Grade: A
The Caped Crusader returns in “Batman: Arkham City,” the second installment from Rocksteady Studios, which brought us “Batman: Arkham Asylum” in 2009.
“Arkham City” takes place sometime after “Arkham Asylum.” After the Asylum was destroyed by the Joker, the scum of Gotham City needed a new home. Enter Hugo Strange, an insane psychiatrist who believes the only way to rid Gotham of crime is through the Arkham City project. Arkham City now houses some of the most dangerous criminals in Gotham, and it’s up to Batman to stop Strange and find out what the Joker is really up to before this night in hell is his last.
This game in short is an absolute blockbuster. “Warner Bros. has announced it has shipped 4.6 million units” in its first seven days, as reported by IGN.com. This is a feat rarely met in the video game industry. And while the game was great, it had its positives and negatives.
Rocksteady pulled out all the stops this time, integrating some of Batman’s greatest foes, including the Penguin, Two-Face, the Riddler and, of course, the Joker. For me it wasn’t the gameplay that made Arkham City fun; it was all the side missions and unlockables there are to find. Each one featured a different villain, and through their completion you learned more about the character and the Batman universe.
The one area that I feel the game lacked in, however, was the story. In “Arkham Asylum” the story was rich and had a play time of roughly seven to eight hours, but this time around it felt fast-paced and short. So much was happening at once that I couldn’t sit back and enjoy the experience because I was always asking myself, “What just happened?” And while the game was full of interesting, vibrant characters I never found myself really caring about them the way I did in Arkham Asylum.
Rocksteady knew exactly what the fans wanted to see with this game, and they gave it to them. And although I thought the game lacked in storytelling, the depth of it in terms of unlockables, challenges and side missions make it a game worth playing.
If you thought differently of Batman’s latest adventure let us know in the comments section below.
