The New Gaming Review - Batman: Arkham City

 

The New Review
"Batman: Arkham City"
Developer: Rocksteady

Gotham Needs You

Concept: This game is the sequel to the 2009 title "Batman: Arkham City". Set some time after the event of the first game, a long forgotten villain named Dr. Hugo Strange has taken over a sector of Gotham City now called Arkham City, a section of the city that has been turned into a prison due to the destruction of Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Prison, and Strange has devised a plan he calls "Protocol 10", yet no one knows what it is. All the while, Batman's greatest foe, The Joker, is dying from the effects of the Titan he took at the end of the original game. Some of Batman's greatest and most famous foes are here, locked in Arkham City, ranging from the cold Mr. Freeze, the mogul Penguin, and a handful more; while also tracking a cold call killer, an assassin, and a crazed killer stealing the face of his victims; not to mention The Riddler and his challenges are back in full force, but now, he's taken a few hostages in a "Saw" like fashion...... seems like alot, but it's nothing Batman can't handle.

Execution:

 
Visual: The first game was visually stunning, dark, and brooding. This one capitalizes on that. The cityscape is vast without being overpowering. No street corner is the same, and each sector of Arkham City is completely different. The inmates think it's Hell... and it feels dark enough to be it.
Score: 10/10

Sound: All the clanks, crashes, and mood music you can handle, but only when you need it, only when it applies. Surveillance that you have set up helps you locate your next target, and somewhat helps you toward the next story element. Communication with Oracle still intact, but adding in the faithful Alfred is both insightful and funny where you would expect.
Score: 10/10

Control: Control was one of the highlights of Arkham Asylum, and this one makes it even more seamless. Very responsive, and easy to pick up, but difficult to master. This time, with more gadgets than before, each of them is now available to use as quick attacks while in combat, making combat just as engaging as anything else. Detective mode is now more blurry, as so you don't rely on it solely(like I did in Asylum). Forensics seems more like it should, and makes a bigger difference this time around, instead of being sprinkled in.
Score: 10/10

Modes: The story mode is of course the highlight, but in Arkham Asylum, Challenge Mode was just as big. Combat Challenges where you kick waves of thug ass & Predator Challenges where you mess with armed thugs, while taking them out silent as possible, one by one. This time, a bigger world, means more possibilities, with an added feature: Campaigns. A Campaign is a mix of 3 challenges from the ones you've unlocked, with modifiers, that must be used in the course of those 3 challenges to complete it, and those modifiers can be positive to help you out, or negative to hinder you. And a plus, DLC characters Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing can all be used in challenge mode. Also upon finishing the game in Normal or Hard mode, you unlock New Game+, a harder more fleshed out version of the main story, where you get to keep your equipment from your original playthrough.
Score: 10/10

Story: The story is more engrossing that the first game, but with the inclusion of more enemies to tackle. Each element fits together, and once you've made it to the end, the entire game's story make 150% sense. I'm serious on that.
Score: 10/10

Balance: The game may seem overwhelming. And it's supposed to feel the way. Any Batman comic fan should remember a storyline called "Knightfall", famous of giving us Bane and Azrael. We all remember Bane breaking Bruce's back, but do you remember the rest of it? I remember seeing Joker & Scarecrow working together, Mr. Zsasz in a school, Killer Croc, and a couple others. While the main quest is daunting, the plethora of side quests and villains make it feel even worse... and that's a GOOD thing. It makes it feel like you really are Batman. Think about it, you're Batman locked in a City just for the villains, what do you think would happen? Only thing is, I feel like maybe Mad Hatter was just thrown in there, but it's not enough to hate it.
Score: 10/10

Extras: The DLC Catwoman quests are great, and Catwoman herself plays and fights just like a completely different character. I haven't tried the other two yet(because they aren't public yet), but I expect them to be different too, possibly they will be close to the same themselves, but different than Catwoman & Batman. As for the villains, I won't spoil it. Trust me, when Rocksteady didn't want to reveal ALL of the characters early, they were right to do so. If you haven't finished the game yet, DO NOT go and read any spoilers or walkthroughs. There are some surprises left undiscovered until the time is right. I serious had some "Holy Shit!" moments when meeting up with certain villains.
Score: 10/10

Hype: Since Rocksteady wasn't apt to reveal every secret/villain in the game, it helped with the hype. The DLC talk, and extra costumes for Batman from different stores(they will be released all together in one pack later on). The fact that this game is a sequel to such a great game was hype enough...
Score: 10/10

Legacy: Batman games before Arkham Asylum were all bottom of the barrel crap(Batman never used a gun, people). Asylum changed the license forever, and Rocksteady promised us a bigger, better, badder upgrade. And they DID NOT disappoint. This game is the greatest use of a comic license ever. No other comic based game comes close. You fight like Batman, you do detective work like Batman, the world feels like Batman, and the overwhelming feel of "Why is all of this happening at the same time?" make you feel like you are jumping in the cape and cowl of the World's Greatest Detective. It feel so much like the world of Gotham jump off the pages and into a world you can interact with. I am serious when I say "Arkham City" is the greatest thing to happen to Batman since the 90s "Batman: The Animated Series" from FOX.
Score: 10/10

Replay: Extremely high... When you finish this game, you WILL want to play it again. You will want to go back and finish the Riddler challenges. You will want to find all the secrets, finish the side missions, and kick all the ass you can within the walls of Arkham City. I finished the main story already, but I want to start a new one... BUT, I also want to finish everything in the file I have already. SO what do I do?......... that's what makes this game so replayable. So many options are available for me to continue to play this game over and over and over and over and over again.
Score: 10/10

Rundown:
Visual: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Control: 10/10
Modes: 10/10
Story: 10/10
Balance: 10/10
Extras: 10/10
Hype: 10/10
Legacy: 10/10
Replay: 10/10
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Final: 100/100

Notes: Yeah, I'm biased because I'm a huge Batman fan, but this game really is THAT good and is worth every penny. Not to mention, the most complete game I've ever had the chance to play, and it's massive. I've completed the main story and TWO sidequests, the file says I'm only 56% complete.

Conclusion: This is the best game you will have a chance to play, or watch anyone else play. Do so as soon as possible!!!

Pros: Everything
Cons: If you're a pussy, this game can seem like it's too much for you too handle in one game.

Favorite Feature(s): The completeness feel of the game. If you don't feel like Batman, you need to re-evaluate your Batman fandom.
It's all a matter of opinion: I cannot stress enough that THIS is my opinion, you can either agree with me or not... I don't have to justify my opinion, because *clear throat* that's what this blog is about. Whether I like it or not doesn't mean you have to or not...... it's just my justification for giving you all MY recommendation...... which leads me to my FINAL JUDGMENT

FINAL JUDGMENT: If you don't own this game yet, GET IT NOW!!!! I can't stress that enough... do it NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Yes folks, that is a score of 100... a perfect score.

What makes it even better, Rocksteady has only made 3 games... EVER, and the last two("Batman: Arkham Asylum" & "Batman: Arkham City") are clearly two of THE greatest games ever made. That only means they can only get better. Seriously.

Batman: Arkham City is officially going at or near the top of my games list. It is that damn good.

I have another game review for you all. It's for "X-Men: Destiny". I want to finish it once first, but my timing was off, because I traded in for it two days before Batman came out. So look forward to it. It's not as good as Batman, so don't expect that.

When it's over, come back and thank me...

~The Master is Out