Alright kids, here we go. Official Nerdblurb blog post numero uno.

So what’s this blog for? Who the hell knows. Right now I see it as a way to talk with you guys in between podcasts. I also see it as an outlet for me to talk about the games i’m playing as much as i want without having to worry about Edgar passing out. So with that out of the way, let’s talk games!

Where to start.  I figure the best place would have to be Batman Arkham Asylum. God damn that game was good. Without having played CoD MW2, and having only played about a 3rd of HALO ODST, I would have to say that Batman:AA is my frontrunner for game of the year. What made it so good? Well...

1. 1.The Story. If if wasn’t for The Dark Knight, Batman:AA would have been the best non-comic interpretation of the characters since Tim Burton left his lasting mark on the franchise. The premise of Batman getting caught up in what is essentially a prison riot is so simple, yet expertly pulled off. Arkham Asylum as a backdrop for the story comes with a built in atmosphere and gameplay possibilities that are perfectly suited to the character. Bravo.
   

2. 2.The Art Direction. Somehow Batman:AA manages to make the characters look completely original, yet completely traditional at the same time. You instantly know you’re looking at The Joker or Poison Ivy, but you’ve never seen them quite like this before. Bonus points for Harley Quinn’s new look.
   

3. 3.The Combat. Holy crap this came out of no where. Going in I was just praying that the combat didn’t completely fail. Turns out they put something together that’s 2 button simple, yet nearly Street Fighter deep. Now i’m not saying the move set comes anywhere near that of a pure fighting game, but once you factor in the timing of the reversals, the art of keeping the mobs spaced properly while you move about, and the difficulty in keeping your combo meter going, you end up with something greater than the sum of it’s parts.
   

4. 4.The Pacing. The game just keeps you playing. Just did a few fights? Time for some detective work now. Tired of that? Let’s do a boss fight. Boss dead? Time to look for the next clue. All of this is tied together by some of the best voice acting put into a videogame. Turns out Mark Hamill is still good for something...and that something is to be the voice of the Joker. Forever.
   

So what didn’t I like about the game? The detective visor turns everything blue which obscures a lot of the work that went into the environments. I would have also liked a bit more variety in enemies. Maybe some henchmen that require you to use some of the gadgets you’ve collected. As it is, the regular foes can all be taken out via hand to hand combat and only a two require any type of special technique or “trick”.

Wow. That was quite a bit longer than I expected this first blog post to be. I think by my next post i should have HALO ODST knocked out. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea...

Until next post...

Steve