First Impression: My first impression with the game was a resounding "meh" mostly because at the time when this game was very new, I wasn't that big of a Batman fan. I assumed it would be like most superhero games, catering too much to try and be different and reinvent some ideals of the said hero. Superman 64, anyone? Anyway... Boy, I was wrong. My first impression was keeping me from this game for about 2 years before I finally bought the GOTY Edition.
Gameplay: The gameplay in this game is fantastic. It has some ups and downs, such as occasionally having an issue with targeting. There is heavy emphasis on melee combat and stealth takedowns. There is no way to gain an advantage by just shooting your way through the levels. There's also realism as it only takes a few shots from an enemy's handgun to kill you, even with a 50% damage reduction upgrade. Sometimes the game is unnecessarily difficult, as such with specific enemies that if you take them out, they'd have a heart monitor on and a villain would notice easily. A few times this was a problem toward the end of the game, giving almost no way of taking someone out without alerting other henchmen.
Graphics: Graphically, this game looked stunning. It captures the essence of Batman at its finest. The visuals are crisp and clear as well as the designs for Batman, Catwoman and so forth. The environment for Arkham City is also quite detailed, as it tries to capture a dysfunctional and destructive city variation of the Arkham Asylum.
Story: The story is one of the strongest points of the game. Bruce Wayne (ie Batman) is taken into custody and thrown into Arkham City, a ruse Dr. Strange created in order to eliminate the criminals, which he considers Batman "not better than the rest of them". There are various subplots within the city that connect to Batman trying to find Dr. Strange and stop his overall plan. One of the majorly influenced ones is that the Joker is dying from a toxin left in his body from the previous game (Arkham Asylum). He then tricks and poisons Batman with the same toxin to force him to find the antidote. The plot also revolves areound Catwoman meeting and greeting Batman along with at one point saving him from certain death. Though Batman tricks Ra's al Ghul into letting him through the Trial of the Demon. When decieved, Ra's tries to defeat Batman, only to be outwitted and Batman takes a sample of his blood. Using this, he creates an antidote with Dr. Freeze (after a boss fight ensues), then finds his way up to the top tower with Dr. Strange. It is then revealed that he was working with Ra's and Ra's kills him. Before Strange dies though, he issues a self-destruct mechanism and both Batman and Ra's jump out, with Batman surviving and Ra's being impaled onto a pole. The game then ends after the Joker makes Batman go into a movie theatre and reveals Clayface has been playing his perfect imposter. A gunpoint, Joker tries to force Batman to hand over the toxin and then causes an accident, causing Batman to drop the antidote before he could give it to him. Despite trying to desperately lick up the antidote, the Joker dies and Batman even told him that it was his own fault as he would have given him the antidote despite knowing he'll harm more people.
--- Rating System ---
Gameplay: 4/5 - The gameplay is quite good in this title, bar the few hiccups here and there with targetting and the easily alertable enemy AI.
Graphics: 4/5 - The graphics are quite impressive for my liking. The visuals are stunning and they capture the atmosphere of a chaotic Arkham City perfectly. It was clearly an important aspect of development since Arkham City was an entirely new place (with Gotham in the background!)
Story: 4/5 - The storytelling in the game was high quality and easy to follow. There were even side quests that revealed interesting backstories from villains that were (apparently) from the previous game, such as The Riddler and a man who kept calling from a phone. There's even a DLC regarding Harley Quinn taking over for The Joker that takes place about a month after the events of Arkham City, too. I haven't played much of it, but it was pretty good.
Overall: 4/5 - Overall, I'd definitely recommend this game to anyone that enjoys Batman or superheroes in general. Though the GOTY Edition is out, so make sure to buy that!
--- Where to Buy ---
Batman: Arkham City can be purchased on Steam or through the PSN/XBL and GameStop stores!
--- Screenshots ---
Here's some screenshots!
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