Arkham!

So, my birthday came and went and one of the gifts I got was Batman: Arkham Asylum (woo!). Later that night, I popped it into my Xbox for the first time and ended up playing for over 2 hours without realizing. The reason I felt like I wasn't playing for as long as I was is because the beginning of the game is very slow. The entire first 8 minutes or so of the game, you're pretty much just walking and watching opening cut scenes. After that is when the game starts to train you on all of the controls and whatnot. Then, the game really starts.

Of course, there is the main story about the Joker taking over Arkham Asylum and releasing its inmates, but there was so much else to the game that I didn't know about. One thing was the Riddler challenges. Throughout the game, the Riddler hides small trophies shaped like question marks. For those, all you have to do is find them using several upgrades and gadgets that you get throughout the game. This makes it impossible to get many of the trophies until you are near the end of the game and all gadgets have been unlocked. He also hides patient interview tapes with Arkham's inmates such as Poison Ivy and Scarecrow as well as actual riddles that you have to solve throughout the game. Below is a picture of the Riddler's cell after his breakout:

Another portion of the game is Challenge Mode. During the game, certain riddler challenges unlock certain things, one of them are challenge mode maps. Each challenge is either a combat challenge in which you have to fight henchman in order to reach a certain amount of points, or a predator challenge which is better scene than explained. You pretty much grapple from gargoyle to gargoyle above peoples heads without being detected and taking out each enemy one by one without getting shot. Here is an example:



With all of these aspects combined, a percentage meter is shown before you start your game. The more you complete of each mode and riddler challenges, the higher percentage you have of game completion. After about 2 weeks of play, I am currently at 82% game completion. Overall, the game is really addicting once you really get into it. There have been several days over that 2 week span that I started playing at any given time and ended up playing for hours. I remember one day, I actually played for about 5 hours straight.