Video Game Vintage Title: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action-adventure video game based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and Microsoft Windows. It was released worldwide for consoles, beginning in North America on August 25, 2009, with a Microsoft Windows version following on September 15.

Written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini, Arkham Asylum is based on the long-running comic book mythos. In the game's main storyline, Batman's arch enemy, the Joker, instigates an elaborate plot to seize control of Arkham Asylum and trap Batman inside with many of his incarcerated foes. With Joker threatening to detonate hidden bombs around fictional Gotham City, Batman is forced to fight his way through the asylum's inmates and put an end to the Joker's plans. Most of the game's leading characters are voiced by actors who have appeared in other media based on the DC Animated Universe; Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin reprised their roles as Batman, the Joker, and his sidekick Harley Quinn respectively. The game is presented from the third-person perspective with a primary focus on Batman's combat and stealth abilities, detective skills, and gadgets that can be used in combat and exploration.

The game received critical acclaim�particularly for its narrative�and won several awards, including Best Action Adventure game, Best Game, and Game of the Year from different media outlets. It held the Guinness World Record for "Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever". A Game of the Year edition was released on March 26, 2010, and an OS X version was released in November 2011. Arkham Asylum's success launched a series of Batman: Arkham sequels, beginning in November 2011 with Batman: Arkham City.

PLOT
After the Joker assaults Gotham City Hall, he is caught by Batman and escorted to Arkham Asylum, which temporarily holds many members of the Joker's gang, displaced by a fire at Blackgate Prison. Believing the Joker allowed himself to be captured, Batman accompanies him into the asylum. The Joker's plan is revealed as Harley Quinn takes control of the building's security and the Joker escapes his captors, aided by a corrupt guard who kidnaps commissioner Gordon. The Joker threatens to detonate bombs hidden around Gotham City if anyone tries to enter Arkham, forcing Batman to work alone. While pursuing Quinn to rescue Gordon, Batman is exposed to the Scarecrow's fear toxin and hallucinates, seeing the corpses of his parents talking, and Gordon's death. Batman fights off Scarecrow and the toxin's influence, and eventually navigates his way to a secret Batcave installation he had hidden on the island, where Batman restocks his gadgets.

Batman finds Quinn, knocks her unconscious, and rescues Gordon. The Joker then directs Batman to the captured Bane, who has been experimented on by asylum doctor Penelope Young. Batman frees and subsequently fights Bane, and learns that the Joker has returned to the asylum to gain access to Young, who has been developing Titan�a more powerful version of the Venom drug that gives Bane strength�intending to use it to help patients survive more strenuous therapies. Young learns she has been working for the Joker and refuses to hand over the Titan. The Joker plans to use the Titan to create an army of superhuman henchmen. While searching for Young, Batman is again attacked by Scarecrow and the fear toxin, and hallucinates his parents' deaths. After he recovers, Batman destroys Young's Titan formula and rescues Young from Victor Zsasz. An explosion kills Young and the Joker obtains the completed batches of Titan.

Quinn releases Poison Ivy from her cell and later fights Batman, but is defeated and imprisoned. Quinn inadvertently reveals that Joker has a Titan production facility in the Arkham botanical gardens. Batman travels there and learns that Titan is created by genetically modified plants. He tries to enlist Ivy's help to create an antidote, but she tells Batman that an antidote can only be made from spores found exclusively in Killer Croc's cell in a sewer. En route to Croc, Batman is again attacked by Scarecrow and overcomes several doses of the fear toxin. Meanwhile, Joker injects Ivy with Titan, enhancing her powers. Ivy begins ravaging Arkham Island with giant mutant plants and vines. Pursued by Batman into the sewers, Scarecrow is attacked by Croc. Batman recovers the necessary spores and subdues Croc before returning to the Batcave; he can synthesize one dose of the antidote before Ivy's plants breach and destroy the cave.

Batman returns to the botanical gardens and defeats Ivy, putting an end to her destruction. The Joker announces that the preparations for his party are finally complete and Batman travels to the asylum's visitor center where the Joker's applauding henchmen welcome him. The Joker says he has recaptured Gordon and tries to shoot him with a Titan-filled dart; Batman leaps to Gordon's defense and is shot instead. Batman attempts to resist the change, and the Joker becomes upset and takes an overdose of Titan, mutating into a massive monster. In a makeshift arena on the building's roof, the Joker challenges Batman to a fight as Titan-induced monsters in front of news helicopters. Batman refuses to transform, uses the antidote on himself, and defeats the Titan-affected Joker and his henchmen, knocking his nemesis unconscious with an explosive gel-enhanced punch. In the aftermath, those affected by Titan begin to revert to normal, including the Joker�who is restrained and taken into custody as police officers retake the asylum. As Batman leaves, he overhears a call about a crime led by Two-Face in progress. In a post-credits scene, a crate of Titan formula is shown floating in the ocean around the asylum when a hand surfaces and grabs it.