Batman: Arkham City -- Review (PC)

Rocksteady's original Batman-led title, Arkham Asylum, came as a surprise. Decades of dreadful superhero games (Superman 64, anyone?) is enough to make even the most ardent comic-book fan cynical towards videogame iterations. With Arkham Asylum, though, we were treated with a very well presented, highly polished, and utterly playable game that somehow featured a superhero. It actually worked. In fact, Arkham Asylum must surely go down as one of best action-adventure titles of this generation, especially when factoring-in its self-contained narrative and content that can stand on its own without the inclusion of DLC or sequels. Of course, minor nods to a sequel are given, and so Arkham Asylum's success has enabled Rocksteady the opportunity to better what was already been achieved.

Arkham City opens in a more direct manner than its predecessor. Ten minutes during the intro is enough to show the basics before you're freely controlling Batman. You're also already equipped with plenty of upgraded gadgets carried over from Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady does assume, to some extent, that you're familiar with how these games work (if not, there's enough text on the info menu). Though this approach is appreciated - especially as someone who bemoans how, say, Kratos is constantly reduced to puniness at the start every God of War title - it is in stark contrast to the linear and methodical path set-out in Arkham Asylum's opening. In Arkham City you are given a huge island's worth of thugs, side-quests, and Riddler trophies to preside over; it can be quite overwhelming. The main objective is always marked and can be followed without distraction, but the optional content is sometimes worth exploring. Rocksteady clearly want to express Arkham City as a sort-of Arkham Asylum on steroids. There is more of everything: baddies, puzzles, abilities, combat, flying, sneaking, and so on. This is admirable, but the results are not necessarily an improved formula.

Potentially to its own detriment, Arkham City is massive

Arkham Asylum benefited from a semi-linear and narrative-focused pace. Whenever you fought thugs, it felt rewarding. They tended not to respawn in mass droves (if at all), and so every encounter was a gameplay privilege. Arkham City is much more generous with thugs and goons; they litter the city, and will respawn endlessly. The sense of privilege begins to diminish as you fight the same baddies for the fifteenth-billion time, more so if Batman is maxed out in all of his abilities (leveled up with XP gained from defeating said goons). New enemy types help add flavour, but constant regurgitation soon dampens that effect. This applies for both the core-modes of which the Arkham games centre around: melee combat, and stealth. In general terms, hand-to-hand combat is identical to Arkham Asylum but adds new moves and enemy types; stealth gameplay (predator mode) follows the same pattern, except with environmental hazards (proximity mines) and enemy equipment (electrical scramblers that distort Batman's Detective Vision). This is literally the same game, but with more stuff. Indeed, the extra stuff is subsequently used to a huge extent, and so dilutes the aforementioned privileged experience of gameplay. That said, the combat and stealth is still solid. It suffers from diminishing returns, no doubt, but has enough thrill, flair, and nuance to make it recommendable over any rival games.

Visually the game is also identical to Arkham Asylum. Same graphics engine. Same character models. Same awesome combat and action animations, but the same awkward and laughable facial expressions and body movement during character interactions (think a plastic Batman toy talking to a plastic Joker toy). It's still a reliable engine, though. The game looks good. No instant reload after death is, however, disappointing. I enjoy seeing Two Face laugh at my dead corpse as much as the next person, but I'd rather be playing the game again quicker.

A few additions come to an otherwise identical stealth mode from Arkham Asylum (ditto with melee combat)

Two Face does appear in Arkham City. As do around a dozen or more villains from the Batman universe. Again, this is Rocksteady throwing as much as they can into one game; instead of looking to improve fundamental design elements, they just add more stuff. Arkham Asylum benefited from having one main villain with a few on the periphery. Arkham City attempts to incorporate as many characters as possible and, as such, the narrative becomes messy and unfocused. Hugo Strange is presented as the initial overlord villain during the intro - the one man you need to stop. But then Joker turns up and wants your attention. And then another evil villain does. And then this other villain is suddenly more important than Strange. And then Strange is important again. And so on for another 10+ hours. Any excuse is used to ensure Batman encounters as many characters as possible. It is, simply, too much. Fortunately, narrative was never a key selling point for either Arkham titles, but Arkham City completely fails where its predecessor triumphed in creating a daft but nevertheless entertaining story line.

Of course, this is sounding rather downbeat and depressing on the part of Arkham City, but that reason is merely due to the brilliance of Rocksteady's earlier achievement. Make no mistake: what Arkham City offers is still much better than most other action titles out there. This is still a stylish and enjoyable game. Combat has lost it's initial oomph, but still feels weighty and satisfying. Similarly, stalking prey and planning tactics keeps you on your toes as Batman tries to remove foes efficiently without sustaining a shotgun to the cranium. The return of extra challenge maps allows one to hone their skills for the campaign, and to appreciate the depth of skill achievable for the very best players. And yes - backtracking to use upgraded equipment to nab that Riddler trophy is still as satisfying as before. Fundamentally, it's still the same as before, but it's still fun.

Extra costumes come as paid-for DLC or with the GotY edition (reviewed here). Traditionally such things would be unlocked as a reward, but these days players are expected to pay for the privilege

'More of the same is better' is not a wholly inaccurate term when it comes to gaming. As long as you can stomach the same game in terms of visuals and gameplay, with a few added features here and there, then Arkham City is absolutely fine for fans of Arkham Asylum. The issue for Rocksteady, inevitably, is that, in Arkham Asylum, they have already created something that is easily one of the best of its genre. It is a benchmark for all over superhero, action-adventure developers out there. How can such a title be improved upon on the same generation of technology? Visuals have not progressed in Arkham City. Nor has gameplay. The latter can be fine-tuned, but the combat and stealth was already so good. Without risking ruining the formula, Rocksteady chose to blow Arkham Asylum up into massive super-edition that adds new moves, abilities, enemies, puzzles, and mega villains. Arkham City can best be described as Arkham Asylum 1.5. Not quite a 'proper' sequel in terms of overall improvement, then. Indeed, the switch from narrative and linear driven gameplay towards open-world freedom dilutes the formula, but it does not taint it. Nor does, ultimately, the shambolic attempt at a narrative that incorporates every Batman villain every imagined. Arkham City is still a solid game, but its surprises and party tricks have already been done before.

                                                                                  7/10