Source: youtube.com

2. Player Beware; You’re in for a Scare

The one thing that Arkham Asylum does better than any of the follow-up games is set a tone.

Asylum is truly scary in a way the other games can’t match. And that comes down to villain selection. Joker is obviously there, but the others are meticulously chosen. Killer Croc is a monster, and is presented as such; Bane's first appearance is pure body horror; Ivy is unsettling and inhuman; Zsasz is scary in a way that's REALLY human…and Scarecrow?

Dude's whole deal is being scary. There's a reason the Scarecrow nightmares were the most iconic things about Arkham Asylum. They're really incredible. The first scared the hell out of me on my first play-through, the second is elegant and creepy, and the third is unsettling as all hell. They're pretty great pieces of game design that feel challenging and inventive.

The game has a lot of very effective scares. Stalking Killer Croc through the sewers, watching Bane get pumped up for the first time, seeing Scarecrow pop out of the body bag…they’re all burned into my head forever.