Best Game of 2009(IMHO) - Batman: Arkham Asylum

What a better way to start 2010 than to play one of the best games of 2009.

Only word I can say is "Amazing!". It is by far the best Batman game ever released (at least from my perspective). From start to finish you will definitely be hooked. My housemate was so hooked, that he finished the game in one day (yes, one whole day). Just wanted to share some points below on what made this game great.

Art of fighting

In Batman, there are a lot of times where you will be faced with a lot of baddies that wants to give Batman a beating like every other game available. The big difference is how the fighting mechanism was done. Each action was mapped to a single button, making it simple (it may need a bit of time to get used to) but it doesn't take the fun out of it. Imagine if you can use all the techniques properly without breaking the chain, then Batman can just beat up all the baddies without even taking a single hit, which gives players a little "helping hand" by giving some indications when to counter or when to go for an attack. This "helping hand", however, is not there if your playing the game on hard mode. That's why you really need to pay attention to your enemies' body movement and distance. Not only is it easy to control, it's also really good to look at. It's so much good to savor every successful command you input and you can watch how Batman beat up the heck out of the baddies as if it was a piece of art. This fighting mechanism is the one thing that makes this game unique from any other action adventuregames .

Tools of the trade

Who is Batman without his signature gadgets like the Batarang, bat claw, etc. This is not only useful for taking out or avoiding baddies but also really useful in other aspects of the game such as remote switch flipping and breakable-wall crushing to gain access to the next areas. Having all these gadgets available really makes the experience of playing Batman realistic and unique.  This is unlike other Batman games where most of the time only the Batarang is available. Some of the signature Batman vehicles are also found here, like the Batmobile and the Batwing. However, you cannot really ride them in any point of the game but these vehicles are there to provide the very much needed help such as delivering some new goodies to Batman.

The Great detective

Batman is indeed one of the best fictional detectives (except for Sherlock Holmes, I guess).  The secret is to look outside the box with an extra help from the detective view. From following smoke residues to spotting DNA residues to searching for an item's scent. But it doesnt stop there, you can also plan on how you take out your enemies efficiently thru this view. It also helps you detect some of the collectibles inside the game - specially riddlers' stuff. These features also adds up to the overall feel of the game.  For other similar genre games, they just make you collect for the sake of finishing the game 100% or getting the platinum trophy.  This Batman game makes collecting the PSN trophies fun. It also gives you unlockable things like in-game trophis (exclusive of the PSN trophies).  It's already a great game to find out facts about the different characters in Batman's story and unlocking the challenges. This makes riddle solving or collecting totally fun. Also, the riddles does make you use your brain once in a while and if your an avid fan of Batman, I'm sure you would love the riddles as most of them are about baddies that Batman has faced.

Dark Knight

Batman has been given the nickname "Dark Knight" because basically he wears a black costume and take out baddies in the dark without people noticing. Thus, he strikes fear to the baddies especially at night when they don't know where Batman will be coming from. This was indeed what Batman: Arkham Asylum had. Giving the players the chance to experience dealing instant kill blows while striking fear to those remaining baddies. This also gives the game an espionage feel to it similar to Metal Gear and Splinter Cell.

Last but not the Least,..

Amazing Re-imagination of Batman characters

Eidos did a great job on making the re-imagination of batman characters and putting a brand new life to Batman and his foes - making Joker have a more sinister and scary look together with really annoying lines and laughs.  Also, making the female foes like Poison Ivy and Harley really gorgeous and dangerous at the same time.

All these factors make this game the best Batman game so far (but I guess we can now expect another better one when Eidos releases a sequel?). If you are an avid Batman fan, then you would surely love playing this game over and over again. But if your not a fan, I'm sure you will still love it as I loved it even though I am not a Bats guy. This is still one of those games that you can easily give a 10/10 rating.

Robot

Currently playing: Darksiders(PS3), COD:MW2(PC)

Revival of the Blog: The Sims 3

First of all, this blog has been sorely neglected.  I have mentioned to R to finally post something.  The whole reason for this blog is to find an outlet for all the gaming, toy hobbies, and what-not.  Let's not start something and not finish it.

Okay, to start off. I've decided to blog about a game that I've been playing.  It's not new as you all know, but it's still as addictive as when I started playing it.  If you enjoyed playing all the previous Sims game, then you would definitely enjoy this one, the 3rd installment of The Sims.  It has also more options for you to work on - traits to assign, opportunities to explore, rewards to unleash, and so on.  Of course, the whole 'playing God' is still very evident with such instances to choose a lazy-ass, rude & inconsiderate characters to having multiple love interests at a time to even killing off own characters by switching to buy mode and suddenly having the character drown on the pool or get stuck inside walls.   These are just the minor situations.  You can go as far as creating a multitude of scenarios.  I'm still on a normal mode type of game play which is trying to see through the whole life cycle of my first character.  On a whole, the latest Sims is much more interactive than before and it really makes you stay hooked for hours at a time.

Just a quick summary of my Sims char., Her name is Alezandra, and she's married to a musician (who's about to die by the way, he is an older man. haha).  She has a son who's a teen now.  This is her preggy for the 2nd time with her teen son talking to her tummy.


      Teen son's name is Vash (named after someone) 

And she has just recently gave birth to twins.  Yes, twins! Can you imagine?  I didn't know it was possible but I got them.  I was surprised when a window popped up asking for a second girl's name when I already input the first one.  I had to stop and think of another name which took me a bit of time.  Anyway, here's an image of the twin girls now grown up to toddlers.


    The girls' names are Kaori & Aerith

I did stop for a while with playing Sims but when the twins came out, I got excited to play again.  For now, the addiction is coming back.  But I guess once it runs out, I might have to come up with another scenario for me to get excited about.  But until then, I'll savour being a mother, even if it's only in virtual reality.  Haha.


    Snuggling Aerith (and it's hard to tell them apart, 
       I got identical twins instead of fraternal twins :P)