How do you follow up one of the best games of all time? Increase the open world size, expand the universe of characters and villains, and give new gadgets. Batman: Arkham City is the sequel that Arkham Asylum deserves and needed. As phenomenal as Arkham Asylum is, it feels like the beta run for Arkham City. I just finished playing through both of these games and I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun playing through a game. Both games in this series do a phenomenal job of combining puzzle solving with fluid story and gameplay. It doesn’t over complicate the game by throwing a puzzle at you around every corner, and the really tough ones are optional (I personally didn’t have the patience or the perseverance to track down every Riddler Trophy, but some people love the challenge). So after the events of Arkham Asylum where do you go from here? Into the giant mega prison that was set up to house the inmates of both Arkham and Blackgate Prison: Arkham City. A giant, walled off section of Gotham where criminals can just be dumped and forgotten about. Free to roam the city as they please, gangs and allegiances are formed, as well as a complex system of tunnels and sewers.
Arkham City is the perfect rationale Rocksteady needed to introduce a wider range of Batman villains. In this game you’ll encounter many of the originals from Arkham Asylum like The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and Bane. But you also get introduced to many of the other favorites in the Batman universe like Mr. Freeze, Two Face, The Riddler (Heard in the first game but never seen), Dead Shot, and many others. You also get the opportunity to play as Cat Woman, a slender and acrobatic fighter compared to Batman’s brute strength. If you like pouncing up walls and jumping to the ceiling of caged hallways, she is definitely someone you’ll want to play as. There is also a bonus section of the game that allows you to play as Robin.
In addition to these characters brings an A-List cast of voice actors. Kevin Conroy renews his role as Batman, a role he's been voicing for over 20 years. Mark Hamill returns as the Joker. Maurice La Marche (Calculon, Futurama) offers his voice for Mr. Freeze, and Stana Katic (Detective Kate Becket, Castle), is Talia Al Gul. A great video of the behind the scenes of the voice recordings for this game can be found here.
The game brought back the gameplay mechanics of Arkham Asylum, and Oracle is helping you through like before, but with the open environment it’s much easier to fly through the streets and explore. To help navigate you can set custom waypoints, and there are plenty of side missions to complete. I’ve beaten the game but only have 37% of the story completed. What I like about Arkham City is after you beat the game you can return to your file and keep playing to complete those side quests. You can play as either Batman with multiple skin options (Animated, 1970’s, Batman Beyond, etc.) or as Cat Woman. You can have fun running or flying around the city and engaging in combat or you can look at the side quests you haven’t completed yet and play through the rest of the game. The replay value for this game is extensive and amazing.
With the upcoming release of Arkham Origins, focus is once again being cast on this franchise. Though Arkham Origins is being developed by a different company, Warner Bros. Montreal and not Rocksteady. I, like many gamers, am nervous about what this means for the game. Having watched gameplay footage and interviews with the developers, like this one here, it’s clear they understand that they’re picking up something legendary and if they mess with it too much they will fail. It looks like the combat mechanics, graphics style, and gameplay are all staying true to what Arkham Asylum and Arkham City made great. This is important because these two games are the first time in any superhero game that I felt like the hero. I wasn’t just playing as Batman, I was Batman. Every powerful punch and graceful glide you felt like you were in this world and fighting tooth and nail to make it just a little bit better. With the gameplay remaining the same, so long as the story remains solid this game looks very promising. As it takes place five years before the events of Arkham Asylum, there is a lot of flexibility in terms of what characters they can have in this game and how they interact with Batman. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Arkham Asylum or Arkham City yet, I highly recommend you grab it on your gaming platform of choice (Arkham City is currently available on X-Box 360, PS3, Wii U, and PC). It is held in the top ten best video games I’ve ever played.
