Alright, most superhero games range from good to horrendous. A game like Spider-Man 2 can be a surprisingly fun experience, and then there's games like.... Superman 64. Rocksteady proved that superhero games can be done, and done pretty damn well, with 2009's surprise hit: Arkham Asylum. 2 years later, Batman is back for a second round in Arkham City. Can this capture everything that made AA so great? I literally just finished it (seriously. I'm watching the credits while typing this), and here's my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review. Your opinion may very well differ from mine.
Story
A year or so after the events of Arkham Asylum, the old facility has been shut down, and a section of Gotham was sealed off for all of Gotham's criminals to roam free: Arkham City. During his attempts to have the place shut down, Bruce Wayne is captured by Hugo Strange's men and dragged into the institution as well. Now trapped with no way out, Bruce Wayne must don his Batman persona to find out what's going on in Arkham, including the fallout of Arkham Asylum, Joker seemingly on death's door, and Strange's mysterious "Protocol 10" only 10 hours from being activated.
This game had an incredible story that was very well told. There are a plethora of villains in the game, but at least to me, it felt like all of them had a reason to be there, and the encounters with them drove the story that much further. The opening was awesome, and I jaw literally dropped at the ending, something that hasn't happened since Portal 2 in April.
If you but the game new (at least at Gamestop, or EB Games), you get the Catwoman DLC for free. This integrates Catwoman's overarcing story into the main campaign. You'll still spend most of your time as the Dark Knight, but it's certainly a welcome addition to the game. I will say that one of my favourite villains (one who was in AA), was cut out from the game. You probably know who I'm talking about, but if you don't, I won't tell. It's a shame, but I won't degrade the score for it.
Gameplay
Of course, what makes a game is NOT its story, but it's gameplay. And Arkham City is the perfect example of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Exploration and combat will instantly be familiar to anyone who's played Arkham Asylum, and while it doesn't vary too much, that's certainly not a bad thing, considering how well AA played. Of course, AC adds various new things to it, such as new combat moves, several new gadgets and upgrades, and the ability to dive bomb to allow Batman to 'fly' for a short amount of time.
There were two noticible flaws in Arkham Asylum: the length (clocking in at 4-6 hours for the main campaign), and the poorly done boss battles (except for the Scarecrow sections). Both of these flaws have been fixed for Arkham City. The boss battles, while fewer, are clever and not nearly as monotonous as the ones in AA. As well, the length has been ramped up to about 10 hours for the main campaign, not including the dozen side missions and over 400 Riddler challenges. This game will keep you occupied for some time, I guaruntee.
Presentation
The graphics have only recieved a minor update, but the game still looks amazing. There's a texture pop-in here and there, but only on very rare occassions. One of the cool things in Arkham Asylum was that as the game went on, Batman's suit become noticibly more damaged. Well, if you thought he looked like crap by the end of that game, wait until you see him at the end of Arkham City.
The soundtrack is great, perfecty capturing that 'Batman' feel. I really don't know what else to say about it.
The voice acting is superb all around. There is no real weak link in the cast, but once again, Mark Hamill steals the show as the Joker, bringing about an even BETTER performance than he did in Arkham Asylum, and that's saying something. Of course, the rest of the actors do a great job as well.
Verdict
Well, it took almost all of 2011, but I've finally found it. I've found the game that I'm going to give a:
10 / 10
Much like inFamous 2, this is everything a sequel should be: keeping what made the original great while adding things to make it even better. It has great gameplay, an excellent story with plenty of twists, awesome visuals, outstanding voice acting, and it fixes the few slip-ups that Arkham Asylum had. There's texture pop-ins here and there, but these are so minor and so infrequent that I don't really think it's worth bringing the game down to a 9.5 over. All versions of the game (PS3, 360, PC) look pretty much the same, so it doesn't matter what you get it for. Buy Arkham City. You will not regret it.
So, have you played Batman: Arkham City? What did you think? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
Alright, most superhero games range from good to horrendous. A game like Spider-Man 2 can be a surprisingly fun experience, and then there's games like.... Superman 64. Rocksteady proved that superhero games can be done, and done pretty damn well, with 2009's surprise hit: Arkham Asylum. 2 years later, Batman is back for a second round in Arkham City. Can this capture everything that made AA so great? I literally just finished it (seriously. I'm watching the credits while typing this), and here's my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review. Your opinion may very well differ from mine.
Story
A year or so after the events of Arkham Asylum, the old facility has been shut down, and a section of Gotham was sealed off for all of Gotham's criminals to roam free: Arkham City. During his attempts to have the place shut down, Bruce Wayne is captured by Hugo Strange's men and dragged into the institution as well. Now trapped with no way out, Bruce Wayne must don his Batman persona to find out what's going on in Arkham, including the fallout of Arkham Asylum, Joker seemingly on death's door, and Strange's mysterious "Protocol 10" only 10 hours from being activated.
This game had an incredible story that was very well told. There are a plethora of villains in the game, but at least to me, it felt like all of them had a reason to be there, and the encounters with them drove the story that much further. The opening was awesome, and I jaw literally dropped at the ending, something that hasn't happened since Portal 2 in April.
If you but the game new (at least at Gamestop, or EB Games), you get the Catwoman DLC for free. This integrates Catwoman's overarcing story into the main campaign. You'll still spend most of your time as the Dark Knight, but it's certainly a welcome addition to the game. I will say that one of my favourite villains (one who was in AA), was cut out from the game. You probably know who I'm talking about, but if you don't, I won't tell. It's a shame, but I won't degrade the score for it.
Gameplay
Of course, what makes a game is NOT its story, but it's gameplay. And Arkham City is the perfect example of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Exploration and combat will instantly be familiar to anyone who's played Arkham Asylum, and while it doesn't vary too much, that's certainly not a bad thing, considering how well AA played. Of course, AC adds various new things to it, such as new combat moves, several new gadgets and upgrades, and the ability to dive bomb to allow Batman to 'fly' for a short amount of time.
There were two noticible flaws in Arkham Asylum: the length (clocking in at 4-6 hours for the main campaign), and the poorly done boss battles (except for the Scarecrow sections). Both of these flaws have been fixed for Arkham City. The boss battles, while fewer, are clever and not nearly as monotonous as the ones in AA. As well, the length has been ramped up to about 10 hours for the main campaign, not including the dozen side missions and over 400 Riddler challenges. This game will keep you occupied for some time, I guaruntee.
Presentation
The graphics have only recieved a minor update, but the game still looks amazing. There's a texture pop-in here and there, but only on very rare occassions. One of the cool things in Arkham Asylum was that as the game went on, Batman's suit become noticibly more damaged. Well, if you thought he looked like crap by the end of that game, wait until you see him at the end of Arkham City.
The soundtrack is great, perfecty capturing that 'Batman' feel. I really don't know what else to say about it.
The voice acting is superb all around. There is no real weak link in the cast, but once again, Mark Hamill steals the show as the Joker, bringing about an even BETTER performance than he did in Arkham Asylum, and that's saying something. Of course, the rest of the actors do a great job as well.
Verdict
Well, it took almost all of 2011, but I've finally found it. I've found the game that I'm going to give a:
10 / 10
Much like inFamous 2, this is everything a sequel should be: keeping what made the original great while adding things to make it even better. It has great gameplay, an excellent story with plenty of twists, awesome visuals, outstanding voice acting, and it fixes the few slip-ups that Arkham Asylum had. There's texture pop-ins here and there, but these are so minor and so infrequent that I don't really think it's worth bringing the game down to a 9.5 over. All versions of the game (PS3, 360, PC) look pretty much the same, so it doesn't matter what you get it for. Buy Arkham City. You will not regret it.
So, have you played Batman: Arkham City? What did you think? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
baylaust out.