Batman: Arkham Asylum taps into psychological horror within the game's titular psychiatric hospital. Scarecrow's fear toxin alters his victims' realities with terrifying hallucinations, and Rocksteady implements this through brief yet unique gameplay segments in Batman: Arkham Asylum. But Scarecrow's fear toxin is more memorably implemented in unique cutscenes and other contrasting gameplay moments, such as a particular morgue sequence with players examining body bags that contain Bruce Wayne's dead parents in a first-person perspective.
In one cutscene, players run ahead as Batman for a moment before their screens glitch considerably, with the intent to make players believe that their game is crashing. Batman, and consequently the player, are then transported into an altered reality depicting a new perspective of Batman: Arkham Asylum's opening introduction, where the Joker is instead taking Batman to the asylum. One fan has since noticed a detail that further immerses the player into this fear toxin sequence.
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Reddit user HawkeyeP1 has found that, if players attempt to skip the cutscene leading into this section, the prompt to skip it will feature a "J" instead of a "B" input. Many details in the environment are changed during this cutscene and subsequent section, such as the illuminated Bat Signal in the sky being inverted upside down and given two eyes. Moreover, Batman: Arkham Asylum villains appear in place of the different Arkham guards who were previously seen, and Batman is now being transported on the gurney while players control the Joker. The "B" input being swapped with a "J" is then in reference to the Joker, and is a small detail that can be easily missed.
Because fans have found this cutscene so alluring and alarming, they admit that they have not had the desire to skip past it, particularly when it was their first time playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. But even fans who are aware of this cutscene transition admire how it takes advantage of discreet manipulations of the player's screen and user-interface to trick them. This way, Rocksteady is able to subvert the player's expectations and make them feel as though their reality has been altered similarly to Batman's.
Killer Croc's boss battle provides jump scares and suspenseful tension, but Scarecrow's fear toxin sequences are frighteningly nostalgic and provide the game's psychological horror. Scarecrow is not given the full limelight as a central antagonist until Batman: Arkham Knight, but he remains a prominent villain in Batman: Arkham Asylum and his sequences in it are regarded as significantly memorable and entertaining by many fans.
The Batman: Arkham series is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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