(The author doesn't own any pictures and beware of spoilers)
THIS IS THE BEST GODDAMN LICENSED GAME EVER!
If you thought Batman Arkham Asylum was beyond amazing then
you’re going to have your jaw drop because this is like the The Dark Knight
movie equivalent of awesomeness! This game was one of the most highly
anticipated games this year and it didn’t even let anybody down when this game
came out. Amazing visuals, amazing gameplay, amazing characters, amazing
everything! As a gamer and a Batman
fanatic, this was one of the funniest games to play. I couldn’t stop playing
until I made a 100 percent competition, something I normally don’t do!
Now I’m not going to go over what the Batman Universe is all
about, because everyone knows who Batman is and what he stands for. What some
people might get confused by are some of the comic references that are used
everywhere in this game. Now personally, I’ve been interested in everything
Batman since I was old enough to read comics, (He’s my second favorite comic
super hero of all time, Spidey’s first) so all of this stuff isn’t’ a surprise
to me. You don’t have to be a Batman fanatic to play this game, but it will
help if you look up information about Batman and the amazing villains he faces
such as Joker, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, and more.
Just how awesome is this game? Let’s find out.
1. Graphics
My god is Gotham beautiful. It’s just the perfect
representation of gothic looking crime ridding, hell hole that it is. Granted
you don’t play in all of Gotham, instead you play in this area called Arkham
City which is an experimental asylum that is city wide instead of just one big building like the first one. Now you have to go through various city
districts such as an industrial zone, a still mill, an underground railroad,
and more. Each area is well mapped and well detailed in its artwork giving in
that perfect dark Batman style were all use to loving so much.
The shadows and lighting, like the last game, play a key
role in your gameplay because what’s a “Dark Knight” without being in the dark
while you pick off the criminals one by one? The character art is
gorgeous. Everyone from the main
characters to the mooks you’ll be fling batarangs at are drawn down to the last
detail perfectly. I especially like how they made the villains such as Riddler,
Hugo Strange, Ra's Al Ghul, and Mr. Freeze. Each one is unique and drawn to fit
the exact image they characterized.
And the weather, my god the weather is awesome.
Graphics are just A class perfect.
2. Controls
If you’ve played Arkham Asylum chances are you going to get
these controls down on the dot. A lot of the controls play just like the ones
back in the first game such as the batclaw, the gadget use, combat, gliding and
such.
If you haven’t played the previous game or are a bit rusty, don’t worry. Arkham City is an open world game with plenty of areas to practice on. Want to test your gliding while testing the new dive feature? Zipline to a tower and practice it. Want to practice your combat skills as well as test your gadgets in battle? There are hundreds of gangs all over the streets so all you got to do if find one and kick ass.
But here is the really cool thing; Batman isn’t the only
character you can play in this game. There are three other characters:
Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing. Now Catwoman is the only one who can be played,
out of the three, in the story mode and her style is a lot faster with her own
gadgets. Catwoman also has the ability to climb and hang over ceilings or scale
walls just like a real cat. As for Robin and Nightwing, they kind of are
similar yet also different. Robin fights
with a bow staff and can do pretty well in crowds while Nightwing using Eskirma
sticks that can create lightning and is the second fastest character in the
game (First being Catwoman). The styles are both similar and different to both
Batman and Catwoman so you can get use to them pretty quickly.
3. Gameplay
Oh, where do I begin? First off, the game is more an open world experience with tons of things to do. Everywhere something is happening, criminals are talking to each other that you can listen in, prisoners are being beaten up, helicopters re always on the move looking for you and the tons of side-missions you can partake in.The side-missions are the best part of this game and there is
a lot to do. You can help Bane find the remaining TITAN barrels from the first
game, rescue innocents from getting beaten up, have a sick and twisted game
with Zsasz, do VR training, and more.
But the best side mission is the Riddler one. Like in the
last game, the Riddler has his trophies, riddles, and challenges all over
Arkham City meaning you’re going to have to explore every part of Arkham to achieve
them all, because there are 400 of them! Some can’t be reached until a certain
part of the main story is complete as well as the need for certain gadgets that
are not accessible until you get them in the main story. But this time there is
a story to this side quest. Riddler has managed to capture a group of hostages
that he places in various puzzle rooms that you have to solve in order to
rescue them. He’ll only give you the locations when you get enough Riddler challenges
and solve the riddle he gives you. Genius work by the team and this is, in my opinion,
the best part of the game.
Speaking of Riddler, the other part of the game that you can
do is the Riddler Revenge missions. Their missions that take place in various
locations that test your stealth, gadget use, or your combat skills. Things
like taking out all the guards in a certain time period or fighting endless
enemies till you fall. This is where you can play both as Batman and Catwoman
as well as Nightwing and Robin. They’re fun to play, but I kind of wish they
had some sort of multiplayer with it. Maybe they will next game.
4. Story
This is one of those stories I’m not going to spoil much
because it’s not only a good Batman story; it’s just too fun of a game to spoil
much. The game takes place 6 months after the events of Arkham Asylum. The
former warden, Quincy Sharp, became mayor and, along with Hugo Strange, created
Arkham City which was supposed to be a prison camp designed to hold the worst
of the criminals. Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, does like the idea and starts a political
campaign against it. During one of his sessions, he’s captured by the TYGER
forces, Strange’s private army, and they take him into Arkham City where it’s
revealed that Strange knows Batman’s identity.
Bruce manages to escape and suit up thanks to a drop in from
Alfred. Batman not only has to figure out what’s going on in Arkham City, but
also figure out what Protocol Ten, an operation Strange has planned, is and how
to stop it. What follows is a thrilling
storyline that leads Batman all over the city as well as conflict with his old
enemies. The story is well written, well-paced, and well thought out.
5. Characters
This game’s characters are enough to make a geek cry. Every,
EVERY, major Batman character in the universe is in this game. Batman, Robin,
Nightwing, Oracle (Former Batgirl), Alfred, Jim Gordon, Vicki Vale, even Jack
Ryder! And those are just the good guys.
The real show is the bad guys. You got your guys that
everybody knows like The Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy(Catwoman
only), Clayface, Penguin, Zsasz, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Ra's Al Ghul, Mad Hatter,
and Hugo Strange.
And we even got guys who that aren’t well known to some
people such as Deadshot, Solomon Grundy, and even Black Mask makes an
appearance.
Each villain is perfectly written and voiced. I especially
liked how they did The Riddler. I think this was one of the best versions of
him of all time…not like that lame Jim Carry version.
6. Sound
The sound quality in this game is epic. The music is dark
and thrilling, the sound effects are perfect, but the best part is the voice
acting. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill re-voice their respective positions as in
the last game. Who are these guys? Kevin is the original voice of Batman and
Mark Hamill was the voice of the Joker from Batman the Animated Series, one of
the greatest cartoons ever. This game also is a must buy for Batman collectors
everywhere as this is the last time Mark Hamill will ever voice the Joker. Mark
you’ve been a great voice actor to us all and we wish you the best!
OVERALL: 5.5/5
This game deserve to be a possible GAME OF THE YEAR! It's Batman to the core and it's done right! This is how licened game should be! This is what we as fans want to see! This is just awesome and you should be playing it right now.
We are Gamers and we are Legion
