Again, not sure why this isn’t on the online version of sfbg.com, but pick up the paper this week!
A taste:
“UK developer Rocksteady clearly set out to make the best, most comprehensive Batman game ever, and when you see the number of characters, backstories and knowing winks contained in Arkham City you’d be hard pressed to say they didn’t succeed. The story goes: after Arkham Asylum’s fall in the first game, Gotham’s villains have been relocated to a cordoned-off section of downtown Gotham City. At a protest rally, Bruce Wayne is kidnapped by Professor Hugo Strange, who reveals he has a nefarious plan in place for Arkham. Why on Earth would they put a prison in the center of the city? Now trapped within its walls, Batman decides to find out.
If you feared Arkham Asylum might have been unduly elevated for being the first competent video game about Batman, rest easy: Rocksteady knows their Batman. The Caped Crusader glides and grapples across the city with incredible, fluid movement, and, whether you are battling the Joker, Mr. Freeze or one of Two Face’s two-toned toughs, combat has a wonderful rhythm that rewards intricate combos and looks just as amazing if you’re mashing buttons.
Arkham City also gives you the opportunity to experience the guilt that comes with knowing you can’t attend to all of the crime and villainy that inhabit Arkham at once. There are criminals and puzzles left by The Riddler on nearly every inch of the decaying urban landscape, and if there’s an issue it’s that all this content can be overwhelming. Not only is scattering the city with glowing green question marks disorienting, but it serves to make Arkham City feel less authentic and more like a goofy comic book – which isn’t much of a complaint considering the source.”
