Batman: Arkham City

I normally reserve my picks for Game of the Year until late December, but honestly, don't be surprised if Batman: Arkham City appears in the nominees. In fact, I can guarantee that it will be.
Arkham Asylum was one of the best licensed games of 2009, if not the best game overall. How does the sequel live up to Rocksteady's Dark Knight legacy?

STORY
After the events of Arkham Asylum, the titular Madhouse has been shutdown, and it's former Warden is now the Mayor of Gotham City. His first major act as mayor is to section off part of Gotham, turning it into a huge high security prison. The newly created "Arkham City" is put under the care of Hugo Strange; an intelligent, scheming man who knows the darkest secret of The Dark Knight.

After an interesting turn of events, Batman finds himself trapped, with the inmates practically running the asylum. Gang wars devestate the streets, while major players fight for power. And to top it all off, a certain "Clown Prince of Crime" is dying, and has Batman by the throat, forcing Bruce Wayne to aid his arch nemesis.

The story is well written, penned by Paul Dini, it's typical Batman. The villains are typically deranged, tragic and engaging; and there are a LOT of villains. From the psychotic Zsasz to the hilariously messed up Joker; the villains are a lot of fun. The plot has a reasonable amount of twists and turns, some more obvious than others. The game starts with a bang, and maintains momentum all the way through.

The only real criticism I can think of story-wise, is that with so many villains, it's difficult for Rocksteady to go into any depth with many of them. Some of the more unexpected encounters come and go before you can say "I'm Batman".

PRESENTATION
Aside from some sterile looking face animations of NPC's, the graphics are really good. The visuals are full of character, and Arkham City almost feels like another character in this very comic-book world. There are a bunch of iconic locations that Batman fans will definitely recognize, and it all adds to the authenticity of the world.

The soundtrack also adds to the atmosphere of the Arkham City, with soft tracks during the silent predator sections of the game, and loud, fast scores during intense combat sections. The feeling of panic once gunmen discover you is only intensified by the fitting soundtrack.

Definitely the highest point of the presentation aspect of B:AC is the stellar voice acting. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise thier roles as Batman and Joker respectively; both killing in their parts. Fred Tatasciore and Nolan North also lend thier talent to Batman: Arkham City, but to be fair, every character is played perfectly.

GAMEPLAY
The strong gameplay of Arkham Asylum is not only retained, but refined for Arkham City, in almost every way. First off, where Arkham Asylum was set on Arfkham Island, Arkham City is a much larger open world playground. Now with a larger world to explore comes new ways to get around said playground.
Being able to grappel up to buildings, then boost over them to gain a more powerful glide is definitely awesome, and it feels perfectly Batman. The only thing that would have been more Batman would have been the use of the Batmobile. But I just don't see that working, so the gliding is perfect.

The freeflow combat from the previous game was certainly a high point, and it's been refined further in Arkham City. The simple to learn, difficult to master controls are the key to the mechanic's success; but Rocksteady have found ways to add more to it without over complicating things. All gadgets are now mapped to a quick use button, for fast and effective use mid-combo.

As well as shortcutting the gadgets to buttons, new gadgets have been added; such as the remote electromagnetic shock rifle and the freeze grenade, allowing even greater variation during fights.

The last main sector of gameplay is in the sheer variety of things to do in Arkham City. The Riddler trophies are back for the Batman to collect, as well as numerous riddles to find and solve. As well as that, there are various cases for the world's greatest detective to solve; and almost all of them are well put together and play out nicely, behind the main plotline of the game.

Some minor clipping issues occasionally affect the combat, making Batman miss counters that should be hit; but its a very minor problem.

REPLAYABILITY
With an engaging, action packed story, I can see myself playing Arkham City over and over for quite some time. Hell, a somewhat hidden easter egg will definitely have me coming back at least once a month til next September.
Aside from the fantastic experience, there's a new game plus feature, as well as the Riddler's challenge maps, Riddles and collectibles to complete and find.

OVERVIEW
Batman Arkham Asylum isn't a perfect game. The story is a bit too Villain stuffed, the combat does bug out very rarely, and some might say that there aren't enough new gadgets or gameplay mechanics to keep the game more interesting than its previous installment. No, Batman is not the perfect game, but it's one of the closest games to perfection that I've seen in some time. If nothing else, it's the definitive Batman game, and my bet is that it always will be.

Love Batman? Get Arkham City. Love solid combat and a lot of side missions and collectibles? Arkham City will not steer you wrong.


Hope you guys found that informative, and next Sunday I'll be bringing you a review of RAGE (most likely). Or perhaps Battlefield 3.