In which case by the time you get into the game you’ll be more than ready to mete out a severe teeth punching to all and sundry.

One note of caution, it uses Games for Windows LIVE.

@xbevisx: Clearly the hype was there for a reason in this case, the universal acclaim can’t be argued with. I think I was interested in why everyone thought it was so good, because many pundits seemed to rave about the story which I thought was pretty standard, it wasn’t bad, but wasn’t exactly a revelation. I think the real success is the way that they really draw you into the game and then try not to break that experience. Plus, you know, teeth punching.

@pjharvey: I think my first paragraph needed to be re-worded, I wasn’t intending to complain about the nature of people moving on swiftly from game to game, it’s an obvious and inevitable thing, I was more trying to describe the fact that I was coming to the game after everyone else had already had their say. The “people got bored” line needs to be taken out for a start, it conveys the wrong message.

@FraidOfTheLight: Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t buy an Xbox. You really mustn’t. In fact, I forbid it. [*]

[*] May be reverse psychology. Terms and conditions apply.

Nonetheless, this does sound like a very entertaining game.

FotL

PS: I particlarly enjoyed “that scene where Keanu Reeves finally, oh thank the lord FINALLY, realises that he is Of Course THE ONE, You Plank” (the comment, not the scene).

Single-player games have always been designed to be played briefly before moving on to the next. With a constant stream of releases, rather than only a handful a year, it is unsurprising that reviewers and gamers are constantly looking to the present and future and not to the past.

The console world moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you may just miss it.

I think the hype existed because we were all pepped up from the game. Like you said the immersion factor in fantastic and you feel like Batman laying the almigthy smack down on people. It gave you the same sense of power that Prototype did, but this time it was skinned with a character that almost everyone knows and loves.

So essentially I think everyone was on a massive Batman-esque sugar high. The reviews were saying “This game is amazing” but what they were really saying was “I’M THE GODDAM BATMAN, AND IM GONNA PUNCH YOUR TEETH DOWN YOUR FACE HOLE”

Its nice to have a game every now and then. Something that provides you with that much fun and a visceral way.

The combat flowed extremely well. I never felt like Batman was “locked onto” any one assailant. Sure, I might be punching Goon1 in the teeth, but at any time – of my choosing – I could spin and punch Goon2 in the teeth, or leap (or flip) across the room and kick Goon3 in the teeth. Re the flipping, fugging brilliant. This isn’t your Night Elf fancy pants flipping as they jump flip, this is a dangerous, lethal looking flip that you just know will culminate in teeth being knocked out of some poor Goon’s mouth (although teeth never actually do get detached, at least none that I saw).

I loved counter-attack system with Bats having a touch of ‘Spidey-sense’ which allowed you Quick! Press Square! and dodge and counter an attack with brutal efficiency while breaking limbs without breaking the flow of combat.

It really is the best Batman fighting game I’ve ever played. And let’s face it, while the Batman might be the world’s greatest detective, anybody who fantasizes about being the Batman doesn’t imagine themselves as Nancy Drew in a Halloween costume (well, maybe some people do), they want to be the Batman kicking major butt, and Arkham Asylum really nails that.