Arkham City is a huge leap forward in adventure games. Feels like a mix of Assassin's Creed, Metroid, and Splinter Cell.
I'm currently playing on hard mode, and find that the game is much harder than the first game. I welcome this ! Finally a game that is challenging and not dumbed down. Remember Assassin's Creed? the sequels are much easier than the first game. The same cannot be said for Arkham City. You have to use more strategy, more gadgets, and there is less margin for error when pummeling your way through Gotham's avenues and alleyways. You have to put stealth first, action second. You must avoid confrontations armed thugs in order to survive. This is unlike Splinter Cell games, where you choose whether or not to approach a battle guns ablaze, or opt for a stealthy approach. The combat in this game is much like the first one, but you must improvise a bit more with your assortment of weapons. There are so many ways to approach a battle! This is a challenging and satisfying system that makes you pump your fist after every single battle. The same can be said for the stealth parts of the game. The enemy A.I. seems to have gotten an upgrade. They are quick to spot you out this time, regardless of how far away you are from them. Another big improvement over the first game is the riddler puzzles. They are much more "Metroid" like this time, and very satisfying to solve.
Graphics are basically the same. Character models are just as pretty as they were in Asylum. But what changed is the level design. The game is at least 4x bigger than Arkham Asylum. It feels very much like Infamous, and Assassin's Creed in terms of scale. The difference though is in the detail. Arkham City is much more colorful and detailed than those other two games I just mentioned. The level of detail is staggering at times, and the variety present in the game will keep you playing for many hours. I can already see that this game will take a long time to finish. There are tons of side missions and puzzles to solve. And I ms say, this is the first open world video game that has side missions just as large and enjoyable as the main quests. I also think no other game implements an RPG leveling system for an action game so well ,I could also go as far as comparing Arkham City to the Legend of Zelda in this regard.
Yes, I am an avid DC comic book collector, and Batman fan. And this game is a real treat. It would make for an excellent animated film and story, legendary voice actors return, making it feel as if a new Batman animated feature was released, as well as a video game. The story is gripping to say the least, and the first few minutes of the game will be more than enough to have you completely immersed in this rich detailed world of Gotham.
9/10 I can't give it a higher score because the loading times are very long. Not while playing, but during loading a level. I die an awful lot in this game and after each death comes a long loading time that is very annoying. One thing I also didn't like was the Catwoman levels. She isn't animated that well, not as good as Batman, her method of scaling buildings felt a bit too choppy for my tastes; but luckily she doesn't take up much of the game time. I also preferred the old games' character bios, the artwork was excellent. This time out, we get character models with each biographical description. Oh, and I miss the Arkham chronicles, and tape recordings. Hopefully, I stumble across some soon, I'm only 8 hours into the game so far. I have yet to unlock all the concept art in the game. This game is absolutely huge! It's an overwhelming game that should keep you busy for many hours.