Batman Arkham Asylum

Before this game came out if you were to ask anyone what their favorite super hero video game was most people would laugh and point in your face. It was categorized a lot with things such as unicorns and the lochness monster, Imaginary. Well that was until Batman Arkham Asylums graced the shelves of my local video game shop. I was blown away by the level of detail and polish this game has to offer. The extra time that Rocksteady spent developing this game was used very well to bring its status up to my game of the year list. Everything from combat to story to voice acting was all done spot on and gave this game an addictively playable feel. From the moment you enter Arkham asylum you can notice the subtle details in everything from the jokers crazy banter as he is being carted away to the way Batman's cape twists in the wind. As well as you get to play the game and experience the combat in this game, you realise wow I can see myself really getting into this. Whether you are jumping into the middle of a group of thugs with lead pipes and knocking them all out or slowly picking off each machine gun wielding psycho in a massive room with your belt full of gadgets its all fantastically fun.

Who's afraid of the big bad bat? He will be.....

Speaking of gadgets there are a few fantastic pieces you can pick up. I wont spoil it too much but as batman aka ME was standing beside this impassable canyon whole on the other side i can see a group of jokers thugs laughing and taunting me knowing there is no way I can get them, until I pull out my trusty zip line and shoot across to the other side where many girlish screams and dirty underwear later I am having the last laugh. This is just one example of how fun it is to use these toys. I am about 40 % through the game, and have met a few of my favorite villains from the batman series. My biggest problem with the game now is that it will inevitably end causing me great sadness and pain. But on the plus side there are many bonus rooms and challenges to test the predator or brawler in you. Bottom line Batman : Arkham Asylum is a must play and if your not playing it now, whats wrong with you?

Champions Online

If you can think it you can make it. From trench coat wearing eagles to bikini wearing hammer fisters, it can all be done in Champions online. As I sit here I contemplate my next creation. So as you can guess I was very impressed by the scope of the character creation in this game. I have spent hours creating random characters and I can still be surprised by finding a new tab or slider and seeing how it can change my characters appearance. As for the game itself I have only been to the desert and Canada areas outside of the starter zone. Superhero game?? Canada?? Really?? I find that the leveling process is surprisingly fast. I was able to create 3 level 10 super heroes in one night. The level cap to this game is 40 so I am thinking that if i can finally stick to one character a majority of my time leveling will be that dreaded 35 to 40.

Stop drop and roll

Game play is a lot of fun in this game due to the fact that there is really no downtime. Having abilities that build your "lets call it mana" really keeps the pace of the game high and entertaining. Having played the starter area I really enjoyed the group quests which are very similar to Warhammer online's group quests. Abilities wise I am just starting to figure out the way that the stats in the game work. Instead of the usual agility or stamina you would find in games like WOW you are thrown similar stats such as constitution, dexterity and ego. The game really struggles at explaining these stats to you so for a while my character was using all the wrong stats for his abilities. Overall now I am more than a few hours in and I am really enjoying it. I can definitely see the comparison to City of Heroes which I also packed a bunch of hours into back in the day before realizing I was always doing the same thing over and over again. I am willing to give Champions Online the two months of play before the fall games extravaganza begins and hopefully they will be able to fix some of the bugs that can make this super hero game into a fantastic hero game.

Don't get hit by those lunch boxes