Speaking of the Bat himself, the game achieves the central goal, which is making it fun to play as the Goddamn Batman! The gadgets are cool, the voice acting is good and there is little more pleasing that pulling off those stealth moves without ever being detected and hearing the fear of the Bat enter the voices and behaviour of the remaining henchmen. The Scarecrow sections were all great - easy enough to 'beat' but the design of them and the flashes into Wayne's tortured psyche were really enjoyable.

The Joker is particularly effective and is well voiced by Hamill but everyone does a good job - Poison Ivy was perhaps the exception for me but that is more down to me not really liking her character rather than a problem with the game. I am a fan of Batman but not to the point where I know all the characters, but it was enjoyable to see so many main ones have a large role in the game. Some of these collectables also add detail and colour to the game - I won't say I listened to all the interview tapes, but the bio files (complete with comic-book pictures) were a nice touch and again added a sense of depth to the game beyond just the story.

The secrets maps help a lot but it still is a challenge and it does add material to the game rather than just charging through the main story. Although not a huge free-roam world like Red Dead etc, Arkham Asylum still has lots to explore and find. The cut-scenes are well used and do not come too frequently. Since it is a computer game the story is episodic but it still manages to flow pretty well and be quite cinematic in nature. These were my favourite sections and I do enjoy the additional challenge mini-games you can do in the same format. The game play is impressive in terms of the straight story you'll be called on to work out how to get to places by using your eyes and the gadgets available to you you'll have combat where your timing and skills are pushed in terms of pulling of combos, blocking and countering attacks but you'll also have stealth sections against armed foes where you get to be the shadowy Batman - taking them out one at a time and disappearing back into the shadows as your increasingly panicked enemies try and find where you are.

Once I got over this hump though and got the feel for how Batman: AA plays and works, I got into it very quickly and found a very well designed game that features plenty of colour, plenty of variety and was a good solid challenge without ever being frustratingly difficult (in normal setting anyway). Partly this is my age meaning I'm not as good at switching between controls as I was, but also a reflection on how much I enjoyed AC:B. I came to this game after finishing the excellent Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and if I'm honest I did struggle to make the jump.

Bane batman arkham city