Is it an upgrade or a paradigm shift? I'm not sure. All I know is everything about this game is infinitely playable. The city is beautiful. Moving around is fun. You feel powerful from the beginning, but somehow, you get even more powerful. The story is top-notch Batman. No glitches that I found, no clipping. Everything feels immersive and polished. You can't get much better than this.
The first that happens is that you’re Catwoman and trying to break into someone’s safe. Okay, not what I expected — looks like you’ll be at least two Playable Characters in this game. Then a fight scene happens, and this is when the player first gets control. There’s no tutorial or introduction, so there’s a moment of panic. Fortunately, there’s only one hit button in the game, so I quickly and neatly dispatch the guards. But I’m still not Batman yet, so I keep playing, and this tiny prologue seems mostly irrelevant.
Next, the story starts proper with Vicki Vale reporting about Arkham City. But there’s no real explanation of what Arkham City is. It appears that Gotham City has wrapped up with one huge wall and all the prisoners are free to roam, like “Escape from New York” (or “to New York”, I can never remember).
This is a new concept to me, as I don’t follow the comics or cartoons. Was this at the end of the last game? Who is Hugo Strange? Is he related to Doctor Strange? (no, that’s Marvel, that can’t be right). How did this happen? What is TYGER? Why did they arrest Bruce Wayne? How did the citizens let this happen? Did they all move out?
I don’t have much time to answer questions though, because Bruce Wayne gets taken prisoner because… reasons? Seriously, this seems a little anarchist, even for Gotham. This gives me my first chance to move around and BOY, IS THAT CAMERA CLOSE. Back off, buddy. Are you trying to read over my shoulder or something? You can have the crossword when I’m done with it.
Actually, it’s not that bad. Just takes some getting used to. It feels like back in the day when you could switch an FPS into 3rd-person (3D Realms engine games had this). But the camera is smart, which is about the highest praise you can give any video game. It zooms out when you need it to, zooms in when you need it to, and is never hampered by invisible walls.
Once you escape your handcuffs and get into the Batsuit, your first task is to get to the courthouse where Two-Face has Catwoman.
Around this point, I notice that all the characters have their respective voice actors from Batman: The Animated Series. That’s pretty nice, I respect that they got them all back, and it’s nostalgic. Except that this isn’t Batman: The Animated Series. This is the Christopher Nolan/Frank Miller-style Batman. Uber-dark, uber-gritty, uber-noir. Harley Quinn is in a slutty stripper outfit, not a one-piece costume. Two-Face is the “Dark Knight” style where his skin is burnt sinew and eyeball, not greenish scarring. It doesn’t gel.
Still no tutorial, though. So I’m walking very slowly and bouncing off the walls instead of going through the front door like you’re supposed to. But still, I’ve got a slew of abilities and gadgets, there are so many upgrades and extra content and galleries and challenges. So far, I haven’t done much besides beat up people. I’m not doing any of that cool stalking and dropping or detective mode until I get to the courthouse. It expects that you remember all the skills from the previous game. I’m overwhelmed, but I’m still having fun.
Once the Two-Face scenario ends, I use the "detective mode" to analyze the crime scene. Then I escape into the city, and realize how expansive it is. I can grapple from building-to-building seamlessly like Spider-Man. I can pick up local surveillance in real-time, find radio signals on my bat-computer. I’ve got a Batarang, remote-control Batarang, smoke pellets, and that’s when it hits me.
I’m Batman.
I’m really Batman. I’m doing things Batman does. Using technology to solve crimes, stealthily spying on conversations, taking on multiple thugs, not using guns, gliding with the cape. I’ve been missing the boat on video games, but this is the first time I’ve really felt like I was an individual superhero. I grew up in a time when a Batman game looked like this.
All you did was move right and punch. You could substitute the sprites for anyone — Superman, Wolverine, Robocop, Leonardo — and it’d be the same damn game. Move right and punch the bad guys. Batarangs or shurikens, flight or jetpacks, there was no difference. It’s like Taco Bell, just different mixtures of the same four ingredients.
But now I really feel like I’m Batman in Batman’s world, interacting with Batman’s characters and doing Batman things of my own volition (not in a cutscene).
Some of the writing is really bad. Especially for Catwoman. I mean, seriously, a “broke a nail” joke? Do you know how many times I’ve heard that one? And she keeps talking sexy and saying things like “ooh, to explode this door, I’ll need a more feminine touch” and being all flirty. It made me want to reach through the screen and punch her. That’s the kind of stuff she said in the 1969 series. The lines feel cheesy and forced like they’re from rejected drafts of Batman: TAS episodes. But the art is super-fantastic. So detailed. So intricate. So many nooks and crannies to explore.
So, I like the game. In fact, I’m kinda obsessed with it. Hope I get over that before my kids go to college.
