Batman: Arkham City Review

Developer(s): Rocksteady Studios

Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive/Eidos Interactive

Genre: Action

Release Date: October 18, 2011

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

RockSteady became a member of the league of amazing developers when they re-launched the Batman series in 2009. The first in that series, which redefined the way people looked at Batman adapted video games, was Batman: Arkham Asylum. It did well to make players feel as though they actually were the detective-esque Dark Knight. Receiving glorified and critical acclaim, RockSteady went on to make its sequel, Arkham City. After playing through, all that I can do is tip my imaginary hat to the developers….it still wouldn’t be enough though.

Arkham City starts off just how it should. Just like any day in Batman’s life, something is afoot and he must figure it out. We find our billionaire (because millionaire was so last week) playboy philanthropist making a political appearance to discuss the closing of Arkham City. Due to the events that occurred at the Arkham Asylum in the last game, the place is beyond inhabitable. All the villains and moral unjust baddies have been moved to an abandoned part of Gotham City where they are locked inside with constant patrol from Dr. Hugo Strange and his personal law enforcement. This doesn’t stop them from causing as much mayhem and gang-like violence while in there.

Things, of course, are not as they seem when Bruce Wayne/Batman gets arrested in thrown into the prison. Now we must figure out what has gone on behind these walls and put an end to it.

The story in Arkahm City isn’t like the one in Arkham Asylum. It’s about ten steps better. It takes a player in and keeps you interested, all without really telling you what is going on. You’re kept on your toes about the sinister plot until the very end where it all comes together. The way the game ends is the epitome of how things should end if that particular circumstance was present. Like always though, expect the unexpected.

Now that we’ve talked story as much as we can without spoiling it for you, let’s get into the Dark Knight’s awesome arsenal. Like most people who are familiar with Batman, we know how we would spend our billions. No, not paying off student loans and making investments! We spend it by buying a bunch of high-tech gadgets and vehicles to mess with people.

All of Batman’s previous tools from the first game are back but most have some handy upgrades. The Line Launcher can now be used to make a separate line in a different direction. The hacking device has been a bit easier to figure out. And thank god, the remote control Batarang has a break and a U-Turn feature. No more wasting Batarangs for an hour while you’re stuck in a room. As well as the upgraded previous gadgets, we have some new ones. A couple of them are courtesy of Mr. Freeze but, the others, I won’t spoil the fun.

I’m pretty sure that last sentence confused you. Mr. Freeze gave Batman some weapons? Yes, he indeed did, sir!

In Arkham City, there are cameos out the yin-yang and all the villains are out for each other and control. It’s expected for a few unclear alliances to form between villains who normally hate each other and some even with Batman. They won’t be handed to you though. With almost every villain from the Batman universe stuck in Arkham City, you can go look around for clues to where they may be. They can be obvious like Poison Ivy’s hideout covered in vines and green mist. They could also be very obscure like Deadshot offing political prisoners from afar. They are all there and looking for Batman. I mean, really? Since he is here and all, why not try to kill him?

With that being said, don’t expect to finish the game anytime soon if you’re interested in who is all in there.

Aside from the story, there are still challenges to beat. They once again range from fighting off waves of enemies or sneaking around taking down guys while being as quiet as possible. Of course, Riddler’s Challenges are here as well and add to the already amazing side missions in the game. The Riddler’s Challenges are much like the normal challenges. The only difference here is that handicaps are placed on different modes. You may have a time limit or have a small amount of health to last you the challenge. It’s everything you would expect from the Riddler.

Okay, so usually, this is the part where I rag on what I didn’t like about the game. I tell you what’s wrong, you agree, and we all share Smores. Honestly though, I didn’t see anything wrong with Arkham City. It’s what I expected and more. There were no plot holes, no mechanic problems, and the picture and graphics looked fine to me. Yeah, the boss fights were easy but, Batman’s enemies aren’t strong people. They use pawns to fight Batman and hide behind weapons and gadgets. Mr. Freeze’s boss fight was the only real challenge seeing that you couldn’t use the same attack more than once.

If that’s the only real problem with the game, I don’t see myself docking points from it. It’s like a Michel Bay film, you know what you are going to get when you go in and you judge accordingly. If you expect some other worldly greatness, then you’re going to be disappointed. The game is about being Batman and it does well to make you feel like him.
All in all, Batman: Arkham City is one of those games you beat, promptly sit back in your chair, and feel accomplished beyond compare. After, you sit back up and play through it again. It’s just that good. It does well to make you care about everyone in the situation. Even if you’ve never actually watched or read anything Batman orientated, you can’t help but feel hurt or excited as things happen in the plot.

Fortunately though, when you beat the game, things don’t stop there. New Game Plus is mode that allows you to play through a second time but keeping all your gadgets, upgrades, and achievements from the previous game. Of course, they can’t just hand us this on a silver platter. This time around, enemies are tougher and better armed now that they have no counter icon during fights.

In the end, Rocksteady took Arkham Asylum, an already amazing game, and asked how can we make this better? Not sure how you answer that question but, the guy that figured it out needs a high-five. Since we have no idea who that guy is however, we’ll just give everybody over at a Rocksteady a high-five.

I can honestly and proudly give Arkham City a 5 out of 5. If you don’t know why, just play it and you will understand.

I recommend this game if:

• You are in the least bit interested in the Batman universe
• You want something well worth $60
• You want something to keep you distracted from other releases coming out in the next month

I don’t recommend this if:

• You don’t like open world/linear games
• You’re not a fan of Batman
• You’re a completist and plan on getting other games in the next two weeks