Batman and Joker’s endless rivalry reaches a new, darker, mind-blowing high in "Batman: Arkham Asylum." The game begins by Batman bringing Joker into the asylum and follows the story down through the Joker’s escape.

After leading the Joker into the asylum, Batman becomes aware that he has been partaking in the Joker’s plan the whole time. Batman is forced to defeat the Joker’s obstacles by himself because if anyone else were to try to enter the locked asylum, bombs would begin being set off in Gotham.

Fantastic cinematics reveal that the Joker is searching for a chemical called "Titan" that is being worked on in the asylum. Joker’s goal is to overtake Gotham with the Titan project, by creating an unstoppable army, and dumping some Titan chemical into Gotham’s main water supply, causing dangerous effects to the city.

While defeating several other archenemies, Batman must return to the Batcave on an island to create an antidote to the Titan chemical.

Not only centering on the Joker, the game introduces villains that have easily been overlooked in previous Batman games.

Arkham Asylum is a melting pot of Batman’s villains. Various battles include an enraged Bane, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc and a few doses of Scarecrow’s "medicine."

The Riddler is also a character gamers get acquainted with for the majority of the game. Batman’s suit has been hacked and the Riddler is constantly asking questions and sending Batman on missions to answer some of his famous riddles.

Everything that was thrown into this new Batman did nothing but improve the personification of the characters.

Throughout the entire game, the details are polished and pronounced. Down to the rips in Batman’s cape, not a single aspect has been overlooked.

With the techniques that Batman uses to fight and hunt down his menaces, he is not shown in the typical heroic light. Arkham Asylum makes Batman out to be the detective he is. This game shows a new side to a man seeking revenge.

Batman was always favored among males because of his lack of super-human powers. It was his fancy toys and intelligence that drew in fans. His gadgets include a batarang, an explosive compound sprayer and detonator, grappling pun and a frequency scanner to overload the security panels in the asylum.

Batman Arkham Asylum is a great display of everything that has been missing from previous Batman games, including graphics, weaponry, foes andback-story.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars