Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham Asylum will always be remembered as the first Batman game where you actually felt like Batman, having access too all his gadgets, having immense fighting prowess, and detective skills aided by the best of technology. What Arkham Asylum was missing however,  was open-world gameplay that is simply part of Batman's nature. Yes, Batman does lurk in the shadows and infiltrate enemy hideouts, but primarily is a watcher of the night and strikes down on criminals when they least expect it, many of whom have no idea Batman is in the area.

Batman: Arkham City rectifies that. Taking place 18 months after the events of Joker's Arkham Asylum takeover, it is revealed that Hugo Strange has been orchestrating plans to construct an Arkham City within Gotham to house all Arkham inmates. Batman, unable to bring down Arkham City alone, decides to use his recognition as Bruce Wayne to run for mayor of Gotham and shut down Arkham City. This plan certainly gets him notoriety, as he is kidnapped and brought to Arkham City.

From there, Batman embarks on a tale of twists and turns involving a cure for the Joker's TITAN poisoning, the blood of Ra's al Ghul, a power struggle between Two-Face and Penguin, and who Hugo Strange is really working for. Along the way, you also get to play as Catwoman as she discovers the location of a massive stockpile of loot that Hugo Strange confiscated from inmates, but also rescues Batman from time to time.

The ending has a twist that is hinted at from nearly the very beginning and makes you feel stupid for not catching it right before the big reveal, especially since the game is basically dropping hints everywhere as to what the Joker is really up to. What happens after the final boss fight though (which is incredibly underwhelming), while maybe upsetting to fans, is nevertheless classic Joker and excellently written by Paul Dini. Arkham City does not end on a happy note, but it is truly the only way a Batman story can end, especially one so heavily styled on the comics.

Everything you wished Batman could do in Arkham Asylum is now possible, including some things you may not have thought of. Batman is much better armed this time, being that he has much better access to his arsenal. There are 2 notable gadgets from Arkham Asylum missing though: multiple Batarangs and the 3-pronged Batclaw. The multiple Batarangs aren't missed much due to the larger environment, but the better Batclaw becomes obvious when some Riddler puzzles have to be solved more ingeniously than before.

Arkham City has its minor hiccups (like loading times), but overall it's a solid game that will have you playing endlessly searching for more Riddler puzzles.

Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 9.5/10
Replay Value: 9/10

Average Score:      9.6/10