Batman Arkham City (Game of the Year Edition) - Xbox 360

I played Batman: Arkham City 2 years ago shortly after it came out by renting it and enjoyed it very much. Recently I decided to purchase this to get to play it again and try the extra content. Much of my rating comes from a frugal gamer's perspective of buying the GOTY edition on sale for $15. First off, for those of you who have not played any of the Batman: Arkham titles, this game's story is amazing and standalone enough to where you can get the idea of what happened in Arkham Asylum (the first title) even if you did not previously play it. For those who did play Arkham Asylum, this game is on a much larger scale, giving access to a wider play area than its predecessor. There is a bigger representation of central characters and villains, such as Catwoman, Two-Face, Penguin, and many others. In addition, there are numerous side missions that can be accessed throughout the game that help add to the enjoyment value of the game, give you bonus abilities, and interact with other villains not part of the main story. Another plus is a bigger role of the Riddler in this game, who has hostages in elaborate death traps that he provides locations to after completing enough riddles so you can attempt to solve the rooms and save the hostages. Gameplay wise, the combat and predator systems are simple, yet challenging. Most encounters involve either unarmed "beat-em up" combat using a variety of attacks, counters, gadgets and special abilities against large numbers of inmates, or sneak-around takedowns of armed thugs, allowing you to do things like jump through glass, out of vents, around corners, etc. to surprise and take down the bad guys in a silent or high profile manner, even allowing you to use gadgets to harass, frighten, distract or knock them out. Inmates respond to your actions, sometimes to the point of becoming completely terrified. Paired with using various gadgets to solve puzzles, analyze crime scenes, and traverse through the city, it definitely feels like playing Batman the entire time you are playing the game. The extra content is easily accessed by putting Disc 2 in the drive and installing everything. This gives you access to: - Catwoman missions: Several times during the main story, you will switch over to controlling Catwoman for her part in the story. After the main story is over, you are able to switch between her and Batman freely. - Harley Quinn's Revenge: A 30-60 minute extension of the story that allows you to play as Robin for a majority of the time. - Extra challenge maps: More predator and combat challenges in places like Wayne Manor, the Batcave, Joker's Funhouse (which is timed and an endurance map), and even a side-scrolling combat challenge on a train. - Extra costumes: more novelty, but there if you want to switch up Batman's appearance (after beating the game once). Others are available for other characters. - Extra playable characters in challenge mode: You get access to Catwoman, Robin, and Nightwing in the "Riddler's Revenge" challenge maps. Each one has unique gadgets and abilities to let you mix up your approaches to individual challenge maps. Overall, from the perspective of a budget gamer, this game is very worth buying at $15-$20. It provides a long and epic story line with updated yet very well portrayed versions of staple Batman characters. The systems for taking on thugs definitely pulls off having a Batman feel which is enhanced by the gadgets you use, and the extra content will add on several hours of gameplay. I cannot say for those who buy games with financial scrutiny that it would have been worth paying $60 at release and then buying the DLC separately, but for this price, it is a must-buy for anyone who enjoys action/adventure games and is a Batman fan.

I really do love this game though I find certain parts unnecessarily hard. I am not a hardcore gamer, but I'm not really a casual gamer either. If a certain part is starting to frustrate me I tend to stop and come back to it the next day, but usually I try to finish a game I am playing before moving on to the next one. With Arkham Asylum I really had trouble with the first part of the game, getting down the fighting dynamics was a bit challenging for me. But, once I started playing more, and of course upgrading, things started to flow. There was a gliche where, when I got to %44 I lost my game save. I had to start over from the beginning (but I got to redo missed opportunities so in a way it wasn't a total waste) but that proves how fun the game is. I was heartbroken of course, but I did it. I ended up beating the game, though there were some achievements I wasn't able to get. Mainly in the challenges. But the game made me eager to play Arkham City, which is a bit more ambitious than the first with a wider learning curve (in my opinion). the things that were hard in the first game, and thusly made me proud when I found the trick/way to beat those hard parts, and of course honing that skill, seem to be gone in this game. Of course many of the weapons/skills are the same here, but the fighting isn't as fun to me as it was in the original. I, of course, would pick fights in certain parts of the game, with the confidence and arrogance afforded me after just beating the first game (I was a later starter with the first game, as I got it as a gift for christmas, but because I found the fighting dynamics hard at first, I started playing a few other games before I got back to it)However I found myself getting my ass kicked a lot easier, the controls didn't feel as tight as it did in the first game. This game usually gets a score of 10 out of 10 by most gaming magazines, but I'd have to give it a 9 or 9.5 if for no other reasons than they took out a lot of the stuff I liked about the fighting from the first game and reinvented it for this one. The catwoman missions (which came free with the game, so I do not understand why they'd give me a secret code for it unless it's so my friends who came over would have to pay if they wanted to play the game on their gamertag)are a bit more complicated/harder than they need to be. They definitely made a successful attempt at making catwomans moves different than batman's. they are more elegant, and sometimes a bit sexy (of course I probably need to get out more lol. but next gen games are using their polygons well I must say). Unfortunately you spend most of the game trying to upgrade batman, that you tend to leave catwoman out, and so she's not as powerful as batman sometimes. This may just be psychological but it seems when I use the controller to controll batman I can feel the power/muscle behind his moves. And while I play as catwoman it seems that I move more freely as if making her do her moves doesn't take as much energy. Then again catwoman's hits are not as power driven as Batman's so it feels more acrobatic. I do find the riddler related challenges more annoying than fun. And finding the tropies are a bit overwhelming. (I'm still playing so I have a long way to go to collecting everything). I thought it was a pain in the ass to get them all in the first game, now with a larger free roaming area to look in I'm actually worried I'll never find them all (without using a guide). I have not played the Harley storyline (as I am not totally done with the main story and didn't want anything to spoil it for me, as it states when you first click on the button...that there are spoilers). I do love the concept of releasing a game with all of it's downloadable content. I hate that everything now seems to be download only or streaming (as with music and movies) I'm very old school, I love owning the physical game. Even if I beat the game and get %100 on the achievements, I may want to go back and replay a section sometime, and if you only have your game in the cloud, you may end up redownloading it just to play it. Besides, if anything happens to the cloud infrastructure, I'll still have my game, and if for some reason I can't afford to go online, I'll still have my game. Plus, as much as games cost, when I download them I feel like I didn't really buy anything. at least with a game disc I feel as if I got something for my money. So I love the concept behind this game, and other "complete collections" versions of games. As far as superhero games go, my favorite ones were Spider-man 2 and 3 and Ultimate spider-man, this game actually won my heart pretty quickly because just as the spider-man games captured what it's like to BE spider-man this game and it's predecessor do the same for Batman. Because I am a bigger Spider-man fan than I am a Batman fan (though it's a close call) I would tend to say this comes in a close second, but it doesn't matter because you're going to have fun playing it just the same. I can't imagine anyone who enjoys comic books/superheroes or just clever puzzles and excellent storytelling not liking this game. It has a few annoying aspects, but not enough to really damage the overall asthetic, then again most games that some consider perfect still has a flaw or two. This game will win you over though, whether you played the first one or not.

I originally gave this three stars and after playing for a couple of days and using Rad Brad on You Tube to get past points I got stuck at I will now give it four stars. Don't think the graphics are as good as in the new one Origins, gliding is really fun with the dive feature and then glide again, grappling is great, so far cool upgrades but some require major amount of combos to use and I never seem to get enough to release my bat swarm. Still a fun game though and comes with a second disc of stuff like armor, Harlyquins revenge and other stuff. So if you like batman this might be a fun one for you, just like playing Asylum if that helps. Update: if you don't like running around lost half the time because it's either impossible to find, get into, or how to do what's next. It's fun but find freeze how with just a temperature sensor? Getting the missions done to me is difficult. Have to get the containers for bang in some sort of order and how do I get behind the wall it's been a half hour and still haven't cracked it so I play for the graphics and use you tube a lot rad brad to get past but what's the point of a game that needs to be watched first to be played. Don't have this problem on gears of war and that one is fun. So that's the update. Cool batman graphics and controls ok, when it actually lets you do some of your leveled up combo moves, still can't use half of them. Smoke pellet rocks and gives plenty of pop ups to command batman. ok I'm done

If you want the ultimate batman experience. Get this game.

If you are a fan of Batman and remotely like video games, this game is a must. Even if you are not a fan of Batman, and you like video games, you should at least try this one. I'm not a die hard Batman fan, but I did love the early 90s cartoon series. This game has many of the voice actors who did the early cartoon series, and they are pros at their craft. The game play is great. I like the combo based fighting system, though you could argue that it's laughably easy once you get it down. It is fun though coming up with different ways to finish off your foes, using the various unlockable gadgets at your disposal. The campaign has a good story. Excellent original story that pays homage to existing Batman lore with the plethora of characters. Tons of Easter eggs for big fans. And as I said, the voice work is top notch, so it feels authentic playing through and you really get pulled in by the dialog and interactions. The challenge modes and extras do add quite a bit of replay value. They don't necessarily feel like a chore or obligation to play through and see how many waves of enemies you can survive or how quickly and efficiently you can take them out. I highly recommend this title. You don't necessarily need to have played through Arkham Asylum, but you might as well since it's probably dirt cheap to buy right now and they're both great games. Arkham City, though, is much better due to the feel that it's much more open world, plus the Catwoman levels are entertaining, and the bonus Game of the Year(Harley's Revenge, or whatever) content is icing on the cake.

I bought Batman Arkham Asylum last year when it was on sale and I loved it! So when Amazon had an amazing deal on this game ($19.99), it's currently listed even lower, $17.49 I had to get it. It is well worth it for the hours of game play, the graphics, storyline, and the bonus content. You get to play as Batman, then again on separate quests as Catwoman, the best of both characters! You can easily put in hours just on the side quests which are just as fun as the main storyline. I have put in at least 10 hours and have yet to play Catwoman, I like to finish with one before starting another character, but Batman's gadgets are fun and you get more as the game goes on! I One gripe I have is the leveling structure. I hate that you can only upgrade ONE item. There are so many available and more open up as you level, so you have to carefully review everything before making your choice each time you level. There is an Armor category which has subsets, Weapon upgrades, with several more subsets and then another for Technology with subsets. I guess it just adds to the strategy of playing the game, but I would much prefer you can upgrade 1 in each category, or have the 1 point apply to all the subsets within the category. The controls are easy to use, X to attack, Y to block during fights, and as your multiplier increases you can do really nice combos and finishing moves are always slowed down for full effect, but no guts or blood (very kid friendly in that regard), and they are just 'unconscious' not dead when you look at them with Batman Vision. Gliding along with the Bat-cape is tons of fun in and of itself, I like to find the highest building and glide to my destination from there. The graphics look amazing on my 55" screen and HDMI connection and the voices are authentic and add to the rich storyline. You don't have to be a Batman fan to enjoy this game. There is plenty of detective work, strategy and action to this game! You will definitely have no problem putting in 20 hours, which, for me, equates to less than $1/hour for entertainment. If you are a Batman fan, you will appreciate the true to form story, graphics, voices. Something for everyone!

I didn't know how they could top AA but wow they really went the extra mile to make the sequel bigger in all fronts. What you get is 2 disc's the first is the original game the second disc has all the DLC ever released for the game including the recent brand new one. Also there is a voucher to download the "Batman: year one" movie from the market place which is 1.2gb in size. Now for the game its simply amazing there's no other way to describe it. It has everything you liked about the original and more. More characters,gadgets,moves,riddles and extra unlockables. Your getting a quality game here. There are no flaws with it per se unless your looking for any flaws. Is it a perfect game? no and apologize if my review makes it sound that way. But I can honestly say that this is one of the finest games this generation. Its a blueprint for what a game sequel should aim for. And its definitely worth your money. Hardcore batman fans its a must buy for you. Newcomers looking for a comic book super hero game? Welcome and enjoy the second successful adventure of the dark knight. And you can be sure his next adventure will be just as great if not better. But I don't know how they'll be able to top this game but whatever they have cooking up I'm sure its going to be amazing. Thanks for reading and enjoy the game.

Okay game