EIDOS (XBOX 360, PS3, PC)
Rating: 
The game’s opening credit sequence of Batman following a newly recaptured Joker deep into Arkham Asylum had us worried. It’s a looong walk…too long, in our opinion. But it does set up the emotionally dark feel of the story, which fits into the space between Tim Burton’s 1989 movie and Christopher Nolan’s recent installments. Instead of letting you roam the familiar locale of Gotham, Rocksteady Studios has locked you—“Bats,” as the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) sweetly calls him—within the unsettling world of the asylum. With Commissioner Gordon’s techie daughter, the Oracle, to guide him, Batman will make his way through the treacherous prison, taking down henchmen 15 at a time and relying on his best detective skills—including the ability to detect the presence of pheromones, whisky trails, and blood— to unravel the Joker’s plans. Of course, the Joker has some help on his side as well: Bane, Killer Croc, Victor Zsasz, and the buxom Harley Quinn, who’s donned a particularly sexy outfit for the occasion. As you progress, you’ll unlock several new gadgets and cool new abilities—like surveying the area while hanging upside down from a gargoyle—and discover interview tapes that allow you to really get inside the heads of your enemies.
