Batman: Arkham Asylum

Think of a great superhero game. No, not a good one — there are plenty of those around — but one as essential as, say, Grand Theft Auto IV or BioShock. You’re struggling, right? That’s because there aren’t any. Or rather there weren’t any until Batman: Arkham Asylum came along.

Paul Crocker, Lead Narrative Designer at Rocksteady Studios, donned one of our magical interview headsets at E3 last week to give us his thoughts on Batman: Arkham Asylum, which may turn out to be the best Batman game we've ever played. Crocker discusses the reason for the game's short delay, its inspiration, story, gameplay, and more. Have a listen below!

Stealth, stalking, and all-out brutality. How Batman is taking back the mantle from the games that stole his schtick. 

We're about to commit what some geek groups would consider heresy: Maybe the world was better off not having a game based on The Dark Knight, Batman's wildly successful and delightfully dismal summer movie outing from last year. Yes, we saw the movie (four times, thanks, and that's not counting IMAX viewings); yes, we loved it. But what are the chances a rushed-through-development movie tie-in would have actually been good?

The Caped Crusader has had something of a dodgy past both on the silver screen and in games. From the ace 1989 Tim Burton gothic epic that grossed over a quarter of a billion dollars domestically to the franchise-murdering Joel Schumacher colour-saturated camp-fest Batman & Robin that barely limped past the $100 million marker, Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego haven’t had it easy.