Hopefully, Arkham may have forced rival developers to get their acts together.
The result was elegant, pacy and inspired. Rather than a thin coating of licence slapped over a lame brawler, its mechanics were born out of the central character's particular strengths and - most brilliantly - weaknesses. Unshackled by a movie tie-in and free to focus on a single location along with a bespoke, carefully selected cast, Batman: Arkham Asylum changed a sizable audience's idea of what a comic book game could be.
A lot of people must hate Rocksteady right now - a lot of superhero game developers must, anyway.
