Batman: Arkham City

The best Dark Knight experience anyone could ask for!

Arkham Asylum's release in 2009 confounded the expectations of those who assumed it'd be just another third-rate superhero adaptation. The circumstances surrounding Arkham City couldn't be more distinct. Expectations for Rocksteady's second rendition of the Dark Knight are sky-high, and rightly so, given just how much a larger, more open world can bring to a Batman game. Does Arkham City live up to the promise, or are we witnessing sunset in Gotham?
Following circumstances we don't want to spoil, Batman finds himself stranded in Arkham City, a district-sized prison camp hanging off Gotham like a gangrenous appendage. If you're determined to know what's what going in, DC released a prequel comic that connects the events in Arkham City to those of the previous game. Long story short, the inmates are once again running the asylum. It's just bigger this time. The mad and sinister Hugo Strange has connived his way into control of the facility, with the agents of merc company Tyger serving as his attack dogs. Meanwhile, the "city" is overrun with gangs lead by a who's who of the Batman rogues gallery, like the Joker, Two-Face, and Penguin. They're all heavily armed, and at the outset, that appears oddly A-OK with Strange. However, he won't shut up about something called "Protocol 10," whose commencement gets ever-closer.
It's not long before the intensity ratchets up to a fever pitch, and the plot begins to twist in exactly the way you'd expect a cameo- and cross-over-laden comic series to. Just like its predecessor's, Arkham City's story leads you by the nose across the span of its grand set, sometimes in circles, but its direction is so careful and its pace so expertly executed that you'll scarcely mind. This also applies to the side-missions, which serve as mini-stories in themselves dedicated to fan-favorite villains and antiheroes that feel better developed than optional content has any right to be.
Though we didn't bust out the surveying tools and measure for ourselves, Rocksteady's claim that Arkham City is five times larger than its predecessors' playable area certainly feels true. Almost from the get-go, you feel like you have the run of the place, though there's just enough danger stitched into the environment that you'll generally want to look before you leap--or grapnel, soar, or dive, as it were. Apart from the multi-layered overworld, replete with a dizzying multitude of explorable nooks, alleys, and hidey-holes, there're a number of interior locations that get heavy use in the story missions, like the Gotham PD, a ruined cathedral riddled with question marks, and an abandoned steel mill where the Joker has set up shop. There's also a teeming underworld that incorporates parts of Gotham's subway system and the mysterious ruins of the old city. Arkham City is varied and dense with secrets, and much vaster than it initially seems. Just don't try to winch onto any surface covered with barbed wire or iron bars. For reasons that have more to do with game progression than internal logic, Batman just won't go there.
Given how every event in the main story is framed as urgent and imperative, the missions provide a pull that's hard to resist. At the same time, the game goes out of its way to distract you with almost innumerable diversions. If you're gliding your way to the next story objective, all it takes is for you to switch on detective mode for a second and the urge to veer off the critical path becomes almost irresistible. It might be one of the hundreds of Riddler trophies hidden in the distance. Perhaps it's the chatter of nearby thugs, groups of which are cleverly arranged throughout the world in often maddeningly-challenging configurations. Or maybe you just stumbled across a genuine side-mission, whose individual storylines often rival the main one in terms of urgency and variety. Whatever the case, it's hard to stay on task in Arkham City, and once you realize just how densely packed the environment is, you'll be afraid to turn detective mode off. That's a bit of a shame, given how cool the world looks when not viewed through that weird x-ray filter.
Expect to spend about 12 hours getting through the story, give or take, and many more pursuing the slew of side-missions. It bears reiteration that the this "optional" content feels anything but--disconnected from the story as they may be, these playable vignettes are every bit as salient to the Batman experience as the main event. For better or worse, some of this content, like the Riddler's most devious challenges, depend on how much of the fussy collect-a-thon stuff you've engaged in. Other stuff is available more or less at the outset, like the packed-in Catwoman DLC scenarios, which are intertwined with Batman's story and also accessible through the main menu after you unlock specific chapters. There's also a new game plus mode that's unlocked after you complete the story, which lets you start fresh with all your gadgets and upgrades, but mixes up the enemy compositions to create more difficult combat scenarios.
Arkham City revisits the challenge room concept with the Riddler's Revenge mode, which provides a series of ranked brawls, custom challenges, and linked events that test your mastery of the combat system as well as your ability to effectively clear a room. There are tons of medals to unlock for those most compulsive, and once you start applying crazy modifiers to the challenges, you'll be pushed to your limits as a predator.
As evidenced by the new, wonderful toys at Batman's disposal, Wayne Tech R&D has been working overtime since 2009. The most significant addition is Batman's ability to stay aloft for extended periods of time, which comes in very handy when traversing the mean streets of Arkham. Once you bolster it to the point where you propel yourself ever-higher via grapnel without touching down, you'll have Superman eating his heart out. In defiance of video game convention, Batman starts the game with most of his gadgets intact, and only adds to his existing arsenal and its capabilities as the story moves on.
You'll start to pick up new gadgets early on. The smoke pellets are immediately useful when facing enemies strapped with firearms, as they allow you to cut a hasty retreat or even stun victims if deployed offensively. Other items are useful in both traversal and combat, like the freeze bombs, which can snare enemies in place and create frozen platforms on water to access new areas. Old tools have gotten new applications as well, like the line gun, which you can upgrade to serve as a tightrope once deployed, which allows for all manner of shenanigans.
Pretty much every aspect of Batman--and, by extension, Catwoman, though her capabilities are lesser in scope--is upgradeable. Some elements are locked off until after you find the proper gadget or encounter the specific circumstance that requires use of a particular combat move. The game provides you with the tools to handle any combat situation you'll come across. As in Arkham Asylum, fighting feels deliberate and hectic at the same time--deliberate because Batman and Catwoman express a palpable economy in their actions, and hectic because it tests your reflexes and decision-making. Depending on what your enemies are equipped with, you'll have to bring to bear your arsenal of attacks, counters, evasions, and stuns differently, and when you're engaged with a large group that keeps swapping weapons, the game makes you earn that combo count. It's frankly overwhelming at times.
Arkham City spares no expense in its effort to deliver a wholly convincing Batman experience. As expected, the voicework is top notch, with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their iconic roles as Batman and the Joker. The rest of the cast isn't too shabby, either; Victor Zsasaz drips with sadism and menace during his revolting monologues, and Mr. Freeze's staccato monotone proves no less unnerving for being so understated.
The world looks great, too, provided you bother to turn off detective mode long enough to take it in. Arkham City has a lot of character for a dreary prison camp. Deep underground, it's all decaying art deco and retro-tech evocative of the classic cartoon show. Meanwhile, on Joker's turf, you're deep in a twisted carnival whose brutal inhabitants would scare the pants off you if you weren't Batman.
Arkham City feels like a logical extension of its predecessor, wholly embracing and expanding upon all the elements that made it great. It most certainly is the definitive Batman game, but to leave it there would be to damn it with faint praise. Simply put, if you admire painstakingly-realized worlds rich with secrets and game mechanics that never cease to surprise you, then you it to yourself to experience Arkham City. Your interest in the source material is irrelevant.