Batman: Arkham City Review

In late 2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum came out and to many peoples surprise it was fantastic, being regarded as one of the best superhero games of all time and one of the best games that year. To noones surprise after the success of the first game, Rocksteady had been planning a sequel. Two years later Batman: Arkham City is here and it has out performed its predecessor in every single way.
Being a big fan of the first game, beating it many times, getting every Riddler trophy, doing every combat and stealth challenge, and getting almost every achievement, I was anxious to see how Rocksteady could improve on a game I believed was close to perfection. Now that the game is here and I have sunk many many hours into it, its time to weigh in on one of 2011's most anticipated games. I am glad to say, Batman: Arkham City reaches and surpasses every single expectation I had.
Arkham City takes place 6 months after the original. Hugo Strange has taken over the Asylum and has moved it to a sealed off part of Gotham, now called Arkham City. Super criminals, thugs, murderers and hoodlums are set free to roam as they please making the city a criminal playground of destruction. The story starts you off as Bruce Wayne speaking to the public about how out of control Arkham has gotten when Hugo Strange's men kidnap you. Your tossed into Arkham City and it begins.....
Arkham City throws you right into the action but does a fantastic job of teaching you the combat through mini tutorials that also engage you in the story at the start of the game. Once all that is complete, you call upon Alfred to send a Batsuit in and the real fun begins. The first time I saw the initial scope of the city I was shocked. Rocksteady did a fantastic job with the look and design of the landscape from Jokers Factory, to Hugo Strange's tower, to the underground sewers. An entire city is open to you with no restrictions, if you can see it, you can go there. You are Batman, this is your city and you are free to roam around as you please.
Arkham City's campaign was one of the greatest and original campaigns I've played in a long time. The story tosses you a new supervillan to deal with every now and then keeping things fresh and interesting without making the player feel overwhelmed. Fan favorites like Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Mr.Freeze and Bane are all accounted for along with villains that only die hard batfans will know like Deadshot, Black Mask and Solomon Grundy and tons more still make an appearance. The first two acts are a nonstop rollercoaster ride, the third a little slower to bring the player up to speed with what's happening and then finally the fourth and fifth act are a riot bringing you an epic conclusion and one that you won't see coming.
Gameplay and controls are tight, batclawing and gliding around the city feels smooth and natural, combat is fast fierce and fluent, puzzles are challenging yet fun, and stealth feels like its gotten a complete overhaul since the first game. Batman has a whole new batch of gadgets to play with as well as some upgrades to ones that were in the previous game and its worth pointing out that even Detective Mode works and looks better than it did in the original. Batman can also receive upgrades that give you new combat moves, armor upgrade, and stealth abilities.
The campaign will last you around 8-12 hours with all other side missions taking over 50+ hours to complete. The only reason I finished the campaign so quickly is because I could not put it down, and I wasn't surprised when after I beat the game and looked at my clock it was 3 in the morning. With so much to do its hard to pick what to talk about. Combat challenges, stealth challenges, tons of side missions involving great villains, over 400 Riddler challenges which have also gotten a huge upgrade this time around, and a separate campaign for Catwoman who also has her own upgrades and Riddler challenges!
Presentation is astonishing with great cutscenes, perfect pacing, and fantastic voice acting featuring the voices of Kevin Conroy, Nolan North and Mark Hamill returning to do one hell of a job as Joker. The attention to detail is phenomenal as Batman gets bloody, bruised and cut along the way, and every building has life to it. You can even eavesdrop on the criminals patrolling around the building and hear what there saying. 
Really, there's not a thing I didn't like about the game. There were minor camera glitches every few hours but it's nothing that made the game unplayable. Other than that the game is perfection.

In today's market, if your going to pay 60 bucks for a game, you will want to get your moneys worth. Batman: Arkham City is one of those rare experiences that engages the player and makes them feel like they are the person they're controlling. Playing Arkham City you feel like you are Batman. No scratch that, you ARE Batman along with all the badassery that comes along with it. If you are a Batman fan you need this game, if you own a 360 or PS3 you owe it to yourself to AT LEAST rent it. Batman: Arkham City is easily the best superhero game of all time, one of this years greatest games, and one of the best experiences I've had in all my gaming career. Great job Rocksteady! You deserve this.
10/10