BAT-TASTIC; Dark Knight back to face old enemy: Lads'Lounge.

A mix of games, girls and geek and much more with Martin Smith. Visit www.coventrytelegraph.net/ladslounge for loads more.

WARNING. This review may include some typing irregularities due to large amount of drooling over the game above.

Batman: Arkham Asylum has been more hyped up than Fabio Capello's assessment of England right-back Glen Johnson but it certainly delivers. And in some style.

High praise indeed.

The plot? The Joker (who else) has rather cunningly taken over the asylum and the Caped Crusader has to sort out the whole mess.

The latest Batman outing is deep, dark and foreboding - offering a carefully crafted storyline interwoven with brutal fight scenes and clever gadgetry to keep the likes of myself happy.

Dialogue and cutscenes are entertaining and - at times - amusing while the slow-mo offered in the battle scenes is almost Matrix-esque, which makes the fair degree of button bashing somewhat bearable.

The control system is fluid and the dreaded over-the-shoulder camera view causes little fuss (Resident Evil please take note).

Game grips are few and far between. Occasionally I met my maker when Batman rolled rather than jumped, which caused the obvious expletive outburst.

And a co-op mode would have been nice too. But make no mistake, this is a title not to be missed. Game of the summer? Hell, yes.

Game of the year? Hmmm. Modern Warfare 2 may have something to say about that but it can mentioned in the same breath. And praise doesn't get much higher than that.

CAPTION(S):

BATMAN: ARKHAMASYLUM.16+. Reviewed on X360. Also available on PS3. PC version set for release later this month. pounds 49.99