Batman: Arkham Asylum Insane Nights Map Pack (Xbox 360) Review

That's right, I'm reviewing Batman: Arkham Asylum's first DLC before the game itself. You'll survive.

On Tuesday, Eidos Interactive released the first DLC for Batman: Arkham Asylum on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Entitled "Insane Nights," this map pack adds two Challenge Maps to the game, one FreeFlow Combat and one Invisible Predator. The FreeFlow Combat map is entitled "Totally Insane," and it sees Batman take on not only the standard henchmen Joker has to throw at him, but also several escaped lunatics adding their own world of hurt. In "Nocturnal Hunter," Batman has to take out several armed thugs while keeping to the shadows.

Generally speaking, these two new maps don't variate too much from the standard fair we've come to expect from the Challenge Rooms, save that the escaped lunatics in "Totally Insane" will annoy you if they get on you, and the only way to really take them down is to knock them out with a Ground Takedown. This can actually prove somewhat difficult, as you're vulnerable to all the normal henchmen while doing this. As of this typing, I have not yet completed "Totally Insane." Lousy lunatics.

"Nocturnal Hunter" doesn't deviate at all from the standard Invisible Predator set up. The challenges presented are to knock a henchman down once they completely climb a ladder, to perform an Inverted Takedown through glass, and to take out a lethal henchman last. Like all Invisible Predator set ups, the main trick is to avoid being seen so you don't get shot up, and to be patient waiting for the right opportunities.

Despite the fact that these are two simple maps which basically bring more of the same, it's great to see the publisher and developer supporting the game with simple, additional content less than a month after release. Want to know what's even better about this additional content? How about it's price tag of free?

That's right, you read correctly. Like the DLC of yester-year before it was ever bastardized with that buzz term, Batman : Arkham Asylum Insane Nights Map Pack is 100% free across all platforms. And for content as simple as this, that is as it should be and publishers could learn a lot from this example. You, the customer, should as well.

The Dark Knight's latest adventure just keeps getting better and better, and more content of this kind would be most welcome.