(No Simpsons pun intended)
What started out as a small comic book series in the late 30's has developed greatly over the years from comic, to television, to movies and then to games. Batman Arkham City is one among many in the popular world of Batman, but it is a piece of art that should not be avoided.
As I have previously stated, I haven't played a Batman game since the side scroller in the early 90's of my childhood. I have never been a huge Batman fan (As Spiderman seemed cooler to me) and I haven't gone out of my way to watch the movies or play the games. This game, however, has definitely sparked my interest in the series all over again.
One of the first things I noticed was the graphic detail on not only just cutscenes and characters, but on the world of Arkham City, each and every little detail right down to the snowflakes being well done and beautiful to gaze over the city as snow falls from above. Next would be the terrific voice acting; the nerd inside me extremely happy with Mark Hamill playing the devilious villian Joker. The entire cast, from Batman (Played by Kevin Conroy) to the lowly thud were performed greatly, adding the well known tension and mood Batman games/movies/shows are well known for.
Gameplay is decent, with the controls sticking only a little when it comes to using or selecting gadgets, playing through the game is quite enjoyable, along with camera angles following you from both informative and create places as you travel throughout the city.
The only place the game faulters, if only slightly, is the storyline. With a terrific beginning and end, its the middle of the game that faulters, with the main plot often being put aside for side missions that will require you to do some tasks that slow down progress for 30 minutes, in the least. These missions, while inventive and fun, can be a little troublesome, taking you out of the suspence of the main storyline for some odd little sidequest.
With Catwoman's missions not far behind, its a great addition to the game to play as this unique character, scaling walls to reach an objective, using the whip to travel over rooftops and reaching areas that Batman cannot. Its quite satisfying playing as Catwoman, giving the player a variety of both good and bad characters.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to play the second DLC, so that will remain an unknown factor.
Sadly, like every other game, there are some faults.
While the graphics are of great quality, the fast pace of the game doesn't allow much dilly dally and the only small windows you have are tracking parts of missions, such as looking for Penguin's radar dishes. While the musical score is fantastic and did create mood for the entire game, there was a great lasp of it, travelling from place to place in the city, with only a snippet now and again. The music only returned when engaging in combat, and as I mentioned, the middle of the campaign was slightly dissapointing, focused mostly on side missions than the actual plot, taking you away from the moment of the crisis that is, literally, having Batman's life on the line within a few hours left till his death.
Like every other game, Arkham City has its slight faults, but this should not deter you from the game. With such a brilliant accord of voice actors, a decent storyline and breathtaking graphics, this game is a must have for lovers of the francise, leaving you staring at the screen, growling softly in a husky voice "Im Batman!"
Out of 10, I gave Batman Arkham City an 8/10
Good points: Graphics are beautiful
Voice acting = perfection
Combat is engagingly great
Bad points: JOKER! NOOOOO!
Lack of musical score during softer moments
Controls can tend to stick & confuse AI
(Batman Arkham City is out now for the average price of $80)
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