Batman: Arkham Asylum demo is let out of the Bat Cave

It may only be 18 days until the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum, but any fan of Batman shouldn’t hesitate to download this whopping 2GB demo. I’ve never been a huge fan of superheroes, but when it comes to Batman (and maybe Spiderman) I’ll always have room on my hard drive for their virtual escapades. The game is set in Arkham Asylum, where the Joker escapes while being locked up by Batman and Comissioner Gordon. The Joker’s trap also unleashes a host of other well known Batman foes. One thing’s for sure this is another dark Batman tale, a million miles away from Adam West and title cards which say “Kapowww”.

Wow what a Demo. Really, graphically this game looks stunning even on low settings, the combination of the gothic Batman we know from the films and hints at the comic book art from Batman’s early days is perfect. The voice characterisations also add so much, and Mark Hamill has to be my second favourite Joker. The demo takes you through the first level of the game and tantalisingly ends just as the first boss in unveiled. The combat system is easy to pick up and the camera angles dynamic. While playing you can experience detective mode which allows you to see enemies through walls and plan your attacks with precision. From this demo, which is way too short, it’s easy to see how great this game is going to be, I just hope it’s not as brief as this taster.

The demo is available to download on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC. Be prepared to free up some hard disk space as this demo is a hefty 2GB (thankfully my broadband has recently been upgraded, it would have been painfully slow even on my previous 2MB connection). Still it’s worth an hour and a couple of gigabytes to get a taste of this truly awesome game. The demo can be downloaded from the official website.