gaming simplified

Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of the best licensed games to come out in this console generation, if not video game history. Its release showed that with a little love and care, a licensed game can do more than be a just a quick buck for the publisher. Batman: Arkham City offers more of the same, but at the same time offers the best video game experience one could ask for.

Batman: Arkham City does what any good form of entertainment should – it draws you into another world. Arkham City does a wonderful job at creating a virtual Gotham. More so, if I dare say, than Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, have done. This subsection of Gotham feels more gritty, crime ridden, and dangerous. Granted, Arkham City itself is just an open-air facility where all of Gotham’s criminals, criminally insane, and super villians are allowed to run “free” while Gotham in the movies deals with one problem at a time (so far). But that’s besides the point. Batman: Arkham City provides the means for the player to experience Gotham as Batman himself would.

Batman: Arkham City launch trailer

I’ve always imagined, while reading the comics, that Batman’s world isn’t always as linear as it may seem. As you’re gliding through Arkham City to your next mission point, you’ll find that you get distracted plenty of times along the way. Whether it be from a distress signal, random beatings, or a side mission. (I would have to say that my favorite side mission is the one where Batman has to answer ringing phones all across Arkham City and listen to Zsasz’s stories.) All of it, I find, is thrilling. It makes me feel like I’m Batman protecting the city he loves so dearly. It’s a beautiful thing to behold, in video game terms.

Even the Start Screen is awesome.

Batman: Arkham City is probably the most enjoyable game I’ve played this year. It retains the fun combat system from Batman: Arkham Asylum and improves upon it ever so slightly, has a great story written by Paul Dini himself, and builds a wonderful gritty atmosphere. It’s the sequel any video game fan could ask for. Like Batman: Arkham Asylum, if you’re a fan of super hero games, action games, or just Batman, Batman: Arkham City isn’t a game to miss.