Top to bottom this is a perfect game. Graphics, story, combat, controls, characters, collectibles etc etc.
The first thing that deserves praise is Arkham City itself. It's gorgeous, complex, with a ton of variety packed into a small and manageable package. Too many sandbox games want to go for realism or scale or whatever and forget that navigating the environment should be fun… because you do a lot of travelling in sandbox games. In Red Dead Redemption and the Assassin's Creed series they created these massive and impressive worlds, but navigating them quickly became as enjoyable and exciting as pulling teeth. In Assassin's Creed I got so fed up I would just bolt through the streets trying to run past everything with about a dozen guards constantly chasing me. In Batman AC, you can gracefully zip along the skyline, not worrying about goons or the troubles below.
The controls and movement are so responsive, so much fun and so satisfying. It really is enjoyable just to glide and grapple around the city, I love it. Normally I'm extremely picky about controls, but Batman AC hits it dead on. The true test of a game's controls is what happens when you have to get somewhere quickly. That's the big reason why I gave up on the past two Assassin's Creed games. While the controls were fine while moving at your own pace, the moment the game forced you to race somewhere with any sort of speed I wanted to smash my skull through the television. I had the same problem with Uncharted 3 recently and to a lesser extent inFamous 2. But Batman controls like a dream. Even during the timed phone call side missions, I never once lost my cool and again I'm so particular about this kind of thing.
Why is Alfred such an obnoxious prick? I thought he was supposed to be a kindly old man. Honestly out of every villain in this game I hated Alfred the most. I don't really mean that as a joke. (Well aside from the Riddler, there's no fate too gruesome for the Riddler.) Each villain is so well fleshed out, it's unbelievable, especially considering how many villains they have. It's not like, "Haha Batman, it's Penguin, here's my cameo, fight me." (Well maybe the Hush side mission is a little like that.) Every villain has their own little nuances, their own sort of theme, and a little back story. The dialogue and acting is incredible. As a result of the tremendous effort they put into making each villain so rich, I found that each of them had a sympathetic side. Everyone except for Alfred, who was just sarcastic and mean all the time. I even started to feel really sorry for the goons about halfway through the game. Talking about how cold they were, getting a chance to pork Harley, the little guy always getting the shaft, etc. But then one of them called me a chicken and I had to pound twelve of them into the cement.
Which brings me to the best part of Batman AC, the satisfying combat. It feels like a dance. It takes fluidity, patience but also quick thinking and reflexes. There's a real skill to learning the combat and managing the many moves, which can't be said for most games. The great sounds and goons trash talking adds such a gratifying kick. This game just nails controls and gameplay so well. It puts every other third person game to shame.
Normally collectibles are a chore. But Batman AC even blows that category out of the water. 400 collectibles in this game and each one has a unique little puzzle to figure out. The man hours that must have gone into this is staggering. Even better, the collectibles are actually tied to a great side quest and unlockable challenges so it gives you some legitimate reason for your progression rather than a couple xp points. Seriously, when have I ever complemented a game on its collectibles? Top to bottom that's how outstanding this game is.
The challenge rooms are back and they're still damn tough. The next room always seems impossible. I made a similar comment about Dark Souls, when you have such tight and skilful gameplay its awesome to see how much better you get at the game, without any kind of help or upgrades from the game itself. Fortunately there's no shock and awe this time around. While the campaign challenges are an interesting idea, they feel really redundant and unnecessary. Regardless it is still so satisfying to three star all of the many forms of challenges this game has to throw at you.
The boss fights were a weakness of Batman AA, but in AC they are one of the game's strengths. There is a lot of variety to be had with the boss fights and an almost Dark Souls style scale (ie the little guy with just his basic attacks taking out creatures five times his size that he has no business even fighting). My personal favourite was Solomon Grundy. Again, how do they succeed in making the stupidest DC characters look so damn cool. Even Robin, one of the all-time lamest comic characters, looks super badass in this game. I've said it before, I hate DC and the idea of Batman is terrible on paper. But Rocksteady and Nolan, through their respective outstanding games and movies, have made the guy look so awesome… I have to say they've made me a reluctant fan. I also really appreciated the throw back to Adam West with Batman bare knuckle boxing a shark!
The only negatives are that they didn't fix detective mode. This game is gorgeous, with a ton of attention to detail. Unfortunately I have to constantly fight the urge to play through the entire game in detective mode because it's so helpful and necessary. Also the game throws a lot at you all at once. It's a little intimidating at first. I like that all the side missions are ongoing parallel stories. There's no simple "meet this dude and deliver a package, mission complete" or "beat up 10 goons, mission complete" type missions here. But it means that you have to keep a lot of things in mind at once. The main story, multiple ongoing side missions, riddler collectibles, riddler challenges, etc... I was just trying to remember how to use all the gadgets from the first game. The stealth portions are still outstanding and a huge pleasure… when you're indoors. I found that this aspect of the game falls apart a little when you confront armed goons walking the open streets. It's either really easy to take them out or sort of awkward and frustrating because there isn't the same kind of thought and structure to the environment.
I will admit that I'm a tough customer to please when it comes to video games. I'm very particular and I don't give games any slack for half efforts. A gaming experience as rich, deep and detailed as Batman AC can show the world what a great video game can really be. Every single aspect of this game is top notch. A rare perfect ten.