpulseGamer.com
"If you're a Batman fan, this is the best treatment the World's Greatest Detective has ever received in videogame form...  Ryan Scott, GameSpy.com
"[Batman: Arkham Asylum] is very nearly the perfect game. This game is as close to 100% as I've ever seen.  Phil Soletsky, GameOverOnline.com

IGN.com 9 of 10
It's not often that I'm conflicted about a game. Don't get me wrong, review scores are in the eye of the beholder so I'm sure there are plenty of times that you've read something I have written and not agreed with me. I mean that it's rare for me to play a game during a demo and not have a solid idea of what the final product is going to be. I played bits of Batman: Arkham Asylum a few times before I finally got a copy to review, and I always found myself coming away with mixed feelings. I enjoyed the combat and attacking from the shadows, but the pacing seemed off and Batman's movements seemed stiff. Could Rocksteady really pull everything together to deliver on one of DC Comics' biggest franchises?...After having beaten the game, I can tell you the answer is most certainly "Yes."...This system is great. I felt empowered as I knocked these creeps down, grabbed their bats and slammed them back into the attackers. I'm sure it sounds like the process could get repetitive, but the crooks start using tasers and knives eventually, and that leads to you having to fight them in a different way and avoid simply spamming your mouse; you need to get behind the taser-packing guys to strike and daze the knife dudes before socking them in the jaw...As you ping-pong off people with your savage attacks, a combo meter tallies your strikes on the left side of the screen. As long as each of your attacks is landing (Don't mash the buttons; pick your shots.) and you're not getting hit (Reverse, Master Bruce!), the combo count keeps climbing. I'm sure it sounds simple, but you'd be surprised how good you have to be to link together massive combos. If you can get the count up to eight (five with an upgrade), you can do special moves once you've unlocked them, and I can tell you that I don't do special moves all that often...Batman: Arkham Asylum is the greatest comic book videogame of all time. This is an adult Dark Knight story that is well-told, packs some truly fun gameplay elements, has topnotch voice talent, and feel like it's part of Batman canon. If I have to nitpick, I wish the cutscenes looked better as they can distract from the tale and that the AI was a bit more responsive, but those are tiny flaws that shouldn't distract from the big picture...Rocksteady nailed what Batman is supposed to feel like. Fans, rejoice. - Greg Miller