Gearheads of War

Good to hear that you're on the path to recovery, Tyler!

Batman:AA is definitely a GREAT game. The exploration, level design, intriguing puzzles, vocap, and atmosphere can't really be summed up in words. The game is just dripping with the blood, sweat, and tears from Rocksteady's hardwork and dedication to making this not only the best superhero game, but a game that deserves to be named with the upper echelon of games such as Bioshock-, Gears-, GTA-, and Modern Warfare franchises, respectively. The attention to detail by not cutting corners is a testament to how Rocksteady treated the Batman license. Take for instance, Clayface (a villian whose body is essentially 'boneless') doesn't display a skeleton when Batman uses his Detective Mode from his cowl. They could have overlooked this comic book fact, but their meticulous crafting and adherence of the Batman universe solidifies this team's greatness. That basically sealed it for me. It brought me back to Epic Games' attention to detail like when they had rain cascading off the windows in the Fenix Estate. Developers who don't shortcut attention to detail really create a believable environment for gamers to experience.

In addition, for those that were able to watch GameTrailers' Batman:AA launch episode; Geoff Keighley pointed out that the 65+ development team didn't have "offices" like traditional developer studios often do. Sefton Hill, Batman:AA's game designer, explained that they purposely did not want to separate people because they wanted everyone on the team to feel that this was a collaborative effort. If you had an idea, everyone should hear it because they want to make the best games possible. Just awesome.

Whether or not you're a fan of Batman, you owe it to yourself to experience an epic game like AA. Look, this isn't attached to Christopher Nolan's current re-up with the film version of Batman. Gamers that may have some apprehension between the comic version compared to the film version need not distract themselves with that aspect. Nolan's vision of Batman is very close to the comic book interpretation of the non-superhuman superhero. The combat doesn't get repetitive as many have expressed after playing the demo because there are just so many ways to take out the enemy and instill fear in them. There were so many different methods to dispatch the enemy that I didn't realize were possible until I delved into the Challenge Maps mode of the game. I won't spoil anything here by listing them, but it truly is extensive. Just use your imagination. Now, I'm going back to play it in Hard difficulty after beating it on Normal to try out these new techniques. As Robbins, Machete, Grymm, Jambi, and Infidel chatted it up over XBL while we were all playing the game; the only "bad" part of Batman is that it ends. You know how to solve the puzzles, find the clues, and essentially how the story unfolds. The campaign lasted about 15+ hours for me and the ability to free roam after the story is over to continue to solve The Riddler's riddles and Arkham Asylum's mystery was like icing on a cake. After all, Batman is the foremost detective in the superhero universe.

This game ranks in my top seven games that I've ever played. Where exactly it is nestled between- I can't determine yet. I've been playing video games on practically every console for decades and to say that Batman:AA ranks up there means a lot, at least for me. As Suns has already provided the link to the Penny Arcade comic, Tycho & Gabe have very high praise for the Batman:AA game because the Splinter Cell franchise essentially defines stealth. Move over Sam Fisher, Batman's on the prowl.