History VideoGame / BatmanArkhamAsylum

** In terms of gadgets, Batman can only use the Batarang and Batclaw as quicktime gadgets in combat (and as for the latter, the Batclaw Slam is absent), and the Cryptographic Sequencer tunes on frequencies rather than actual passwords. The Remote Control Batarang lacks the speed-up and speed-down feature, and aside from some predator challenges, it has no real use in the game (whereas the sequels would use it to solve environmental and Riddler puzzles). The Explosive Gel and Batclaw are swapped relative to the other games ([[DamnYouMuscleMemory be careful if you're replaying this after those!]]), the Ultra Batclaw is unique to this game, and the Batclaw can't pick up Riddler trophies or yank guns out of prisoner's hands.

** In terms of gadgets, Batman can only use the Batarang and Batclaw as quicktime gadgets in combat, and the Cryptographic Sequencer tunes on frequencies rather than actual passwords. The Remote Control Batarang lacks the speed-up and speed-down feature, and aside from some predator challenges, it has no real use in the game (whereas the sequels would use it to solve environmental and Riddler puzzles). The Explosive Gel and Batclaw are swapped relative to the other games ([[DamnYouMuscleMemory be careful if you're replaying this after those!]]), the Ultra Batclaw is unique to this game, and the Batclaw can't pick up Riddler trophies or yank guns out of prisoner's hands.

* GlassCannon: ComicBook/TheJoker, in the [=PS3=] and Nintendo Switch exclusive mode where you play as him. This is because, unlike Batman, he's got no problem with using {{lethal|JokeCharacter}} [[JustForPun force]]. [[MundaneSolution He can actually shoot people]], and carries some very deadly explosive teeth. He's a lot less bullet-resistant than Batman, though.

* JustForPun: A dual version, if you lose to Poison Ivy.
-->'''Ivy''': Sorry, love. You're plucked.

-->[[spoiler:'''The Joker:''' Let's get this party started. With a [[JustForPun bang]]!]]

* SurvivalHorror: Subjective, but the general flow of the gameplay (see Metroidvania above) as well as the setting gives it that [[Franchise/ResidentEvil old]] [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark fashioned]] [[ClockTower surhor]] feel, but it's a subversion in that [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you're the horror]].

* OutGambitted: The entire game is a battle of wits between Batman and Joker. For example, when Joker breaks lose, he has corrupt guard Frank Boles kidnap Gordon just to keep Batman from following him--and then [[spoiler:has Boles killed to keep Batman from tracking the whiskey on his breath to Gordon's location]]. Even when Batman avoids having Harley drop an elevator on him and manages to pick up another trail thanks to Gordon leaving his pipe behind, Harley puts up a security gate so Batman can't go through the main entrance. Even when Batman does find a way in, Joker sics the Scarecrow on him to slow him down. And when ''that'' doesn't work, Joker instructs Harley to kill Gordon if any of the goons guarding the room are taken out. And when even ''that'' doesn't work, Joker unleashes a Titan-powered Bane to break Batman. And [[RuleOfThree that still doesn't work.]] Really, Joker's gambits keep failing because he underestimated how determined Batman would be to stop him.

** The [=PS3=] version has bonus missions of the player, as The Joker, going through Arkham and actually taking it over.

* GlassCannon: ComicBook/TheJoker, in the [=PS3=] exclusive mode where you play as him. This is because, unlike Batman, he's got no problem with using {{lethal|JokeCharacter}} [[JustForPun force]]. [[MundaneSolution He can actually shoot people]], and carries some very deadly explosive teeth. He's a lot less bullet-resistant than Batman, though.

* VersionExclusiveContent: The [=PS3=] version has exclusive predator and combat challenges where you play as the Joker and fight Arkham guards.

A sequel, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', was released in 2011. A prequel game titled ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' and a portable spinoff/sequel to said prequel titled ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate'' were released on October 25, 2013. WB Games Montreal developed the main game, instead of Rocksteady, and Armature[[note]]A studio founded by former Creator/RetroStudios staff[[/note]] developed the portable game. ''Blackgate'' would also get a UpdatedRerelease for the 7th generation home consoles and PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. A fourth game, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', this time developed once more by Rocksteady, was later released on June 2015. Finally, in 2016, Warner Bros. announced that remastered versions of both ''Asylum'' and ''City'' would be released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne as part of a collection called ''Return to Arkham'' later that year. The game is also getting ported to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch alongside ''City'' and ''Knight'' as part of the ''Arkham Trilogy'' collection, which is planned to be released in Fall 2023.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Batman can't slide while running, and the traversal is mostly on foot and grappling. Gliding is mostly only used in a few scripted sequences rather than an actual skill that you can use to navigate the environment, which is justified since there aren't many tall buildings on an island facility. The dive bomb mechanic is also absent, as is the ability to grapple while gliding.

** In terms of combat, Batman is unable to deliver Stun Beatdowns to his opponents, and he lacks the Vent, Grate, and Wall Takedowns in the Predator sequences. Instead of Bat Swarm or Environmental Takedown, he has a throw move that only appears in this game (until Arkham Knight). Also, none of the mooks in the game wear any kind of armor protection (or even shoes, for that matter), riot shields are also absent. Inverted and Special Combo Takedowns need to be unlocked with a Waynetech upgrade instead of being default moves. Also, the moves Disarm and Discard and Multi-Ground Takedowns are completely absent.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Warden Quincy Sharp. Given that he's a cowardly bureaucrat with a callous disposition who cares more about his mayoral campaign than, you know, actually trying to help any of the inmates, you can't help but smile a bit at the hilariously crude abuse Harley puts him through. [[spoiler: Becomes this trope in full effect once you learn he's a self-righteous and delusional serial killer and all-around pathetic and petty abuser towards the inmates of the Asylum (including Harley when she was still working there as Dr. Quinzel, whom he at least considered to lobotomize when learning about her infatuation with the Joker) and as we learn in Arkham City, having been responsible for allowing Hugo Strange to conduct his mind-control experiments on the more regular Arkham patients, turning them into the Lunatics even before he was himself blackmailed and mind-controlled by Strange.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Warden Quincy Sharp. Given that he's a cowardly buraeucrat with a callous disposition who cares more about his mayoral campaign than, you know, actually trying to help any of the inmates, you can't help but smile a bit at the hilariously crude abuse Harley puts him through. [[spoiler: Becomes this trope in full effect once you learn he's a self-righteous and delusional serial killer and all-around pathetic and petty abuser towards the inmates of the Asylum (including Harley when she was still working there as Dr. Quinzel, whom he at least considered to lobotomize when learning about her infatuation with the Joker) and as we learn in Arkham City, having been responsible for allowing Hugo Strange to conduct his mind-control experiments on the more regular Arkham patients, turning them into the Lunatics even before he was himself blackmailed and mind-controlled by Strange.]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Warden Quincy Sharp. Given that he's a cowardly buraeucrat with a callous disposition who cares more about his mayoral campaign than, you know, actually trying to help any of the inmates, you can't help but smile a bit at the hilariously crude abuse Harley puts him through [[spoiler: Becomes this trope in full effect once you learn he's a self-righteous and delusional serial killer and all-around pathetic and petty abuser towards the inmates of the Asylum (including Harley when she was still working there as Dr. Quinzel, whom he at least considered to lobotomize when learning about her infatuation with the Joker) and as we learn in Arkham City, having been responsible for allowing Hugo Strange to conduct his mind-control experiments on the more regular Arkham patients, turning them into the Lunatics even before he was himself blackmailed and mind-controlled by Strange.]]

''Batman: Arkham Asylum'' is a video game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Creator/EidosInteractive in conjunction with Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment, released in 2009. Based on the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' franchise, it is the first game in the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries''.

It features some of the talents behind ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', including a storyline by series writer Creator/PaulDini and voice actors Creator/KevinConroy, Creator/ArleenSorkin, and Creator/MarkHamill reprising their respective roles as Batman, Comicbook/HarleyQuinn, and ComicBook/TheJoker.

* CuckooNest: Scarecrow does this to Franchise/{{Batman}} and [[InterfaceScrew the player]] in the third hallucination. First there's a repetition of the intro scene, except it's ''Batman'' strapped to the gurney in place of Joker, with Joker and Scarecrow taking on the role of doctors and discussing Bruce Wayne's unfortunate split personality disorder. The subsequent surreal platforming section also includes such imagery, including several insane Batmen rocking back and forth, and [[DemonicDummy Scarface]] appearing on video screens as an asylum director announcing his successes in curing Bruce Wayne.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The game's tone is essentially a PG-13-rated version of ''Batman: The Animated Series'', mixed with influence from Grant Morrison's ''[[Comicbook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth A Serious House on Serious Earth]]'', the miniseries ''Arkham Asylum: Living Hell'', and some [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Christopher Nolan films]]. The Riddler, for example, has never been as bloodthirsty (see below) as he is in this game. In fact, the only reason this game wasn't rated M is because there's no blood or gore. [[spoiler: Except for if you care to take a look at Dr. Young's body after she's killed by an explosion, but which is easy to miss.]]

** Also, several of the "character" trailers significantly over-represented the characters they referred to. This was especially the case for the Comicbook/HarleyQuinn trailer, which foreshadowed a fight between Harley and Batman; in the actual game, Batman defeats Harley in a single blow at the moment immediately after the trailer cut out.

** At one point, Joker refers to Bats as the "[[Franchise/SpiderMan friendly neighborhood]] rodent".

** There is one case of this being done intentionally, as in order to combat pirating for the PC version of the game, the developers added a glitch that makes prevents Batman from gliding. This makes it [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable impossible to get past a room filled with poison gas.]] An employee of Eidos is quoted to have said this to an unsuspecting gamer complaining about the problem.

** For the most part, the game functions are a pretty direct adaptation of the ''Batman'' comics of the time, and operates under the general assumption that Batman has already experienced the most notable arcs from the comics, something reaffirmed by the unlockable character bios for villains like Hugo Strange and Hush. It wasn't until later games that the "Arkhamverse" truly began to emerge as a distinct, often radically different continuity.

* VersionExclusiveContent: The PS3 version has exclusive predator and combat challenges where you play as the Joker and fight Arkham guards.

** Joker -- again, primarily based on his comic version, but he wears a suit that looks custom-made and the red of his lips extends a good deal past the corners of his mouth and onto his cheeks much like in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', he has a face that looks a lot like [[Film/Batman1989 Jack Nicholson]], he [[spoiler:transforms into a muscle-bound hulk]] similar to [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman Kevin Michael Richardson's Joker]], they used [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Mark Hamill's voice]] ''and'' we can count Hamill's voice as [[Series/Batman1966 a Caesar Romero reference]]. There's a lot of similarity there, especially in the laugh, thus completing the full spectrum of Batman Jokers.

A sequel, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', was released in 2011. A prequel game titled ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' and a portable spinoff/sequel to said prequel titled ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate'' were released on October 25, 2013. WB Games Montreal developed the main game, instead of Rocksteady, and Armature[[note]]A studio founded by former Creator/RetroStudios staff[[/note]] developed the portable game. ''Blackgate'' would also get a UpdatedRerelease for the 7th generation home consoles and PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. A fourth game, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', this time developed once more by Rocksteady, was later released on June 2015. Finally, in 2016, Warner Bros. announced that remastered versions of both ''Asylum'' and ''City'' would be released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne as part of a collection called ''Return to Arkham'' later that year.

* DoesNotLikeShoes:
** Poison Ivy...Or, indeed, clothes.
** In addition, none of the Joker's henchmen have shoes. [[spoiler:Even in one brief encounter when they're disguised as guards they continue going barefoot, allowing keen-eyed players to avoid walking into an ambush.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured: The last thing TheProblemWithLicensedGames saw before a brutal ass-kicking.]]

* CuffsOffRubWrists: One of the Arkham janitors, who was handcuffed to a chair until Batman rescued him.

** The Detective Vision identifies armed thugs in red whereas the sequels would mark them in orange.

* BareYourMidriff: Both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.