Well, Arkham Asylum won game of the year and one game of the year always deserves a sequel, am I right? At least Rocksteady and Warner Bros thought it did. Getting to release was sort of haphazard towards the end with the intentional spoilers and the announcement that Catwoman, who was touted from the beginning as a key feature of the game, was now locked out of the game as $10 DLC, unless you bought the game new, just 4 days from release.
I dunno, I was a fan of Arkham Asylum even though it took me a second playthrough to really get a more positive feel for it. I'm a rather large Batman fan, not in the sense of having an extensive background knowledge of the comics (Though I've dabbled here and there in some ****ing awesome stories (Hush, anyone?)), but rather that he's been my favorite hero since I could walk. Arkham Asylum took a bit for me to catch on to so I was only mildly excited for the sequel and was hoping that there'd be more villains and more polished combat mechanics. I don't have enough money to buy every game that comes out though, so I had to play it without Catwoman since I use Gamefly. Let's get down to what I thought of it.
Gameplay
- NO BATMAN FOR YOU! - I have to get this out of the way first; Arkham City refused to actually play for me several times. I had the game installed on my 360 hard drive and my Xbox is a year-old, 250GB S model. As far as I'm concerned, my Xbox has no problems playing games at all. Odd thing about Arkham City was that it wouldn't stop reading the disc until I actually pressed start button on the main menu in the game (if I even made it that far). Installed games usually read the disc for a couple seconds and then stop as the all the legal info and developer/publisher logos appear.
I'm not sure if it was the disc, my Xbox, or just the way the game was designed but I was only able to play the game so much because of this. I actually ended up sending it back to Gamefly after I'd beaten it because it was such a hindrance. I ended up beating the game in 2 non-stop sessions over 2 days. I wish you all the best of luck and that you don't have to experience what I went through.
- You know what to do... Right? - I'd just come off of Assassin's Creed when I first started my playthrough of Arkham City and I must say that it was very difficult picking up on how I was expected to play. They basically don't hold your hand at all, as though their plans were designed to work solely for those who had just completed Arkham Asylum 5 minutes ago. Almost nothing is explained:
- Gliding - You need to glide to get around Arkham City efficiently and it'd be really stellar if I was explicitly told how I could go about doing that. You can't just tilt down and then up to gain more lift in the sky. You need to use this new-fangled dive mechanic to go down faster and then let go of dive while pulling up to recover any lost air. Even when playing the tutorial-like training modules for the dive, it's purpose for helping you to cover more ground wasn't expounded on. As far I could tell, it was used to just drop really fast from the sky. You also get a grapple that will reel you in to anchor points super fast so you can launch off of them immediately with your glide. I was told to double-tap a certain button to activate the quick-reel and I couldn't get it to work at all. It was much later that I had to figure out for myself that I was to hold down the second press of the button to activate the function. It just wasn't very clear.
- Fighting - You have about 90% of all your gadgets from the first game along with the ability to use every single one of them in combat right off the bat. They didn't go over the new uses with me, let me know that there even were new uses, explain the mechanics of the fighting system, what my health bar was (it honestly does not call any attention to itself), that I can counter more than one enemy at a time, etc. I was told nothing at all. The only time it'd go over something is if I had just bought a new skill from the new abilities menu or set up the tutorial for a move I could already do from that same menu. Problem is that it wouldn't come up unless you were in a fight and it's all too much to learn at once or to pick and choose which mechanics were more important to learn out of the 40 or so already at my disposal. Every move isn't essential to get through your battles but now that they throw like 10-20 enemies at you at once, they certainly help and I should be given guidance on how to utilize that help. Especially someone who's completely new to the series.
You're also completely dropped into the game. You have thugs everywhere, the entirety of Arkham City is open to you, missions popping up left and right, question mark insignias EVERYWHERE, it's sort a confusing state. So confusing, it took me about 30 minutes to realize that I actually have a mission marker in the world that looks like the traditional bat-signal in the sky (which is ****ing awesome!), it just doesn't call any attention to itself.
Throughout my first few hours of gameplay, I truly had never felt so lost in a game before. I didn't enjoy the feeling either and I can't see why this was such an oversight in a AAA title. I certainly don't know how a game can get 10/10 review scores like this when other games get panned mercilessly for such problems.
Throughout my first few hours of gameplay, I truly had never felt so lost in a game before. I didn't enjoy the feeling either and I can't see why this was such an oversight in a AAA title. I certainly don't know how a game can get 10/10 review scores like this when other games get panned mercilessly for such problems.
- I'm feeling like there's too much on my plate here... - It's not a reach to say that Rocksteady was after the Assassin's Creed style of combat and platforming. The camera angle, positioning of enemies, simple mechanics, it's quite similar. In fact, Assassin's Creed should take note of how easy it is to manuever Batman around using only one button to run around and jump up buildings and how infrequently Batman seems to misinterpret what you're trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, they've surpassed even Ezio when it comes to all the different tools and methods of combat that Batman can use inside of his shallow, rhythmical, fun combat. If I'm concerned about a multiplier building up, my overall rhythm of button presses, looking out for enemies to counter and deal with the crazy-ass camera that feels like it needs to disorient me with every enemy I choose to attack, I simply cannot be bothered to think of every gadget and ability. In fact, should I think of them in the middle of combat, I get tripped up.
Look at action games like Devil May Cry, and Ninja Gaiden. They utilize simple controls for their combat and end up having a large range of weapons, abilities and combos for you to choose from and utilize. They work a rhyme and reason into their control scheme for certain attacks so it becomes more intuitive. I'm less likely to remember the difference between attacks when buttons are given such similar commands for completely different results.
You don't have to use all of these attacks to get through the game's battles but it can make them easier and more fun than just using one attack and counter button and it sucks that I'm more scared of trying to use them than I am experimenting with them and having fun. And that's even if I remember that I have them in the first place!
In fact, when introduced to the new slide technique, it was so under-utilized that I completely forgot I had it. When I was trying to get into a factory, I couldn't open up this one sliding door more than a foot or so and I figured there was another way into the place and I just couldn't find it. I was stuck for about 20 mins, unable to make progress in the story. I don't know what spurred it on but when I went back to the door, I somehow thought to slide and I made it through. One, I felt stupid for not remembering the technique and two, I was incredibly shocked that Batman fit given his girth in the game. I honestly don't remember using it much more in the entire game after that other than to collect riddler trophies. I also didn't think it could be used in combat because that concept was never introduced to me.
I hate to sound like a broken record but all of this cramming of mechanics into what's supposed to be a game concerned with so much simplicity any player off the street can play and win is just ridiculous. There are more complex games requiring more skill that are far more simplified and intuitive than all of this. And they know how to do this because that's what made Arkham Asylum what it was.
+ I do feel quite like Batman - Every punch, kick, grab, counter, bone-break, and gadget gives the most visceral feel that you're the biggest badass in the mother****ing world. It also helps when you're scaring the piss out of the thugs that inhabit the city. All of the sound and visual effects coming together to show you just punched this dude in the face with the force of a mountain. And this experience is satisfying whether you're a gaming vet such as myself or someone who isn't so up and up on being able to play games.
They've also polished the combat a bit to allow you the actual freedom Batman would have in the situations you're thrown into. You can now counter multiple enemies at once as well as enemies carrying large objects, both before and after they throw it at you. If you set a trap in a level, it will indicate how many thugs it will take out at once instead of you needing to do the guess work before you spring it. Batman also tracks enemies more accurately leaving the only mistakes made in combat to the crazy-ass camera.
Batman's also gained this awesome mechanic to throw out a flurry of punches to large or armored opponents. The two best things about it is that he'll punch as fast as you can mash a button and you can interrupt and resume it at will so you can counter an enemy behind you and continue with your punchin'. There's also this new move where you can glide towards a thug at great speed and drag them silently across the ground as you skid to a stop and then punch 'em out. There's so much Batman here, it feels like they didn't leave out a single thing of his combat style or gadgets.
+ There are welcome improvements - A couple of lessons learned from the first game are related to how bosses could've been better and how Riddler trophies could be more than just finding collectibles. Riddler trophies are now hidden behind reflex tests, puzzles, hidden passages, and deductive reasoning. You can still find some just sitting about but there's only so many of the 400+ trophies that are like that. The motivation for collecting them is to save hostages this time around. Yeah, collectibles don't seem like such a throw-away concept when they're tied into the story now, do they? You can also lock onto trophies so that they're marked and kept track of on your map in the game. I wish every game with collectibles had that...
Gone are also the titan-strain bosses from the first game. They still actually appear but are counted as just another enemy type. There are more varied boss fights around, most of them easy as **** but it still works better than what they had before and they all give you that "I'm Batman, I'm easily better than you" feel. One boss in particular was very clever; he would adapt to how you caused him harm so you'd have to come up with a strategic solution for each hit you dealt since you couldn't do the same thing twice. It was a little lame how if you can't figure out how to do anything, the game will just straight-away tell you every method you can use but I think they showed there were about 20 different methods, which is awesome seeing as how you only need to come up with 6 of them. Overall, these improvements do make the experience more memorable.
You're also rarely doing the same thing over and over through the story-related missions. There's a lot of exploration, puzzles, actually acting like a detective, sneaking around, and fighting to be done and it never really gives the experience a chance to feel stagnant or repetitive (except for when you're back-tracking).
- I know I don't have Catwoman! Stop it! - It seems like the game really tries to rub in the point that you're not playing the full product. Every time you boot up the game, it asks if you'd like to consider purchasing the Catwoman content or if you're still happy trying to enjoy the game for what it is. Catwoman-only riddler trophies are plentiful in Batman's campaign and you get an electrical shock if you try to pick them up. Even in your menus for challenges and abilities are sections for Catwoman that are locked out. It's incredibly apparent that she was supposed to be an integral part of the game (Like, four days before Arkham City's launch - ZING!) and it's ****ing annoying. I've never been more pimped by a game to get me to buy its DLC and I've played some games that go pretty far. I don't care what your opinion is, this is absolutely unacceptable.
This is what longtime players have been afraid of when it comes to the implementation of DLC. We were scared that we'd be losing out on experiences that should've already been included in the game in the first place, and that we'll have to pay more than retail to be able to play all of the content within a game. This is only the beginning I'm afraid unless we speak up against it now and stop it before it starts.
Also, the game was fairly short just shooting through the story missions and I'm not sure if that's because the Catwoman content is substantial enough that it would've added a few more hours of story or because I'm really expected to play through all of the shallow-yet-well-done side missions. This whole Catwoman as DLC thing just doesn't help things
Story & Presentation
= A lack of focus, perhaps? - Things just don't feel as cohesive as they should. Villains are constantly popping in and and out of the game like they're playing musical chairs, and sometimes characters just pop in for a cameo without any real reason. And given how short the game is, every appearance feels extremely rushed. Maybe this wouldn't have been such a large issue if this game were designed more like a traditional adventure game than a GTA open-world experience. I mean, it's weird when you have this pressing crisis going on but you don't have to tackle it immediately. Why not dabble in some cameo missions before you save Gotham, right?
You really feel dropped into the whole situation too. Arkham City's just there and so are you. It's not really explained where Arkham City came from or how certain characters got into their position of power. At least this is a story that has enough to grab your interest after the first few hours or so. It's just hard to stay on track until then and you may wonder what it is you're doing in Arkham City again. Just stay focused on one thing at a time (even though the game tries it best to have you deviate from that focus) and you'll persevere. There are a couple of moments in the story that you won't soon forget, just don't expect a lot of them.
= What a twist! - Expect plot twists everywhere. They're about as natural to the storyline as the colors black and grey are to Arkham City's environment. For me, it actually took away what was supposed to be an ending with a rather large impact. I'm not sure it was the best way to go.
+ A comic nerd's utopia - It really seems like just about everyone left out of the first game was able to make a cameo in Arkham City, from heroes to villains. And a good amount of those cameos aren't just momentary appearances either. They either have their own side mission and event or a role within the major plot itself. It's enough to make a fan giddy.
- A bit tossed together, visually - There's almost zero style, flair, or personality in any of the menus or displays in the game. It's so bland that I actually didn't know I had a health bar for a long time. None of it makes me want to go look at character bios or check out the map. It's all bland and sterile, so much so that it's actually a bit of a turn off.
Some of the displays even get in the way of what you're doing. If you gained enough experience for an upgrade, you need to stop what you're doing and upgrade immediately or it'll disable your navigation display until you do. Some alerts won't ever go away unless you acknowledge them asap. Nothing really huge but it's pretty annoying.
= What did he just say? - I'm not exactly sure what was going on when they were writing the scripts but the game is just extremely weird in the beginning. Batman talks with the enthusiasm of Sonic the Hedgehog about how it's gonna be no sweat to take down 5 guards at once or freaking out over a locked door. He also has the oddest chats with Alfred where it seems like he's calling to ask for assistance only for the conversation to consist of Alfred adding almost nothing to the topic at hand and Batman talking as though he knew the solution to the concern he brought up in the first place. I understand it as a tool to direct the player to performing a specific action but it would make more sense for Batman to just go over the plan to himself than have an odd conversation with Alfred that goes nowhere every time he thinks of something. Thankfully this only lasts for the beginning of the game but wow, those moments were extremely awkward.
+ Thugs got a lot on their mind - There's tons upon tons of dialogue for the thugs roaming about the city as you travel across the land. Conversations about Batman beating them down, breaking their bones, Joker scaring the piss out of them, whether he's really sick or not, rating how hot Harley, Catwoman, or Poison Ivy is, it's all really creative and entertaining.
Audio & Visuals
+ The right voice talent - Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are back as Batman and Joker. I don't think much more needs to be said about that other than Mark Hamill has an amazing way of sounding like he's actually dying. Tara strong, while not exactly sounding like Arleen Sorkin, does a very good imitation of Harley Quinn from the Batman animated series, so much so she actually tricked me into thinking she'd always been the voice for Harley. Overall, very good voice work with very talented actors and actresses.
+ I feel inspired - The music has a really personal and human touch to it this time around. Normally, Batman music has this kind of distant, gothic, more-sounds-than-actual-music feel to it. Now it brings feelings of optimism, hope, nostalgia, and sadness. I was sort of shocked by the soundtrack when coming across certain tracks for the first time and it really fits the game overall.
= What am I looking at exactly? - I'm not entirely sure what gives me this impression but the game just feels visually weaker than Arkham Asylum. Character models and the environment just don't have the same detail and draw that they used to. Textures can be pretty blurry up close and there's some extreme pop-in and texture loading issues that occur occasionally as you cross from one part of the city to another.
A lot of things tend to blur into one another as well due to a lot of environments and buildings looking similar to one another. Nothing really sticks out as memorable or amazing visually and sometimes even key locations, switches, doors, and the like don't pop out as much as they probably should. Just don't expect an amazing visual feast. Otherwise, it serves it's purpose of making the game not look terrible.
Should you buy?
No. At least not yet. I have reasons for this though, just hear me out. Arkham City, despite my heavy nitpicking, is a really good game. If I were working on a mainstream publisher's site, I'd give the game an 8-8.5. I really think everyone's giving the game a lot more credit than it deserves when other games are about as complete a package and they don't come close to the 10's and 9's this game is receiving. My advice to not purchase this game yet is due to the whole Catwoman thing.
I understand post-launch DLC and, to an extent, charging for the right to use the multiplayer component of a game. Single-player experiences though have never been as affected by DLC as much as Arkham City's seems to be. The argument is that it only affects those who didn't buy the game new so everyone should just chill out. So I guess those of us who only have enough money to rent games should be shunned from the intended full experience of the game, or those without internet access, or in the future when the service doesn't exist to download the content anymore. There's more to this than just combating used sales and it's bull****. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE STORES ENCOURAGING THE MARKET YOU'RE FIGHTING AGAINST (GAMESTOP) ARE GIVING OUT THOSE DLC CODES TO PEOPLE WHO BUY THE GAME USED ANYWAY! Please, if you really care about games in general, all you have to do is not purchase this game. It'll send the message that this method of ensuring people buy games new is not employed in the future.
Even while this game is a worthy purchase, and a Batman fan's dream of sorts, it's really not all that memorable and the game's main story is really short. You have the replay value of the side mission, riddler trophies, and challenge maps, but I don't see too many comic or game fans going "HOLY ****, did you play Arkham City?! It was AMAZING! You HAVE to play it!" The story isn't even on par with something like Hush or Under The Red Hood. It's simply what the Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in game was to the Spider-Man series as a whole, just a game that finally does the Batman universe some justice. With future DLC coming out for the game, just wait until the eventual "game of the year" edition of Arkham City which will probably come with all of it, including Catwoman, on the actual disc for a cheaper price than it is now at retail. If you really need to play it, a rental will more than satisfy that need and it still feels complete for what it is without Catwoman.
I really hope this form of guaranteeing new game purchases doesn't become a trend.
Batman: Arkham City was developed by Rocksteady and published by Warner Bros. Interactive for the PS3, Xbox360, and PC. Played over 8 hours to 46% game completion, all story and some side missions completed, a few challenge maps completed and a small number of Riddler trophies collected. Review is based on the Xbox 360 version.
In fact, when introduced to the new slide technique, it was so under-utilized that I completely forgot I had it. When I was trying to get into a factory, I couldn't open up this one sliding door more than a foot or so and I figured there was another way into the place and I just couldn't find it. I was stuck for about 20 mins, unable to make progress in the story. I don't know what spurred it on but when I went back to the door, I somehow thought to slide and I made it through. One, I felt stupid for not remembering the technique and two, I was incredibly shocked that Batman fit given his girth in the game. I honestly don't remember using it much more in the entire game after that other than to collect riddler trophies. I also didn't think it could be used in combat because that concept was never introduced to me.
I hate to sound like a broken record but all of this cramming of mechanics into what's supposed to be a game concerned with so much simplicity any player off the street can play and win is just ridiculous. There are more complex games requiring more skill that are far more simplified and intuitive than all of this. And they know how to do this because that's what made Arkham Asylum what it was.
+ I do feel quite like Batman - Every punch, kick, grab, counter, bone-break, and gadget gives the most visceral feel that you're the biggest badass in the mother****ing world. It also helps when you're scaring the piss out of the thugs that inhabit the city. All of the sound and visual effects coming together to show you just punched this dude in the face with the force of a mountain. And this experience is satisfying whether you're a gaming vet such as myself or someone who isn't so up and up on being able to play games.
They've also polished the combat a bit to allow you the actual freedom Batman would have in the situations you're thrown into. You can now counter multiple enemies at once as well as enemies carrying large objects, both before and after they throw it at you. If you set a trap in a level, it will indicate how many thugs it will take out at once instead of you needing to do the guess work before you spring it. Batman also tracks enemies more accurately leaving the only mistakes made in combat to the crazy-ass camera.
Batman's also gained this awesome mechanic to throw out a flurry of punches to large or armored opponents. The two best things about it is that he'll punch as fast as you can mash a button and you can interrupt and resume it at will so you can counter an enemy behind you and continue with your punchin'. There's also this new move where you can glide towards a thug at great speed and drag them silently across the ground as you skid to a stop and then punch 'em out. There's so much Batman here, it feels like they didn't leave out a single thing of his combat style or gadgets.
+ There are welcome improvements - A couple of lessons learned from the first game are related to how bosses could've been better and how Riddler trophies could be more than just finding collectibles. Riddler trophies are now hidden behind reflex tests, puzzles, hidden passages, and deductive reasoning. You can still find some just sitting about but there's only so many of the 400+ trophies that are like that. The motivation for collecting them is to save hostages this time around. Yeah, collectibles don't seem like such a throw-away concept when they're tied into the story now, do they? You can also lock onto trophies so that they're marked and kept track of on your map in the game. I wish every game with collectibles had that...
Gone are also the titan-strain bosses from the first game. They still actually appear but are counted as just another enemy type. There are more varied boss fights around, most of them easy as **** but it still works better than what they had before and they all give you that "I'm Batman, I'm easily better than you" feel. One boss in particular was very clever; he would adapt to how you caused him harm so you'd have to come up with a strategic solution for each hit you dealt since you couldn't do the same thing twice. It was a little lame how if you can't figure out how to do anything, the game will just straight-away tell you every method you can use but I think they showed there were about 20 different methods, which is awesome seeing as how you only need to come up with 6 of them. Overall, these improvements do make the experience more memorable.
You're also rarely doing the same thing over and over through the story-related missions. There's a lot of exploration, puzzles, actually acting like a detective, sneaking around, and fighting to be done and it never really gives the experience a chance to feel stagnant or repetitive (except for when you're back-tracking).
- I know I don't have Catwoman! Stop it! - It seems like the game really tries to rub in the point that you're not playing the full product. Every time you boot up the game, it asks if you'd like to consider purchasing the Catwoman content or if you're still happy trying to enjoy the game for what it is. Catwoman-only riddler trophies are plentiful in Batman's campaign and you get an electrical shock if you try to pick them up. Even in your menus for challenges and abilities are sections for Catwoman that are locked out. It's incredibly apparent that she was supposed to be an integral part of the game (Like, four days before Arkham City's launch - ZING!) and it's ****ing annoying. I've never been more pimped by a game to get me to buy its DLC and I've played some games that go pretty far. I don't care what your opinion is, this is absolutely unacceptable.
This is what longtime players have been afraid of when it comes to the implementation of DLC. We were scared that we'd be losing out on experiences that should've already been included in the game in the first place, and that we'll have to pay more than retail to be able to play all of the content within a game. This is only the beginning I'm afraid unless we speak up against it now and stop it before it starts.
Also, the game was fairly short just shooting through the story missions and I'm not sure if that's because the Catwoman content is substantial enough that it would've added a few more hours of story or because I'm really expected to play through all of the shallow-yet-well-done side missions. This whole Catwoman as DLC thing just doesn't help things
Story & Presentation
= A lack of focus, perhaps? - Things just don't feel as cohesive as they should. Villains are constantly popping in and and out of the game like they're playing musical chairs, and sometimes characters just pop in for a cameo without any real reason. And given how short the game is, every appearance feels extremely rushed. Maybe this wouldn't have been such a large issue if this game were designed more like a traditional adventure game than a GTA open-world experience. I mean, it's weird when you have this pressing crisis going on but you don't have to tackle it immediately. Why not dabble in some cameo missions before you save Gotham, right?
You really feel dropped into the whole situation too. Arkham City's just there and so are you. It's not really explained where Arkham City came from or how certain characters got into their position of power. At least this is a story that has enough to grab your interest after the first few hours or so. It's just hard to stay on track until then and you may wonder what it is you're doing in Arkham City again. Just stay focused on one thing at a time (even though the game tries it best to have you deviate from that focus) and you'll persevere. There are a couple of moments in the story that you won't soon forget, just don't expect a lot of them.
= What a twist! - Expect plot twists everywhere. They're about as natural to the storyline as the colors black and grey are to Arkham City's environment. For me, it actually took away what was supposed to be an ending with a rather large impact. I'm not sure it was the best way to go.
+ A comic nerd's utopia - It really seems like just about everyone left out of the first game was able to make a cameo in Arkham City, from heroes to villains. And a good amount of those cameos aren't just momentary appearances either. They either have their own side mission and event or a role within the major plot itself. It's enough to make a fan giddy.
- A bit tossed together, visually - There's almost zero style, flair, or personality in any of the menus or displays in the game. It's so bland that I actually didn't know I had a health bar for a long time. None of it makes me want to go look at character bios or check out the map. It's all bland and sterile, so much so that it's actually a bit of a turn off.
Some of the displays even get in the way of what you're doing. If you gained enough experience for an upgrade, you need to stop what you're doing and upgrade immediately or it'll disable your navigation display until you do. Some alerts won't ever go away unless you acknowledge them asap. Nothing really huge but it's pretty annoying.
= What did he just say? - I'm not exactly sure what was going on when they were writing the scripts but the game is just extremely weird in the beginning. Batman talks with the enthusiasm of Sonic the Hedgehog about how it's gonna be no sweat to take down 5 guards at once or freaking out over a locked door. He also has the oddest chats with Alfred where it seems like he's calling to ask for assistance only for the conversation to consist of Alfred adding almost nothing to the topic at hand and Batman talking as though he knew the solution to the concern he brought up in the first place. I understand it as a tool to direct the player to performing a specific action but it would make more sense for Batman to just go over the plan to himself than have an odd conversation with Alfred that goes nowhere every time he thinks of something. Thankfully this only lasts for the beginning of the game but wow, those moments were extremely awkward.
+ Thugs got a lot on their mind - There's tons upon tons of dialogue for the thugs roaming about the city as you travel across the land. Conversations about Batman beating them down, breaking their bones, Joker scaring the piss out of them, whether he's really sick or not, rating how hot Harley, Catwoman, or Poison Ivy is, it's all really creative and entertaining.
Audio & Visuals
+ The right voice talent - Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are back as Batman and Joker. I don't think much more needs to be said about that other than Mark Hamill has an amazing way of sounding like he's actually dying. Tara strong, while not exactly sounding like Arleen Sorkin, does a very good imitation of Harley Quinn from the Batman animated series, so much so she actually tricked me into thinking she'd always been the voice for Harley. Overall, very good voice work with very talented actors and actresses.
+ I feel inspired - The music has a really personal and human touch to it this time around. Normally, Batman music has this kind of distant, gothic, more-sounds-than-actual-music feel to it. Now it brings feelings of optimism, hope, nostalgia, and sadness. I was sort of shocked by the soundtrack when coming across certain tracks for the first time and it really fits the game overall.
= What am I looking at exactly? - I'm not entirely sure what gives me this impression but the game just feels visually weaker than Arkham Asylum. Character models and the environment just don't have the same detail and draw that they used to. Textures can be pretty blurry up close and there's some extreme pop-in and texture loading issues that occur occasionally as you cross from one part of the city to another.
A lot of things tend to blur into one another as well due to a lot of environments and buildings looking similar to one another. Nothing really sticks out as memorable or amazing visually and sometimes even key locations, switches, doors, and the like don't pop out as much as they probably should. Just don't expect an amazing visual feast. Otherwise, it serves it's purpose of making the game not look terrible.
Should you buy?
No. At least not yet. I have reasons for this though, just hear me out. Arkham City, despite my heavy nitpicking, is a really good game. If I were working on a mainstream publisher's site, I'd give the game an 8-8.5. I really think everyone's giving the game a lot more credit than it deserves when other games are about as complete a package and they don't come close to the 10's and 9's this game is receiving. My advice to not purchase this game yet is due to the whole Catwoman thing.
I understand post-launch DLC and, to an extent, charging for the right to use the multiplayer component of a game. Single-player experiences though have never been as affected by DLC as much as Arkham City's seems to be. The argument is that it only affects those who didn't buy the game new so everyone should just chill out. So I guess those of us who only have enough money to rent games should be shunned from the intended full experience of the game, or those without internet access, or in the future when the service doesn't exist to download the content anymore. There's more to this than just combating used sales and it's bull****. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE STORES ENCOURAGING THE MARKET YOU'RE FIGHTING AGAINST (GAMESTOP) ARE GIVING OUT THOSE DLC CODES TO PEOPLE WHO BUY THE GAME USED ANYWAY! Please, if you really care about games in general, all you have to do is not purchase this game. It'll send the message that this method of ensuring people buy games new is not employed in the future.
Even while this game is a worthy purchase, and a Batman fan's dream of sorts, it's really not all that memorable and the game's main story is really short. You have the replay value of the side mission, riddler trophies, and challenge maps, but I don't see too many comic or game fans going "HOLY ****, did you play Arkham City?! It was AMAZING! You HAVE to play it!" The story isn't even on par with something like Hush or Under The Red Hood. It's simply what the Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in game was to the Spider-Man series as a whole, just a game that finally does the Batman universe some justice. With future DLC coming out for the game, just wait until the eventual "game of the year" edition of Arkham City which will probably come with all of it, including Catwoman, on the actual disc for a cheaper price than it is now at retail. If you really need to play it, a rental will more than satisfy that need and it still feels complete for what it is without Catwoman.
I really hope this form of guaranteeing new game purchases doesn't become a trend.
Batman: Arkham City was developed by Rocksteady and published by Warner Bros. Interactive for the PS3, Xbox360, and PC. Played over 8 hours to 46% game completion, all story and some side missions completed, a few challenge maps completed and a small number of Riddler trophies collected. Review is based on the Xbox 360 version.
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