Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition

K. Fields
2024-04-04T13:33:11-04:00
Video Games

After playing several indie games, it was time for a AAA blockbuster. Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition certainly fit the bill. Like its predecessor Batman: Arkham Asylum, this was a game with high production values. The game engine, artwork, music, and voice acting were all top notch. The controls made great use of a gamepad (dual joysticks, d-pad, and all buttons/triggers). For a video game based on a licensed property, it doesn't get much better than this.

The game is set in and around Arkham City, a section of Gotham City turned into a prison run by Hugo Strange. Batman is incarcerated there, escapes, and begins his quest to uncover its secrets. The game world feels open and fairly large. There are many missions and side missions to complete. Most can be completed in the order of your choosing. They involve detective work, stealth, and combat, which is generally satisfying. Taking down enemies can be done in a variety of ways. Charge in with a frontal assault. Use an aerial vantage point and attack with a glide kick. Perhaps most gratifying is using stealth. Sneak up from behind or strike from overhead and do a silent takedown. At his disposal, Batman has a large number of gadgets available: grapnel gun, smoke pellets, batarangs, batclaw, line launcher, disruptor, remote electrical charge, cryptographic sequencer, explosive gel, and freeze tech from Mr. Freeze.

I completed the main story, which involved most of Batman's major villains. The Game of the Year Edition included a lot of extra content. There were additional playable characters, missions, maps, and challenges. I finished all of Catwoman's missions and I intend to keep exploring more of the game. There is so much here, however, that I will never complete 100% of it. Batman: Arkham City is my favorite game played in 2024 so far and one of my all-time favorites.

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