Batman Arkham

Its been two years since Batman Arkham Asylum was released, and developer Rocksteady studios has finally created this tremendous sequel...
Batman Arkham City. The size and scope of this game has been expanded on every level over its predecessor.

The premise of the game consists of a large concrete wall that has been built around a section of Gotham City, creating Arkham City, a new home/jail for the criminally insane, where no rules exists, enabling the inmates to rule themselves. The story revolves around Dr. Hugo Strange running of the asylum, and the seemingly imminent death of the Joker. These are the main plot's of the story, and each is interesting and exciting in its own way. Being housed in this city are Batman's most hated villains such as the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Two Face and many more.

The sounds of the game are terrific. Mark Hamill (Joker) and Kevin Conroy (Dark Knight), do a fantastic job in their voice over roles. They both bring an intensity and believability to their perspective characters in the way that they each deliver their dialogue. Other background chatter from evil villains breaths life into Gotham City, while perfectly setting the mood of the game.

The gameplay basics are going to be familiar if you played Arkham Asylum. Multipliers, combos, special moves and gadgets will now add to Batman's arsenal. Rocksteady also added other features to keep you interested like counters that take down several people at once, the ability to dive bomb while gliding and turn backup for altitude, and a hot key attached to Batman's weapons to use in battle. Gadgets were always a big part of Batman and it's no different in this game. Exploding gel, Remote electrical charge, and others still have a place on Batman's utility belt. Getting back to playability, combat is smooth and fluid (no sticking points) and Batman's movements and agility in this open world environment are exceptional.

The graphics that make up Arkham City are extremely detailed with large buildings and a dark shade emphasizing the overall mood of the game. A good portion of the missions take place inside (e.g. The Museum) which are as visually impressive as the outside environments, and the characters all posses similar looking attributes to their comic book counterparts.

Batman: Arkham City is packed with things to do. Besides having many places to explore in this vast open world environment, you also have a dozen side missions, solving...get this, 400 Riddler challenges, 24 challenge maps, and the addition of Catwomen missions with maps that also come with new purchases.
Batman: Arkham City has everything that you want in a video game. It has an interesting storyline, plenty of action, sharp graphic's, sound and plenty to do to keep you occupied. This game is a must play for Batman enthusiast's or anyone else. The game is well made and offers hours and hours of exciting, addicting, fun. This is one game you don't want to miss!