I have finally got my hands on Arkham Asylum as it was on offer on Amazon. Having played about an hour of it last night I can safely say, I see why it got all the hype. The Joker makes that game in the same way Glados made Portal. Heres to enjoying a lot more of the sneaky, batarang action to come.

Now get back to what you were doing.

These are games I have played that were out this year and would happily, if quite frequently already have recommended.

- Borderlands (Xbox 360) - A more fun, faster paced Fallout 3 that is a funny, Diabloesque shooter set in Mad Max styled world.

- Torchlight (PC, Steam) - Diablo 1... again... but prettier and up to date.

- Forza 3 (Xbox 360) - Forza 2 with most of the problems fixed. Fix Multiplayer for Forza 4 please.

- Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360) - You know what this is.

- Dragons Age Origin (Xbox 360) - Mass Effect with swords and magic. Is like playing through the Lord of the Rings movies.

- DiRT 2 (Xbox 360) - The best arcade racer I have played in a long time, probably since Screamer 2.

- Trials HD (XBLA) - The most addictive, soul sucking, want to throw something at the TV game of the year and all for the right reasons.

- 'Splosion Man (XBLA) - Just a simple yet annoyingly hard puzzle game with a style unlike most games these days.

- Battlefield 1943 (XBLA) - Brings back the feel of playing BF1942 and removes those horrid memories of BF2.

- Leave Home (Indie Games XBLA) - Simple little shooter that harks back to the 48k Speccy, best Indie game I have played to date.

And the one I only played the demo of but would probably buy at some point as all I hear is praise for this game.

- Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360) - He's Batman

Leave Home

If you like side scrolling shooters, have played Rez and can remember what a Sinclair Spectrum is, then get this game right now. It is only a short, 2 minute, game but it is one of the few diamonds in the rough that is the Indie Games on XBLA

It works like most side scrolling space shooters but has a few neat touches. First of all the game is random and can be different each time you play it. For example the first time I played I had these big spikes come down from above to try and avoid. Second time, these were smaller spikes from both top and bottom and after avoiding those I was sent to a totally new stage I had not seen before.

Other nice bits include how the gun, which is two streams of bullets, opens up when pulling the trigger on the gamepad to the point where you are shooting behind you. Also how at the end of each stage a small nod to the Speccy days as the old loading bars appear around the edge of the screen. It makes me smile every time.

XBLA Link: Leave Home

Irony is a great thing. For the past week I have heard nothing but "Buy the Rage Against the Machine Track and Get it to Number 1 for Christmas!". Friends, on the radio and I'm guessing its made the news too.

This all makes me chuckle inside as I find it all rather ironic. A song that is all about fighting the "Man" and being rebellious has started a wave that goes against the individuality it promotes. I'm sorry but I feel I must make a stand and Eff you, I won't buy what you tell me!

[Edit] Is it too late to start an Ag-a-doo for Xmas #1 campaign? [/Edit]

[Edit Edit]Yeah I guess so... Well done Ragemania you have successfully DONE WHAT THEY TELL YOU![/Edit]