Arkham City Quick'n'Dirty Review

[DontSayBanana]

Since there was a bit of conversation on this in the "what are you playing?" thread and I actually got through the main storyline, I figured I'd get this out there.

Story: 5/5
The game picks up a little after the events of Arkham Asylum (seems to be about 18 months-ish).  Hugo Strange has popped up out of nowhere and convinced Gotham City to partition off part of the city to make a mega-prison in fairly short order.  Bruce Wayne actually tries to get into politics to get it shut down, but finds himself arrested and thrown in with other political prisoners as well as Joker's, Penguin's, and Two-Face's gangs.

The story's actually really intricate this time around.  Instead of the single "Spirit of Arkham" story bits from Arkham Asylum, the chunks of story are spread out and from different characters' viewpoints.  There are very few throwaway references; if somebody's referenced, they'll actually figure into the storyline somewhere- for example, one of the side missions involves tracking victims of Deadshot; it turns out that he's cleaning up Strange's mess and going after anybody that could potentially damage Strange's power.  Lots of callbacks to AA, but the plot elements are all explained (Batman to Bane: "The last time I saw you, you were wrapped around the hood of my car" or Aaron Cash to Batman: "Turns out there's not a lot of work to be had for a guard who failed to stop a mass prison breakout.").  The ending is bloody amazing, and I refuse to spoil that for you guys, but it's an appropriate sendoff for Hamill (this was confirmed as his last time voicing the Joker) and will actually have some of you guys in tears.

Gameplay: 5/5 The biggest changes from Arkham Asylum are in the gameplay itself, and so far, they've all been for the better.  Instead of gimping Detective Mode, the puzzles were upped to take away the "easy button" effect of playing with DM left on from AA.  The cryptographic analyzer has gotten the biggest overhaul of the old items, also getting an extra feature as a tunable radio- instead of going from red to green, it shows scrolling letters that stop and show a password when aligned correctly.  Batman actually starts out with the cryptographic analyzer and the batclaw (still no bat snacks, though ).  Movement is more fluid this time around, with upgrades to the grapnel and zipline launcher that let Batman move across the city without touching the ground (if done correctly, so there are actual challenges centered around using those upgrades).  A minor upgrade that hasn't gotten mentioned is that the countering system works much better in combat in Arkham City (in AA, there were a lot of times when countering was impossible while attacking another inmate).

Graphics: 3/5 Caveat: I've got the XB360 version, which doesn't really show any graphical improvement from Arkham Asylum.  It's still Unreal Engine, still has the same nice DOF effects and scrambling/blurring when damage is taken, and the cutscenes are still passable, but not beautiful.  Graphics on something PhysX-compatible are supposed to be much nicer, but I can't really speak to those aside from what I've seen in the demonstration vids.  Weakest point is that some of the interior maps are obviously retooled maps from AA.

Features: 5/5 Lots of side missions, lots of upgrades, the silly multi-line batclaw has been replaced by combat-usable items like freeze grenades, skins for the playable character (which is the only new feature that's completely cosmetic, BTW), the grapnel and line launcher boosts (it's fun just to zip around Arkham with them for a while).

Overall: 4/5 Nowhere near 100% yet, but the replay value's looking good, and there are things to do that don't take hours, so this'll probably be my "few-minutes-waster" for the foreseeable future.

[Habbaku]

Not at all interested in buying the game, but thanks for the review all the same. 

[Sophie Scholl]

Just got the Asylum/City 2 for 1 deal they have at Walmart.  Definitely looking forward to starting in on them.  I plan on going through Asylum first.

[Shade]

Ever since I saw this when I think about batman I think of this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogid9D0rcEI  My friend was telling me about this.. how does paying cat women go? I have heard mixed things.

[FunkMonk]

Catwoman's combat style is different than Batman's; you're quicker and much more agile, but don't have nearly the number of gadgets, though her whip and bolas are more than enough. I prefer her playstyle much more than Batman's, but it's really just a matter of preference. I haven't finished the story mode yet, so I can't speak to that.

[jimmy olsen]

The game picks up a little after the events of Arkham Asylum (seems to be about 18 months-ish).  Hugo Strange has popped up out of nowhere and convinced Gotham City to partition off part of the city to make a mega-prison in fairly short order.  Bruce Wayne actually tries to get into politics to get it shut down, but finds himself arrested and thrown in with other political prisoners as well as Joker's, Penguin's, and Two-Face's gangs.

This seems a rather unlikely fate for one of the richest billionaires in America.

[DontSayBanana]

This seems a rather unlikely fate for one of the richest billionaires in America.

It does, which is why things seem fishy right from the beginning.  Not to worry, though; the Chekov's Gun is in place- however, giving that away is a major spoiler, which actually ties up loose ends from the first game as well.

And Catwoman's missions are fun time-wasters, but they definitely feel like the add-on they are, since they basically flow as interludes to add a little bit of extra punch to a couple of cliffhangers at the ends of the infirmary, one of the steel mill acts, and the main story.  Like FM said, more fluid motion (one of my friends was watching me play and went, "so she's basically Spider-Man?") and less gadgets.

[FunkMonk]

I just finished the main story. Good ending. 
Now to finish all the side missions and find all 400 Riddler trophies and riddles.

[Razgovory]

The game picks up a little after the events of Arkham Asylum (seems to be about 18 months-ish).  Hugo Strange has popped up out of nowhere and convinced Gotham City to partition off part of the city to make a mega-prison in fairly short order.  Bruce Wayne actually tries to get into politics to get it shut down, but finds himself arrested and thrown in with other political prisoners as well as Joker's, Penguin's, and Two-Face's gangs.

This seems a rather unlikely fate for one of the richest billionaires in America.

And gliding around the city on little wings dressed like a bat isn't?

[DontSayBanana]

I just finished the main story. Good ending. 
Now to finish all the side missions and find all 400 Riddler trophies and riddles.

Oh, god- some of those puzzles are going to have you tearing your hair out.  Quick suggestion though: when in doubt, the remote control batarang is your friend.

[FunkMonk]

I just finished the main story. Good ending. 
Now to finish all the side missions and find all 400 Riddler trophies and riddles.

Oh, god- some of those puzzles are going to have you tearing your hair out.  Quick suggestion though: when in doubt, the remote control batarang is your friend.

I'm only up to 196/400.

[HVC]

Getting Mr. Freeze annoyed the hell out of me. Beyond that fun game

[DontSayBanana]

Getting Mr. Freeze annoyed the hell out of me. Beyond that fun game

It was tricky, but it wasn't that bad.  I just went magnet-grates-sneak-from-behind.