Last night I had the unfortunate experience of finishing Batman: Arkham Asylun, Not because the game disappointed, although I did find the last part of the game to be a bit repetitive, but because I knew it would be the only game I'd be into for quite awhile. I'm definitely in a gaming lull right now. Not too much holds my interest, and if it does, it's only temporarily.

But back to the game. The beginning was amazing, and the atmopshere all-in-all is up there with this generation's best. But I did find the last half of the game to drag just a little. It felt at times like I was going through the same series of events -- investigate, track down a boss, beat some goons along the way, beat the boss, repeat. But I was still pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail, the loyalty to the source material, and the obvious labor or love that the game was.Who would think that a studio with no (really) good games under it's belt could produce such a critically acclaimed piece of work? I definitely give Rocksteady kudos for toppling most peoples' expectations.

The combat was my favorite part of the game. With every one of Batman's moves motion-captured by real, expert martial artists, it definitely added to the impact of every acrobatic strike. The engine itself is well-thought out and suited for fighting multiple enemies. This, to me, is one of the games' biggest innovations. It is one of those great engines that is easy to pick up and enjoy, but also takes real skill to master.

The boss battles disappointed me a little. The majority of them came down to beating up henchmen that the boss would send at you, then striking the boss in between with a simple button press. Another thing that bothered me was that the henchmen boiled down to 2 types, basically. The ordinary guy, whether he was armed with a gun, a stun baton, or knives, and a Titan henchman dressed in different outfits that all required the same tactics to beat. It was always fun, however, and only got tedious, to me, near the end. Also, alot of the bosses in the game felt like they were squeezed in as fan-service, and not real battles persay. I suppose when you want to satisfy fans of a comic series with a broad legacy, a little bit of everything is as good as a few highly intense, complex encounters.

I guess I'm focusing on the negatives because truly, the rest of Batman is great. The exploration, action, visuals and sound, pacing, and atmosphere are up there with the best this generation has to offer. I may write a review a bit later, after I beat the game on Hard and solve all the riddles. If that dedication to the game isn't a tribute to it's quality, I don't know what is.