Arkham City Review

            Rocksteady is a company we should all hope never succumbs to the economic struggles of the global market. The company took a great franchise, and added so much more to its mythology, that even skeptics of comic book video games had to applaud their ballsy move for making a Batman game. Taking up the rights from former powerhouse Atari, Rocksteady made a 2009 game called Batman: Arkham Asylum.

            The game was first met with failure, being taken over by Atari, the game went into production, and Rocksteady had a hard road ahead to even finish the game. Arkham Asylum was to a semi-canon game, and the lucrative struggle to make the game began. Rocksteady scratched most of what Atari wanted to do, and created one of the best games made in the current console generation. Not only did they have to deal with making a good game overall, they had to do so with a comic book character that has been around longer than television, let-alone video games.

            Batman has a long-history of staying true to its story, meaning that the canonized outweighs the non-canonized, so readers who have followed this character for generations knows exactly how this character thinks, works, and his modus operandi. The villains, allies, and even background characters that placate to the hero’s personality, are a major part of this franchise’s success. The psychology and philosophy of this character is incredibly influential in almost all of history. So to use the medium of video game entertainment to sum up close to eighty years of history into a passable game was a task that is perhaps more difficult than coming up with a wholly original concept for games.

            Despite all the trials, the impossible odds, and the incredulous criticism that games and comic books should be like two passing ships, Rocksteady created Batman: Arkham Asylum. The game has become one of the biggest shocks in video game history. The praise for this game gave it a running for game of the year. Even if one was not a Batman fan, but a gamer, this perhaps opened the doors for many new fans to the mythology.

            Arkham Asylum did everything right, where so many past titles have failed. Whether it be due to the newer technology of the current generation of game consoles, the incredible detail to each and every character, (both new and long-forgotten to the franchise), or the incredibly brilliant graphics that seemed with the cut scenes, that has made this game a startling addition to a long line of Batman games.  Using the voice talents from the nineties animated series, including the great Mark Hammil as the Joker; this game hit all the right marks where they were needed most.

            With a great combat system, an amazing story arch that is believable in the Batman universe, and the smallest details done so perfectly, you’d think the developers of Rocksteady had to sell their souls to the devil to pull them off, the world was given a Batman game that did not suck. Arkham Asylum was so incredible, just slipping below the radar of an M-rating; a sequel was in high demand. So came the ballsiest move ever done: a sequel to a comic book-based videogame.

            Arkham City, the sequel to Arkham Asylum came out in early November of 2011. For most games, this is where an independent series leads into a major franchise. Uncommon for most theatrical releases, most videogames make their majority of money on the sequel, but this can be a double-edged sword, because once a videogame franchise is popular, most gamers find it has to re-invent itself in order to survive, take the new Tomb Raider game that will release this year (2012). Arkham City was perhaps a bigger risk than Arkham Asylum, a game that almost didn’t happen, and it could’ve been vaporized like other games, like Possession, and True Crime: Hong Kong. Rocksteady, having hit gold, now had to make Arkham City, which was not only going to create a brand-new storyline, but now had to create a whole new game style.

            Unlike its predecessor, Arkham City is an open-world game, where one does not follow a linear path towards a continuing main story line like Asylum, rather the player can choose to complete the main campaign, or do side quest that open up more options that originally would not have been available during normal game play. Game play itself has become a huge part of Arkham City, and unlike the prequel, fighting is not a constant annoyance, in-fact, a player can evade fighting any grunt characters, simply by grappling and evading. If you want to go straight through the main quest, it will take you some time, and takes many developing skills that will initially be used later on with a returning gimmick that never gets old: the Riddler Trophies.

Characters like The Mad Hatter (Jervis Tetch) can only be accessed through sidemissions

            There are now four hundred Riddler trophies spread throughout Arkham City, including the returning Joker Teeth, and subject Riddles that must be scanned to answer. There are random Riddler trophies in the "?" shape throughout the city as well, but they are not all simply laying around, some involve puzzles, and some of those puzzles even require specific items to complete. The mini-games from the Riddler Trophies can be quite frustrating, and to those coming to this game anew without playing Arkham Asylum, can take forever. They are well-worth collecting though, since with every hundred or so Riddler Trophies collected, solved, or overall finished, new Riddler-based side quest open up, where the player can find distinct locations to solve deadly puzzles to save the lives of undercover cops, doctors, and political prisoners.

            Other Riddler trophies, or in the case of the non-collecting parts, Riddler Quests, there is an added bonus of Riddler solutions by finding the classic Joker Teeth, new Joker balloons, and taking out security cameras that are placed in Arkham City by a militant group called Tyger Operatives.  These cameras are normally destroyed with a well-placed Batarang, and the same can be done for the chattering teeth, and balloons. One thing Arkham City does well is spreading these tasks and trophies far around the city, and it makes the game more challenging, fun, and unlike the past game, the trophy hunting rarely gets old. With Arkham Asylum, the limited amount needed to be done for the Riddler Challenges became old and drawl rather quickly, while with Arkham City, they are fun, interesting, and are not simply limited to collections, scans, and destroying teeth. There are also physical requests, where certain combos, fighting sequences, and gliding techniques will solve Riddler Challenges. 
            Overall, this is an exceptionally well-done edition to a unique side-quest found in Asylum, and it is truly an old dog learning new tricks, being incredibly accurate, and as mentioned before, occasionally becomes some of the most tasking, and demanding parts of the game.

            Arkham City looks, and feels like the child that is given so much care, it turns out to defy all logic in how perfect it plays. The game feels incredible, the controls are so responsive, you may start believing you are Batman. The free-flow system is such an added bonus, it hardly compares to Asylum, and combat actually feels right, unlike the Arkham Asylum system, I felt the combat was laggy, shifty, and aggravating at times. With Arkham City, controls feel, and respond so well, I have almost nothing to complain about when grappling, and even walking about the open-world environment.

            Sound quality is well above par, equal to the amazing ambience found in the first game. Arkham City sounds, feels, and looks like a game that could compete with games along the line of Uncharted, God of War, and other “beat-em up” open-world games that have truly been amiss lately on the current generation systems.  With Surround sound, and the 3-D technology built into both Arkham City, and was done for Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady really wanted these added features to make the player feel they were submerged deeply into one of the best video game experiences of 2011.

            I come from old-school gaming; graphics are not always the most important thing to me, so long as game play, story, and content are executed well. Graphics have become the trend for most games, being that they are held to the highest quality now more than ever, and have changed the experience in some ways, compared the to 8-bit generation.

            Arkham City is gorgeous, and very easy on the eyes. The character designs are very dark, comic-like, but the shadings are incredible, the city streets are dirty, broken, and look more like mini war zones. Papers, garbage, and even weather environments add a subtle, sickening atmosphere.  The city buildings look like each was modeled specifically for Gotham, no two buildings look the same, or if they do, it was very hard to notice. Landmarks, such as the Stacked Deck Bar, Ace Chemicals, and even the famous Wayne Enterprise Tower, looks amazing, and are great eye-candy for the player.

            This game is proof that some developers are masochists, as the details are so fantastic, I couldn’t imagine a finding any problems. I’ve played the game for quite a few hours, and have not yet ran into a serious glitch. The lagging has been minor, and the game looks seamless, no ghost walls, and the rate the game moves at is incredible. I can imagine that the testers for these games must’ve been through months and months of playing alone, because I’ve yet to find any serious complications with the game. There may still very well be glitches, but considering I finished the main storyline, and most of the side-quests already, I’ve seen most of what Arkham City has to offer. Although, I’m sure there is much more that can be explored through the DLC of Cat Woman. I have not tried this DLC yet, but I do possess it, and will most-likely review it on another day. For now though, I am mainly focused on the main story, and I will gladly share the premise for you, without trying to spill many spoilers, but I will have spoilers for Arkham Asylum, so please be warned of the following two paragraphs; they will have spoilers for Asylum, and the comic book series of Arkham City:

            At the end of Arkham Asylum, Joker is beaten to a pulp by Batman, the Titan in his veins has made him deathly ill, and his life becomes so fragile, that he is put on a basic life support system. It seems like Joker’s death is imminent, Warden Quincy Sharp becomes the unsung hero for the Asylum incident, although he was secretly the Spirit of Arkham, who was going to try and kill all the inmates, particularly the Joker, only to elude Batman, and go on to become the mayor of Gotham.

            As Mayor Quincy Sharp, he becomes overtly powerful, perhaps too powerful, as he gains the control of all of Gotham to establish a new Asylum, one where the inmates are locked away in half the city, most of Downtown Gotham, and the industrial area is walled off to house all the inmates. This to be Sharp’s legacy to Gotham City, and begins the story arch for the Arkham City videogame.

            Arkham City leads off a while after Arkham Asylum, as Bruce Wayne is running against Sharp, as Mayor of Gotham City. Hugo Strange, a mad Psychiatrist, hell-bent on disposing of Batman, and becoming very much what the Dark Knight could never be, a hero, knows the secret identity of Batman, and sends his PMC group, the Tyger Unit, out to apprehend Bruce Wayne. Wayne is then arrested, and flung into Arkham City, where The Penguin has put a pricy bounty on his head. After his first confrontation with Penguin, and his goons, Wayne enters the city near the Ace Chemicals Plant, and suits up to become Batman. He does so by talking to Alfred, his trusty butler, who calls it in on the Batwing (The stealth fighter jet Batman uses). After using the sequencer device to hack the local surveillance and radio frequencies, Batman hears about Harvey “Two-Face” Dent keeping Selina Kyle aka, Catwoman, hostage at Gotham City’s courthouse. It’s up to Batman to save Catwoman, find Hugo Strange and discover his plan, named Protocol 10, and discover what really lurks beyond the doors of Gotham City’s largest penitentiary. These are the events, which leads Batman through the make-up of Arkham City.

            The characters, story, and quests are all well above and beyond what I could’ve imagined for a game solely-based on a comic book and movie franchise. If there were not a Dark Knight Rises movie coming out this summer, I would say this game is quite satisfying for eager Batman fans. Batman: Arkham City is incredibly well done, superb even, and shines in way other video games fail. When anticipation for brand-new games are met with high hopes, and they fail to impress to what is showcased at conventions and such venues, Arkham City has not failed its loyal fan-base. The game is extensive, meaning it could take days, if not weeks to find every single secret held in it, and would most likely be the Game of the Year winner, if not for said games like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There are hardly any noticeable glitches; the game ran well through all of the main missions, and all of the side missions, which is practical perfection for a game. Aside from minor system lags that are bound to happen, Arkham City is worth the price, and including the fact that the Catwoman DLC is available right outside the case, there are plenty of missions, and secrets to keep you duly full until a sequel.  I do ask myself, as a proprietor of this blog, and a person who has not only used video games as a medium of entertainment dating back to the earliest systems, that could a sequel top a game like Arkham City?

 I’ve played many sequels from almost every generation of games, and I know that the third in a series is quite possibly the hardest to win-over critics with, thus most sequels after the second are rarely good, and if they are, still don’t outdo their predecessors, only mimic their own success. Although imitation is the regarded as the highest form of flattery, it seems more like arrogance when you’re imitating your own success. Will the next, if there is one of course, Batman game by Rocksteady is a reinvigoration, or will it suffer the fate of so many sequels in the past, and just be the market par? Until the release date comes, we’ll never know.

For now though, if I were a magazine, or so-called video game channel host that reviews games, I’d give Arkham City a10 out of 10 rating, or five stars, or even a big two thumbs up, but I am not any of those things, simply a modest blogger of media. So instead, I’ll simply tell my readers this: if you have played Arkham Asylum, you already know what you’d expect from Arkham City…I would tell you to raise your expectations even higher than the bar you’ve set, because the game makes Arkham Asylum look obsolete, in graphics, game play, and storyline. For the hardcore Batman fans, I would say Rocksteady has made a non-cannon game, that vaguely resembles more the Animated series of the mid-90s, but yet still makes it a more interesting story than any fan fiction you could possibly read, and that alone makes it a buy.

Mark Hamill, one of the best Joker’s of the Pre Nolan movie era, is the incredibly eerie, yet hilarious voice of the Clown Prince of Crime. That is but another reason why one would buy this game. It seems most of the character voices are those of the 90’s series, and that brings nostalgia to mind, and although most games are rooted in nostalgia, hence why characters like Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mario still exist, this is well done, because they don’t make it seem as if they are trying to placate directly to the old series. In-fact, it seems the generational gaps of all the Batman Mythos seem to come well together in both voice acting, story, and character selection, characters including Joker, Mr. Freeze, The Penguin, and even possibly lesser-known, or more accurately, lesser mentioned characters like Mad Hatter, and the Assassin Deadshot.

Deadshot (Floyd Lawton) is another character that can only be found through side missions, and is one of Batman's lesser-known villains.

 For the hardcore gamer, if you’re not a Batman fan, which I can understand, this game would be amazing, even if it was any other character in the history of media as the star, if you love games, this game is perhaps one of the reasons to own a current generation console, and shows they are far-off from dying. Batman: Arkham City is well executed, well written, and most importantly, a well-controlled game. I always try to make the statement that beautiful graphics are lovely in their own right, but pale to intrigue when it comes down to control of the character. If the controls are crass to the point where I cannot move, I really don’t care how “pretty” the water particles are in the game.

In the retrospect of Batman movie games for consoles like NES, Super NES, and Sega Genesis, up to even Arkham Asylum, none of these games, excluding Asylum have ever been deemed relevant to massive title releases. Most were hyped marketing to get kids interested in going to see the big Hollywood movies. These games, both Arkham Asylum, and Arkham City may have done the same for the Nolan pictures, even in a minor marketing strategy, but they are both quite amazing, and show just how far a franchise can go on the medium of digital entertainment.  The only negative thing I have to say is that I wished the game was longer, but that’s only because this is the sort of game you don’t want to stop playing.

 Luckily there are still the DLCs for this title, and for once I’m not going to bash DLC, because if it feels just as great to play as Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing, then I’m sure it will extend the longevity of this game even further until an announcement for the next game in the series. I’ve not personally tried any of these DLC characters, but I am certain they will be worth the money, especially if they are as accurately detailed, and mobile as Batman is in the main Arkham City quest.

Two-Face's role is more played out through Catwoman's DLC, but is still one of the most iconic characters in the Batman Mythology. He is also one of the very first mission villians mat

To sum up this review, if you’ve liked what you’ve read, and if the game sounds enticing to you, this is a game worth buying, especially if it was not a top-priority for you during the holiday season, which is probably the one time of the year where most people actually purchase games, or their major game purchases. It’s fun, exciting, and although you may want to get the issues of the prelude comic book, which you can pretty much read as you open up story information with Riddler trophies, the whole premise of Arkham City is pretty straightforward. The stories actually lie within Batman’s interaction with the inmates and his main adversaries, and that is what makes up the game’s bulk. Also, it’s simply fun to just grapple line across all of Gotham, with the skyline in the background. The game is so detailed, so massive, and so much fun, it even gives you the chance after beating it to start a new game with harder enemies and some more surprises, mainly being able to start over fully upgraded. This was also similar to what was allowed in Arkham Asylum, but you can feel the difference in game play as you are then flying about the city.

Arkham City is the game gamers have been asking for, and 2011 being a year of big sequels, and some shocking surprises, the end was truly exciting. One can only hope 2012 is as big a year for video games as it was for 2011. Arkham City is a must-buy, and I highly recommend it for bringing a bit of the best that makes video games the largest growing media format, and for perhaps being better than some of the movies that have come out in recent years.

 Overall, congratulations to the videogame industry, despite the ups and downs of the past few years, and I do hope to see this niche market grow up and become something unexpectedly amazing. To all the developers at Rocksteady, the writers, producers, and voice talents that have worked on Arkham City, thank you for making, and being in production of such a great game. Also, thank you to the game testers that truly have done a fantastic job, because without their input, games would ship for prices unmatched to the quality of work. If more developers were on the same page as Rocksteady, and how they’ve proven to perform, we’d have many more games at such a great caliber on shipping day. Again, Rocksteady, thank you for a game that will have us all begging for more, and good luck with all future endeavors.

Thank you for reading the Malacast Editorial. You can follow Malacast Agent on twitter @mcasteditorial, and you can also send me an e-mail at mcasteditorial@yahoo.com, and I’ll be sure to answer back any comments that I can. Happy New Year to everyone out there, I hope to find you all having a very safe, and very happy 2012.

The Riddler will drive you nuts with his riddler trophies, and death traps to save captured doctors and security guards