All that said, Detective Mode sucked.
OK, it didn't suck like it broke the game or didn't work or whatever; it sucked because I don't think I've ever read a comic or seen a Batman movie when he sulked around the ENTIRE time using x-ray specs.
Sure, you didn't have to play all of Arkham in Detective Mode (the Dark Knight's visual mode that turned the screen blue and let him see enemies though walls as well as objectives and clues), but admit it, you did. You'd turn it on just to get the lay of the land, but then you'd spot an enemy's skeleton all decked out in red and begin moving in on your target. Soon, you'd realize 12 hours had gone by and you hadn't been out of Detective Mode once as you snatched Riddler Trophies and solved puzzles.
Twelve hours is an exaggeration, but on my first playthrough of Arkham Asylum, there were definitely points where I felt like I was playing the majority of the game through the blue filter and only clicking over every so often for the normal view. This sucks because 1) Batman really doesn't hunt like that and 2) This game is beautiful and deserves to be seen in its dark, gritty view.
It's a catch-22, right? People always say Superman games suck because he's too powerful, but here we have a game based on a guy who has trained for years to be the world's greatest detective and crime fighter. You can't just toss gamers into his world and expect them to be masters of stealth and batarangs, so you add in a thing called Detective Mode that gives the player a considerable upper hand. Now, people can jump into combat and go crawlin' through air ducts and feel like they're smarter than the average goon.
They're not smarter, though; they just have better gadgets. I know, Batman's awesome toys are one of his defining characteristics, but this isn't the occasional sonic batarang or Bat-Shark repellant. This is a dude walking around a world while seeing through everything. This is a constant crutch; by giving the users the ability to stay in the mode as long as they want, Rocksteady's actually making weaker Batmen and Batwomen. These would-be Waynes would be screwed if the Detective Mode failed. They can't hunt on their own.
That's not Batman.
Even though Bruce uses these items, he's just as dangerous without any of his items. Think of all the times Batman uses Bat-stuff – those night vision goggles in Batman Begins, sonar in The Dark Knight, etc. – he does it for a few seconds, clicks it off, and attacks. I propose that to be more like Batman and make better Batmen and Batwomen, Detective Mode should have a time limit. It should be used in a way that lets you get the lay of the land so that you can plan your attack before going out and executing it.
Possibly the worst part of all this is the fact that running around in the blue-man mode completely robs you of taking in Arkham as it should be viewed. Have you taken the time to actually look at these levels? I mean really scope out the gunked-up walls, the strewn about papers, the ransacked hallways? This game looks great, and if I didn't play it more than once, I think I would've lost a lot of the Easter eggs and mood that's established in those narrow hallways and creepy offices. I know when I'd capture video about how to take bad guys down, I'd have to physically write a reminder to not be in Detective Mode so that the video didn't look like you were watching an airport security check. The gritty, oh-so Gotham visuals in Batman: Arkham Asylum deserve to be seen.
It's not that I hate Detective Mode. It's cool; I like feeling powerful, and the mode does give you the feeling of being Batman, but at some point the training wheels have to come off. Batman is a hero that can take down anyone -- yes, anyone -- and it's crazy to think that he's only able to get the drop on brain-dead thugs because he can see through a blue filter on his cowl.
Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 needs to give us Detective Mode to get our feet wet in the new environment and then damage it in some way -- a gunshot to the head from Two Face, a flash bang from the Penguin, or so on -- so that it can only be used sparingly or not at all.
Batman doesn't need cheap tricks to best his foes, and neither do we.
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