Batman: Arkham City Intro Review

As I stated in my previous post, last night I went to the midnight release of Batman: Arkham City at Best Buy in Jordan Landing. As promised, I am reviewing my experience of the first couple of hours of gameplay. What I am about to review may contain spoilers; if you do not want anything spoiled, go play the game for a few hours and then come back to read my review.


As I walked out of Best Buy with my friend Jake and my collector's edition of Arkham City, I had to stop in good lighting to take a better look at the amazingly detailed Batman statue that came with the game. Both of us sat there for a minute and admired its beauty. After getting home I carefully unboxed the statue, and quickly browsed through the extra's that came with the game, and then put Arkham City in my Xbox 360. The start menu depicts a “freeze frame” of Batman hunched over a gargoyle in the rain; the rain drops depicted as spiderweb-like lines surrounding him. Before I pressed start I found my self listening to the captivating music, and in awe at the extremely detailed Batman laid out on my television screen.

(Note: this next section is playable only if you buy the game new, and redeem the included code for "Catwoman's story".) The game starts off zooming away from a painting, when a thug swings the painting out to reveal a safe. The thugs clothing resembles Two Face in that half of their outfits are darker than the other. As the thugs are discussing what may be in the safe, Cat Woman enters the room. After a brief introduction, the thugs begin to surround her. As I took control of Cat Woman, the fighting mechanics were reminiscent of Batman: Arkham Asylum. I didn't have to think about what I was suppose to do, it just happened. The only difference is that instead of the powerful moves delivered by Batman, Cat Woman was delivering very quick, precise movements and take downs. After beating up the thugs I went to the painting/safe, and opened it to reveal a memory stick. Catwoman puts the information on her phone, and is immediately held at gun point by Two Face.

The screen blurs out to white, then the intro credits of the game begin. Vicki Vale is broadcasting Live from outside Arkham City, discussing Bruce Wayne's sudden interest in politics and wanting to close down Arkham City. Bruce Wayne walks past Vicki Vale and steps up to the podium set up for his speech. After a brief speech a group of operatives who run security for Arkham City, known as "TYGER", burst in on the scene, and arrest Bruce Wayne and take him into what looks like the processing area for Arkham City. To avoid spoiling the story, I'm going to skip to the next segment of the game, which is a real treat!

After putting on the “bat-suit”, I stood on top of "ACE Chemicals"; I scooted closer to the TV screen to look at the brilliant design of Arkham City. Buildings of all sizes, steam rising from the streets, noises of thugs on the streets below, helicopter's piloted by "TYGER" operatives scanning the area with their search lights, the bat signal in the air, and a beautifully detailed backdrop of Gotham City. All of these things left me breathless, and wanting to explore right away. Your first objective is very clear, but it took me about an hour to get there because I was doing so much exploring. This is not a bad thing, because I was able to find a few Riddler trophies, and reveal side objectives.

Arkham City has a much larger area to explore than Arkham Asylum, and is roughly five times its size. Thanks to Batman's gliding capabilities, and grappling hook, he is able to get from point A to point B quickly. Because it's such a big, open, world, there is the opportunity to be much more stealthy than in Arkham Asylum. Sometimes I prefer to go into a situation loudly, and the great thing is you are not punished for doing this so.

The Graphics are absolutely incredible. The soundtrack is extremely enticing, and much darker than the previous game. The dialogue is pretty predictable, and cheesy at points, but I think it's acceptable because, let's face it, the game is based off of a classic comic book super hero, and almost all comics are cheesy at some point. So far I have only completed two main objectives, and it's taken me just over a couple of hours. I am completely enthralled, and I cannot stop thinking about my experiences playing it last night. I am giving this a solid 5 out of 5 stars, based on a couple of hours of gameplay. I will fully review this game at a further date, but wanted to give everyone an idea of what to expect. The remainder of this game is looking to be very enticing!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!