Gameplay
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a third-person perspective action-adventure game. The playable character is visible on the screen and the camera can be freely rotated around him. The player controls Batman as he traverses Arkham Asylum, a secure facility for the criminally insane located off the coast of Gotham City. The opening areas of the game are linear, serving as a tutorial for the moves and approaches available to the player. Once the player emerges onto the island he can freely explore the game world, although some areas remain inaccessible until certain milestones in the main story. Batman can run, jump, climb, crouch, glide from heights using his cape, use his grapple gun to climb low structures or escape to higher ledges.
The player can use "Detective vision"—a visual mode which provides contextual information, tinting the game world blue and highlighting interactive objects like destructible walls and removable grates, the number of enemies in an area and their status—such as their awareness of Batman's presence—and shows civilians and corpses. The mode is also used to follow footprints, investigate odors and solve puzzles.
Batman has access to several gadgets which he can use to explore or fight. The batarang is a throwing weapon that can temporarily stun enemies or trigger remote devices. A remotely controlled version can be steered once thrown, and the sonic batarang can be used to attract the attention of specific enemies wearing monitoring collars, or detonated to knock a nearby enemy unconscious. Explosive gel can be used on weak walls and floors. and can be remotely detonated—sending rubble crashing onto an enemy. The line launcher can be used to traverse horizontal spans. The Batclaw—a grappling device—can be used to interact with remote objects such as vent covers or to grab enemies. The Cryptographic Sequencer is used to override security panels, open new paths, or disable various asylum functions. Some areas are inaccessible until Batman acquires the gadgets necessary to overcoming the obstacle. The player is encouraged to explore the game world away from the main game, to find and solve riddles left by the Riddler—who hacks into his foe's communication system to challenge him with riddles. Objects can be collected, and some of the Riddler's puzzles require the player to find areas related to the answer to a riddle and scan it with detective vision. The game world has 240 collectable items, such as Riddler trophies, chattering Joker teeth, interviews with some of Arkham's inmates, and cryptic messages left in the asylum by Amadeus Arkham that discuss the facility's bleak history. The player is rewarded for solving riddles and finding collectibles with experience points and additional game content, including challenge maps that test the player's skill at the game's combat system, character biographies, and in-game statues of Arkham Asylum's characters.
Players can traverse enemy-controlled areas using stealth or direct combat. The game's "Freeflow" combat uses three main buttons: attack, stun, and counter. The system lets Batman move quickly between enemies, chaining attacks together until all enemies are unconscious. Combining the three main abilities can keep Batman attacking while moving between enemies and avoiding being attacked himself. The more combo attacks that are chained together, the faster and more agile Batman becomes, and special attacks—such as a throw, grapple, and an instant takedown which can immediately defeat an enemy—become available. Combat is rewarded with experience points, which are used to unlock gadgets, combat movies, and health upgrades. Higher combos, a wider variety of moves, and avoiding damage delivers more points. Enemy attacks are preempted with a warning icon, which indicate the attack can be countered. Some enemies require different approaches to overcome; knife-wielding thugs must be stunned before they can be attacked, and others must be struck from behind. Some enemies are armed with guns which significantly damage Batman. Enemies react to Batman's elimination of their allies, which raises their fear level and alters their behavior; for example they will adopt new patrol routes, requiring the player to adapt to the changing situation. During combat, Batman's health is diminished by attacks, but is fully restored once the battle ends.
The player can use predatory tactics through stealth—including silent takedowns, dropping from overhead perches and snatching enemies away, or using the explosive gel to knock foes off their feet—to tilt the odds to their favor. Some areas feature sections that require the player to use these tactics to avoid alerting the Joker's henchmen and thus failing to meet an objective. Many areas feature stone gargoyles placed high above, helping Batman remain concealed. Batman can use his grapnel gun to reach the gargoyles, giving him a high vantage point over the area and the enemies. From the gargoyles, Batman can glide down to attack enemies or hang upside down from the gargoyles to grapple a nearby enemy and leave him tethered there. The player can use floor grates to attack from below, hide around corners, use batarangs to stun enemies from afar, and use the grapnel gun to pull enemies over ledges.
Arkham Asylum features a series of challenge maps separate from the game's story mode that are unlocked while playing, and others are available as optional downloadable content (DLC). The maps focus on the completion of specific goals, such as eliminating successive waves of enemies in combat, and subduing patrolling enemies while using stealth. The methods and variety of abilities used to achieve these goals earn an overall performance score that is ranked online against other players. On the Playstation 3, the Joker is a playable character in the combat and stealth challenge maps via optional DLC; he must confront the asylum guards and police commissioner James Gordon. The Joker has his own combat abilities and weapons such as a handgun, exploding chattering teeth, and x-ray glasses which allow him to see opponents through walls.
On compatible systems, the Microsoft Windows version uses nVidia's PhysX software engine to produce realistic, dynamic interactions with the game world. With PhysX enabled, some areas contain smoke or fog which reacts to Batman moving through it, while with PhysX disabled the fog will not appear at all. Other effects include dynamic interaction with paper and leaves, surfaces which can be scratched and chipped, and dynamic, destructible cloth elements such as banners and cobwebs. The Game of the Year version features the ability to play the game in 3D on any 2D television using anaglyph 3D glasses.
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