PPP2 Review: Batman Arkham City

This is the sequel made to Arkham Asylum and is once again one of my favourite games. This took everything that good about the first game and blew it out of the water even further by increasing the scale, the fun and the amount there is to do in the world.

The main concept of the game is much like the last in terms of The Joker is back and this time running havoc around Arkham City. After the events of Arkham Asylum, Gotham knew the prison was no longer safe, in which Arkham City was created. This is a remote section of Gotham cornered off to house all of these prisoners and Batman is now inside alongside them. With new threats from The Joker and the mysterious Dr Strange, Batman must fight his way through to survive, even when encountering nearly every other villains that both did and didn't appear in the first game, and all the time trying to fin what this Protocol 10 is all about.

Again like in Arkham Asylum there is a huge world to explore which includes such lovely details and things for DC fans to find, that will really interest them. The world is huge though and you can rack up 50 or so hours trying to get the story done and then The Riddler trophies and missions done... and that's not all. There are then the challenges to complete, like the ones in Arkham Asylum, but once again these have been made even bigger as well. There are 120 alone for Batman to play but then Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing then each have 120 to complete as well, providing you have all the DLC or the Game of the Year Edition.

The general concept is so easy to get the hang of and the mechanics of the game are so smooth and its a joy to play. As Batman we can walk, run and glide our way around a massive city, unlocking secrets and kicking some bad guy butt! The combat, like the previous game, is very strong and one of the best ever seen in a video game. It feels effortless pounding into villains even though it is so difficult sometimes when surrounded by enemies. The combat is definitely one of the best things about the game as it is so seamless and the free flow racks up so easily as Batman jumps into person after person - sending them flying with a built up combo take down. Other than the very impressive combat and the gorgeous open world environment, this game also has a fantastic storyline - something very important to increase the awesomeness of this game, as it is quite rare to find a good story in a game that also has beautiful visuals and interesting gameplay that makes you easily be able to play it for hours on end.

My only bad word that I actually have to say about this game is that they should have brought in some co op elements. They had created animation for both Batman and Catwoman to be played as yet there is no co op experience. I know it would have meant changing all of the storyline but even if they had added in this element after the story is complete when you are hunting for Riddler trophies, it would have been nice to do it with a friend. Saying this as well a lot of the Catwoman trophies cannot be achieved without Batman's help and if you were both there it would speed up finding these as well, as you spend most of the time changing characters from halfway over the other side of the city from where you are.

Altogether this is one of my favourite games as it is not just a beat-em-up action game but it is also an adventure game, a good story, a puzzle game and also kind of a platformer, as strategic jumps have to be made and gadgets must be used to help Batman get around the city with ease. Its a fantastic game and is definitely a must play due to how much fun it is and how enjoyable the gameplay is.