Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Movement design is underrated in game design and this game stands up as enduring master class of the craft. Gliding through Gotham City genuinenly feels like being Batman, and as soon as you master diving down and going up for momentum and get the boost to your Graphnel to jump from roof to roof without pausing it's just incredibly fun to go anywhere.

The dark gotham scenery is perfectly captured by the unity engine and somehow reminded me in its playfullness and with its zeppelins of Bioshock Infinite. The story actually feels like watching a proper good Batman movie and the voice acting is as professional as it can get. All these other little tools you have are easy to use and nothing special but complement the technological equipment of the batman as we know it from the comics / movies.

They are right, it seems like the Arkham games stand up as the best game adaption of movies made to this date. It feels like the devs asked themselves: what does it feel like to be Batman? How can we implement gameplay mechanics that feel like that?

Holy shit! this was Batman Arkham City? I slept on this beauty for so long that after I finished, It left me wanting more! I love it, although, a bit over sexualized at times, but you won't see me complaining when you get to play as Cat Woman.

Anyways, I just loved the gameplay so much! it's insane how Batman's move set when performed without a hitch, it feels like you're emptying an MP5, and funny enough, the final blow from the Batman feels very close to a gunshot sounds, it's so ridiculous!

Oh yeah, there is a great story in there as well. Mark Hamil and the late Kevin Conroy did such a great job in this!

Anyways, final verdicts in German: Das ist ein sehr schön Spiele!

Arkham trilogy’s crowning achievement for so many. And though I would agree with the sentiment, that doesn’t mean that City did everything better than Asylum. I didn’t like the menus as much, level design (not in the open world but in closed off spaces) was in my opinion - if only marginally - worse than in the prequel, there’s even more Riddler nonsense, and worst of all, there’s too much ‘fluff’ going on in comparison to the first game, which to me, if it had been cut, would not only not harm the experience but actually enhance it.

However, on most things that truly matter, City delivers in spades, above and beyond what came before it. Gameplay is drastically improved. Hilarious cartoony running animation aside, everything looks and feels great: combat feels punchier and more strategic and enjoyable, movement is a lot more fluid (traversing through the city is an awesome feeling, not least because you get most relevant gadgets at an early stage), there are a couple of really cool useful new tools (disruptor, smoke pellet, freeze blast etc), some of the returning gadgets are improved, and being able to play some segments as Catwoman is awesome. And just as important as all this, the open world is incredibly engaging.

But the most surprising of it all to me was how City was able to infuse such an alluring, mature undertone into its story. The gift/curse duality of Batman is particularly well explored here, and even though the start isn’t exactly memorable, the ending is fantastic, not only in concept but in execution (it would be hard, at least to me, to top Joker’s voicemail song after his shocking death in a super-hero narrative). It doesn’t land every single punch it throws, but for the most part it was so well done that it left me truly satisfied by the end.

So overall, City is a fantastic game, and in my opinion the best in the trilogy. I wish they could’ve trimmed it down a bit, but I’m sure most don’t feel the same way. I think these types of games benefit from a shorter exposure time, but for those who want extra content it will actually be a plus. And even for people like me, the rest of the offering is so strong that it barely affects the experience in any meaningfully negative way. 8.5

After finishing my replay of Arkham Asylum, I was hungry for more. And "more" is what Arkham City delivers in spades: More to explore, upgrade, collect, more of that wonderful voice acting, and more of Batman's rogue's gallery to defeat.

Revisiting Arkham City right after Asylum, I'm struck by how much "more" is a double-edged sword.

There's no question that the game is uneven compared to its predecessor. Its open design makes it easier to get lost. Some side missions are a blast while others are a chore. And it suffers from the same ludonarrative dissonance I feel in every open world game: You have to ignore the presented urgency of certain tasks in order to, y'know, do what you find fun in the game. "I know there's an assault in progress, game, but I'm trying to get this riddler trophy!"

But Arkham City remains my favorite in the trilogy. Its openness gives Batman room to soar that makes Asylum feel claustrophobic and restrained by comparison. That ability to pick a direction and start being Batman is what elevates it for me. And while Arkham Knight offers that same benefit, City's smaller scope makes it a lot less intimidating to revisit. (Plus, you can play as Catwoman in the open world! That's way better than a batmobile.)

Playing through these again for the first time since they released and, boy, both Asylum and City really crumble in the second half. It's mostly thanks to people who demand their games be overly and unnecessarily lengthy, because if they'd just been like 8 hours long, it'd be fine, but they felt the need to include everything and the kitchen sink and it really suffers as a result. What starts out as a fun fairly linear and well plot driven escapade quickly devolves into nonsense of the highest caliber.

I still like them both a lot, I do, I just wish the games could've been streamlined more, especially City. It's arguably, gameplay wise, the better title; it's more polished, it's got a more interesting story, it's got a much bigger environment (that's not exactly a plus, but whatever), but because of the 2010s gamer demanding games as long as existence itself, it's crammed to the gills with things that only lead to plot holes and make the whole thing fall in on itself.

I'm curious to get through City and finally play the third, since I never got the chance, and see if maybe - MAYBE - they finally managed to make one that doesn't crumble in the second half.

Then again my opinions mean nothing as I've learned lately, so why I'm bothering to share them at all anywhere in life remains to be seen.

Batman whoo.

I had this game on my Xbox 360 and never beat it, but I decided to play this one on PC because eh whatever. I love playing on my PC way more. Anyways, this one will be brief as well. I loved this one even more than Arkham Asylum. Arkham City immediately introduces the new mechanics it has to offer. You have wood to take down enemies through. You have a smoke pellet. The bosses are so, SOOOOOO MUCH BETTER. I loved almost every boss fight and each one is more unique than the last. The story is more loose and has twists and turns that I never knew would happen. There are more ways to fight enemies. You can use gadgets to your advantage. The stealth prods your imagination with how you could approach enemies. This game takes every flaw I had with Asylum and improves on them tenfold. This game could end up in my favorite games list, but we'll see as I play through Catwoman's campaign and future retrospect.

My flaws consist of nitpicks, but those can easily be brushed off.

FINAL RATING: 10/10

It really makes you feel like Batman.

Didn’t I play this game already?

Batman Arkham City is a sequel to somewhat successful Batman Arkham Asylum. Game gets bigger, turns open world but more or less continues the same formula. To the point where I’m not sure if I already played it or not.

The first time I picked it up shortly after finishing Arkham Asylum GOTY but as it felt basically the same put it away and wanted a change. This was quite a while now but it still felt the same. What’s worse - I’m not actually sure I did not play it already - I don’t think so - but had so many dejavu moments I would not guarantee it. And that’s my probably worst critique I have of this game.

You play as Batman - yey Batman! The action takes place in Gotham's Arkham City. And sadly this is not Christian Bale Gotham - it’s more of a Goerge Clooney’s one. If you don’t know what I’m talking about it just feels artificial, not a place where people actually live but more like a movie set. And that’s a bad thing. While visually it’s not bad, although a bit too dark or perhaps just constantly dark - it lacks life and sense. Some of the building seem placed randomly without order or purpose. It’s not a world you can fall in love with - at least that’s the case for me.

The story is not bad and will get you to face a few quite iconic villains. You mostly play as Batman with some sections played as catwoman.

The game boils down to three types of actions. First one is the brawling - the flowing combat of punching, blocking and countering enemies is satisfying and looks pretty nice. I didn’t notice any changes from the previous title so it’s nothing new. Secondly you need to do some stealth sections where your enemies are armed with guns. So you need to creep around and get them one by one as attacking them openly will most likely get you killed. Finally you’ll get to do some exploring, platforming, and some detective work - which usually boils down to scanning a thing or two.

It generally flows nicely - though I did not enjoy the stealth sections too much. I just didn’t know how to get around them and for the most part it was just floating behind someone's back, knocking them out and immediately flying away.

You will get a lot of gadgets to your disposal and I actually enjoyed the ability to utilize them during fights in a quick and accessible way. Did spice up the fight sections a little bit.

The main story is about 10ish hours and is about 30% of the whole content. Apart from that there are some side missions, two or three additional stories where you play as catwoman or Darkwing. An insane amount of riddler trophies to collect and I have no idea what else. If you want a lot of the same - you have it in this game. But I’ll be honest - I was done after the main story and felt no need to continue. Mostly cause I’m not too fond of the dark world.

Overall it’s not a bad game. But I just didn’t get too invested in it and was glad when it finished.