Hand of Fate

An adventure card game with the Batman: Arkham Series combat style!

This one took me a bit by surprise, having received it as a gift for Christmas. After a huge dose of WTF is going on right at the start, it wasn't long before I got into the swing of taking another "step" onto a card and hoping it would be something good.

Adventuring takes place on encounter cards.

Yes, exploration is done by flipping over cards and successfully completing encounters unlocks more cards which I found to be a neat way of having mini stories. These encounters are not necessarily combat, which plays much like the Batman: Arkham Asylum series except you're not Batman and the fights quickly go from being super easy to requiring some gamer skill.

The main goal is to beat each member of the courts of various suits: Dust (bandits), Plague (ratmen), Skulls (skelies), and Scales (lizardmen) and finally the very well voice acted Dealer who acts as the antagonist in the game.

Pretty cool for a Unity made game!

My favorite parts about it are you can customize your adventure deck with cards you have unlocked, tailoring what you can and what you won't run into on a quest - or have everything included in Endless mode. The way it is structure also allows you to progress despite dying/losing a game which is great design. Also, the final fight is very cool. Make sure you get to it. :)

This is definitely one I can recommend, and give it 4.5 minotaur tracks out of 5.

Stonehearst Asylum

Really pales compared to Arkham Asylum. :P

In this thriller, a young doctor arrives at an isolated asylum in hopes to take up residency. It's not long before he discovers that not all is as it seems. The setting is pretty cool, the patients are nice and crazy, and while there are some decent actors here (nice to see Kate Beckinsale again, though I preferred her as a leather clad vamp :P) I found the main "hero" to be a bit weak. Especially against Ben Kingsley's character who actually steals the show for me.

We're all a little bit crazy!

While the intrigue did keep me interested, the story kinda falls apart at the end which is a pity. Also, if you watch this expecting a horror story you will be very disappointed. If anything it's closer to a love story. It's an interesting enough flick to watch, as long as you don't expect anything great from it. All up I give it two and a half inmates out of five and isn't something that really inspires a second viewing.

Batman is Cthulhu

At least in Gotham anyway. You may argue that Scarecrow or the Joker or any number of the other psychos in the rogues gallery there would hold that title, but then you remember that Bats often beats them down - and really, who wouldn't be afraid of someone that can defeat so many super powered freaks on their own? However underneath all the gadgetry is just a normal guy who is just as susceptible to the usual human failings (like bullets) as everyone else. This whole aspect of the Batman is done so well in the Arkham City game (the successor of Arkham Asylum) which I am just about finished with, just a few more side quests to go, most of which are really cool. The Riddler scavenger hunt is a bit excessive though.

Other than that the art, free roaming, fluid combat system, story, and music are all superb and the number of named criminals that you face is again pretty high though always you can't help but wish you also got to fight or encounter just a few more of them, or teamed up with so and so. Boss fights are also fun, though my favourite one is about half-way through where you have to use all you gadgets and tactics to bring down one guy. I know some people complain that they can't play the way -they- want since Batman doesn't kill, but once you carefully watch those finishing animations you will realize there are fates worse than death.

I'm gonna go right ahead and say that in the next game, if there is one, I would like to face off against Superman and other good guys for whatever plot twist. That would be epic. For now though, regardless of your Batman fanaticism or lack there-of, Arkham City is a great game and if you have a system that can run it and haven't played it yet you should go get it! :)