Humble Bundle: Batman Edition

I’ll be honest with you: there are a lot of games we’ve used as benchmarks that I haven’t quite finished, and some that I hardly even play. So when a game is good enough to keep me playing, it’s usually worth a look. Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the games I completed. Now I’m not saying it was the greatest beat-em-up game ever, but it did a better job of making you feel like a superhero than any other game I can recall. It was visceral, and it controlled well with a mouse and keyboard or with a gamepad; it helped that the graphics were good as well, and the story kept me going.

All of that is a nice lead-in to the latest Humble Bundle, courtesy of WB Games. As you can guess, Batman: Arkham Asylum is part of the package, but it doesn’t stop there. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3 (or F.3.A.R. if you prefer) are also part of the base package, which means any donation of $1 or more snags you those games, with Lord of the Rings: War in the North rounding out the collection. You might notice a couple of things with the list; first is that they’re arranged in order of decreasing score, so Batman walks away with a 91%, FEAR2 gets 79%, FEAR3 71%, and LotR scrapes by with 66%. The second thing you’ll notice is that the original F.E.A.R. is sadly missing from the list, which is a shame as that was probably the best game of the series. The reason for the omission is pretty simple, though: it wasn’t published by WB Games.

There are two additional titles as part of the collection, provided you pay more than the current average ($4.47 at the time of writing). Scribblenauts Unlimited is a fun little game that’s perhaps better suited to a device with a stylus or finger input. The final title is a great way to wrap things up, Batman: Arkham City. The sequel to the original sports improved graphics and a larger game world, and it’s every bit as good (in my opinion at least). Even if the package only included the first two Batman games, it would be worth the price of entry – provided of course that you didn’t already own both, which I do; in fact, I already own most of the games, with LotR and Scribblenauts Unlimited being the only ones missing from my Steam list, and I’m still planning on buying the bundle. If you’re curious, the six games on Steam (Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, F.E.A.R. 2, F.E.A.R. 3, War in the North, and Scribblenauts Unlimited) would set you back a combined $124.94 (plus tax where applicable).

Interestingly, the only charity option this round is We Can Be Heroes, and not surprisingly Warner Brothers is involved with that campaign as well. You can read more about the charity on their site, or as usual you can send the money to the Humble Bundle or WB Games. The choice is yours.

Final Note: Make sure to pay more than the current average (e.g. by $0.01) to unlock the extra games. And if you don't, you can increase your donation, but make sure that you increase it by the missing amount if you're looking to be frugal. I made the mistake of donating $4.47, then increased it by $4.48. The interface didn't make that perfectly clear, but I should have known better. It's still a great bargain, regardless.

Updated 11/13/2013: Humble Bundle has added several additional games to the list. First is F.E.A.R., the original game, so apparently my above comment about them not publishing the game didn't hold water. You also get the Mortal Kombat Arcade Collection (the first three games from that series) and Guardians of Middle-Earth with the Smaug's Treasure DLC. Several of the other games are really just additional content for games that have gone free-to-play, namely the Lord of the Rings Online: Steely Dawn Starter Pack and Gotham City Impostors Professional Kit. The final addition is the Millennium Skins Pack for Batmak: Akham Origins. Those who have already paid more than the average (at the time of purchase) will find all of the additions in their Humble Bundle account.