Video Game Review: Batman: Arkham City

"Batman: Arham City continues to make the comic book videogame genre a dream"

   I’m gonna be honest, Batman: Arkham Asylum was an overrated game in my opinion. It was a great game, but it was also flawed. I’m not going to go into much detail about Arkham Asylum, but I will say this, it was an excellent game in so many points, but all of its issues where all because of one big issue: it’s small world, there wasn’t much to explore, and not much to do after the story, but all of that could change with its sequel, Batman: Arkham City.

     Batman: Arkham City had a complex plot. It was about Hugo Strange taking over one part of Gotham city and then making it a high security prison, so Bruce Wayne tried stopping him, but then Hugo imprisoned him in Arkham City, so then, after Wayne got his Batseut, he started trying to figure out what Hugo is really up to, but then, the Joker got himself involved and infects Batman with the disease he got at the end of Arkham Asylum, so he can use Batman to get him the cure, which resulted into Batman trying to find a cure for himself before he dies, and before Hugo strange has his way with Arkham City.

     Arkham City’s plot needed to be presented in an excellent way in order for it to show its excellent story, and honestly, the game had straight up outstanding presentation. The way the story started, the way it shifted from one part to the other and the way it ended was all excellent, the only issue I had with the game’s story and presentation was that all those villains other than the Joker and Hugo Strange, such as Ra’z Al-Ghul, Two Face and Penguin felt like they needed their own game, it wasn’t really an issue, it was more of a complaint, but none the less, Arkham City had an amazing story with amazing characters and outstanding presentation all to make its story and presentation a big example of how a game’s presentation should be.

     Let’s look at gameplay for a little. Arkham City had similar gameplay to Arkham Asylum with a few notable differences; Arkham City’s world was about five time bigger than the world of Arkham Asylum, which made exploration a lot funner whether it’s before or after the game. Combat was simple and fun, which I really loved for this game. Almost every level differed from the one before it, which gave the game a feeling of originality, and the boss fights where all very strong and fun, each boss kept getting harder, and the best part about the boss fights in this game was that they didn’t need much of a strategy, just more attention on his or her reaction and atmosphere. The gameplay was a marvel on Arkham City; it had a big world with stupidly awesome combat and a lot to do after the game, what else could be there for great gameplay?

    While Arkham City could easily be described as ‘example quality’ when it comes to gameplay, it still did have some minor flaws on the gameplay. The navigation system in the game was freakishly hard to understand. The game wasn’t very flexible when it comes to climbing or transportation, and there was no notification system at all, so it’s hard to understand whether inmates see you or not. But those issues felt very minor though, even with those flaws, the gameplay was easily an example for incredible gameplay, the player will feel like they are Batman, even with those flaws.

     Graphically, Arkham City looked marvelous. While it could have looked better if blood was included, Arkham City was really another example of incredible graphics. Everything was really detailed, the lighting was right for the game’s mood and feeling, the atmosphere was excellent thanks to the graphics, the character designs where very impressive and the animations where nothing but fantastic. Arkham City was a big example on how to make a game with great graphics, it looked that realistic and brought the right feelings.

     Sound wise Arkam City was great, but it did have a few misses though. Nolan North choked a bit with Penguin’s voice and some lip movements didn’t feel right, but other than those there was really nothing but impressive voice acting and impressive voices .The sound effects where great and on par with the events in the game. The music really fitted the mood of the game, and honestly I think if it wasn’t for those very minor issues, the sound on Arkham City would have been just another example or lesson people could take from this game.

     Arham City was overall the game people where talking about when they talked about Arkham Asylum. In fact, it could be a lot better even in the eyes in others. Arkham City was a lot bigger, the simple and fun combat’s returned for another round, and the story was confusing, emotional and breathtaking. Honestly, despite a few minor issues, Arkham City could have been a big example of a high-class real video game, it was an improvement from Arkham Asylum, and it was a huge step over many other superhero based games. I think this was the superhero game everyone was waiting in a long time, even  before they knew about it, even before Infamous, Arkham Asylum and Infamous 2.

Gameplay: 9.5/10
-Incredible combat, a lot to explore and some of the funnest missions available this year-

Story: 10/10

-thrilling, exciting and emotionally satisfying, Batman: Arkham City was made with a story people can only dream of-


Presentation: 9.5/10

-Incredible characters, excellent cutscenes and a perfect atmosphere, but too much villains though-


Appeal: 9/10

-The game will last long, but the story while being was fun was short and a tad overfilled with villains at the same time-


Graphics: 10/10

-Arkham City looks perfect, characters where perfect and the dim lighting fitted the game perfectly-


Sound: 9/10

-Nolan North chokes and there is some poor lip movements, but everything else was a full and obvious blast-

Average Rating: 9.5/10

Overall Rating: 9.6/10