I think I may be addicted to something, Arkham Asylum that is. It's not just the satisfying combat or the sweet sneaking sequences, but also the riddle-solving and storyline.

I suppose the combat is indeed like Assassin's Creed, but this is actually fun. It's tight and responsive and I really feel like Batman as I break wrists and arms and throw batarangs to down bad guys. I can't believe what a return that I am getting from mechanics that are so incredibly simple. I've nearly masterd it and it's such a rush to stun two gun-wielding baddies in a group with a double batarang attack, drop down from directly above, and then dish out 360 degrees of pain on the 4 leftover enemies with flawless timing.

I've laughed quite a few times, and shuddered as well from the game's dialogue. Mr. Zasz's or the Scarecrow's audio tapes, or the Joker's comments to his henchmen over the PA system.

"I'm just sitting here watching cartoons. If any of you guys would like to come over here and join me, let yourselves in. Oh but don't lookup when you walk through the door, you'll spoil the surprise, and my experiment."

I had to put the controller down for a minute right then.

I really really like what I've seen from the scarecrow encounters. Without going into detail, it's trippy and creative and I appreciate that kind of stuff in games, especially the execution in this game.

There have been quite a few epic moments that make me feel extremely satisfied to be playing this, I can't wait to see what else there is ahead.

EDIT: Ah, finally beat the game. Oh boy, were those some satisfying fistfights, I really showed those goons what they were really laughing at!

The final enemy however, was dumb from a gameplay standpoint and from a story standpoint. Maybe story is the wrong word, but it was just too comic-booky even for this superhero game, and it just didn't fit the tone as well as something more subtle and less "I'm-a-3-stage-boss-fight-focusing-on-brute-force". Considering the extremely trippy disturbing events courtesy of the Scarecrow, and the creepy Joker-TV-head-mannequins in the Visitor Center of Arkham, something more creative and cerebral, making better use of the hero's and villian's defining qualities would have been welcome.

EDIT EDIT: You know, I could extend this to the rest of the main villian fights, with the exception of Scarecrow. They are simply too simple, repetitive, or both. They feel way to conventional and forgettable. Considering the mechanics that work so well for the rest of the game, it's a shame they get left out for these "epic" encounters.

Although, that WAS the most badass use of explosive gel I'd ever seen, so it's not all bad.

Therefore, I award this game a nice score of 1 out of 10, just like everything else. Because games aren't math problems.

EDIT EDIT EDIT: Poison Ivy was HOT