So Batman: Arkham City is the Highest Rated Game This Year, is it Worthy?

For all platforms Arkham City is the highest rated game this year, Skyrim close second.

How does the game stand? Does it deserve the praise?

By far one of the best games this gen, how did you like it?

don't know haven't played it yet, i was a big fan of the first one, just better games to play first "i'm not a big fan of batman"

Deus Ex Human Revolution curbstomps it quality wise, Arkham City is good but i think the idea of playing as Batman gives it a bit of a free pass compared to other games this year.

Deus Ex Human Revolution curbstomps it quality wise, Arkham City is good but i think the idea of playing as Batman gives it a bit of a free pass compared to other games this year.

ugoo18

Certainly. It puts everything else in the genre to shame.

I'd say so, Arkham City is one of those games that got the exact amount of praise that I wanted it to. Deus Ex however, that's the underrated gem of the year.

Arkham City is amazing. I ran past ALL the side missions my first playthrough because the story was excellent, some of the best voice acting I've ever seen. Now doing all the side missions on NG+ sweetened the pot much more. I hate the Riddler talking Sh* t though lol.

[QUOTE="ugoo18"]

Deus Ex Human Revolution curbstomps it quality wise, Arkham City is good but i think the idea of playing as Batman gives it a bit of a free pass compared to other games this year.

princeofshapeir

Personally I think it's the most overrated game of the year. I can't get into it at all. I had the same problem with Arkham Asylum. The combat is way too easy and most of the game's difficulty comes from stealth and having to pick and choose your targets. Also the writing in each game has been cringeworthy in a lot of places. IMO the best games this year were Witcher 2 and Deus Ex Human Revolution. The only reason neither have gotten any attention in GOTY awards is because they come out much earlier in the year and thus were completely overshadowed by Skyrim and Arkham City which were released mere weeks before GOTY season started.gameguy6700

I don't know if it's worthy of being the highest rated GOTY, but I can't wait to try this game in the next couple of months.

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"][QUOTE="ugoo18"]

Deus Ex Human Revolution curbstomps it quality wise, Arkham City is good but i think the idea of playing as Batman gives it a bit of a free pass compared to other games this year.

cainetao11

Graphically yes AC is better than Deus Ex but gameplay wise i would definitely disagree. I found the stealth in Arkham City to be fairly weak compared to Deus Ex, i could glide and drop pretty much right behind any given enemy and 95% of the time i would not be heard or spotted (I know he's Batman but come on that's pushing it too much). The combat while exciting to watch was fairly shallow (Basic fight was mash X + occasional counter + occasional button combo for random specific enemy and rinse and repeat for pretty much all the fights apart from the boss fights). Deus Ex imo had better stealth, it's story was much better and it made you aware of the consequences of your actions (I actually took about 15 or so minutes mentally debating which option to take at the end of Deus Ex). Some of the side quests in Arkham city felt like they were there just to extend the game, especially those race to a phone in X amount of time quests (A phone which usually happened to be halfway across the map).

I liked being able to take multiple paths to complete any given objective in Deus Ex with observable consequences for added replay value (Made encounters a lot more interesting) but in Arkham City no matter what path you took you had the same result (The closest thing to a real option/consequence was Catwoman taking the loot and leaving Arkham City but then the game forces you to go back and make that decision again -_-).

EDIT: Also some of the bosses were put in simply for name alone, 2 Face really had no business being in Arkham City he didn't do anything worth noting (Any of the other more influencial villians could have captured Catwoman, hell it could have ended up as part of Ra al Ghul's plan with him wanting to get rid of her because she might prevent Batman from possibly falling for his Daughter). It also would have made a lot more sense than a human villian without any sort of ability or combat training managing to capture Catwoman with nothing but random street thugs in masks -_- I still can't think of how 2 face with nothing but some thugs with guns could possibly apprehend someone like Catwoman (Obviously it would have to be Catwoman when she is prepared for combat as well since he doesn't know her identity which makes it even less believable).

Well, it's probably my GOTY.

So I'm gonna say yes.

From what I've played, yes.

It looks great, im still kicking myself for not buying it when it was on sale on steam a few days ago!!! I have Skyrim to keep me busy for now and a few other things but its definitely on my list of things to play.

It looks great, im still kicking myself for not buying it when it was on sale on steam a few days ago!!!

Animated_Gamer

You should. You missed an awesome deal. I bought the game full priced a few weeks back and don't regret it one bit.

Absolutely, unequivicobaly, Arkham City is worthy of its rating and the wealth of critical acclaim it has received. It's an achievement in game design in a vast world, engrossing story punctuated by top notch voice acting, engaging gameplay rich in diverse combat and control, and best of all sets the bar for how to pull the player into the fiction in a totally faithful creation of the source material.

Great game with an excruciating amount of filler quests (Riddler trophies in particular). But, naturally, it's f***ing awesome being Batman, so they're fun nonetheless. All in all, it's a bit overrated at 96 when considering other games at that mark, but not by much.

I found AC suffered from a case of "been there, done that", syndrome. Just couldnt get into it at all, felt too familiar.Allicrombie

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]I found AC suffered from a case of "been there, done that", syndrome. Just couldnt get into it at all, felt too familiar.charizard1605

[QUOTE="Allicrombie"]I found AC suffered from a case of "been there, done that", syndrome. Just couldnt get into it at all, felt too familiar.charizard1605

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="Allicrombie"]I found AC suffered from a case of "been there, done that", syndrome. Just couldnt get into it at all, felt too familiar.Allicrombie

You won the disappointment of the gaming community :P:P

If Skyrim didn't come out, Arkham City would be Game of the Year.

yes it's deserving

If Skyrim didn't come out, Arkham City would be Game of the Year.

yes it's deserving

LegatoSkyheart

Is that why the game has a 80 metacritic for not changing the formula?ocstew

I found AC suffered from a case of "been there, done that", syndrome. Just couldnt get into it at all, felt too familiar.Allicrombie

I thought likewise after 1-2 hours into the game.

Then I continued playing and I noticed how much of an improvement the game was over Arkham Asylum. Sure, AA is still special for me since it came out of nowhere and blew my socks off but all things considered AC is definitely the better game.

Absolutely, unequivicobaly, Arkham City is worthy of its rating and the wealth of critical acclaim it has received. It's an achievement in game design in a vast world, engrossing story punctuated by top notch voice acting, engaging gameplay rich in diverse combat and control, and best of all sets the bar for how to pull the player into the fiction in a totally faithful creation of the source material.

AdobeArtist

Very well deserved. Batman Arkham City is probably my favourite game this year, maybe even preferred over Skyrim.

Metacritic is bull though.

Both AC and Skyrim rank among my favourites this gen.

I found AC suffered from a case of "been there, done that", syndrome. Just couldnt get into it at all, felt too familiar.Allicrombie

I didn't think Arkham City was as good as Asylum.

When I played Asylum I was absolutely obsessed, checking every area, searching every nook and cranny and just basking in the world. With City when it went open world all the exploration seemed a bit meaningless since so much of it was copy/paste buildings just to make the world bigger and so many of the side quests were dull and had disappointing conclusions. Asylum had no filler; it was all top notch stuff and is still IMO the best superhero game ever made.

Arkham City wouldn't even be in my top 10 games of the year.

Isn.t 360 version of Skyrim the highest rated game this year? Both have a 96 metascore but Skyrim has twice as much reviews.

Well I'm sure Batman actually works properly, so that's pretty much an automatic win over Skyrim. I need to play this and see what all the fuss is about. I haven't even played Arkham Asylum yet.

Well I'm sure Batman actually works properly, so that's pretty much an automatic win over Skyrim. I need to play this and see what all the fuss is about. I haven't even played Arkham Asylum yet.

Master_ShakeXXX

[QUOTE="Master_ShakeXXX"]

Well I'm sure Batman actually works properly, so that's pretty much an automatic win over Skyrim. I need to play this and see what all the fuss is about. I haven't even played Arkham Asylum yet.

Grawse

I will let this one slide... just this once.

hands down one of my favourite games this year and this gen.

Deserves the praise, the combats simplistic but very very fun and looks insanely fluid.

It's well worth it, it perfects many of the ideas from the first game, improves on everything and tightly balances everything that wasn't balanced with the first game. Level design is amazing, combats better and now there are far more enemies on screen at once. Every-things so well thought out, the riddler challenges (the part of the game with the combat maps and predator maps is almost a game in its self with the amount there is to do. Although, I though not having any predator maps take place inside Wonder City was a missed oppertunity because of all the hiding places.

Make no mistake, if this was an exclusive people would be crying for it to be GoTY. Play it on hard and you'll see just how robust it is. There's just far more game here and unlike the first game, detective vision mode doesn't play the game for you.

its way overrated and i say this not even having played itlloveLamp

im not even gonna bother starting because this is a pretty dumb thing to say.

Though Dark Souls was certainly better and more time consuming (exactly 300 more hours consumed), Arkham City is definitely amazing. My favourite parts were and are the combat system which can be as smooth as a majestic wave. The sandbox/freedom element, they really got it right this time, the draw distance is practically inexistant (I mean you can't see it happen) and even considering this it has an extremely good framerate on consoles considering the horrifying amounts of overwhelming detail in every f*cking corner.

its way overrated and i say this not even having played itlloveLamp

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]Personally I think it's the most overrated game of the year. I can't get into it at all. I had the same problem with Arkham Asylum. The combat is way too easy and most of the game's difficulty comes from stealth and having to pick and choose your targets. Also the writing in each game has been cringeworthy in a lot of places. IMO the best games this year were Witcher 2 and Deus Ex Human Revolution. The only reason neither have gotten any attention in GOTY awards is because they come out much earlier in the year and thus were completely overshadowed by Skyrim and Arkham City which were released mere weeks before GOTY season started.jamejame

[QUOTE="jamejame"]

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]Personally I think it's the most overrated game of the year. I can't get into it at all. I had the same problem with Arkham Asylum. The combat is way too easy and most of the game's difficulty comes from stealth and having to pick and choose your targets. Also the writing in each game has been cringeworthy in a lot of places. IMO the best games this year were Witcher 2 and Deus Ex Human Revolution. The only reason neither have gotten any attention in GOTY awards is because they come out much earlier in the year and thus were completely overshadowed by Skyrim and Arkham City which were released mere weeks before GOTY season started.Advid-Gamer