Review: Batman: Arkham City (360)

Batman: Arkham City

Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platform: 360, PS3, PC
Genre: Action Adventure
Rating: Teen
Release Date: October 18th, 2011
For Fans Of: Asylums, Conspiracy, and Utility Belts

Somewhere out there in the city of Gotham, someone is making a deal with the forces unknown. They lose their eternal soul while we are left to enjoy the sequel of Rocksteady's 2009 title, Arkham Asylum. Announced back in 2009, Rocksteady had quite the challenge attempting to unleash something that was to be bigger and better than their previous smash hit. Let us see how that venture fared.

Presentation
What transpired on Arkham Island only a year ago in the asylum served as a catalyst for the changes Gotham has gone under recently. Quincy Sharp was elected as mayor of Gotham, using the credit from "single-handedly" putting a stop to the riots on the island as a springboard for his campaign. Sharp promised to put a put a heavy dent in the crime-rate of Gotham City, something that the people of Gotham probably value highly.

Unlike most politicians, Sharp delivered on his promise in an almost brutal manner. By converting half the city into a super-maximum security prison headed by the mysterious professor Hugo Strange and his TYGER mercenaries and throwing everyone who has ever had a criminal record along with the criminals from Arkham Asylum and Blackgate prisons, Sharp has effectively eliminated any notion of a crime-rate entirely. The problem with this plan, besides the obvious, comes when Strange is granted the power to collect these individuals, a power he's able to abuse in broad daylight. Strange not only is collecting the supposed criminals, but also collecting anyone with an opinion against the facility that is more actually more dangerous then it seems.

This doesn't fair well for our favorite mill-billionaire, Bruce Wayne. As you can imagine there is a lot of things that can go wrong when you have a super prison where the criminals are allowed to roam free (as long as they follow Stranges rules)and they're separated from the general public by a mere wall. Since the criminals are able to roam the streets of Arkham City, they have joined gangs ran by either Penguin, TwoFace, or the Joker and guard certain areas of the city around the bosses hideout. Consequentially Wayne is apprehended and incarcerated in the very cause he was protesting against in a press conference earlier that day.

As Wayne was being brought into the facility he was visited by Hugo who mentioned something about something called "Protocol 10". Curious as to what this meant for the facility and in the bigger picture, Gotham, Wayne breaks free from his restraints in a introductory quarrel with the Penguin and a few of his henchman, has the Batsuit delivered to him on the top of the Ace Chemicals building and takes to the skies of Arkham City.

Sound/Music
Possibly the best part of the game is that much of the talent that graced our ears back in the day when the animated series filled the corridors of our homes, returns to reprise their roles in Arkham City. The Joker, as many of us should recognize as Mark Hamill returns, sadly, for the last time to voice one of the characters that has made him a household name among fans of the series. As you would expect from a cast that has played those characters for as long as they have, each character in the game comes off as having this deep personality behind the voice, a feat that would be almost impossible with an entirely new cast.

On the other hand the music is highly reminiscent of the Dark Knight flavor of movies, giving Arkham City a unique, but eerie and dark feeling.

Graphics
I can think of very few games that have a sprawling city landscape that looks anywhere close to as good as Arkham City looks. Every detail that you could expect to find in Gotham is done so in an incredible fashion, it was the same for Arkham Asylum at the time, but with a landscape that is reportedly five times the playable size of Arkham Island, that is actually quite the feat. Even in the faces of the characters, every detail stands out. You will notice the difference as Bruce Waynes' clean shaven chin slowly turns to Batmans' stubble as the day turns to night. This is the level of detail you can expect to find on nearly every character in the game.

The only gripe that really comes to mind is how occasionally the texture can take a while to load on a surface before suddenly appearing. This can get pretty annoying when it pulls you out of the game immersion wise, but with a game this huge and detailed, one can understand.

Gameplay
From the moment Wayne dons the Batsuit high atop Ace Chemicals, your given complete freedom to roam Arkham City, much like the other inmates. Traversing the city can be done in a variety of ways but one of the most satisfying methods is by gliding. Utilizing the updated system of gliding that allows you preform air dives in or to gain altitude by pulling up out of the dive much like the flying machine in ACII, your able to get across the city in a very timely matter, no multi-pass required. This is an effective way to just straight up explore the city and get a "bats-eye" view of whats happening in this cesspool of crime.

The gliding is made possible by Batmans trusty and signature grapplehook, but as one might expect, this isn't the only gadget that the Batman has up his sleeve, or on his belt rather. Starting off with five or so gadgets, more and more are slowly introduced at key parts in the story. Every gadget offers a new element in combat as well as the predator instances, and unlike most other games, maintains this utility far into the corners of the game. Some gadgets serve a third purpose of allowing access to areas or Riddler trophies that would otherwise be unreachable.

Combat in Arkham City sports one of the most rewarding systems I've ever had the pleasure of playing, but also one of the most unforgiving. Executing a series of well timed button presses will send Batman flying across the screen taking out henchman left right and center. It's easy to get caught up in the magic of watching Batman beat two shades of snot out of a guy but one must remember to counter when need be. Like in the first game the henchman are not just punching dolls that are there to slow you down, they have arms, and something that might resemble a brain. They will run to open gun chests or they could pick up a knife or a shield that just happens to be laying around. For each one of the weapons there is separate ways of dealing with that enemy, aside from the counter. Pressing a certain series of attacks will effectively disarm the opponent and leave him on the ground. This gets to be really tricky when your trying to keep the combo going since entering a free form combo will make your strikes hit much harder, and your being attacked from all sides with a range of weaponry.

The biggest change for the better comes in the form of the quick use gadget hot-keys. This was used on a smaller scale in Arkham Asylum but I don't think was fully realized until work began on this game. Hitting a quick series of buttons like LT LT or LT + X allows you to quickly mix a gadget in with your combo to take down a set of guys or simply just freeze one, eliminating him from the fight saving him for later, a method that's very effective later in the game when your able to interrogate certain henchmen. The second part of the complete satisfaction package that is the combat comes at the very end, and as bad as that sounds it's actually quite true. When your finished beating the opponent to a pulp, your treated to a slow motion spectacle of the final bone crushing hit, another beautiful venue to rest those pretty little eyes on.

For those of us that would rather shy away from a fight instead taking the stealthy approach to eliminating our targets, Arkham City is full of those gargoyles as well as a slew of new methods you can use to surprise and instantly eliminate your enemy. One of the funnest ways to go about this is by laying traps for them to unknowingly walk into, like an exploding wall. Some of the henchmen (all in later stages of the game) are equipped with heartbeat monitors which alert the nearby guards to the downed body's presence, forcing you to make a hasty dash to a nearby air duct or gargoyle. This can work out in your favor if your careful enough to sneak up behind a guard making his way to the fallen comrade. These sections of the game reward you for eliminating your enemies without being detected, because if you are, you have a good chance of restarting the scenario due to Batmans' inability to deflect bullets.

Completing a scenario or clearing an area of henchmen will reward the victorious Batman with experience, experience he can then use to gain levels and upgrade his Batsuit or unlock that ability for that sexy gadget you just unlocked.

Lasting Appeal
Aside from the main story in Arkham City, Batman has a few other things that come up during his visit in the prison. Why can't these things ever be an in and out job? Many of the other personalities somehow make an appearance in the city in their own crazy ways to make life difficult for the Batman. With fifteen or so sidequests that require attention, your not going to be leaving the area anytime soon.

Taking what Arkham Asylum had for hidden trophies and nearly quadrupling that, Arkham City will have you playing for many many many additional hours trying to find every one. Why? Because it's actually fun and not tedious like it is in other games. This is on top of the Riddler riddles that you have to solve by examining key objects in certain areas of the city.

Another reason to continue playing is the challenges. Completing the challenges effectively will earn you a medal based on your performance, do better get a another medal up to a total of three per challenge. Challenges can either involve you just straight up beating the crap out of some thugs or sneaking around in the predator scenarios. This is a good way to replay this game, especially if you only have a few minutes to play in a busy day.

This is all on top of the mode that is unlocked after completing the eighteen-ish hour story which allows you to replay the story from the beginning as your upgraded batman.

If your lucky enough to get your hands on the Catwoman DLC, I highly recommend that you do as she comes with her own set of missions and trophies as does the Robin DLC.

Conclusion
It's hard to imagine anything topping Arkham Asylum as I was one of the people who held that title in the highest regard, but Rocksteady blew it out of the water with Arkham City. Featuring everything the previous title had along with many improvements and extras, I found it extremely hard to put this game down and continue my work life. I recommend this game to everyone whether your a fan of the Batman or not, the mechanics and style found in Arkham City are beyond compare and with the upcoming DLC, I wouldn't be surprised to see this steal quite a few game of the year titles.

Score:
10/10