First look at Batman: Escape From Arkham Asylum

ABOUT THE GAME

 It's a modular dungeon crawler, somewhat similar to Massive Darkness 2. There are 3 types of custom dice (black, green, and pink from weakest to strongest) that are required to pass various skill checks (usually when you fight, solve a task, or dodge from attack). There is also a built-in "try your luck" mechanic: you decide how many dice to roll during a check, but more dice means not only an increased probability of success, but also an increased probability of trouble.

 The characters roam the field in search of the items they need to carry out their escape plan (a winning condition with varying objectives and a boss battle), encountering various enemies and traps along the way, and if they're unlucky, Batman himself (what a monster ). After collecting items, the characters move to a new map - from Arkham Hospital to the place of the final confrontation. In this map, they have to complete a series of difficult tasks to successfully escape, with a limited number of actions at their disposal. The one who gains the most bad fame (which is given for successfully completing the most actions) will be the winner in the event of a successful escape.

 The first introduction to the game (learning the rules and training newbies) took a lot of time, but subsequent games in TTS (solo and 3 players) were faster: about 2-2.5 hours. They ended in the sixth round on average.

PROS OF THE GAME

 The characters are very thematic and interesting. A comparison with Marvel United is suggested, where there are many interesting villains in terms of mechanics, but most of the heroes are quite boring and primitive. Here, all 5 characters available in TTS (Joker, Two-Face, Bane, Harley Quinn and Scarecrow) are unique due to the presence of various skills that are issued for completing certain tasks. Sometimes it's very thematic when you do something that suits your character to get a new skill. Yes, the Joker will most likely act chaotically and often take risks, the Scarecrow - at the slightest opportunity to spray frightening gas even on those enemies who do not interfere with him, and Two-Face - to plan a move depending on which side of the tossed coin.

 Batman is a dangerous and unique enemy. When it appears, it seems to you that you are losing now (sometimes it happens); he is not just another security guard, only with higher parameters. He moves in unpredictable ways and attacks you with various squirrels and gadgets (once when I was playing Scarecrow, I had Batman in a gas mask in my way...).

 The combat is quite dynamic and not too boring. I like that the game has several different kinds of dice, and the "try your luck" mechanic is cool, if not completely polished.

AMBIGUOUS MOMENTS

 The final stage of the game is not very interesting; your options are too limited. Yes, in Aaron Cash's escape plan, you basically just move to the left and do everything listed on the card. You don't have to make decisions; just roll the dice 9 times and hope you get lucky. I'm sure the developers made the ending tense. You really feel like you have a cover in case of bad rolls. However, you have so little opportunity to influence anything that you are almost an outside observer. However, I must note that this is only one of many escape plans, and the simplest one at that, and the developers promised to address this problem.

 The chance tokens are also surprisingly balanced. When you roll dice to attack an enemy or solve a challenge, each additional black die also gives you a chance token, the in-game currency that can be used to turn one of the die's faces into a joker. During the game, we often accumulated mountains of these tokens, which made it very easy to solve the tasks that required them. You also get a chance token when you reach one of the divisions on the infamy meter, which can happen when you attack a jailer (rolling all the dice and getting 6 chance tokens) and win. Sort of a reward for defeating a strong enemy... More on infamy below.

MINUS THE GAME

 The infamy mechanics are poorly worked out. Personally, I'm not against semi-cooperative games where the whole team wins, but there's only one winner. However, in the current version of the game, you gain fame for passing almost any check, and only lose it when you pass out. Depriving competitors of fame is impossible, only a few cards give additional fame, and everything related to fame is public information. The very idea of villains jostling at the very exit and betraying each other at the finish line and losing because of it is very thematic and looks cool, although not for everyone, of course. But in the current version of the game, playing as support characters is not very pleasant, since you yourself have to pass as many checks as possible to win. I strongly condemn such a winning condition; in my opinion, all styles of play should be viable. I'd hate to play Dark Harbor where the Plutovka of almost every party takes almost all the gold and is the only winner. So, if the current infamy mechanic doesn't change in the final version, then we will most likely be playing without it.