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- Batman Arkham City cements itself as the best video game sequel, perfectly capitalizing off Arkham Asylum, an already flawless game.
- The sequel expanded to a semi-open world, improving traversal, gadgets, and combat mechanics.
- To date, the game features the best villains from the Dark Knight’s rogue gallery, with appearances from Joker, Hugo Strange, and Mr. Freeze and side missions featuring Zsasz and Riddler.
Having watched Max’s Penguin series recently, I had the sudden urge to replay the Arkham games, which was also necessary, coming from the fatigue I had from recent Rocksteady news.
I had to remind myself what made the Arkham games so special in the first place. I had played Arkham Asylum just a year ago, and it would only make sense to play Batman Arkham City again, the best-regarded game in the franchise.
Having finished the game god knows how many times, I realized that not many developers succeed in capitalizing on the success of their original releases. The good old Rocksteady surpassed the expectations of their first release and nailed the sequel aspect, something that no other developer could, in my opinion.
Why It Matters: Usually when a game sets the bar high for developers, the following title often fails to capture the same essence as the original one. It’s rare to see a sequel that is better than the original game, but Batman Arkham City is an exception to this case.
How Batman Arkham City Expands From Arkham Asylum
Jumping straight from Batman Arkham Asylum to Arkham City, I first noticed how the scale has expanded from the prequel. I consider Batman Arkham City to lean more towards comic accuracy, which it perfectly nails.
Arkham Asylum was more of a linear game, with little exploration, and Batman was confined within the Arkham Asylum throughout the game. However, that perfectly reflects the Dark Knight’s detective side.
The first game was just a taste of what was coming next, and Arkham City was a treat for comic book fans. Mind you; this was released at a time when no comic book video game was ever this good and made you perfectly experience through that character’s shoes.
Arkham City went open-world but was still somewhat linear approach. It expanded traversal mechanics through grappling, and this time around, it had a more refined combat system with newer gadgets and tons of new side activities and missions, but more on that later.
Faster grappling, bomb diving, grapnel boost, wall run, and an improved bat claw made travelling around Arkham City really fun. Moreover, tons of new combat opportunities opened with the new electricity gun, freeze grenade, line launcher, and more Batarang features.
Whether you wanted to go stealthy or guns out, combat was also always fun and challenging. I never truly got bored because there was always enough variety in the combat that got better with time as I got ahold of it.
I think the game’s art style and graphics are still up to date, and if you’re on the PC platform, there is an unofficial remaster of the game. Using AI to update textures and 6 years of hard work, Arkham City has never looked better.
Perfect Utilization Of Bats’ Rogue Gallery
There isn’t just one standout thing that makes the Arkham games so special. Although, if I still had to choose amongst them, I’d choose the storylines of these games. As a diehard Dark Knight fan, I highly appreciate Rocksteady for giving us the best Batman adaptation outside of the comics.
Rather than focusing on one major villain, Arkham City gives a bit of light to almost everyone from Batman’s Rogue Gallery. Other than the Joker, the major villain of this game is Hugo Strange, who oversees the whole open-air prison.
That said, other Batman villains, such as The Penguin, Ra’s Al Ghul, Poison Ivy, Mr Freeze, and Two-Face, all get their respective storylines without being outshone by each other. The perfectly carved story also shows how Batman, despite being a human in a cape, manages to beat all of these major criminals.
Other villains also make their respective appearances during the game’s side missions. Victor Zsasz, Killer Croc, Deadshot, Riddler, and others appear in the game’s side stories, chasing their own twisted goals.
Beyond that, the game contains several Easter eggs referring to Calendar Man, Scarecrow, and Azrael.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
Get In Touch: shaheer@old.tech4gamers.com
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