Ugh...I'm probably running out of stuff to write up if the only thing I can think to blog about is a demo; but at least it's a good demo Batman: Arkham Asylum is without a doubt one of my most awaited games this year just behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2. I've been keeping track of this game ever since it was announced and was hoping beyond belief that this would finally be a good game that the Batman franchise so rightfully deserves.

The demo starts off with a cutscence that pretty much explains why Batman is at Arkham Asylum. The Joker was captured almost too easily and Batman wasn't too comfortable with that. As the security team escorts the Joker to his cell, he breaks free and traps Batman within Arkham Asylum and all of its nut jobs.

You get to take control of Batman after the cutscence and immediately are tasked to take out a couple of henchmen which acts as the tutorial section for the game.

Once you've dispatched the goons, Joker let's you into the main halls where you meet up with an officer who tells you that another officer, Mike, is taken hostage by the psycho Mr. Zsasz and will kill him if he see Batman; which leads you to your next objective, taking out Zsasz without being detected.

Zsasz won't be much of a treat and once you get behind him, a single button press will take him out. After this you pass a ventilation duct and are faced with yet another challenge; 4 armed henchmen. Again, you have to climb the rafters and take a stealthier approach picking one guard at a time.

The final portion of the demo requires you to use all the skills you've learned so far in taking out a group of henchmen fanned out across a wide open area.

The demo wraps up with a cutscence which could possibly lead to a boss fight

I was hoping the demo would have been a bit longer but 15 minutes is better than nothing right? (I still remember that Heavenly Sword demo which lasted like 5 minutes and was around 1GB...what kind of a demo was that?!?!) Anyways, I was really impressed with the demo and as I'm typing this, I've played it 7 times and still feel like playing it some more. The graphics were top notch and Arkham Asylum felt like it had a life of its own. At 1st I was a bit skeptical about the combat system used in the game, but after playing the demo, I'm now reassured that the combat will be fast paced and not based purely on button mashing. The voice acting was great, especially the voice of Mark Hamill as The Joker. Every time I play this I get a sense of nostalgia because it reminds me of the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series (that was the best Batman series EVER!)

All in all, the demo looks great and plays great and I can only expect great things from the game when it comes out this month. Its one thing watching gameplay videos of the game and hoping it's good and it's another thing to actually try out the game and see for yourself how it plays out.

Gamespot Score Prediction: 9/10

^^ Yes it's that good!