BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM

Manufacturer: Eidos // Out Now// Cert: 16 + // Price Range: Around £40

The Batman franchise has come a long way since Adam West and Burt Ward bought the DC comic hero to life back in the sixties.

Nearly five decades on the newest addition to the Bat family comes in the form of Batman: Arkham Asylum, an action adventure game available on all major formats. (PS3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows)

Batman begins (like the pun?) in a Looney asylum situated in the heart of Gotham city keeping past villains who have tried to capture Batman over the years at bay. Until now that is, as the bad guys are now taking over the psychiatric hospital and there's only one superhero who can stop them.

The interactive introduction, which is a tad too long, sets the scene for your next time-wasting game play hours. You play Batman who has just captured another villain, The Joker and it's your job to walk your nemesis down to the wards. The good news is that Joker is strapped down to a hospital bed. The bad news? The straps aren't fastened strong enough!

Right from the start you are in combat with Joker's team of thugs, controlling is set to a minimum and only two buttons are normally required in combat. Although the combination of the side buttons (L1, L2 & R1, R2) and the joy pad controls can be tricky at times. Where the game really score points with us though, is when a button needs to be repeatedly pressed to open entrances & exits to tunnels a small amount of forceful tapping is required.

There's even an opportunity to use stealth attacks on enemies, where you can creep up on your prey and press the triangle button which makes live that little bit more easily.

Once in detective mode - Which just requires 1 button, the screen becomes darker allowing enemies and action points - such as hooks to grapple to be identified more easily. The mode also allows Batman to identify fingerprints and trails which will lead him to the next location.

To grapple a hook and to glide down kicking an enemy upon landing also only requires a simple manoeuvre without any key combinations. Although when you have more than three or four enemies at a time to take care of novice game players and those with limited co-ordination skills could find they are staring at the same screenshots for quite some time!

You can't ignore that Batman: Arkham Asylum deserves all the rave reviews you will find online and in various console magazines and will keep Batman devotees happy in their Bat caves until dinner dinner dinner dinner, dinner dinner dinner dinner time! (You are fired! - Editor)