Batman: Arkham City was long anticipated. And for good reason: BATMAN HAULS A**.
Batman. The Dark Knight.
And Batman hauls a**.
This game is explosive. The map is huge. I spent probably an hour just gliding and grappling around exploring the city. The subway and Wonder City freak me out, but that's just more map and more amazingness. There are prisoners everywhere, and kicking their a**** is incredibly fun. Even the innocent ones, who just stand around complaining can be Glide Kicked, Drop Attacked, clotheslined, punched, kicked, flipped, and slammed. And the graphics are ASTOUNDING. I bow down to the gods of graphic design. Everything is B-E-A-utiful, from Harley Quinn's destroyable intercoms to Batman's suit (which gets more and more screwed up as the game progresses.)
The plot is even better. It probably took me about five-seven hours to complete the main campaign. Along with that, there are what seem like a million side missions you can work on, still while hunting down Ras al Ghul or on the way to kick Penquin's a**. I'm still working on solving all 440 Riddler challenges, which go from ridiculously easy to ripping-my-hair-out hard. Along the way, there are plenty of inmates to beat down if you just wanna get some bonus exp. or stop hearing them talk about the fact that it's so cold.
Most people don't stop to notice, but the score from this game was fantastic. The music always fit the scene, no matter where I was. Also, the cutscenes, though not the most stunningly animated, are intriguing, sometimes comedic, and sometimes quite scary.
The villians in this game are many. Here's a list: Deadshot
Zsasz
Joker
Harley Quinn (I don't know if she counts.)
Hugo Strange
Ras al Ghul
Clayface
Mister Freeze
The Penguin
Two-Face
Solomon Grundy
Riddler (For me, creepiest villian in the whole game.)
With special appearances by:
Bane
Killer Croc
Hush
Scarecrow (His cameo is really hard to find.)
Calender Man (I don't know if he's really a villian, but he sure is creepy.)
The Waynetech system offers an incredible amount of suit upgrades, gadgets, and technology. The Batarang and Grappling Hook are still around, but you've also got stuff like the Remote Electrical Charge gun, a Cryptographic Sequencer, and a Disruptor that remotely blows up mines and renders machine guns useless.
If you buy this game new, you get the Catwoman DLC for free. People buying the game used can also get this, but must purchase at their own expense. Not only is Catwoman HOT, but she kicks a** too. Her missions include breaking into Hugo Strange's vault (where you are provided with an alternate ending) and beating the s*** out of Two-Face. As Catwoman you will also meet Poison Ivy. I haven't had the chance to try out the Robin or Nightwing DLC packs, but in the main Batman campaign Robin has a cameo.
Also assisting Batman are Oracle, Alfred, and - for a brief period - Talia al Ghul and Mr. Freeze.
Outside of the main campaign there is so much content my brain just about exploded. I believe there are something like 108 challenge campaigns for Batman and the same amount for Catwoman. There is also concept art and character models unlocked when you solve Riddler challenges and collect the trophies. The game also offers New Game+ mode. You may only access this after beating the main campaign. You will be able to keep all your upgrades and gadgets, but the villians/inmates are harder to defeat, the counter icon disappears, and more people have machine guns.
All in all, this game kicks a**. Everything about it is fantastic, minus the Two-Face battle as Catwoman, which is insanely hard and had me cursing everytime I got shot down. You NEED to buy this game. Right now. Go. Do it! You'll have a hell of a time.