A deep and tightly formed game full of extras and fan service for players to discover as they stalk the gotham streets.

User Rating: 8.5 | Batman: Arkham City X360


Arkham asylum, it could be argued that it was the break out hit of 2009. A risk to begin with it totally blew away most people expecting very little from the comic book based game.

Rocksteady created one of the most refined and streamlined action adventures ever seen but also created a riddle even the worlds greatest detective would have trouble solving.

How to follow up something that was a home run to begin with.

Rocksteady though had an answer to this from the start, so much so they hid proof of which inside the final build of arkham asylum.

Batman has a deep and rich history and background, one already mined for success. The characters history and depth was one of the original games two biggest strengths. With the move into an open world design this depth gives the second game its biggest possible weakness.

The open world of a city space presents new challenges for the game to meet. Gladly it does quite well. Batman can now glide more freely in the large open spaces of arkham city, diving at speed and pulling back to catch the wind allows you to swoop and float across much of the city, coupled with the additional grappling claw skills fleshes out the way batman moves and feels much more then before.

I say an open world environment but the game is not so far removed from that of asylum. much of the games more important sections take place in self contained areas away from the free form city space. Also the city itself has been walled off a smaller part of the famous gotham city. It so happens to be a part of the city that contains most of the recognisable landmarks from the dark knights history so that's lucky…

Every aspect of asylum that made the game what it was is still here, and in most areas built upon or improved.

The battle system now deeper and more enjoyable to partake in when surrounded by a sea of thugs and villains. Still deep but no more complex then before. It allows for the most basic of play styles to feel a success but the more skillful players have much more to play with.

"Boss" encounters are also very improved. A wider selection of boss event being on show here, a highlight being the encounter with mr.freeze about halfway through the games story. One of the more complex and involving characters he is represented better in this game then any of batmans other rouges gallery regulars. His boss fight is as good an example of this with the fight requiring a wide array of approaches to pass.

If there was still an underline issue with the game it would be the story. Not to say that its bad, compared to many of its ilk its still very well written and paced. The problem is its wavering quality. When the writing is good its really good, and when its not its just good. I know this sounds silly but those moments where the quality does drop are all the more noticeable. Another area where the quality drops are those featuring catwoman.

Now I'd like to make it known that I take no issue with her realisation as a playable character, played much like a "batman lite" shes full of sass and sex appeal, moving through the city with a style of her own and more then a little fun to partake in.

The real issue is how shes implemented in the game, both narratively and play wise.

Having her "story" dropped into the game at seemingly random moments is jarring, her story lacking depth or even any real relevance to that of batman.

It would have been much more effective if she had a separate story, written with more time and effort that you could play from a menu. Her use the way it is in arkham city does a disservice to both her as a character and the the quality of the work put into the characters game play.

Returning to arkham is riddler and the riddler challenges. Now spilling out into the games menu in the form of the challenge maps. there's literally hundreds of riddles and trophies to collect in his side mission in the main game and the challenge rooms are much improved with his presence, along with mr.freeze he is one of the best realised characters in the game.

Arkham city more them meets up to the expectations of the first games fans while improving upon them in a multitude of ways.