Hands On: Batman: Arkham City
By Tom Yeates | October 2, 2011 | Previews | 1 comment | Share
Background Check
When I was younger, I was obsessed with Batman. I would gather anything and everything related to the Caped Crusader. Toys, books, comics, sticker collections…anything there was, I’d want it. I watched the Tim Burton films over and over again, endlessly quoted Jack Nicholson’s Joker, talked with great enthusiasm about Mark Hammill’s rendition of the Clown Prince of Crime in the animated series. When I was six, I even had a recording of the first film’s audio that I would listen to when I slept. I once asked someone at the age of seven if he had ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight…Looking back, it’s clear to me that this was probably not normal…However, what all of this has translated to in my adult life is a deep seated relish and respect for Batman as a character.
Batman is a real hero and in my estimation, the comic industry’s greatest creation. He’s a superhero without any super powers because he doesn’t need them. He is what the experts refer to as a “double hard bastard” (provided those experts are real “cockney geezers”). A superhero who combines the best parts of being a martial arts expert and the best parts of being detective with a constant sense of human vulnerability running as an undercurrent. It’s a powerful mixture and it’s the primary reason that I was so decidedly pleased with 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum from Rocksteady Studios.
Not an ideal situation for this guy, really...
Arkham Asylum was an excellent piece of intelligent game design and, more importantly, a game which was every bit as respectful to the Batman franchise as it should have been, perhaps as no comic tie-in game has ever been before it. It was a game I struggled to find anything I disliked in, aside from maybe the final boss fight with a venom-pumped Joker, which felt a little tacky in comparison to the excellent story building that had preceded it. Arkham Asylum is still the only game I have actually obtained all of the achievements for. My one 100% title and it is a distinction that may well stay that way for a long time to come…I guess I’m just not much of an achievement hunter…but I digress…I’ve played Batman: Arkham City and I’m going to tell you about it.
A Catclaw To The Head Of Trepidation
First of all, when Arkham City was announced, I can’t deny there was a feeling of trepidation on my part. Arkham Asylum had worked because it was such a focused and highly polished title. It was a game where Rocksteady had really distilled the essence of being Batman into a game for the first time and there were no guarantees that, in moving to a more open environment, they would be able to keep the same sense of polish and direction that made Arkham Asylum such a hit. Sure Arkham Island was relatively open, you could roam around it…but Arkham Asylum was far from an open world game. I wondered if Arkham City was going to change that.
The sequence I played is one that will be familiar to fans from the E3 demo. I was put in charge of Catwoman and tasked with eliminating a room full of Two Face’s cronies, looking sufficiently deranged in their distorted masks designed to echo their boss’ face. The addition of Catwoman as a playable character was also something which caught my eye when details of Arkham City began to flow outwards from Rocksteady and whilst I was only given an isolated sequence, she certainly feels well implemented. Her fighting style is as elegant as you might expect, making excellent use of her acrobatic abilities and of course her trusty whip. Within a minute I’d quelled all resistance in the room. Her voice acting is appropriately two parts seduction and one part sly and the cut-scene interaction between her and Two Face was excellent to watch. It left me wondering if she’ll have a run in with The Penguin, voiced by the omnipresent Nolan North. If Catwoman’s performance is this solid throughout then Rocksteady will have slotted in another piece of the jigsaw. The Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle relationship is a fascinating story and if they can get even a little piece of that across in Arkham City then they’re doing a great job.
"It's pivot, left step, pivot, right step pause...Not the other way around..."
In terms of mechanics, after not playing Arkham Asylum for so long I was surprised how quickly I fell back into the freeflow combat. Rocksteady have not tampered heavily with the formula at all and who can blame them? If it’s not broken, why fix it? Instead they have made upgrades such as the ability to execute multiple simultaneous counters, or allowing you to counter thrown weapons or, in Batman’s case, to use things such as the explosive gel during combat to spice things up a bit. Catwoman doesn’t need explosive gel however, she just needs her whip and those retractable, razor sharp claws…
Business As Usual
Indeed my favourite thing about my time with Arkham City was that Rocksteady have not strayed too far from the proverbial tree at all. The game feels like a bigger, badder Arkham Asylum. Giving you the same basic tools but adding extra “oomph” at every turn. Once I gained control of Batman, I was able to sample the more open air of the Arkham City environment and my fears began to be allayed. The gliding felt great, and importantly, I felt like Batman…or at least as close to Batman as I’m ever going to get. I could dive downwards to gain momentum and then pull up to gain speed an altitude…I could see the filthy Gotham streets from above, the way the real Dark Knight would view the streets. I realised that, a more open environment is actually precisely one of the things Rocksteady could have done to encapsulate Batman’s character even better. Batman doesn’t walk around the streets at night! When he’s not in the Batmobile…he glides and here I was…gliding!
The environments were every bit as detailed and moody as the Asylum. The streets reeked of criminal decay and wanton vandalism. The skyline oozed with a distinctly Gotham mist…There were gargoyles aplenty and more than enough thugs for you to shake a stick at…you know…if that’s something you like to do. My fears of a loss of ambiance and character proved, at least in this small section of the game, to be unfounded. Search lights scanned the night sky as I flew silently across rooftops and below me, the thugs went about their oafish lives. I was Batman, the silent guardian. The watcher in the darkness. Something bad was happening in town and I was the one that was going to stop it.
But what are overwhelming odds to Batman? Thirty henchmen is bread and butter for the Caped Crusader. Taking down henchmen is a habit he just can’t get out of…
Arkham City is not an open world game. It’s just more open than Arkham Asylum was. You can roam around, but I’m encouraged to see that the focus is still on being Batman and doing things that Batman does. Instead of the nightmare scenario of finding a small child who has lost his or her balloon…Spiderman 2, I’m looking at you for that one…As soon as I was tasked with putting an end to Two Face’s “trial” of Catwoman, I knew this game meant business. I dispatched eight henchmen outside, two of them with a superb slow-motion glide kick double take-down. The rest with a series of bone crunching kicks, punches and complicated arm snapping maneuvers.
Inside, I made my way up the stairs, choked out the armed guard up top. Walked a trip wire to the other end of the courtroom and then decided it was best to cry havoc and dive down onto a room full of thirty baying and half deranged criminals. But what are overwhelming odds to Batman? Thirty henchmen is bread and butter for the Caped Crusader. Taking down henchmen is a habit he just can’t get out of…
Batman has a fever...and the only prescription...well, you get the idea...
Standing over the field of unconscious bodies, I smiled to myself. I smirked at a nearby Rocksteady employee, “Cheeky swines…” I thought to myself. Why? Because it looks like they’ve gone and done it again. Arkham City feels incredibly well polished. Rocksteady have not been slouches since picking up so many accolades for Arkham Asylum, instead they’ve sat down and thought about ways to improve upon what was offered in the first game in a meaningful way that not only increases player enjoyment but also, at its core, is all about trying to give you the best possible Batman experience. It’s something that other developers should really pay attention to – a willingness to really think about the character they are trying to represent. I’m going to stand by my window now for a couple of weeks waiting for the Bat signal when Arkham City releases on October 18th (North America) and October 21st (Europe). I’ve got my cowl…have you got yours?
Us PC Gamers, will have to wait a little longer. The PC version will only be available in November. =(