Review: Batman Arkham City

(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