Batman: Arkham City

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.

It's going to be bigger, better and slicker than it's predecessor. Boasting a much larger scope of villains, areas to explore and punches to throw, we now find Batman in the new Arkham facility – an entire walled off suburb holding Batman's worst enemies. No doubt this game will build upon the success of Arkham Asylum, with expected (positive) alterations to gameplay, including more gadgets, fighting moves and story arcs. Can't wait!

If the loved the first game this will be 10 times better. In total over 40 hours of gameplay, over 400 riddler challenges to find and solve and a variety of new villans including: Penguin, Catwoman, Mr Freeze and Two Face. This will be the best batman game yet!!!

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.