I like to say that I bought an Xbox 360 so I could play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. And while that’s true, it’s also true that if I had known how awesome Arkham Asylum was, I would’ve bought the machine to play this game instead.

I finished Arkham Asylum last weekend, which left me with a quandary: should I start Assassin’s Creed II, or replay Arkham? In any case, I’m replaying Arkham. Because it’s just that damn good.

My favorite levels aren’t even the ones where Batman goes up against one of his Rogue Gallery, either: fighting Joker? Evading Scarecrow? You can keep ‘em, along with Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc. Especially Killer Croc. That whole sequence was horrible.

My favorite parts of the game have been the Predator Challenges, where you find yourself in a large environment (usually a mixture of enclosed and open spaces) where the Dark Knight has to take down half a dozen armed targets, all without being seen — because if he’s seen, he’s going to get shot, and if he gets shot, he’s going to die.

Because the man isn’t immortal.

Which surprised the hell out of one of the directors of my department, who is Croatian, and has apparently been laboring under the delusion that Batman is like Superman, only instead of tights and a red cape, he dresses up as a bat. I lent him Batman Begins to help see the error of his ways. “So, basically … he’s nuts,” was his conclusion, and let’s be honest: yeah, he’s fucking nuts.

I, meanwhile, am already looking forward to the sequel, expected to be released sometime in 2011. What I would really like is a multiplayer function. While this might be skipped for actual game play, I’m picturing a series of stand-alone predator challenges which two players could collaborate on, with a split-view feature similar to the newer Lego games, or, heck, Call of Duty. One player could choose Batman, the other could have a whole slew of side-characters to choose from: Catwoman, Nightwing, Batgirl, why not? I think it’d be the bee’s knees. I really, really do. “Okay, Robin — go run over there!” And then when all the goons with guns are shooting the idiot in the yellow cape, you swoop down and take two or three of them out.

Considering that the PS3 version of the game has the option to play as the Joker, I don’t see why this would be such a crazy idea (PS3? And not XBox? WTF). Playing as the Joker also has limitations: you don’t have access to Batman’s toys, so you can’t go dangling from gargoyles. And because Joker wears no armor, even a single round can take him out. On the other hand, he’s got his own strengths, and I think it wouldn’t be that hard to configure similar playable characters to complement Batman on a multi-player mission.

Okay, look – if you don’t mind my raving over the game, and it still hasn’t convinced you, go read The D.C. Universe’s post.

Links to Amazon point to my Associate account, so anything you buy earns my referral fees. As they say: Knowing is half the battle!