Lets take a look at the latest Batman game, Batman Arkham Asylum. I got a chance to play through the demo this weekend here are my first impressions.

Controls:

The targeting system and controls were great. The first time I played the demo I had no problems jumping from ledge to ledge, hanging down and grabbing enemies, locking on for flying glide kicks, and then taking cover for silent sneak attacks.

Swinging and grappling from ledge to ledge was a lot of fun. Unlike some games where the targeting is hard to lock on, this game seemed to always hit exactly what i was aiming for with little effort. the range was great as well. whenever i got into trouble i started looking for a ledge to get my bat butt out of there even if it was on the other side of the room.

Batsense:

The level of detail of the batsense is incredible, it allows you to monitor peoples heart rates, it tells you if they are anxious or nervous, and it tells you if an enemy is dead or just unconcious.. picking up heat signitures through the walls is also another really awesome game mechanic.

The switches could take place no matter what batman was doing which gave me an incredible feeling of control.

Sometimes i would switch out of bat sense mode while in mid air glide kick just for cinematic effect. I really enjoyed the level of control they gave us in the game

Switching in an out of cover mode was the same way, it was as easy to enter cover as it was to exit.

Combat:

combat was pretty straight forward button mashing, but it did have some really great slow motion face smashing cut scenes. This game really lets you beat guys when they are down and I wouldnt have it any other way. There’s nothing more frustrating than waiting for a badguy to get up so you can start figthing him again. In batman arkham asylum you can just keep punching them on the ground till they die, or in some instances you can perform a ground face smash. Think massive bat fist curb stomping.

One thing I noticed is that heads up combat with enemies holding guns is almost impossible. They made it very hard to rush up on them. Straight forward attacks seemed to almost get me killed every time, this makes the player use batmans powers more effectively, sneaking around is much more fun, and dropping from the ceiling is just awesome.

After playing the demo of this game, I was left begging for more. This game is a must play for any batman fans, or anybody who is interested in playing awesome games.

Music and Sound:

The voice acting was great and the soundtrack sounded like it came straight from the movie.

Rating: 9/10

I would have liked to see some kind of multiplayer, but Batman always rolls alone so there aren’t many options in that area. I think the game has lots of replay value, but its still a single player smash em up type game. I’m not sure how often you’ll be getting this one back out after you’ve beaten it twice.

Recommendation

For that reason I’m going to recommend a sliding scale from Rent to Buy depending on how much you love Batman.

Conquer four new campaigns as the Red Alert 3 saga continues in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising for Xbox Live. Featuring 12 new units, the new Commanders Challenge, 30 minutes of HD cinematics

“Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Commander’s Challenge throws the player into 50 intense challenges against a set of nine different commanders, including 16-time world champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Each challenge features its very own over-the-top and distinctive twist, confronting players with everything from giant Soviet war bears and an entire army of psionic Japanese school girls to massive satellite orbital bombardments. As players progress throughout the gauntlet, they gradually unlock more units, technology and new challenges. Additionally, each challenge is equipped with a par time set by the developers.”

Graphics: Very cartoony, there was lots of polygons which made it feel nothing at all like older C&C Games

Voice Acting: The HUD voices were just about the same as normal, but the actors voices were super corny. If I was Asian I would go as far as to say that they were downright offensive.

The US Engineer gets to say “I have the power!” but the Japanese Engineer says “Oh what a glorious honor to hear from you sir.” Pretty cheesy, but it gets much worse.

Controls: Using a controller for RTS has always been troublesome. However this game did have some features that shined through. The selection wheel made for some very fast building once you get the hang of it. With practice the selection wheel could possibly beat out a keyboard when it comes to micro-management of your troops.

That being said, there is still no replacement for the mouse when it comes to selecting your units.

View: One thing that troubled me the most about this game was the view. Frustrating is a word I would use to describe it. I found myself always wanting to look out just a bit further or zoom out just a bit more. It made me uncomfortable during battles because I felt like I always wanted to see more of the field.

Gameplay: This game did provide some entertaining features. Each faction (US, Russia, and Japan) each has their own similar units each with different special abilities. The US gets mostly laser type things, the Russians gets a variety of armor and increased fire power. The Japanese are given the ability of complete air domination. I think this may make up for the way they are portrayed in-game. Half of the Japanese units can turn into jet planes. This includes a mech-warrior (they don’t need tanks) and even a submarine that can go from water to air.

Getting back to the Engineer. The US engineer builds a healing tent which puts down a beacon that gives area of effect healing to everyone in range. The Russian engineer builds a super bunker that can fortify up to 5 troops. The Japanese engineer gets the ability of “Sprint” – “Begins running with shameful abandon for a while, causes unit exhaustion.” So the other guys get to build fortified bunkers and AEO healing beacons, and the Japanese engr literally runs around flailing his arms in the air at about +25% speed while saying things like “glorious honor to hear from you”…..

Pretty bad, but the Japanese do get the uber badass transformer jetplane-mechwarrior-submarine-tanks.

Conclusion: This game is oversexed and overacted, but does have some interesting gameplay features. CO powers are fun and the selection wheel was a major plus, but still doesn’t beat the mouse. The AI can be very frustrating, seemed like they had very little intelligence at all. It seemed like this game was marketed more for teens who are new to the genre than people who have been play C&C all along. If you can get over the frustrating camera views then there is still fun to be had playing this game.

Rated: 6.5/10

Recommends: DEMO First (Try this one before you buy it)

I got the demo for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood earlier this week. Normally I’m not a big fan of western shoot-em-up kind of games, but I have to admit. The gameplay was tight, and the action was good. There were alot of unique features that made this game fun. My favorite thing about it so far is the dual wielding pistol action. Most games only give you one trigger to satify your need to blow things up. In Call of Juarez BOTH triggers on your controller shoot guns, which basically means twice as much fun.

Another cool feature is the cover system. The game character will actually stick his guns out around corners before you pop your head out which gives it a very realistic feeling in a gunfight. If you get a chance to, make sure you at least try out the demo for this game. I recommend playing it at least once.