Back in 2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum was held by critics and consumers with great valor and set the panicle of what defined a great superhero game. Now 2 years later Rocksteady Studios has developed a sequel that maintains the same level of excellence by introducing an intoxicating neighborhood known as Arkham City. This vicious and anarchist environment holds the most dangerous criminals in Gotham City in a completely sealed off section of the city.  As the Dark Knight, you struggle to bring some form of order within this superprison by foiling the plots of various supervillians. With its satisfying combat, tremendous things to complete, great voice-acting and immensely satisfying atmosphere Arkham City is an incredible adventure game.

Former Arkham Asylum warden, Quincy Sharp, is now mayor of Gotham and has moved all the criminals for Blackgate prison and Arkham Asylum to a sealed off section in the heart of Gotham, known as Arkham City. Dr. Hugo Strange has been put in charge of this new superprison and its Batman’s objective to see what is truly going on inside its walls. Within Arkham City the Joker is dying and Batman is forced to help him find a cure. This brings the Dark Knight into conflicts between Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and many others enemies. Every character shown has a particular role within the story and is excellently portrayed through the events of the story, as well as their history throughout the comics.

Arkham City isn’t as wide open as other sandbox games. However what it lacks in scale it made up in atmospheric details. Arkham City is cluttered with decaying buildings, fading portraits, and the flickering lights of business signs throughout the city. Rocksteady definitely wanted to convey through the environment itself that this portion of Gotham, before it became Arkham City, was a lively place before the newly arrived criminal took advantage of the transfer by designating their territory.

Arkham City had one of the best voice acting in any game and Arkham City does as well. Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy return as the roles as Batman and Joker ensuring that the notorious relationship between the two enemies remain natural throughout each scene. Every villain, henchman, and ally within Arkham City showcases is connected to specific voice that breathes life into each person.

Those who have played Arkham Asylum will automatically recognize the combat system. Rocksteady took the same combat mechanics and refined it to a more elaborate system that remains just as easy. Each button has a specific action that ensures that combat remains fluid throughout the entire situation. There are also assortments of hotkeys that allow you to use any of your gadgets to take down enemies quickly. By building your combos you can unleash a special move that can take down multiple enemies at once and grant you more experience. These techniques and move will all have to utilize throughout the game as enemies become more equipped and require more sophisticated means to defeat them.

Also returning is the marvelous stealth system. Moving throughout the environment to take your foes before they find and eliminate you is fun and varied. Rocksteady has improved “Detective Mode” allowing you to be constantly updated with the number of enemies remaining, however your enemies has also upgraded in ways that counteract these improvements. These upgrades range from thermal heat goggles to spot you from gargoyles to disruptors that render your detective move obsolete till you take him down.

As you will battles and complete challenges you will be rewarded with experience points that allow you to upgrade your suit, combat skills, and gadgets. These upgrades have a large impact on the game and create a sense of reward and desire to gain new abilities. There are impressive levels of upgrades and will probably keep you busy even after you finish the game.

Throughout the game you will encounter a number of side missions that add depth and longevity to the game. Each mission is crafted to suit the needs of either the story or the villain themselves. The most notable one being the 400 Riddler Challenges that require you to complete a series of challenges to uncover the locations of the hostages he has imprisoned.

If you are looking for more of a challenge there are wide assortments of challenge rooms and new game plus option. New Game Plus unlocks after beating the game once and allows you to gain access to all your gadgets and increases the difficultly by removing things such as counter alerts. The challenge modes are Arkham Asylum make a return and offer combat and Predator challenges that each earn you medals depending on your score and time. These can be altered further by placing modifiers that increase the difficulty by decreasing health and so on.

Batman: Arkham City is definitely a worthwhile sequel of Batman: Arkham Asylum. The incredible combat and sneaking sequences allow for precious and challenge situations. The challenges and side missions offer a lot of longevity to the game, especially for those seeking to fully complete the game. I did find the ending of the story to be disappointing, especially the last boss. However this is only as minor inconvenience to an incredible game.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
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