TheJAEffect takes a strole through Arkham City…

For my first review for Pittco.org, I’ll be going over Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham City. Now while I haven’t played the whole game yet, I have gotten through the a bunch of it. I’ve played through about 4 hours worth of the 12 hour boasted gameplay and let me say that this game has some WOW factor to it. Before I get to that though, let’s go through what you get with the pre-order of the game.

Through GameStop, I got the Batman: The Animated Series batsuit, Joker Carnival mini map, and the Batman: Arkham City soundtrack included in the game. All copies that were pre-ordered were also shipped with the ability to play as Catwoman. From what I understand, Best Buy received the Robin pack as their pre-order bonus. All in all, I’m impressed with the amount of in game content that Rocksteady provided. Enough rewards to pre-order, but nothing that isn’t going to be available to everyone in a few weeks.

The Gameplay:

First off, the world is amazing. The game is set a year after Arkham Asylum. The asylum has been closed down and the prisoners have been moved to a section of Gotham City specially designed for the inmates. You basically are flying around a beat up section of Gotham fighting waves upon waves of foes who will do anything to take you down.

Speaking of the Asylum, you start with most of the gadgets that were unlocked in Arkham Asylum. Which means favorites like the remote controlled batarang, exploding gel and a few others are bringing pain to the villains from the get go.

One of the major improvements that is noticeable very early in game play is the new fighting mechanic.  

 In Arkham Asylum, fighting 15 enemies was a challenge, but do-able. In Arkham City, with the proper technique, I can engage 25-30 people and manage to take them all down fairly quickly. The improved counter and attack system really makes things fluid and combat is much, much better. With the cooperation of gadgets and combos during the fight, no one stands a chance against the Dark Knight.