This weekend I took off my pants, propped my feet up, and spent most of my Saturday in front of my PS3.  Really there should be chicks involved, as well as sex, but you don’t have time for those sort of things when you are playing a video game for 7 hours straight!  I just couldn’t get enough of the Batman: Arkham Asylum story missions and finding Joker challenges strewn around the island.  I started at 21% completed and when I turned off the PS3 for supper, I was at around 53%.  The story campaign of Batman: Arkham Asylum is pretty deep and varied so it should extend well over the 20 to 25 hour range (I’ve already put in about 12 hours or so).  I purposefully am taking my time, soaking in all of the nuances of Batman and the Gotham universe.

Adding even more gameplay to the mix, are the challenge maps (or ass kicking rooms as I call them).  These are where you take on a few of Joker’s henchmen with the difficulty getting progressively harder to get the FreeFlow combat system multiplier and score up.  Eidos Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive have just announced that two brand new challenge maps are coming soon in the form of the  Insane Night Map Pack.

On September 17th, the new map pack will be available from the Playstation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Windows Live Marketplace.  No word yet on pricing, oh wait, there is no price.  It’s absolutely batshit crazy FREE!  See what I did there? Threw in “batshit” just for you guys? I love you guys.

The new challenge map details are as follows:

Totally Insane FreeFlow Combat Map: Looks like this will be your standard scheme of things with the player taking control of Batman to take down wave after wave of Joker’s henchmen using the 360 degree combat system.  I’m guessing the guys at Rocksteady were getting feedback on the previous challenge maps that shipped with the game and weren’t too happy with the scores.  This new map should be a new challenge for players, adding more difficulty with more enemies and a bigger challenge to keep that multiplier going (my personal best is x 25).

Nocturnal Hunter Invisible Predator Map: This has got to be the longest map pack DLC name EVER! Jesus!  This map is made for Batman, he just fits in the dark, and the dark was made for Batman.  This new map will show off the Dark Knight’s stealth ability, making him practically unseen to henchmen.  You’ll use your WayneTech gadgets and knowledge to track down and hunt henchmen strewn about from different angles and locations.  From elevated guard towers, to the guy taking a pee behind a sign, no place is safe on this map for Joker’s minions.  Be sure to stay to the shadows though to keep from being seen, too many henchmen with guns makes for a dead bat.

The beauty of Batman: Arkham Asylum are all of its varied paths that let the player choose a number of ways to take care of hostile situations.  I love being able to set a trap with Bat-gadgets and watch it go off without a hitch.  I randomly found a great way of taking out two or more henchmen when one of them just happened to walk my way as I was laying down a small gob of explosive gel on the floor.  I quickly rappelled up to the  gargoyle above the gel so I was out of sight and proceeded to hang upside down.  While he was under me doing his rounds I did an inverted takedown on his ass and strung him up from the gargoyle I was on.  With a quick zipline over to an adjacent gargoyle, I watched as his buddies got freaked out from the sound of his girly screams and then came over to see his dangling corpse.  What’s that goo on the bottom of your boots there buddy? Oh yeah, it ain’t dog doo-doo!  It was great to see them all blow up from my explosive gel.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this new Batman DLC map pack.  An already great game being extended out through DLC is a good thing in my book.  Better yet, it’s even free. Look for the Insane Night Map Pack Sept. 17th when it hits your respected console (or PC) store.