Batman Arkham City Review

When I heard that this game was being released I was jumping with joy. The first instalment (Arkham Asylum) was spectacular the way that they made a Batman game where you play as the Dark Knight himself. I’m a huge Batman fan so to see a game made where you play as him and also fight all his villains made me a happy bunny but when they announced Arkham City I was excited but at the same time worried that they would ruin the game because of how good Asylum was. Luckily Rocksteady didn’t disappoint. The game is brilliant and they blew it out of proportion with a lot more villains and a lot more kick-ass Batman action.

Story

Batman Arkham City sets place after Arkham Asylum where all the villains of Gotham have been moved into this new prison like location where they roam free in a small city that is confined by a wall. Bruce Wayne is kidnapped by Hugo Strange at the beginning of the game and finds himself inside Arkham City. He manages to break free and then from that point on you play as the legendary Dark Knight. Batman then has to fight for his life and solve problems and mysteries that are going down inside the city. During the story you meet Batman’s most iconic villains and companies to basically make a game this is utterly brilliant.

Gameplay

The gameplay in the Batman games is similar to each other but in the new game they have added some new features to make the game a lot more enjoyable and harder for the player. The enemies in the game are a lot harder to defeat and also the thugs that are roaming around are better equipped and more aware of Batman’s presence. The reason I love the Batman games so much is the game makes you play as the Dark Knight. It makes you tackle each challenge and task as if you were the Bat himself. Throughout the game you get to upgrade Batman skills and abilities to make him the iconic character that you see in the comic books and the modern day films. The combat is good, even though it is just mashing button the on screen experience is enjoyable and amazing to watch. You also get to explore the whole of Arkham City which is really fun because it’s a lot bigger than Asylum’s map and there is a lot more to do. There are a lot of optional missions and objectives that you can complete in the game which makes the game have hours of playable content, also with Arkham City they brought in the feature that you can play as Robin and Catwoman but you had to purchase the DLC for it or the collectors edition of the game which is quite disappointing but on the other hand it opens up a whole new experience to the player. Gameplay changes the way you go about doing objectives and tasks in Arkham city due to the characters abilities.

Graphics/Feel of the Game

The graphics are brilliant in the Arkham City game, good use of lighting in the environment and also the way that all the characters look and are animated. The map is dark in places where it needs to be, but not too dark that you struggle to see what is going on in the area. The environment has been made to make it look as if the city is being run by villains, so windows and vehicles are broken and parts of buildings are on fire. It gives you that feel that you are in a dangerous place and the people who are in the place aren’t going to invite you in for tea and biscuits unless they were going to beat you up afterwards.
The way the game runs is point to point. So you do a mission and then once you have done that mission you go to another mission that is on the other side of the map or just down the street. There is a point as well where Batman is fighting for his life and you have to do a few missions back to back because he is dying, so it makes you go down certain routes for a part of the game but other than that you don’t have to do missions straight away you can go explore the map and find collectibles. The Riddler puzzles are still in the game too so for people that enjoyed them in Arkham Asylum will love them in this because there are more and they are a lot harder.

Voice Actors

One of the best features about this game by far is the voice actors. They got the voice actors from the animated series to play some of the characters. The ones that clearly stand out are Batman played by Kevin Conroy and The Joker by Mark Hamill because the game has these two actors playing the main two characters it make the experience for any true Batman fan a very mind blowing and amazing game to play.

The Positives and Negatives

+All the iconic characters and villains are present in the game
+ The environment suits the game very well
+ The storyline is full of twists and keeps players engaged right until the end

-You have to purchase DLC to play as Robin and Catwoman (Unless you purchase a brand new copy)
-There are a lot of side missions that don’t really add to the story but are still enjoyable to play
-Combat kind of gets repetitive towards the end due to mashing buttons

The Score

In all fairness to the game there is hardly anything I can fault with it. It flows brilliantly, the character voicing and animation is outstanding and the whole game makes you feel as if you were Batman and you were part of the DC Universe. For these reasons this game gets a well deserved score.

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.