Ah, one of my most anticipated games in 2011 have arrived. Batman: Arkham Asylum was awesome back when I played a year ago, and this sequel is no exception. Batman: Arkham City is one of the finest game this year, and it deserves a spot for Game of the Year nominations for 2011.
Story
The game takes place 6 to 12 months after Batman: Arkham Asylum's events, and this time, all super-villains such as Joker, Mr. Freeze, and others as well as other thugs are moved from Arkham Asylum to a newly constructed Arkham City, where it acts as a city prison for bad guys. Bruce Wayne, the real identity of Batman, is making a conference in front of Arkham City, where he is caught by TYGER guards. After making his escape, he becomes Batman once more and try to find out what happened to Arkham City and the truth of the mysterious Protocol Ten.
Like the first game, the storyline is awesome, full of great moments, etc. I love how Rocksteady Studios carry out the game's storyline with great clarity and impact, which makes most Batman fans love and endear it because how creative they use the characters to make a great storyline. The story also has some few surprises, that will make Batman game fans to pray and hope that a sequel will be released someday soon.
Although the characters (especially the villains) in the game are a lot more compared with Batman: Arkham City, the studio did a great job balancing each character's development in the game. Also, Catwoman's DLC episodes are great as well, as they show how exactly Catwoman play a role in the storyline despite her minimal appearances in the main story itself.
You can also get more background information of the game's storyline previous events that lead to Arkham City's events, by solving riddles in the game and collecting Riddler trophies. Major villains such as Joker and Two-Face have some important interview tapes and background story that explain some mysteries in the game, such as Two-Face's hatred on Catwoman, and how did Joker and Harley Quinn end up in Arkham City.
Gameplay
The gameplay remains much the same as the first game, with several new improvements. In combat, Batman can Strike, Counter, Evade, and Stun like the first game, along with several old moves. This time, he has access to new skills such as Ultra Stun, Beatdown Finisher, and etc. Also, Batman can now Counter more than one attack at the same time, which means multiple enemies can attack you at the same time. There are a variety of thugs in the game, such as stun-baton armed thug, shield armed thug, knife armed thug, and etc that requires different strategy for you to defeat them effectively.
The game's length is quite long itself. Even longer than Batman: Arkham Asylum. You can take the time enjoy the game's story as well as doing other Side Missions in the game. Other than the rather easiness of most boss fights in the game, the game's gameplay is simply awesome and much more refined than the first game.
Story
Batman is back, along with new villains such as Hugo Strange, Two-Face, and Penguin as well as old villains like Joker and Harley Quinn.
The game takes place 6 to 12 months after Batman: Arkham Asylum's events, and this time, all super-villains such as Joker, Mr. Freeze, and others as well as other thugs are moved from Arkham Asylum to a newly constructed Arkham City, where it acts as a city prison for bad guys. Bruce Wayne, the real identity of Batman, is making a conference in front of Arkham City, where he is caught by TYGER guards. After making his escape, he becomes Batman once more and try to find out what happened to Arkham City and the truth of the mysterious Protocol Ten.
Like the first game, the storyline is awesome, full of great moments, etc. I love how Rocksteady Studios carry out the game's storyline with great clarity and impact, which makes most Batman fans love and endear it because how creative they use the characters to make a great storyline. The story also has some few surprises, that will make Batman game fans to pray and hope that a sequel will be released someday soon.
Although the characters (especially the villains) in the game are a lot more compared with Batman: Arkham City, the studio did a great job balancing each character's development in the game. Also, Catwoman's DLC episodes are great as well, as they show how exactly Catwoman play a role in the storyline despite her minimal appearances in the main story itself.
You can also get more background information of the game's storyline previous events that lead to Arkham City's events, by solving riddles in the game and collecting Riddler trophies. Major villains such as Joker and Two-Face have some important interview tapes and background story that explain some mysteries in the game, such as Two-Face's hatred on Catwoman, and how did Joker and Harley Quinn end up in Arkham City.
Gameplay
Batman is awesome in this game as well, with lots of new moves and gadgets. The thrill and excitement of beating thugs are very satisfying.
The gameplay remains much the same as the first game, with several new improvements. In combat, Batman can Strike, Counter, Evade, and Stun like the first game, along with several old moves. This time, he has access to new skills such as Ultra Stun, Beatdown Finisher, and etc. Also, Batman can now Counter more than one attack at the same time, which means multiple enemies can attack you at the same time. There are a variety of thugs in the game, such as stun-baton armed thug, shield armed thug, knife armed thug, and etc that requires different strategy for you to defeat them effectively.
Stealth sections are the same as the first game, but the thugs have few surprises that can kill Batman easily this time.
As in the first game, there are stealth sections in the game. Batman has some new toys to play with while taking down enemies stealthily, such as using Freeze Grenade, Remote Electric Charge and etc. However, the thugs also have access to several new stuffs. About halfway of the game, thugs have access to Jammer that can jam Batman's Detective Mode, and also Infrared that allows them to see you when you are hiding on vantage points or other places, which actually makes them more dangerous than the first game. Also, this time Batman can takedown two enemies at the same time, while on ground and the ledge. However, both moves can alert other thugs to your presence, so keep on moving to avoid detection.
The exploration and roaming of the game feels more like open-world than the first game. Expect to do a lot of gliding and grappling while you are in the city.
Unlike the first game, this game's roaming and exploration felt more open-world like Assassin's Creed games as you can grapple and glide from a building to another, albeit only city-wide roaming. This effectively makes the game's map much bigger than the first one, and you can enter buildings to proceed with your next objective. As Batman can glide and grapple from one place to another, he can now also uses a new move called Divebomb, where he dives down while gliding to surprise the enemy, to glide more distance by pulling up from the dive, and etc. You can also create your own Custom Marker at your map to go your own destination.
Detective Mode is back, along with some creative puzzles using old and new gadgets.
In many areas, you need to use Detective Mode to proceed to your next objective, find solutions to solve a puzzle, etc. There are a variety of puzzles in the game, such as using your Remote Electronic Charge to magnetise a crane to destroy a door, etc. Some objectives in the game are not linear, as most objectives just require you to go to the Waypoint to proceed. For example, in order to find Mister Freeze's place, you need to go to the coldest place by checking the temperature on your HUD. There are a lot of variety of mission objectives in the game that keeps you from being bored and repetitiveness.
Like the first game, this game also features a Level Up system, where you can get your Upgrades such as new Gadget upgrades, Batsuit upgrades, etc. Prioritise Batsuit and Combat upgrades as they are more important in fighting large number of enemies and fighting bosses. Other upgrades are optional, but Gadget upgrades are needed in order to complete some Side Missions as well as getting Riddler trophies.
Although the boss fights in the game are quite easy, most of them are creative, such as Mister Freeze boss fight and Two-Face boss fight.
Unfortunately, the boss fights in the game are easy, as they can be easily defeated after exploiting their weakness, especially in Easy and Normal modes. However, the boss fights are rather creative in design and how epic it is. But, most of the bosses in the game are kind of similar to Titan fights in the first game, in terms of size and nature, albeit different strategies required to defeat them. However, fighting bosses in Hard mode is more challenging and more satisfying because they are bit more tougher to defeat. Mister Freeze boss fight is my favourite, because it is very creative, as it requires you to use surprise attacks instead of head-on attacks as he is dangerous. You have to use different techniques to defeat him because he will memorise every techniques that you used against him.
The game's length is quite long itself. Even longer than Batman: Arkham Asylum. You can take the time enjoy the game's story as well as doing other Side Missions in the game. Other than the rather easiness of most boss fights in the game, the game's gameplay is simply awesome and much more refined than the first game.
