Brief Overview

In Gotham City, heavy rain falls, night has descended upon the city, and impenetrable darkness shrouds the deserted streets. The Batmobile races down the empty road at high speed, slicing through the reflection of the moon in puddles. On this night, Batman rushes to Arkham Psychiatric Hospital to bring the recently captured Joker to the doctors.

This is how the demo version of Batman: Arkham Asylum begins. You could say this is the firstborn of Rocksteady Studios, not counting the released three years ago game Urban Chaos: Riot Response, which was not properly appreciated. The developers decided to take us back to the classic universe of Batman, inviting us to one of the darkest places — Arkham Asylum. This eerie location can deter buyers, which is why it is not often shown to the audience. Moreover, the creators of the Batman movie have not dared to include the escape of Two-Face from this establishment. Such places invoke unnecessary thoughts in the viewer, although Arkham, like the Wayne Manor, is one of the most important points in the world of Batman. Furthermore, the authors from Rocksteady pose a question to the players: isn't the unusual rich guy Batman actually a guy who has gone insane?

But that's not the main thing; the essence is that Arkham Asylum is the place where all of our superhero's enemies are concentrated, where it is undesirable for Batman to appear, for if they rebel, it will be very difficult to fight them. Although this is precisely what happens in the game. We are left with only force and cunning to restore order in the establishment that appears in Batman's nightmares.

So what does the demo version of Batman: Arkham Asylum represent? It is a level that we will complete in about 30-40 minutes, in which our hero will fully showcase his martial arts skills, mastery of technical gadgets, as well as his detective experience and ingenuity.


We will start fighting enemies within the first few minutes of the game; these are Joker's men. In melee combat, Batman shows us a masterclass, featuring hooks, uppercuts, aerial kicks with spins, wrestling holds, and throws — everything looks very impressive and spectacular. However, the enemy cannot boast the same fighting skills and variety of attacks; he behaves sluggishly and passively in battle. Learning to fight is very easy, as we are aided by pop-up tips; the combination of both mouse buttons and the space and ctrl keys transforms into various combos. The more combos, the more experience you will gain; yes, you heard it right, experience — the game has RPG elements, allowing us to enhance skills, such as throwing shurikens or various tricks. Every flight of a razor-sharp star is dramatized by the authors with time-slowing effects and quality animation, emphasizing the spin of the 'deadly gift.' On one hand, it looks quite effective, on the other hand, it slows down the game a bit. Batman strides through the asylum like a metallic terminator, and only in battle does he display his speed and reaction; while attacking one fighter, his back is exposed, which is exploited by numerous enemies surrounding him. Our hero remains unfazed, swiftly delivering blows to everyone at the same time. He effectively and spectacularly wields his fists, does not shy away from 'steel' grapples, and finishes off enemies with kicks. Meanwhile, the camera works wonders — filming from the most effective angles, using various tricks and techniques like slow motion and other cinematographic effects.

Fighting enemies is simple, as long as they don't find weapons; otherwise, you can't go 'head-on' or you'll be riddled with bullets (which also looks very impressive; I recommend dying at least once). In that case, our unique 'Batman visor,' dubbed detective mode in the game, will help us. In this mode, you can see the objects with which our hero can interact, be it a grate that we can kick down, or gargoyle statues that Batman leaps across like an acrobat, hiding from the enemies' sight, among many other objects which should help us solve complex tasks.


I played the game for 30 minutes; I didn't have time to explore all the possibilities, but I can confidently say that this game is worth buying and playing, but for now, you can settle for the demo. No matter how you spin it, Rocksteady Studios has probably made one of the best games of the year, as evidenced not only by high ratings from critics but also by a large number of reviews from regular gamers.