Batman: Arkham City
What do you get when you mix amazing gameplay, stunning design, a consuming plot and one of the most iconic heroes around? You get Batman: Arkham City for the Xbox 360.
This is easily the best superhero game I have ever played. I must admit, despite my anticipation for Arkham City, I was worried that it could not reach the expectations I had for the sequel after playing Arkham Asylum. Rest assured, City is the epitome of what superhero games, and all games in general, should be.
After a cinematic introduction, players are free to explore the rich and varied open-ended world of Arkham City - complete with tons of enemies, scalable buildings and hundreds of secrets. The city itself is a project created by the main antagonist of the game, Dr. Hugo Strange, in which to store all the criminals and mental patients of Gotham. The plot focuses around the Dark Knight trying to discover Strange's true motives for Arkham City and figure out the truth behind the mad doctor's mysterious plan known only as "Protocol 10." Combined with that, the Joker has plans of his own for both Batman and Arkham City, leading to thousands of innocent lives at stake, all depending on the Caped Crusader to save them. During all of this, that pesky Riddler has hidden hundreds of trophies and riddles over the city and it's up to you to find them all.
After donning Bruce Wayne's signature Batsuit, players are forced into the role of Batman in a way that has never been achieved before. That is truly where the gameplay shines - it forces you to think like Batman. Whether it comes to fighting or racing through the streets, you have to think and act quickly. Being a tactician is almost a necessity, and even though running into a fight with fists blazing can be fun, taking your time to figure out the best plan-of-attack is much more entertaining and rewarding.
Players must also "fly" over the streets of Arkham City with a combination of gliding and grappling from building to building. This new feature is one of the highlights of the game, making exploration of the map both fun and exciting. It all comes together perfectly when you can jump into a crowd, take out multiple enemies and grapple out before they knew what hit them. Also important is detective mode, which gives Batman a "tactical analysis of the current location, identifying potential threats and items of interest."
Batman can level up after getting enough experience, and each new level comes with the option to upgrade either your Batsuit, gadgets, combat or predator tactics. Choosing carefully is important, as some are much more helpful in the long run than others.
Gadgets play a big role in Arkham City. You choose an item with the control pad and each item has separate and unique uses and capabilities. There are classics like the Batarang, Batclaw, smoke pellets and explosive gel, and there are new items like the remote electrical charge, used to affect electric devices and stun enemies. They are hot-keyed to be readily accessible in combat, and though not totally necessary, they only add to the fun of the game.
Speaking of which, combat has almost never been this satisfying. Whether you're staight-up taking on 20 guys, or tactfully taking down a room of armed thugs, taking down enemies is an absolute treat. The combat system is the same used in Arkham Asylum, using strikes, counters and combos to take down an array of targets. The fight choreography is top notch, and always looks as if you're watching a movie, especially the counters. Whether you're taking a goon's baseball bat and beating him with it or smashing two thugs' heads into each other, fighting hordes of enemies is a blast.
The game's interface can seem a little daunting at first, but it becomes simple quickly. The select button brings up "WayneTech", which displays your map/objectives, Batcomputer data, skills and Riddler accomplishments. There is a lot of information given on these pages, but once the player figures out where everything is it's easy to find exactly what you are looking for.
Character AI in City is very well done. Although it can sometimes be easy to trick them or take them out from behind, they are not totally stupid. If you make a mistake, they will catch you and will aggregate even more enemies. They are made dumb enough to have fun with, while keeping enough AI to stay challenging.
Arkham City's graphics and animation are absolutely stunning. It is incredibly well designed, and maintains a level of darkness and realism that make this game stand out. City is high on atmosphere and pulls this off without a hitch. Batman has always been known for its macabre setting and Arkham City brings this to a whole new level, adding elements of the comics and the movies into a new brilliantly designed world.
One of the only problems with Arkham City is some of the animation during speech sequences is somewhat lacklustre, especially on Batman's part. Also, right after a fight, Batman sometimes walks around very rigidly that can take away from the cinematic effect of the rest of the game.
The orchestrated music composed by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish is beautifully brooding, epic and fits perfectly with the gameplay. It maintains that atmospheric sound that is common in the Batman movies and animated series. I can't quite do it justice by writing about it, but somehow the music gets you pumped up and just puts you in the mood for all things Batman.
The voice acting is A+ work, and brings all the characters to life. The obvious standouts are Kevin Conroy returning as Batman, giving the classic Clint Eastwood-esque performance that he gave in Asylum and the animated series. My personal favourite though, is Mark Hamill as the Joker. He totally steals the show, and as always, gives the quintessential voice to the clown prince of crime. His laugh alone is one of my personal favourite things about this game.
Arkham City is sure to be a fanboy favourite. I realized that as soon as I put on the costume and an accomplishment came up titled "I'm Batman." Things like that is what makes this game so great. It incorporates everything you know and love about Batman and blends it all together to create the best game of 2011 (so far). As a Batman fan, it is apparent that the game will be hugely more enjoyable to the fans, but that's not to say that it won't be a great experience for anyone. Rocksteady has created the perfect superhero game; one that takes advantage of the source material, the fan frenzy, the legend and the technology to create a Batman for the ages.
