Batman: Arkham Asylum
While many gamers love Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham series, I still have some trouble understanding how the company convinced Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment to give them permission to work on a Batman game.
Prior to Batman: Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady had only developed Urban Chaos: Riot Response, a lackluster FPS that puts players in the boots of a riot response cop.
Sure, Rocksteady employed plenty of staff from Argonaut Games (makers of the Super FX chip and the original Star Fox game), but otherwise, Rocksteady was a largely an unknown. Plus, I honestly don’t think anyone reading this article can list a single good Batman game that was released before Arkham Asylum.
Regardless, Batman: Arkham Asylum has proven to be the perfect blend of licensed video game awesomeness. The combat and stealth systems are top-notch, and the title reunites the holy Bat-trinity of Paul Dini, Mark Hamill, and Kevin Conroy.
Today, gamers the world over eagerly anticipate the next Rocksteady Studios game, but before Arkham Asylum’s release, we didn’t associate the studio with quality. If anything, we probably thought anyone who mentioned it was misremembering Grand Theft Auto’s developers, Rockstar Games.
