I'm disappointed, I have not been able to play much of the game. But I'm going to give my review anyway.
Story:
Paul Dini. Period.
No, the story is well written and actually makes sense. There are no real loose ends, and many many references to the comics and even characters that don't appear "in-person".
The storyline is classic (i.e. simplistic) while at the same time, it feels like a continuation of the character's legacy. This is something that DC did with their comics and cartoons, that always made Marvel seem kind of pathetic. While Spider-Man games may have "new" stories and supposedly be "official canon", they always end up being a one shot game that has no bearing on anything.
Batman is more like a mythology. The stories are more open to old and new fans. If this game was referenced in the comics, there would be no plotholes or flaws. It could seamlessly be adapted. That pulls you in as the player, and makes the game truly feel like a Batman game.
**I also want to note how the game's atmosphere did what I was talking about pages ago, and tried to actually creep you out. The morgue scene was bad ass.
I hate to say this as a Resident Evil fan, but Batman:Arkham Asylum is creepier/scarier than RE5**
Score: 9/10
Sound:
The musical score is perfect. Nothing monotonous or annoying in terms of background music. However, we begin to have a bit or a problem when it comes to certain dialogue.
The voice actors all do amazing jobs, even the NPCs running around are fitting and match the pace of the game. There are just a few minor issues with repeating or annoying "announcements" in the game. I had 74% by the second day. I've not played it since then. But let me tell you that it's pretty annoying hunting for Riddler Trophies and secrets when The Joker or other people keep saying the same three lines over and over and over and over again. I actually had to lower the volume of the vocals to shut him up.
My solution for this problem is that, they should have had the down time between loops be a few minutes rather than about 30 seconds.
I mean, I'm glad that we got so much great dialogue, and even little Easter eggs and hidden conversations...But the repeats make you want to kill yourself.
Score: 6.5/10
Graphics:
Sweet. The graphics are awesome. There are a few clipping problems and glitches on the Xbox360 version, but the game is beautiful. Enemies have very...strange AI and will often ignore you, even on the hardest difficulty. And sometimes see you, when they shouldn't (on the hardest setting).
I've also punched a guy through a wall. By that I mean that I was doing a combo and when I got to the slow motion final blow, he was knocked behind a pillar...So Batman still does the move, but the bad guy is like 10 feet away. It somehow still connects and after the slow motion, Batman teleported over to him.
That specifically happened only once, but things like that have happened a few times.
The lack of full PhysX on the 360 version may be the reason for all of that, but that's not an excuse.
Score: 7/10
Gameplay:
Hands down one of the best comic games I've played in recent years. Top 5 no question. I was mislead by the demo. The game seemed arcade styled and rather mediocre. I had hoped for them to do a lot of things with it, and everything that I had wanted they did.
I wanted them to change things up beyond just combat:
Riddler trophies, secrets, platforming with scarecrow, exploration of the island, weapons and upgrades, stealth etc.
I wanted to see a lot of characters:
Done.
It's unimportant for me to go down the list. Everything was there. The gameplay is amazing. The only flaws are that sometimes the buttons don't respond. If you're fighting lots of guys and tap "Y" to dodge, they will often hit you anyway. I also don't see why detonating C4 doesn't count as an instant KO. Very minor. The game definitely lived up to some of the hype that people made it out to be.
Score: 9/10
Overall:
The game is far better than I had thought. It didn't blow me away, but it was one of the most fun super hero experiences in gaming in the last few years. This is not so much a complement to this game, as it is that comic book gaming needs to step up. This game brings me back to the old school days of "X-men: Children of the Atom", "Maximum Carnage", etc.. This game is what a lot of modern comic book games should be.
Score: I thought it would be a 7.8/10, but I'm going to give it a 8.8/10
Great game, lots to do, minor bugs...Wish I had more time to play it. When I actually start playing it again, it might deserve that 9/10.