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Batman: Arkham City
PlayStation 3
The City That Never Lets You Sleep
4.5/5 stars
Rare is the superhero game that actually delivers the goods - Batman: Arkham Asylum is that game. Rarer still is a sequel that not only lives up to its predecessor, but surpasses it. Batman: Arkham City is that game. It takes everything that make Arkham Asylum outstanding and simply makes it better: the game is more wide open, everything seems more polished and the characters and story continue to be superb. In general, if you liked the first game, this is a must-play. If you like open-world games in general, this is still highly recommended.
Presentation: As I said, this game shares a lot in common with Arkham Asylum, including the design. Yet you can see that they took even more care here. The city is not a nice place - criminal gangs roam the streets (The Joker, Penguin and Two-Face all have factions devoted to them), various uber-villains are out and about sowing discord and death and, thanks to Mr. Freeze, the entire place is an icebox - grey and chilled. The game isn't exactly about color popping out - but it remains true to its roots. Gotham City follows the Tim Burton route - a bit more crumbling and dilapidated, but dark and foreboding as well. Various landmarks from the museum (where Penguin resides), the Steel Mill (Joker's base of operations) and Gotham Police Department (Mr. Freeze's lab location) all play a part. The Solomon Wayne Courthouse and Church also have expanded areas.
The character design is also impressive - including vocal talent used throughout. It's even fun to eavesdrop on enemies - who, although they get repetitive on occasions, often reveal some insight into the status of the various factions and are sometimes just plain fun to overhear. Once again, the game contains a veritable rogues gallery of whose who in the Batman universe. Besides the three main villains you have side-quests featuring the likes of the Riddler, Bane, the Mad Hatter, Deadshot and Hush (who could play a part in the next game - I'm under the assumption they are working on something right now). For a fantasy setting, it's easy to immerse yourself in this world.
Story: A great followup to Arkham Asylum - a huge chunk of Gotham City has been transformed into an experimental exercise in criminal control. Led by Dr. Hugo Strange, the criminals are allowed to go free - while his deadly Tyger Guards watch over them. But, of course, all is not as it seems. Bruce Wayne objects, but as he's soon to find out - someone is more than willing to have him killed. Donning the guise of Batman, he needs to get to the bottom of who is really behind the various criminal elements. To make matters worse, The Joker is suffering from a deliberating sickness following his Titan overdose in the finale of the previous game. But he's willing to unleash his sickness not just on Batman - but the entire populace of Gotham City. Struggling with the same illness himself Batman reaches out to Freeze and the immortal Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia for possible solutions to his plight. Not only that, but Penguin and Two-Face have their own forces he will have to deal with.
Arkham City goes to some dark places - one might say it's a perfect companion piece to Christopher Nolan's own darker trilogy - but while the tone is certainly the story stands up on its own. Let's just say that although Batman is against taking a life - that doesn't mean that everyone is coming out of this story alive. I like the way they wrap things up - satisfying conclusion, but leaves things open for more.
While I didn't get the full GotY version, I did get the Catwoman expansion. I have to say that Batman falls into the same trap as so many games: making the female characters over-the-top male fantasies (not that the original game didn't do the same thing). Catwoman's story isn't quite as interesting, but at least is expands the story somewhat. Overall, it's a very good trip.
Gameplay This also shares a lot with the first game - with a few new gadgets to play with. Combat is still reliant of performing combos and counters. Certain portions of the game have to taking on street-level thugs, while other portions require a bit more stealth and planning. Enemies can have guns, knives, armor, shields and even stun batons (late game). Each requires a different strategy to take down or evade properly. While I'm not a fan of games that require you to break out combos to take out enemies, Arkham City is a more simplified version, not going to crazy.
Because this is open world, you can swing around the city with your bat claw, and, if you so choose, upgrade it and really fly with a boost. Besides the main story, there are plenty of side quests you can take on. Some are as simple as saving the "innocent" people (Political Prisoners as they are called) from being shaken down by thugs. Others, like the Riddler side quest - involve tracking down various hidden clues and trophies to unlock the next part. Some sidequests involve using your investigative skills - others have you running across the map in a certain amount of time - I just like the fact each one is different enough that they are all worth pursuing.
Gadgets play a big part in the game. Most you unlock as the game progresses: the remote Batarang, Line Launcher and Freeze Bombs all help you unlock areas and are even useful in battle. Of course you still have explosive gel too! While some items are more useful than others - it's fun to play around with all of them just to see what kind of havoc you can cause on the bad guys. In keeping with the hero nature - Batman never actually "kills" anyone, he just knocks them out cold. He can even interrogate certain Riddler enemies for secret locations before a lovely cinematic of him just cold-cocking one or stomping on his head. He might not kill anyone, but I have to think that reports of concussions and brain injury have to be pretty high around Gotham City.
There are a few major boss battles - some of which can get tricky when you throw in multiple stages to the battle - but nothing that made me rage. In fact, the most infuriating part of the game is not being killed by a boss, but figuring out how to get some of the Riddler trophies.
Catwoman, while sharing the same basic controls, is different enough that it is a different experience to use her. She's much faster (but also not as powerful) and her whip, of course, is her main mode of attack. Like Batman, she never actually kills anyone - just knocks them senseless (or claws them senseless in her case).
All in all, the action is good, there's just the right amount of stealth and the gadgets are fun. Yes, like any action game, it can get a bit repetitive, but luckily you can escape most battles and feel free to glide around the city if you get bored (and track down a few hundred Riddler trophies if you're a completionist like me).
In the end, this is a great game, offering plenty in the story and character department, great action, a pretty open world and all sorts of Bat-tastic fun. This is the kind of game every superhero should aspire to - and plenty of other games as well. Arkham Asylum was good, Arkham City great - I can't wait to see where they take this franchise next.
Presentation: 4.5/5
Story: 4.5/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Overall (not an average): 4.5/5
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