Bryan Creason

Entertainment Editor

   Batman, though full of amazing moments, has had some dark times in all of the various forms of media, especially video games. For the longest time, many have said that there had been no good Batman game. Then Rocksteady’s surprise hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum proved that Batman could be amazing, no matter what the form of media. Rocksteady had a heavy task, however. They had to top one of the greatest games of 2009, and they did just that.

    The story starts out like this: The walls of Arkham Asylum have grown, encompassing a large portion of Gotham City’s slums. Ex-Arkham Asylum warden, Quincy Sharp, uses the events of the last game to win the mayoral election and make Arkham City. He makes it clear that the inmates are free to do what they want, as long as they stay within the boundaries and don’t try to escape. The facility is placed under the care of psychiatrist Hugo Strange, who is secretly manipulating Sharp. Bruce Wayne, who is openly against Arkham City, is arrested and sent there. Here, the game really begins. After escaping from the Penguin, Bruce calls for an airdrop, suits up, and gets ready to save the day.

    Arkham City keeps all of the strengths of its predecessors and loses the few faults. The combat is greater than ever, with Batman able to do all new special combos, takedowns, and counters. It gets rid of the always-infuriatingly counter system from the first game, which could be buggy at times. The world has also been improved, the map being five times larger than Arkham Asylum, allowing Batman to glide throughout the wonderfully-designed world.

    The voice actors for the game also rise to the challenge. Reprising their roles from the Batman animated series from the 90’s and Asylum, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill voicing Batman and the Joker, respectively. The voice aspect that is not perfect is the Catwoman sequences. Playable portions of Catwoman are included in the game, but that isn’t what’s wrong. What is wrong is how good Catwoman’s gameplay is along with how short it is. There are four sequences where the player takes control of Catwoman, and each lasts about fifteen minutes. Regardless of this, the Catwoman sequences are still fun to play, as they offer the player a chance to play as someone who counters Batman’s power-fists with swiftness.

    Around the world and web, people are saying how amazing Arkham City is, calling it not only the greatest Batman game, but one of the best games of all time. This is hard to argue with, and Batman: Arkham City is easily in the running for the Best Game of the Year Award. Arkham City is a game that shouldn’t be missed, and anyone playing it will more than likely be satisfied.