A game that's hailed as one of the best games in 2011 (and probably ever), averaging a very impressive rating of 9.5/10 from GameRankings, and with people claiming it's a must-play, I played it. I ended up getting the digital version. In the end, I was left with... some sort of disappointment, as my expectations were set sky high. I hadn't played Arkham Asylum before, so I was thrown straight into the deep end in Arkham City. While there are tutorial missions, by and large, I was confused more often than I would have liked. The learning curve for the battle system can be large for newcomers, and I'll be frank, I sucked at the battle system. Since fighting is such a large part of the game, if you suck at it (don't button mash!!), it'll ruin much of the fun. I'm not going to hold it against the game, since when I got those rare moments that my combos executed wonderfully, it was immense fun and satisfying. Batman's arsenal is huge, and I loved experimenting with the gadgets that I had. However, there's no shortcut for Batman to execute effective crowd control, and this, coupled with multiple types of enemies that needs to be defeated in different specific ways, and it makes it annoying if you haven't thoroughly grasped the battle system. The game is a deep and dark affair, taking place only at night. The environments are gorgeous and this game has some of the best graphics.
Batman moves quite fluidly, especially his cape, you could just watch him fight and not be bored, it's that entertaining. I felt the story mode was a bit short, if you only just did the story missions, by the end of it, you're thinking, "is that it?" This just means the game is so good you want more. I loved how the Catwomen DLC was implemented, it felt much more consistent, like it belongs there. All too often, DLC feels like an extra, away from the main game. The story is interesting, and there is a large number of villains that are involved, yet I still felt it could be better. It never truly lifts off and the urgency is only felt until later into the game, right in the end. The revelation of what Protocol Ten was disappointing, I expected something much grander and cooler. While just playing through the story will set you back around eight hours, there are so many side missions that'll take up much much longer. Even as unskilled as I was, the boss fights were very easy. I died way more just fighting through regular mobs than by the bosses. The only one that gave me a challenge was Mr Freeze, and I agree, that was quite innovative and it really tests your skills as Batman. Apart from Mr Freeze, the only other boss fight that felt like a true boss fight was the final boss. All other ones are quite... surprising (and not in a good way).
Many people would see the immense amount of gadgets as a good thing, that can backfire though if there are too many gadgets. Sometimes it got confusing as to where I had to go next, a mini-map would be great. They opted for a bar across the top of the screen, and in my opinion, that was a bit unwieldy. Also, as various places in the game, I didn't know where to go or how to progress further, some sort of hint function (that you can toggle on and off) would be nice, since I wasted more than a fair few minutes just scratching my head, figuring where to go. The music used was very good and set the atmosphere quite well. The music was more grand and solid than I would have expected in a game. The amount of extra information that is the game for you to peruse at your leisure is a nice inclusion. There's bios and concept art, and I like the fact that you have to work to unlock them, makes you appreciate it more rather than if they just gave the whole thing to you from the get-go or at once. I recommend playing the game on something like Hard, since it's a bit too easy on Normal. It's quite an experience once you've completed the story, seeing the game's take on all those villains was amazing. It's a good solid game, and I can see where people who applaud the game come from.
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Other game reviews can be found on this page.