Arkham City both reconfirms the classic status of Arkham Asylum and transcends it into historical gaming greatness
It all begins one year after Batman deals with the Joker at Arkham Asylum. While taking all the credits for stopping the mad clown's plans, Quincy Sharp – the former warden of the asylum – manages to get himself elected mayor of Gothan. With the asylum no longer being used as a prison, Sharp decides – manipulated by Hugo Strange – to build walls around a large portion of Gothan and use those neighborhoods as a bizarre free-roaming prison for the city's dangerous criminals. Baffled at how Sharp's political opponents also get locked up inside the tall walls, and worried that things could get out of hand in Arkham, Batman keeps a watchful eye over the happenings in the prison, deciding that Bruce Wayne could use his influence in Gothan to put an end to the madness. His plan, however, backfires when Wayne is taken into custody by Arkham's police force and also gets taken into the prison. From that point on, the bat stands alone in a city where common thieves walk the streets and powerful evil masterminds struggle for power.
Much like what happened in Arkham Asylum, Arkham City serves as a huge spotlight for the universe's many villains to shine on. Batman may be a very nice character, but there are not many things more satisfying than watching as more than two dozens of Batman's most iconic villains interact with one another and move along with their own agendas that are all nicely connected within one solid plot. Arkham Asylum inherits from its prequel the marvelous excellence in the pairing up of story and atmosphere into one unforgettable package. While the atmosphere is, obviously, clear everywhere, in how carefully designed the many districts of Arkham City were; the story is, surprisingly, a very constant element. Even when Batman is not chasing after the game's main quest, it is possible to pick up over the radio casual conversations between interns about the political struggle between the gangs formed by the game's core villains. It may sound like a silly detail, but it is so well-integrated that it becomes one of the central reasons why Arkham City climbs above the average open-world games into a much more special status, that one of a masterpiece.
As if all of the villains involved in the main quest were not enough, there are also plenty of those to find in the sidequests, and that is something that heavily benefits the game for two similar reasons: with the appearance of unseen villains, they offer extra reward for players, something beside the extra percentage on the game's completion file; and villains infuse a boost of personality into sidequests that could end up being judged as generic missions from open world games. The Riddler is, once again, out and about hiding puzzles and collectibles for Batman to find; Victor Zsasz is on a mad killing streak that sends Batman running around ringing telephones spread around Arkham City; Bane needs some help dealing with containers of the TITAN substance; mysterious killings have been occurring around Arkham and Batman must look for evidence; the list of sidequests goes on and on for hours.
Arkham City neatly replicates the successful formula of Arkham Asylum: it joins exploration, this time much more significant due to how bigger the outside environment is, with frantic combat and stealth. Arkham City is full of dark alleys, buildings and other tall structures, therefore progressing through the city feels a lot like Assassins Creed's roof exploration, the only difference being that Batman – in addition to jumps – can use the different equipments on his belt and his ability to fly to make going from spot A to spot B a very thrilling experience. Combat has remained untouched for the most part, Batman punches foes with the simple click of the mouse, and fast players can chain large combos to turn the tide of battle in their favor; those who are even more skilled can use Batman's different equipments – such as the claw, boomerang, electrical weapon and freeze grenades – to make battles even more interesting, turning them into an exercise in creativity.
The stealth segments remain the clear highlight of the show, though. In them Batman can use a wide assortment of techniques to take down armed foes silently – against whom the bat's armor cannot stand – and rid himself of groups of armed enemies in a room without being seen, remaining hidden in the shadows and making players feel like the Dark Knight himself. As it happens in combat, the addition of new kinds of enemies adds new flavor to the stealth affairs. Some foes use communication-disrupting devices that stop Batman from using his X-ray vision to scan the positions of all foes in the vicinity; others carefully place landmines that diminish the amount of routes for sneaking around; and others carry visors that lets them see in the dark, reducing the number of places Batman can hide. All that variety forces players to be even more creative and audacious when dealing with those situations, pushing them into using all weapons and options at their disposal to survive.
With all the improvements, it is unfortunate that Arkham Asylum has one area in which it fails to surpass its predecessor, coming – instead – into a tie that is disappointing considering how bigger the game is in scope, and that area is its length. Arkham Asylum's main quest clocked in at about twelve hours, and that is precisely the running time for Arkham City's. Even though the quantity of sidequests is much bigger this time around, it is sad to see the main story end much earlier than initially expected, and even though the game does not end leaving players with either a feeling of lost opportunity or lack of exploration of the city's twisted wonders, it is hard not to feel like gameplay time could have been bigger, which is the main tendency that Arkham City has over Arkham Asylum. Another area on which this game falls a little bit short is in its boss battles, that while creative for the most part and plentiful, are a little bit on the easy side, lacking the same challenge some fights in Arkham Asylum featured.
Fortunately, for every minus there is a plus, and one of Arkham City's greatest prowess is the existence of not one, but two playable characters, because throughout the game Catwoman decides to help out Batman in his quest. Her gameplay segments are few and brief compared to Batman's, but playing as her is a very pleasant break of pace. In general, she moves a lot like Batman, with the core difference being her speed, her ability to claw her way across rails in the ceiling to stalk enemies and the fact that she takes a different approach to climbing buildings. Still, after the adventure is over, it becomes possible – and vital – to switch between the bat and the cat to fully complete the game as one character can do certain things that the other cannot, which turns out to be a very interesting dynamic.
Technically speaking, Arkham City borders on flawless. Its dark moody visuals have been built into ridiculous detail levels, and no two dark alleys or buildings are the same, and the sheer size of Arkham City is impressive and can be fully admired from the game's tallest points, offering players' amazing views. The game's soundtrack finds its sweet spot in a sweet shift between environmental sounds that make up for moody exploration, and epic-scale compositions that feature large choirs and wide arrangement s. The voice-work remains a prime example of voice acting in videogames, featuring a cast of actors that knows their characters enough not to overplay their exaggerated characteristics, standing on the right side of believable and avoiding the doom of cheesiness.
If Batman Arkham Asylum was quickly labeled one of this generation's best games, then Batman Arkham City both reconfirms that status and transcends it into historical gaming greatness. The landscape of Superhero licenses may end up being the same even after Rocksteady Studios showed how great a game based on a comic book universe can be, but from this day forth it is more than safe to say that attempts to milk superheroes in order to gain quick cash will be ever more shameful, because the shadow of Batman's Arkham series will forever loom on the horizon as a nearly unreachable comparison measurement.