WeView: Batman: Arkham City
Nananananananana...
Published: 15:00, 24/01/2012 by Kris [Halbpro].
11
Never let it be said that I don’t listen to the readers, a few of you asked for Batman: Arkham City and here it is. Of course, my love for the game and all things Batman may have factored into the decision just the tiniest bit, but obviously it was the desire from readers that tipped the scales. Obviously.
There are those who perhaps aren’t too keen on Arkham City, feeling that the introduction of an open world detracts from the very focused nature of its predecessor, Arkham Asylum. Personally I really enjoyed having the city to move through, I felt it gave the game longevity and was wonderfully stylised. You are obviously free to disagree with me on the subject though.
I’m clearly not the only staff member who appreciates the second Batman title from Rocksteady, not only did Peter score it at 10/10 in our review, but it also came in third in our Overall Game of the Year award last year. I can throw stats at you all day though, its more about what we really thought about the game. To that end, here’s a quick extract from Peter’s review:
Rocksteady has managed to do something nobody else has in the two years since Arkham Asylum: they’ve improved on that combat system. Add to that the larger, more free-roaming play area as well as the masses of extra content and Arkham City is an exceptional achievement.
Allow a few of its necessary contrivances to go unquestioned (or even embrace them) and this is one of the most joyful videogame experiences money can buy. It is possible to focus on the negatives, particularly in the way the game’s launch was handled with regards to downloadable content and first-purchaser codes, but to do so would be to deny yourself one of the best games of this year.
Well that all looks fine and dandy but just how did you feel about it? Did the addition of an open world to explore excite you, or would you have rather had tight corridors? Did you get to grips with gliding, or did it leave you bored out of your mind? You can answer all these questions and more by simply dropping a comment in the handy box below.
Once you’ve formulated your well thought out opinion of the game, remember that you need to rate it on the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It, Avoid It scale. That’ll let me count up everyone’s varying opinions of the game nice and easily, allowing the community’s verdict to shine through. If you want your opinion to count though you’ll need to get in by Sunday evening at the very latest.
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24/01/2012 at 15:12
Member since: Jul 2009
buy it, play it,love it
24/01/2012 at 21:09
Member since: Dec 2009
Bought it. Gonna start it on Saturday ^_^
24/01/2012 at 15:12
Member since: May 2009
Na na na naa naa, na na naa…
Hey Jude…
*ahem*
So anyway, Batman Arkham City. I bought it. I really enjoyed the first few hours, and then kind of just stopped playing it. Not sure why, since I couldn’t put Arkham Asylum down…
Don’t know what rating to give it, because of that.
24/01/2012 at 15:41
Member since: Aug 2010
Perhaps “Borrow it from Teffers”?
24/01/2012 at 16:16
Member since: May 2009
I don’t lend things to people I’m not related to, though.
25/01/2012 at 00:16
Member since: Aug 2009
That’s funny, while I don’t really like lending I prefer to lend to people I’m not related to. Relations tend to take advantage.
24/01/2012 at 19:25
Member since: Nov 2009
I’m in exactly the same boat teflon.
Played a couple of hours and not been back to it.
Other games seem to have grabbed my attention instead, will get around to it eventually.
24/01/2012 at 19:57
Member since: Sep 2009
I had a similar problem. I was super excited about it, but couldn’t get into it once I played it.
24/01/2012 at 15:40
Member since: Dec 2008
Dull. Dull dull dull! Swing from one side of the map, punch bad guys, swing to the other side, repeat ad naseum. Perhaps it’s because I am not a massive Batman fan so the story isn’t all that important. Strip away the story and it really is just swinging and punching (or in my case, button mashing which seems to work just as well as trying to pull of combos).
I’ll be generous with a “Rent It”.
24/01/2012 at 16:32
Member since: Aug 2009
I was gonna say the same about the first, it was pretty boring imo
25/01/2012 at 07:42
Member since: Nov 2009
Haven’t played the second one but if it’s anything like the first one my verdict wouldn’t be positive at all…
24/01/2012 at 16:15
Member since: Aug 2011
Being a big Batman fan, I had to get this. The boss fights were spectacular. Loved how many originals there were, putting more of the good old characters from the comics in. Halfway into the game, it seemed to drag on a bit, but then I got pulled back in. Somehow, the combat system was improved, and it’s even improved on AA.
A big, fat BUY IT from me.
24/01/2012 at 16:29
Member since: Nov 2009
The original was underrated and brought something new to the genre. The sequel is overrated and brought nothing new to the genre other than broken add-on content. As someone else says, once you strip away the story you are left with a very repetitive game with an open world that is smaller than most linear maps.
A big fat rent it from me (which I did).
24/01/2012 at 16:35
Member since: Nov 2009
Great follow up to the original. Expands the play area and allows for more interesting side missions. Enjoyed the story and the gadgets. Definitely a “Buy It”.
24/01/2012 at 16:36
Member since: Aug 2008
No game fits the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” more than Batman Arkham City.
It has tonnes of iconic enemies but none of them get enough screen time to warrent any major excitement. It has free-roaming gameplay but you are restricted to a painfully small environment and ultimately adds nothing to the game as a whole. It has some detective puzzling thrown in but its under-developed and not that engaging.
That said, the one thing it gets right is the free-flowing combat. That’s just righteous ;)
Overall, I found it a half decent game but certainly a huge disappointment. Rental from me
24/01/2012 at 17:00
Member since: Dec 2009
I’m just glad i didn’t go with the hype on this and instead went for a second hand copy. This means that i have an annoying prompt to download the catwoman DLC everytime i load up the game and also so far it seems around a third to half of the riddler trophies are also there to try to force me to buy the catwoman DLC. It’s one thing to leave content out but to actually leave content in the game – in your face- but you can’t access it – that’s a very mean-spirited practise imo. It would have been far better just to leave those Riddler trophies.
Besides the slightly better combat i’m finding the game a veritable trudge. It seems to have little of the attraction of the first game, I’m halfway through and so far it’s a much weaker game than the first, almost like painting by numbers.
I am sooo glad i didn’t buy it new which would have supported the way they’ve gimped the content.
RENT IT.
24/01/2012 at 17:46
Member since: Forever
The very thought of playing it fills me with dread. I can’t think of anything worse.
No.
24/01/2012 at 18:15
Member since: May 2010
I thought it was great! But when I finished the main story and was clearing up the side missions, it froze and corrupted my HDD, meaning a restore and loss of 450gb of saves/games/data.
It then took me about a month to get my PS3 back to how it was (minus all the game saves).
I’d still say BUY IT for sure though. Enjoyed it just as much (if not more) as Arkham Asylum, but then I’m biased as I think the whole Batman franchise and characters are wicked, especially the way they are depicted in these games.