Batman: Arkham City

I was a massive fan of the first Arkham game, Arkham Asylum, this caused me to have almost crippling anticipation that this would be a bigger and better version. Disappointed? I think not!

The story is set a short while after Arkham Asylum (the plot gap can be bridged with the Batman: Arkham City comic book series) where the badly damaged Asylum has had to be shut down, and a new Prison facility has been formed by sectioning off a large area of Gotham City and putting all the inmates there instead, along with the inmates from Blackgate Prison. Bruce Wayne is arrested at the very start of the game, giving Batman access to the area.

Once inside he interacts with an excellent role call of Batman enemies including Joker (Mark Hamill outstanding as usual), Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Mad Hatter, Mr Freeze, Bane, and more. Sometimes you co-operate, often you fight, but each character is given their time either in the main story or with side-missions. The story is excellent, engaging, and not entirely predictable. It wouldn't have seemed out of place as a comic story itself!

The game difficulty progresses well and eases you into new actions, gadgets and moves without it ever seeming overwhelming. There's plenty to do, the main story itself is large and constantly interesting. The side quests add extra dimensions and ask different things from you, although they can generally be a little 'go find'. Riddler trophies/challenges are also back and some can be tricky, while seeming rewarding when you finally get them!

Catwoman is also a playable character in the main story (internet connection required I believe), but her 4 missions are among the duller moments of the story. I'd rather have had Nightwing or Robin as the alternative story arc, but hey!

In addition to the story, various challenges are available to play in the challenge modes, similar to the first game, these are great places to hone your skills and trying to beat top scores can be addictive! There is also a harder game+ addition when the main story is completed.

Graphically the game is excellent, it's exactly how I'd picture Gotham being, the sounds are minimal but seem perfect, more may seem instrusive, especially with the game relying on stealth much of the time. The game plays well, the combat seems better in this version than Asylum, which occasionally felt like it could be beaten by button mashing. Here there feels more strategy and has been improved greatly.

For the geekier people (such as myself) character models, concept art etc are all unlocked as you progress and can be a real treat!

Overall this is an improvement on Asylum, it's bigger and generally does things better. Much recommended!

***Mild Spoilers***

I was a HUGE fan of Batman: Arkham Asylum, with its rich level of detail and inclusion of so many of the classic characters. To me, and many other fans of the Bat, there was just no way to top it. How wrong we were. If there was one fault with the near-perfect Arkham Asylum, it was that there was NO GOTHAM! One of the central parts of Batman is his film-noire, industrial, neon-lit city and the Asylum, for all its lovingly-crafted design, just wasn't Gotham City. Arkham City, however, is. To be exact, the New Arkham is a walled-off section of North Gotham that can hold any super-criminal or other miscreant. Naturally, having a massive hub of the criminal element on your doorstep is not what Batman wants, and so he uses his considerable public presence as billioanre Bruce Wayne to try and have the place shut down. Big Mistake. Before long, Bruce is nabbed by some guards and thrown into the Asylum - which is being run by the nefarious Hugo Strange. A quick Batwing drop-off later, and Batman is ready for action.

Arkham City is like a distilled Gotham City. Flashing neon signs? Check. Industrial factories belching smoke? Check. A giant Bat-Signal on the horizon? You bet! Everything that a Bat-fan could want from a virtual Gotham is in Arkham City, down to Crime Alley (where young Bruce watched his parents gunned down) and the Ace Chemicals Factory (where the Joker was born out of an experimental chemical vat). In fact, anything that a Bat-fan could want in a game, IS HERE! Name a Batman villain, and the odds are - they're in Arkham. I consider myself a Batman devotee and there were some baddies in here that I hadn't even heard of. Let's just say that when I was 20 minutes into the game and I had encountered Strange, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face and Calendar Man, I knew I was in for a good time.

The gameplay is just as fun as ever, with some subtle changes made to make it flow even better than before and the new Grapple-Boost makes traversing Arkham City easy and fun. The story is, of course, fantastic - the opening is amazing and the finale was truly jaw-dropping (I won't spoil it here, but YOU are in for a shocking treat.

I have nothing but praise for this game. It does everything SO WELL! Any Batman fan should know by now that they MUST BUY THIS GAME! If you're interested but don't really know much about the Dark Knight then buy the graphic novels Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween and The Killing Joke and then play Batman: Arkham Asylum. I know that's a fairly long reading/playing list just to play one game but I highly recommend doing as I have suggested - newcomers may well be lost in the immersion of Arkham City, but anyone familiar with Batman will simply revel in it. As you can probably tell, I love this game (to the extent that I will probably re-buy Arkham Asylum, which I had eventually traded in, just to get me in the mood to play more Arkham City)! You, as a Gamer, owe it to yourself to buy this game right now!

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Note: Some people have complained about the Catwoman missions requiring Xbox Live/PS Network to play. Don't be put off - it doesn't affect the story, and the game really doesn't benefit from them at all.

Arkham Asylum was Great but Arkham City is absolutley fantastic!

It's still the same great game, with the hand-to-hand combat staying pretty much the same. The basic gameplay and gliding etc is still the same as it was in Arkham Asylum, so that makes the game a little bit easier. There's also many more gadgets although they are not all available at the start of the game and more upgrades. In addition to the villain based side missions there are several training missions to give you the opportunity to gain upgrades as well as a much better detective mode.

One thing particularly that I have noticed is that you might well find yourself getting caught up in so much stuff in the game. Mainly, because there is so much going on. For example, once you've completed the opening part of the main plot (in which the Joker is dying), you can either carry on, chasing after Mr. Freeze or go and have a glide around Arkham or try and find some riddler trophies. You could also go and have a go at completing one of the side missions or perhaps just explore Arkham city and beat up a few thugs while your at it. You don't know what to do next.

If you would prefer to play as catwoman at certain parts of the game then I would suggest purchasing the game new.If you buy it preowned you don't get the catwoman bundle pack pass and instead have to pay 800microsoft points for it of the marketplace.If you do play as catwoman, her sequences are good and she has a similar style of fighting to batman but of course she can do things batman can't and vice versa. But swinging through the city with her whip and crawling up walls distinctly reminds me of spider-man!

One thing, you need to know about Arkham city though is that it is massive! A good twice the size of Arkham island (maybe more) so people who buy a game, complete it in two days and then trade it in may have to spend a little longer on Arkham City.

The riddler trophies are painstakingly hard to find and if you do find them they are very hard to get especially when you're batman and you find one only catwoman can access. At the very start of the game you cannot complete riddles, only find trophies but they then become available later in the game.

And finally, here is a quick rundown of the characters and baddies in Batman: Arkham City:

Bruce Wayne (playable at start of game) Batman, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Robin (if you pay for him), Victor Zsasz, Hugo Strange, Poison Ivy, The Riddler, Two-Face, Alfred (voice only via radio) and many other lesser known villains who you may or may not recognise!

Thanks for reading