I've come a long way in
Batman: Arkham Asylum since playing and writing a
walkthrough for the demo. A month after doing that, Emily got me the game for my birthday. I was instantly hooked. Back when I was only playing demos, I was starting to get tired of
Batman because I got to the point where I was whipping through in under 5 minutes. The
Mini Ninjas DEMO was much longer and more fun. But after getting the full game, I can seem to play anything else. I still download some demos, but end up only playing them once before deleting them. I purposely slowed down completing
Arkham Asylum because I was a perfectionist about it. I wanted to make it look good and really master all of the moves. I ended up finishing the game in November, but I wasn't done yet. I practiced a lot on the challenges, which then made the game a breeze.
I put together some tips for whipping through the game easily:
FreeFlow Perfection"FreeFlow Perfection" is the name of the trophy you're awarded when you perform all 9 moves in one continuous combo. In game mode, the more of these 9 moves you get in, the more bonus experience points you get. If you can pull off high variation bonuses in every melee combat scene, you'll upgrade much quicker. In challenge mode, you get 5000 points each round you perform "FreeFlow Perfection." It's something you'll need to do to make your mark on the competitive leaderboards.
Using the EnvironmentIn the predator scenes, the best strategy it to take out as many henchman as possible before getting noticed. So you don't want to use the loud techniques (glide kick, inverted takedown, etc.) in the beginning. Stick with the silent takedown and batarang. In the later predator scenes, other henchman are alerted much faster when the first guy is taken down, so you'll want to use the environment to take down many opponents simultaneously. Study the surroundings in each scene and also pay attention to the patterns the henchman make. They all walk in fixed patterns before they realize you're in the room with them. To take down many opponents at once, you have to silent takedown one of them in a strategic location... an explodable wall you rigged up... a spot on the platform you can batclaw 3 guys, etc.
Scan the AsylumEvery time you get a new gadget, be sure to return to all of the other locations you have access to so you can solve riddles you previously couldn't get to. The more riddles you solve, the faster you upgrade. Don't be afraid to backtrack. the game isn't timed. I'm at the point where I have all upgrades before the 3rd to last boss fight (Sewer Junction Titan Fight) thanks to backtracking and variation bonuses.
I'll probably do a full walkthrough someday, but I need to decide the best way to present it. Many players already did this, but my method will be unique because I'll apply backtracking to it instead of rushing through the game. The order I play the game is non-traditional, but it maximizes upgrades and experience points.
