Batman has become the shining example of how a Superhero based movie and video game can become something to follow on if put in the right hands. Rocksteady and Warner Bros. proved that back in 2009 with the release of Arkham Asylum which put Batman in the famed mental institute with most of his classic enemies such as Joker, Scarecrow, Bane and Croc but with the release of Arkham City in 2011 it marked an even greater adventure for billionaire vigilante Bruce Wayne as he takes on Arkham villains on a whole new level.


Story
Arkham City is the best example of a super hero game done right, most studios simply release a video game based on a recently released movie to earn a quick buck along with the movie release but Rocksteady took a different approach and focused on showing gamers and fans of the Dark Knight that a super hero can be great in video games without it being a movie spin off. Arkham City lets us Don the Cape of Batman yet again as Bruce Wayne is forcibly taken inside Arkham City on trumped up charges given by Dr. Hugo Strange. You must find out how Strange came into power, what is Protocol 10 and even fall victim to a Jokers trap, all of these single elements combine into one fantastic story which will show you the highs and lows of Arkham City.

As you can guess by the name Arkham City is basically a chunk of Gotham turned into Arkham Asylum, Bruce Wayne is one of the people against this (for obvious reasons) but just as he is about to address the press on his campaign to shut it down he is forcibly taken inside Arkham City and made a prisoner. Wayne dawns the Bat cowl once more to clear his name and shut down Arkham City from the inside, along the way you will find Robin and Catwoman to help you on your journey and will be a small part of the story too, but seeing them in the game was a nice change. Alfred and oracle also return to arkham city with their roles as they did in asylum.

Gameplay
The game is amazing; you have a larger variety of gadgets than asylum, combat has been significantly improved, you can do double and triple takedowns and you fight more villains than ever before, heck the first fight is just after the opening sequence and it’s nothing short of amazing. A few minutes after the start of the game as you “face-off” against the penguin and his goons. Along with Two-Face you fight Solomon Grundy, ra’as al ghul, Mr. Freeze and many other well known and lesser known villains in the Batman universe, but when you aren’t busy fighting the cream of the crop of the villain world you can choose to participate in side missions which add more element to the story and help you stop murderers and other vigilantes who are in Batman’s way of handing out justice, one of whom is the phone booth killer and the other is a surprise.


You can also get in the tights of the lovely Catwoman (She comes as a complimentary DLC with every new purchase of the game via a redeemable online code for consoles / PC). You can engage in combat (whip those enemies if you ever wanted to), with all the climbing you will be a vital character aside from Batman in the main story but her side of the story is short. Still sweet and is a good addition to the game yet again.


The game lets you do more stuff then what you could do Arkham Asylum. While in AA you were restricted to mostly indoors, Arkham City gives you plenty of room to roam around the outside the buildings. Most of your objectives will definitely make you do a lot of sightseeing as you go from rooftop to rooftop and glide your way down to street level. And when you are done with all the side missions and the main story you can put your thinking cap on with 400 riddler’s trophies scattered through out arkham city and a whole new game mode dedicated as the improved challenge room to riddler, where your tests of combat and stealth are put to the test. There’s also a NEW GAME+ MODE which unlocks right after you end the game on either normal or hard mode. Also if you thought that arkham city is easy enough for you to breeze through then you might wanna think again with this “new game+” mode. This game has plenty of content to keep you playing it LONG after beating it and those of you looking to get a few new challenges to conquer can grab the additional robin and nightwing dlc map packs from online from your specific pc or console store for the game and that adds the robin and nightwing character at your disposal to compete in the “riddlers challenges” game mode and while you’re at it don’t forget to grab the “7 skins pack” for the dark knight himself, the suits made are remarkably done. If you are looking to platinum / 1000GS this game then you are in for one hell of a ride if you want to earn that precious achievement / trophy.


Graphics
Graphically the game is a huge improvement, people say that consoles are aging but this game proves the contrary as the graphics on the console version is absolutely stunning and breathtaking to say the least. While the PC version is the true master piece of the platforms as it does come at a very high price given in terms of the performance. People with the most-updated rigs are not able to run the game at 60 FPS on 1080p but the jump from PC to console is very obvious but only if you can afford it.


Graphically there have been massive improvements, the textures of the characters, environments and other details really show. When you do more close quarters combat with enemies you will see this for yourself but you can also go to the tallest point in Arkham City and admire a beautiful scene which is rare in a video game like this. Lighting, Explosions and Smoke are all superbly done and even as you’re HUD fades in and out while getting shot makes it feel even more realistic.

While the Unreal Engine has been once again used for this game and is quite an old popular engine for such a series, it still manages to show that even now it is still capable of delivering some pretty powerful effects to its respective platforms, especially when gamers are demanding more realistic graphics. Whether loyal fans or newcomers play it out, Arkham City sure is a close second and is truly mesmerizing for every individual.


Final Words
In the end Arkham City is a true multiplatform master piece, even though many other multiplatform games like Portal 2, Dead Space 2 and Crysis 2 released in 2011 this game was by far the best sequel of all the games especially if you are a fan of action adventure games.

No related posts.