4/5 ★ – Manic_Zucc's review of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

While I absolutely adored Arkham Asylum when I first played it in middle school, it ended up being a bit buried because I immediately played the then newly released Arkham City. From there Arkham’s City and Origins became games I would replay on the regular, while the comparatively more linear and stripped down Asylum wasn’t as fun to go back to. Returning to the game more than a decade since my last playthrough I still think that it pales in comparison to its sequel, but is still a darn fine game in its own right. The presentation of this game is excellent. Arkham Asylum being reimagined as an island makes for wonderfully haunting location as this game more than any of its sequels goes for a more gothic horror approach in its tone. The story is completely original but still feels very Batman at its core. Gameplay wise things are good, though not always great. I remember this game being praised for its Predator sections at the time but they all come across as very similar. Still fun just a bit repetitive. The combat is also fun even if it gets repetitive from lack of enemy variety after a while. My love for the game though really comes from my love of Batman. The world of Batman is probably my favorite fictional universe period and seeing it so well represented just tickles my heart. I particularly loved the character bios, especially how they had bios for super random Batman villains like Humpty Dumpty and Great White Shark. Good stuff. This was also my first time collecting every Riddler trophy and that was a lot of fun. So while it tends to get swept aside for its sequel, Arkham Asylum is still a good time and well worth a revisit, maybe just not as often as City.