Batman: Arkham City Review
I just recently finished playing Batman: Arkham City. I found it to be very well presented and its value easily be worth more than the initial $60. After increasing the games size by around 4 times the original it helped flesh out the world and add tons more content. The side missions alone could be placed into its own game and the Riddler collectibles and challenges could be one in itself as well.
The game kept me playing for more than I expected. After the game was over I did go to IGN to gather all the collectibles and finish Riddlers riddles and some side missions. Other than that the game will walk you through the main story and leave everything else to exploration all in a good way. You can easily get about half the collectibles and side missions done along side the main story line to leave you much more after it's all over.
First things to notice is the size of the game. It tires to cram in so many ties to Batman lore it's really insane that this place isn't any bigger. You can see the rest of the city beyond the limits but really it feels like all the important parts to Batman's story are all in one place. Not to be picky but I really think it should have been bigger and buildings more spaced out.
The flying addition is definitively needed for the expanse of the game making it really easy to get around. Just do the VR training and get the grapple boost and call it a day getting around won't get any easy. Even gliding around the whole map to switch to Catwoman feels faster than her haphazard style to getting around the city. I agree with Zero Punctuation in that she face plants into buildings to get around, just feels slow and kind of dumb. Gladly your not stuck as Catwoman very long since she is but I'd say 5% of the game.
Combat doesn't seem changed at first until you notice countering multiple enemies. That is pretty much the single most exciting thing about combat and Batman and Catwoman move so fluidly it really looks amazing when your kicking ass. With gadgets adding some nice variation and crowd control for large groups or specific targets. Catwoman feels much faster and agile than Batman and she seems to make quicker work of thugs. It helps make her not feel like a weak character and helps out way the movement style.
The plot seemed to work out fine but had a little lacking. Your being dragged from one awesome villain to another trying to make your way to Hugo Strange. With a few expected twists and unexpected twists it seemed to try and trick you every chance it got. I expected a bigger ending and Protocol Ten to be something more. I really didn't fear Protocol Ten after I found out what it was about and the Hugo Strange plot really didn't draw me in. The Joker plot was driving me the whole time and I enjoyed that more than the conflict with Hugo Strange. I don't know about you but I found the twist with Joker better and came with an awesome end boss fight I didn't expect and was hoping for at the same time.
Overall this game offers up a lot and to pass it up would be a gaming sin. The game had some down sides but the rest of it really picks up the slack. I would have like a more comprehensible map among a more fearing Protocol Ten. I get the main story was all about the Joker again but I felt the Protocol Ten plot should have been flushed out to be feared more. Combat and movement felt really well done and made it very funny. I couldn't think of a better way to feel like Batman than this game. The gadgets were well designed and fit very well and even old ones given new life so they don't feel worthless and the same old thing. I give this game a buy for sure and you can always enjoy the challenge maps after you've completed the game. It might be a trade in later but is really worth a once over for sure.
The game kept me playing for more than I expected. After the game was over I did go to IGN to gather all the collectibles and finish Riddlers riddles and some side missions. Other than that the game will walk you through the main story and leave everything else to exploration all in a good way. You can easily get about half the collectibles and side missions done along side the main story line to leave you much more after it's all over.
First things to notice is the size of the game. It tires to cram in so many ties to Batman lore it's really insane that this place isn't any bigger. You can see the rest of the city beyond the limits but really it feels like all the important parts to Batman's story are all in one place. Not to be picky but I really think it should have been bigger and buildings more spaced out.
The flying addition is definitively needed for the expanse of the game making it really easy to get around. Just do the VR training and get the grapple boost and call it a day getting around won't get any easy. Even gliding around the whole map to switch to Catwoman feels faster than her haphazard style to getting around the city. I agree with Zero Punctuation in that she face plants into buildings to get around, just feels slow and kind of dumb. Gladly your not stuck as Catwoman very long since she is but I'd say 5% of the game.
Combat doesn't seem changed at first until you notice countering multiple enemies. That is pretty much the single most exciting thing about combat and Batman and Catwoman move so fluidly it really looks amazing when your kicking ass. With gadgets adding some nice variation and crowd control for large groups or specific targets. Catwoman feels much faster and agile than Batman and she seems to make quicker work of thugs. It helps make her not feel like a weak character and helps out way the movement style.
The plot seemed to work out fine but had a little lacking. Your being dragged from one awesome villain to another trying to make your way to Hugo Strange. With a few expected twists and unexpected twists it seemed to try and trick you every chance it got. I expected a bigger ending and Protocol Ten to be something more. I really didn't fear Protocol Ten after I found out what it was about and the Hugo Strange plot really didn't draw me in. The Joker plot was driving me the whole time and I enjoyed that more than the conflict with Hugo Strange. I don't know about you but I found the twist with Joker better and came with an awesome end boss fight I didn't expect and was hoping for at the same time.
Overall this game offers up a lot and to pass it up would be a gaming sin. The game had some down sides but the rest of it really picks up the slack. I would have like a more comprehensible map among a more fearing Protocol Ten. I get the main story was all about the Joker again but I felt the Protocol Ten plot should have been flushed out to be feared more. Combat and movement felt really well done and made it very funny. I couldn't think of a better way to feel like Batman than this game. The gadgets were well designed and fit very well and even old ones given new life so they don't feel worthless and the same old thing. I give this game a buy for sure and you can always enjoy the challenge maps after you've completed the game. It might be a trade in later but is really worth a once over for sure.
Comments
Post a Comment