Batman: Arkham City reviews

Arkham City has been getting some damn good reviews. Let me sum up why in one sentence: the dialogue can get repetitive, too many of the Riddler trophies are overly easy, and there aren't enough Catwoman missions. Why does that explain the good reviews- Because after over 30 hours of playing Arkham City, these are the biggest flaws I have found. That's right, Arkham City is so damn good that its biggest flaws are barely even flaws, niggles at most.

Rocksteady's first foray into the world of Batman, Arkham Asylum, came out of nowhere, with a batarang of awesome thrown straight into the face of the gaming world. They were always going to struggle to top the award winning game, but two years later, like a bat(man) out of hell (the bat cave), Rocksteady are back, in style. The game is set one year after the events of Arkham Asylum, and Gotham is in as bad shape as ever. Mayor Quincy Sharp, former warden of Arkham Asylum, has purchased a large portion of Gotham's slums, slapped some giant walls around them and called it a prison – Arkham City. Psychiatrist Hugo Strange is put in charge of the new prison, and rules it with an iron fist. The inmates from the old asylum have been moved into Arkham City, and left to their own devices.

The beginning of the game shows Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne, getting arrested for campaigning against Arkham City. He soon breaks free the clutches of Hugo Strange and the other inmates, and finds a nice quiet spot to slip into something a little more…bat-like. A quick air drop from Alfred sees our hero back in black and ready to go.

From there the story grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. With appearances by all your favourite villains, Arkham City is teeming with life. As you race around trying to unravel the tangled web of Arkham City you will be forced to face off against the likes of Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, and everybody's fa­vourite clown, the Joker. The story is engaging right till the end, and the side missions offer plenty of replayability.

Rocksteady have taken a firm “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” approach to Arkham City, changing very little in terms of the basic game mechanics. The Freeflow combat system has had only minor changes made to it, including the ability to counter multiple enemy attacks at once, and the addition of some new combat moves for Batman.

Batman has access to most of the gadgets from the first game, but to keep things fresh Rocksteady have added the ability to upgrade the majority of the old gadgets, as well as the addition of several new gadgets. Freeze grenades will turn enemies into popsicles and make rafts on water, the remote electrical charge will stun enemies and power up generators, and smoke grenades will disorientate enemies and allow Batman to easily escape dangerous situations.

Also improved is the size of the game world – Arkham City is huge! Thankfully you aren't expected to run and jump everywhere, quick transport is available. The easily earned ‘grapnel boost’ technique will have Batman soaring through the skies of Arkham with ease. Gliding around the city both looks and feels fantastic. But don't get too cocky, as the flying challenges will show, gliding may be is easy to learn, it's certainly difficult to master.

Riddler trophies have returned with a vengeance, and with 436 trophies and challenges to find and complete, they'll keep you going for awhile. Some of these are satisfyingly difficult to complete, however my there are all too many that are simply ‘blow open this wall, pick up the trophy’. You get a better sense of actually earning your trophies when you figure out a difficult challenge.

A welcome addition to the game (for those of you who bought your copy brand new) are the Catwoman missions. Far from being a gimmick, these missions are an excellent diversion from the main story, mainly because Catwoman is so different from Batman. Unlike Batman, she moves around the city using only her body and her whip. Her fighting style is vastly different from Batman's, and of course she doesn't have any of his gadgets (though she has plenty of her own). Once you have completed the main story, you have the option of roaming the city as Catwoman, however with only one very minor side mission to occupy her post-story, it is a little pointless. More side missions for Catwoman would have made her presence in the game that much more enjoyable.

Arkham City is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. It sounds good, it looks good, it feels good, and by jove it's just plain fun. Not only that, but this game offers a huge amount of longevity. In addition to the story, there are the side missions, the Riddler trophies, and I haven't even mentioned the challenge rooms yet! Simply put if you like Batman, get this game. If you like superheroes, get this game. If you like fun, get this game. You owe it to yourself.

After playing Arkham Asylum I had extremely high hopes for this game and it did not disappoint. I thought the open world aspect would be confusing and would get lost easily but it was easy to navigate, this combined with the changeable costumes was something that definitely set this game apart from its predecessor. Sometimes sequels can be better than the first.

This is a game that stayed in my console a very, very long time. It is just a blast to play so side-quests and achievement hunting weren't really a chore but an excuse to just keep playing. :D highly recommended.

This game is one of the best games iv played for a long time! with a great story line and everything else in it, it is deffiently a game to buy!

Game is amaaazing, complex and so deep.

Would have to be one of the best games i've played in a long while! such a good ending plus the side missions are gripping and interesting, but can't forget the killer croc encounter!

defs a 5 star game

Graphically good, vast city to explore maybe a bit to big. Can be a bit repetitive when it comes to the combat, I found myself countering most of the attacks instead of attacking, this was a major let down for me. Other than that the game is the same as its predecessor Arkham Asylum which I thought was better 4/5.

This game a even better than the first one! Loads of side missions and the main story will take you at least 8hrs (depeneding on the level you play on) add in all the chellange maps and you get hours of fun!

Buy it second hand, the DLC codes that come with it for buying brand new don't work for a lot of people (including me), and the publishers are dragging their heels fixing the problem.

This game is amazing the fighting the stealth the story everything in this game is perfection recomend any gamer to play.

Spend a good two days playing this game non-stop, but after the main campaign is complete, theres not much to do

I love your service mate.

Perfection 10.10 100.100 need I say more

One of my best games of 2011. Graphics are really cool. Great cutscenes and voice acting. Gliding around as Batman is so badass. Recommend to play this game

this game is too dame great for my review combat is over the top there are alot more bad guys this time round story is massive if you loved the first batman game then buy this one if you haven't played the first game then get that as well buy them both off Mighty Ape an enjoy a darker batman story

The Good: Fantastic, Seamless gameplay and combat, great visuals. Catwoman is a worthy addition to the series, with all new gameplay built around her unique moves and playstyle.

The Bad: Story is a wee bit convoluted at times, I think we've seen enough from this series now.

Summary: A more than worthy successor to Arkham Asylum, and a fine game indeed, but this is where they should end it.

A Great game that lives up to its prequels. Great graphics mixed in with incredible gameplay and storyline.

Not just a kids game, this has alot of fighting and action, so most of it's violence, so you cannot say this is a childish game, If you enjoyed the first batman game you'll love this one, from every villain you can think of from the movies in one game, also alot of gameplay and side missions, it's deffently worth the money, specially if you buy it off Mighty Ape.

Non stop action dis game has you coming back to it wanting more and more.

If you have played Arkham Asylum, then you will be right at home with this game. Arkham City adds many features to the already stellar parts of the previous game, such as multi-hit takedowns, new enemy types, new gadgets, and an overhauled system of Riddler puzzles. Whereas before, most of the Riddler trophies were just hidden, now they often are in plain sight, but require solving a puzzle to gain the trophy. These puzzles can be landing on 3 pressure pads without touching any other surface, or navigating a batarang through some ducting to trigger a switch, and this just feels so much more rewarding when you pull it off. Completing enough of these challenges unlocks a special room where you have to rescue a hostage from a deathtrap, and getting all 400 of Riddler's Cha­llenges gets you a very satisfying finish against the man himself.

The campaign is just as solid as ever, enemies getting progressively tougher as you progress, an excellent plot, and a very cool boss fight against Freeze (where each time you attack him he learns that pattern to prevent you from using that attack again – forcing you to use different takedowns).

Once completing the game on Normal or Hard, you can progress to a New Game +, which pits a your upgraded Batman against the entire range of enemy types from the get go (and without the counter symbol mechanic). While I was originally somewhat lost in the combats to begin with, as facing armoured thugs, stun baton or knife wielding thugs without the very helpful symbol flashing up to tell me to counter, I eventually clicked, and New Game + became a very enjoyable game mode.

The previous challenge mode maps are back, with a dozen combat maps and a dozen stealth maps. The stealth maps are as great as ever, awarding medals for taking enemies out in specific ways. A new challenge type consists of 3 maps linked in a mini campaign, a mix of stealth and combat maps. In addition to needing to gain the medals in each map, the game also adds some mutators that have to be utilized over the campaign. These mutators might be invincibility moving from one enemy to the next, to regeneration for Batman. Knowing which mutator to use at each stage of the campaign makes things more difficult.

The only negative point is that Batman still has no auto-run feature, so when you stuff up a stealth aspect and get killed when Batman calmly strolls away from shotgun-toting thugs because you haven't held down the run button, you feel very frustrated…

A quick note on the Catwoman DLC, it is a 250mb download, with the download key free in every new purchase of the game. It adds maybe 20–30 minutes of gameplay as Catwoman, who plays as a less agile explorer (no glide ability) but a faster combat character than Batman. It also adds some extra Riddler trophies, and the ability to crawl around on ceilings, but it really feels as though this should have been included on the disc. Every time you load your profile without the Catwoman content, the game asks if you would like to buy a licence key, and eavesdropping on thugs as Batman, you can hear about Catwoman's actions, and this is without the content downloaded.

To sum up, if you enjoyed Batman: Arkham Asylum, then you will enjoy this game. It does the same things that made the previous game so successful, as well as building more ideas on top.

Wasnt too sure about buying this, I love all this Batman but Arkham Asylum wasnt my type of game but I impulse buyed this and have barely put it down since