A few years ago Batman: Arkham Asylum was released and proved to the world that the Bat could be done justice in a game. Now, Rocksteady has returned the Bat to the video game scene in Batman: Arkham City. Can the Bat be successful twice in a row? Or will the Joker have the last laugh?
The story this time around is quite interesting. Hugo Strange has somehow created a large prison in the middle of Gotham City and has moved all the inmates from Arkham Asylum to his new Arkham City. Unfortunately, this includes many of Batman's enemies, including the Joker. Batman, as Bruce Wayne, has been arrested and thrown into the prison as well, for an undisclosed reason, giving Batman the chance to find out what is going on and why this prison was built. Of course, Hugo Strange isn't the only one Batman will have to deal with as he runs into some of the other Batman villains.
This story sounds like it'll end up a mess and it sort of does. When you encounter a new villain, the other ones are put on hold for a short period and it shows that it's trying to do too much. Still, it's interesting and some pretty cool moments are held within the City, not to mention the idea of an Arkham City is awesome. One huge downside is Catwoman, only because she is an online pass. If you bought the game new or bought the code, you'll play at Catwoman at certain points in the story and it's a fun diversion. The issue is that if you don't have the code redeemed, the story runs into pacing issues since you play as Catwoman during cliff--hanger moments with Batman. It's a pretty big problem and shows how wrong story passes are.
The gameplay is where the game improves the most from Arkham Asylum. It plays the same for the most part, but the combat is more fluid and the exploration is more interesting. It's not as focused as Arkham Asylum, which it shares with the story, but it gives you more gadgets and more areas to explore. The combat is still a fun test of reflexes and you can explore more places and are better at it, but it's not shiny and new like Arkham Asylum was. The Riddler Challenges have been increased in numbers and have increased in difficulty, mainly because you need to find them and find how to get them.
As you fight, you gain experience and level up. When you level up, you can choose an upgrade. These upgrades are used in combat and exploration and are a nice way of keeping things varied. Catwoman plays the same, but there are some mild differences, such as the way she travels. Everything is still fun and it's enjoyable to explore the city.
The music is dark and sweeping and the voice work is still excellent. Mark Hamil returns as the Joker and Kevin Conroy returns as Batman. The rest of the cast is excellent as well as are the sound effects. This is one place that stayed great coming off of Arkham Asylum.
The visuals have been improved slightly, even with the addition of an open-world. The art direction and the overall look of the city is fantastic and the models still look good. It still runs on Unreal Engine 3, so expect the same problems from Arkham Asylum; such as texture pop-in and texture loading. The cutscenes look great and the Joker is still a joy to watch. The other villains look great as well and overall, the visuals are great for such a huge game.
PROs
- Interesting story
- Fun combat
- Varied progression system
- Arkham City is an interesting place to explore
- Playing as Catwoman is a nice diversion
- Music and voice work is awesome
- Plenty of Batman villains
- The Joker
CONs
- Catwoman is an online pass
- Without pass, the story has pacing issues
- Texture pop-in and texture loading
- Story tries to do too much
Overall, Batman: Arkham City is a fantastic follow-up to Arkham Asylum. It's story is slightly worse and tries to do too much, but the gameplay and exploration have been improved greatly. If you liked Arkham Asylum or games like Metroid, give Arkham City a try.
Story: 7.5/10
Gameplay: 9.0/10
Audio: 9.0/10
Presentation: 9.5/10
TOTAL: 8.5/10