Posted in: Digital, Movies | Tagged: bane, Batman, dc, games, joker, Kevin Conroy

Batman:Arkham City – The Bleeding Cool Review

I'm a little late with this review, but I've got an excuse.

Arkham City is deep.

Its predecessor, Batman: Arkham Asylum was a game that rewarded a second play through, if only to collect all those sneakily-hidden Riddler trophies that were stashed in spots inaccessible until you had accumulated every possible Bat-gadget.

Arkham City is, and I'm nowhere near the end of the single-player narrative so I can only speculate, immeasurably deeper. The playable environment is considerably more expansive than in the first game, and while in Arkham Asylum the game opened up as play progressed, here you can go (almost) anywhere at any time.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYdACm1xEOY[/youtube]
Even if you're not a hardcore gamer, being able to prowl around Gotham's rooftops and zipline across to iconic locations such as the Monarch Theatre is great fun.

It's worth noting that this is a computer game that definitely earns its PEGI 16 rating. Even if you could ignore Talia Al-Ghul's distractingly fruity walk animation and Catwoman's somewhat impractical décolletage there would be The Penguin's somewhat forthright turn of phrase to contend with.

There are more super-villains to contend with than last time. I'm pleased to say that there's no Scarecrow in this sequel, since he scared the bejeezus out of me last time. Instead the surreal hallucogenic fun is supplied by Rāʾs al-Ghūl. To list all of the adversaries Batman faces in this game would take quite a while, and rather detract for the fun of meeting them for yourself.Trust me though, there are lots.

You'll have allies too, and it's here that I'd sound the one negative note in my reaction to this uniformly excellent game. The Catwoman playable episodes that knit into the main narrative are sold as separate downloadable content. It's bundled with new copies but anyone picking up the game second hand will have to purchase the DLC again. Given how essential those few short levels are to the overall game I think that's a little unreasonable.

There are Nightwing and Robin DLC packs coming too, but they're more fun extras than essentials the way Catwoman is.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2qnrWCvxDo[/youtube]
Voice work is excellent throughout. It's Mark Hammill's last hurrah as The Joker, and he gives it everything. Kevin Conroy just is Batman. Tara Strong replaces Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn, but you probably wouldn't notice unless you played their voice cues back to back.

Compared to the first game, the Riddler puzzles are more fiendish, and I suspect more than a few players will give up on a few of them. The gadgets and combat moves are in the main better realised. Having said that sliding under doors, while cool when it works, can be a bit hit and miss and I'm sure there will be a few occasions when you are sure you've mashed down the right buttons but Batman just stands there like a lemon. Generally when a dozen armed thugs are about to show up and cause all kinds of mayhem.

If you're a Batman fan and have a PS3 or an Xbox this is a must-buy. I said it when Arkham Asylum came out and I'll say it again – a well-scripted animated movie based on this game engine that used this voice cast would be the best Batman movie ever.

As it is, this is just the best superhero game ever, raising the already dizzyingly high bar set by Arkham Asylum. Go and get it. We'll see you in about a month.

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