Being a guy who gets his games from the bargain bin, sometimes years after they come out due to a very tight budget, there are only a few franchises that I must have and actually plan ahead to get. My point? This is definitely one of the few franchises I mark my calendar for and will shell out the $60 to get right away.
When I played Arkham Asylum I was blown away by the dark and gritty tone of that game. Not only was it a masterfully written by Paul Dini, creator of one of my favorite villainesses, Harley Quinn, and celebrated writer of many of the Animated Series episodes and comics, but the game looked amazing!
Here we are nearly two years later and Paul has done it again…almost.
Don’t get me wrong. The game is phenomenal, and in this review I will go over the Pros (many), and the cons (more than I thought there would be).
When the game begins, you start as Bruce Wayne being escorted into Arkham City as a prisoner. Right away you can sense that this game is going to be much more ambitious then Arkham Asylum and the real feeling that shit just got real. Immediately you are greeted by the first “so called super criminal”. I won’t spoil it by saying who, but that moment sets the tone for the whole game. Nearly every criminal in the Batman mythos makes an appearance in this game whether it is as a boss, mini boss, or just a cameo. After your brief time as Bruce, you call Alfred to get your gear delivered and that’s when you finally get to don the suit and become the Dark Knight.
Now at this point you actually start the game with all the gadgets you had by the end of Arkham Asylum sans the zip line. You also get some new toys along the way that make toasting baddies (insert “Don’t tase me bro!” clip here) even more satisfying. There are more new gadgets, but you will see for yourself. Also added to the ass kicking arsenal is a more natural feeling flow to the CQC with new animations and moves added just to prove that the Batman owns you like the little girl that you are.
The whole of Arkham City is beautiful in its design and nuances. The city is filled with subtle references to the Batman lore from the Ace Chemical Company where, in some stories, The Joker came into existence, to Crime Alley where a young Bruce watched his parents murdered, signified by a chalk outline and sad music. Hell, you can even get a trophy for stopping to pay your respects here.
Another cool feature to this game is the ability to play as Catwoman. Sexy Selena Kyle has her own set of unique baddie beating moves that also make use of her whip (meow) as part of the combos. Apparently she has also pissed off The Riddler at some point because he has left trophies around Arkham City for her too. Unfortunately, she is only playable for four missions in the entire game.
Each faction has its own set of goons dressed up like their respective bosses. Loyal only to whomever might be winning the turf war at the moment, you can also listen in on their conversations to help determine who they serve and also hear updated comments based on your progress in the game a la Grand Theft Auto.
Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill return as Batman and The Joker respectively in this game once again reprising their roles from Arkham Asylum. As always, Mark Hamill’s Joker is genius and still my favorite to this day. Asylum alum Arleen Sorkin did not return for unknown reasons but was replaced by one of my favorite female voice actors, Tara Strong. Tara picks up the mantle of the sexy psycho Harley Quinn without missing a beat.
The challenge maps are back where you can play as Batman and Catwoman. You can also play as Nightwing if you want to shell out the extra cash but I hardly think it’s worth the price.
Now to the bad stuff.
Bad is a relative term here because it isn’t that anything is necessarily bad, certain things I noticed just bothered me a little bit. For example, as I stated above: YOU ONLY GET TO PLAY CATWOMAN FOR FOUR LOUSY MISSIONS! One of them is literally the amount of time it takes you to kick three guys asses. Not only that but IF you didn’t buy this game new or even if you DID buy it new and don’t have an internet connection, you don’t get to play as her anyway. Plus, most of her dialogue sounds like a bunch of cheesy one liners straight out of the old 60’s sitcom.
Another gripe I have is with the Riddler side missions. They made it 100 times more difficult to get the trophies, which is fine, but they made it so that you can’t progress with Riddler’s story line unless you get most of them. Why not make them two separate goals? It’s bad enough that there are 400 plus of them in this game but unless you want to spend countless hours getting them, you will have to just live with the fact that the Riddler is indeed smarter than you.
The main story, although amazing, seemed to go very quickly and I almost feel like they tried to cram every single bad guy from the Bat’s franchise into it which only serves to not give the really great ones proper story development. I’m looking at you Joker/Harley.
All in all this game is a must have for anyone who even kinda liked Arkham Asylum. Not only does it improve on almost everything from the first game, but it’s story brings some closure to the night spent in the asylum. Also, if you know where to look, the next game is hinted at to have a crazy new variable added to the situation. So get out there and get this game. It’s worth every penny.
