 Don't do something you'll regret. Every villain in Gotham wants one thing, to see Batman suffer. Now Hugo Strange is granting them their wish. Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and taken into Arkham City and it's up to him to keep things under control.
1. Gameplay
Batman: Arkham Asylum, the original game in this series, was a small landmark in video games. It showed the gaming world that comic book-based games didn’t have to be abysmal, poorly written shells of the situations and characters that nerds and geeks already know and love (see: Superman 64). Batman: Arkham City takes the groundwork that Arkham Asylum established and expands it to new heights. 
In some cases, literally.
This game is awesome. It has tons of missions, a wide area to explore, and very few loading screens. Batman looks, sounds, and behaves like he should and there are numerous villains that the hardcore fans will recognize. This is the kind of game that appeals to both diehard Batman fans who have read every comic and newcomers who have no idea who Bruce Wayne is. It’s simple to master but has more than enough content to keep gamers going for weeks (if not longer). 
Pow!
The story begins complicated and stays that way pretty much the entire time. Bruce Wayne is speaking in public in front of Arkham City when he is kidnapped and brought into the city / prison. He has to figure out who kidnapped him and why in addition to preventing many other heinous crimes perpetrated by the villians housed in the city. 
There are lots of suspects.
There will always be something for the player to do. The Riddler has a mini-game going on that encourages the player to find certain spots, Zazz will occasionally call Batman from a payphone and threaten to kill a few hostages, and there are a few other lesser known characters lurking in the shadows stalking Batman. The game may not be fast-paced, but Batman’s work is never done. 
But I think Batman prefers it that way.
Overall the only downside was that this game felt as long as it was. As I mentioned, there are always things left to do, but after a while the smaller missions got a bit tedious. I completed the campaign and felt like the game was over after that even though there was still a good number of small missions left.
The campaign took me around 18 hours to complete, which is actually a decent amount longer than the previous game in this series. This may not seem like much compared to other open-world adventure games, but there was still a ton of content that I had left to complete. Even after the main campaign is finished, there are lots of hidden extras and mini games that players can attempt. The Riddler’s missions and puzzles will easily give players at least 6 to 10 hours of content outside of the campaign, so this game is great for “completionists”. The game does include an extra combat-based competitive mode where players to rack up as many points as possible by fighting enemies, but I found this mode to be particularly boring. It definitely didn’t help that the PC community’s scores were obviously hacked. It’s hard to compete with players that rack up over 1 trillion points in a scenario where the “gold” is awarded for 5,000 points. The campaign is a bit too long to go back and complete a second time, but it was enjoyable enough that I may try it again in the future. I could see a hardcore Batman fan playing this game dozens of times before getting bored though. It’s an awesome comic-based game.
The developers of this game did an excellent job. The few frustrating elements from the previous game in this series. That being said, there are still one or two things that left me and other players slightly annoyed. The first was a very big deal when this game was first released. The PC version of this game came with a sub-program called "Games for Windows Live" (aka G4WL). G4WL has been attached to a number of PC games over the years to the mild aggravation of hard core gamers, but it seriously negatively affected early versions of Arkham City. Gamers discovered that G4WL would regularly delete all of their saves. This is frustrating for any game but it is especially bad for games like Arkham City because there is so much to do and the game isn't broke up into neat chapters. Losing a saved game, especially late in the game, can easily deter players from finishing the game. There were a few other elements that frustrated me a bit. There were “augmented training” minigames that were supposed to be designed to teach players different tips and tricks to make the game simpler. However, the minigames did little to teach players how to perform stunts, so I was left fairly frustrated at times. In the end I gave up on the augmented training completely and went to do other minigames. 2. Parental Notices
The violence level of Arkham City is very low. Batman will constantly engage in hand-to-hand combat with enemies, but there is never any blood or gore. 
You can't see me!
Certain characters will get shot on occasion, but the actual bullet wound isn’t shown. While the villains may kill people, Batman never kills anyone (with one exception). That’s not to say that Batman can’t get killed. For example, in one section he can get eaten by a giant shark. There’s no blood involved here either. 
Jaws has nothing on this guy.
In one section, Ra’s al Ghul stabs Dr. Strange through the back with the blade emerging through Dr. Strange’s chest. There is a bit of blood, but no gore. The effect is somewhat cartoonish as a result. 
Movie magic.
Sexuality in this game is fairly low. The female characters in the game tend to exude some sort of sexuality, but it never goes beyond what is already in most comics. For example, Catwoman is very voluptuous and has a bit of a thing for Batman, but it never goes beyond obvious flirting. 
Wait, this isn't Halle Berry...
Poison Ivy, on the other hand, drips “poisonous” sexuality and uses her body to seduce men and make them do what she wants. That usually involves killing people who kill her plants. 
Every rose has its thorn.
Harley Quinn is The Joker’s sidekick. She wears an odd harlequin getup that has been enhanced to show off a bit of extra lace. Her personality is sexual, but blatantly evil. She has the personality of a perky schoolgirl but doesn’t hide the fact that she’d slit Batman’s throat of The Joker told her to do it. 
You can look, but don't touch. To be safe, you shouldn't look either.
The only character that phases Batman at all is Talia al Ghul, a mystical ninja woman who has an on-again-off-again romantic relationship with Batman. The two kiss in Arkham City, but their relationship never goes farther than that. Talia’s father, who is technically a villain, gets in the way of her and Batman’s relationship. 
She's surprisingly nice though.
There are signs around Arkham City that advertise for “Live Nudes”. However, the player never sees any strippers or strip clubs. 
I didn't think they allowed strippers in prison.
Substances do come up multiple times in Arkham City, but they’re always used as a plot tool. For example, The Joker ends up getting infected with some sort of disease. He uses his blood to infect Batman with the same disease, which forces Batman to find a cure for The Joker (even though he probably would have done so anyway). 
This is the stuff of my nightmares.
The “Titan” substance, a key element in the previous game of this series, is back in small doses in Arkham City. Bane, one of the game’s many villains, uses the substance to keep himself bulked up. 
He's been featured in those TV workout infomercials.
One set of missions involves Batman learning about and using a “Lazarus” substance that somehow manages to make people young again. It’s sort of a fountain of youth, but not permanent. Raz Al Ghul, another villain, uses the substance in front of Batman. 
Raz earned a gold for synchronized swimming in the Olympics.
There are a number of signs around Arkham City that advertise for bars. However, no alcohol is ever seen in the game. 
Does this bar even have a name?
The only gambling element in Arkham City were the numerous signs advertising for "Gotham Casinos" that can be found in various locations. Other than this, gambling is not a factor. 
I don't think there's any money left in the casinos to gamble with though.
3. Other Factors
There are mods available for this game, but the only ones I have found are simple skin retextures for a few of the characters. Some make Batman look like previous Batmans (i.e. the Batman from the Tim Burton movies), while others change the other characters to look like characters from the movie (i.e. Heath Ledger as the Joker). They’re pretty impressive, but not easy to apply.
One of the buildings in Arkham City is a large church. While there are some symbols that seem to indicate that it was built for some sort of denomination of Christianity, the game never discusses religion.
Arkham City is essentially a large prison for Gotham’s worst villains. Unfortunately, it’s also a place where the villains can work together to try to kill Batman and hurt the people of Gotham. It’s a breeding ground for the worst criminals in the city. 
Bruce is in a suit and handcuffs and he still wins.
Dr. Strange is supposed to oversee Arkham City, protecting the prisoners within while preventing them from escaping. However, he ends up using the prison to capture Batman and put away people who he and his political friends disagree with. Political prisoners can be found in numerous places in the city, each of whom ended up being the brunt of Dr. Strange’s ire. Some villains, especially the Penguin, have a tendency to find and kill police officers that have infiltrated the city. Batman manages to save some of the cops, but not all of them. 
Penguin was nice enough to label the cops for Batman.
As with the previous Batman game, there is technically no online game mode for this game. However, there are certain challenges that players can complete. The challenges generate a score depending on how well the player did, which the player can then use to compete on the online leaderboards. However, on the PC version, the online leaderboards have been horribly hacked, leading to gamers getting impossibly high scores. It defeats most of the purpose of even attempting the challenges. 
Yeah, no.
Batman isn’t the kind of man to ride a skateboard or do tricks on an ATV, but that doesn’t mean he stays away from the realm of extreme sports. His cape is basically a built-in glider that allows him to survive even the fastest collisions with hard surfaces. He can use it to cross long distances and silently sneak up on enemies. 
Surprise!
Batman’s abilities usually try to stay somewhat realistic. While the Mythbusters may have called shenanigans on the cape, it’s at least in a realm where I could see how someone could potentially use it given the right circumstances. However, there are some situations in Arkham City where things just get a bit absurd. For example, Batman has to glide straight down into a working furnace in order to infiltrate an industrial plant. 
If Batman misses, this will be a very short game.
He then has to tightrope across the furnace in order to continue on. 
Don't fall.
Batman has a number of other gadgets that are designed to help him get around obstacles. These include anything from a line launcher that can be converted into a convenient tightrope to a grappling hook that can pull Batman up walls quickly. Players will learn how to use Batman’s gadgets to cross long distances quickly. 
I think Mythbusters tried this one too.
In order to find the cure for the infection with which Batman has contracted, the player must undergo a series of odd and at least semi-magical trials. The trials may be hallucinations that result directly from the substance that Batman consumes immediately prior to the trials, but this is never clarified. 
Trippin' balls.
Other than this, magic is not a factor in this game.
Kidnapping At the beginning of the game, Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and taken to Arkham City by henchmen of Dr. Strange. Batman will find a number of political prisoners in Arkham City that were kidnapped by Dr. Strange. Batman will also find and have to rescue a small band of undercover police officers that have been kidnapped by some of the villains that reside within the walls of Arkham City. 
I rescued them fortunately.
Human Disfigurement One of the villians, Two-Face, is well known for his disfigurement. Half of his face has been horribly burned by acid. He is a bit scary as a result. However, he is really only shown in the very beginning of the game, and has very little influence from then on. 
I believe in Harvey Dent.
Another villian, Bane, has been disfigured by a substance known as Titan. Titan has made Bane superhuman in size and strength. A number of the enemies that Batman will face have been disfigured by Titan. Their muscles have grown in some of their limbs but not all, creating a very odd, cancerous effect. 
Clowns with cancer on steroids. Not good.
Ra’s al Ghul also makes an appearance in this game. He has found a way to make himself immortal (sort of), but his longevity has also left him practically decaying. 
I look like that after I shave.
Interrogation
In order to find out more information on the locations of some of the Riddler's puzzles, Batman can interrogate some of the Riddler's informants. Batman grabs the informant by the neck, tells the informant to reveal the Riddler's plan, the knocks the informant out.
1 Comment
1/16/2016 09:03:00 am
I Love Robin &Batman.Forever. Thank yu, MS.Frances Yozawitz Leave a Reply. |
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