Arkham City

If there's one thing that annoyed me about Arkham Asylum, it was the loading time whenever you entered a new area. Doors separated different sections of the island, and getting from one place to another took a bit longer than I usually hope for a world map. This was one of only a handful of criticisms that I had for Asylum, and one of a smaller number that I can't aim at the sequel, City.

First thought upon entering the giant prison facility: "Why am I Bruce Wayne and not Batman yet?" You don't don the suit until after you've punched out the Penguin and a gang of his thugs. Thankfully, the transition to hero mode is quick and clean, and you can immediately begin flying all over the facility fighting baddies as easily as before.

As a resonance for the setting, Batman's movements feel much more unhindered this time out, since he can now grapple up to buildings, and even use the grapple gun to launch himself further into the air in order to glide over them. This newfound freedom is appropriately shared by the villains of Arkham City, including the Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Two-Face, who all make appearances, at least until Batman knocks them out. Combat on the city streets uses the same controls as Asylum, but there are a few more layers of depth, including new special dodges and attacks against enemies with shields, knives, and armor, each of which requires special consideration. Stealth tactics make a return appearance as well, and sneaking around the rafters or dark corners bears the same gratification as last time. On that note, the different forms of gratification on offer in Arkham City are varied. The satisfaction of completing the story, or rounding up various minor felons, or just finding Riddler trophies and rescuing hostages each have their own appeal and you can easily ignore one or several of these if you want to focus on something else.

Structure-wise, Arkham City feels much looser than its predecessor, which is probably the best format for it. The freedom, control, and self-determined action that characterize the sandbox fit the character of Batman quite nicely, and even if you don't feel a connection to Bruce Wayne's alternate ego, the challenge of sufficiently bludgeoning the criminals of Gotham makes up for any detachment from the main story. The Joker and the cryptic and sadistic psychologist Hugo Strange, the city's overseer, are the main antagonists, with other villains forming various obstacles that have to be dealt with in an increasingly long line of fetch-quests. The mcguffin of the moment seems somewhat arbitrary at times, but thankfully doesn't get out of control and have you run in seemingly endless circles.

On its own merit, Arkham City stands apart from the majority of big releases, but compared to its prequel, Asylum, it remains only a slight improvement in some areas. Yes, the stakes are raised in the story, the combat is a bit deeper and the stealth remains challenging and gratifying, but as a whole it feels somewhat cut-and-paste. Not to demean it at all, but the problem with franchises such as this is that they hopefully stop while they're ahead, rather than mire in their well-established mechanics rather than invent new ones.

Enjoyable