4.5/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Batman: Arkham City GOTY.

And, what a game to start off the new year. I know I still have two more Arkham games to play, but this is easily the best Batman game thus far. All of the positive things I said about Arkham Asylum still stand, but there's more. The combat is enhanced, allowing multiple counters, snappier controls, and plenty more options at your disposal. It creates some awesome moments. Plus, you get to play as Catwoman, and while the controls are the same, it adds a different dimension of play. Stealth is enhanced, with, again, more options and gadgets at your disposal. However, it can still feel clunky at times to navigate these stealth scenarios. It's not a negative at all, just a nature of the game. Speaking of clunk, this entry got rid of that tank-like feel that Arkham Asylum had. Everything is more fluid and refined here. The open world is small, but incredible. It evokes the classic gothic setting in most Batman media. It really presents opportunities to "roleplay" those Batman scenarios. And, I love the fact that the story sets up why there are villains everywhere. There's plenty to discover in the world, and some really fun locations. And, oh my God, they took the visual-damage that Batman endures to the next level here. There are more details than the last game added to Batman's suit, as he survives encounter after encounter during the long-night that the game takes place. The story is also incredible, and elevates the writing and acting from the last game. It is atmospheric and creepy to hear Dr. Strange ominously count down to the launch of Protocol-10. There are incredible villain cameos, multiple stories that interweave one another, and some awesome side-missions that present different opportunities to meet with some lesser-mentioned villains. However, that's one of my big negatives for the game as well. There are a handful of side-missions that are not marked on the map, or make you wait for the activity-trigger. It grinds the momentum the game has to a halt. It's not a huge problem, but it did deter my enjoyment a bit. But, most terribly, those Riddler trophies make a return. And, while I like the idea of having puzzles from The Riddler scattered throughout the map there are just too many of them. It's the only side-mission I did not complete, and opted to just look up what happens when you complete it. I like the Riddler informants that grant map-reveals, and I like how contextual that side-activity is woven into the story, I just don't like the volume. It's too much. But, even then, the story only took me about 10-hours to complete, and after completing the rest of the side activities and the DLC, I ended up putting about 15-hours into the game as a whole. So, it probably wouldn't be too much of a time commitment to complete all the Riddler activities, but it felt like way too much of a chore to me. There's also some unique boss battles here, that present an equal amount of variety compared to Arkham Asylum. The scoring is great as well, with it invoking something in-between something modern and classic-Batman (specifically, the 1989 Tim Burton movie). The DLC was pretty good, and puts you in the boots of Robin (Tim Drake). It was pretty well done on the gameplay side, and it only took me one-and-a-half hours to complete. The story is a little lacking, but it was still cool to experience a little footnote on the story as a whole. The weird 62-FPS-cap makes a return here. Some considerable frame dips every couple of hours, but besides that, it's a mostly smooth experience. Maybe this is just a symptom of the time this game came out. Yeah, nothing else to say. Besides some lacking waypoint-finding for side-missions, and an over-bloated Riddler mission, the game is such a wonder. I don't remember much from the next two Batman games, but they definitely have their work cut-out for them. Also, RIP Kevin Conroy. He is such a phenomenal Batman. For a game that came out in 2011, only 2-years after the release of Arkham Asylum, this entry blows most modern games out of the water. Console Played On: PC (Steam) Game Played: 01/2025 - 01/2025 Review Written and Published: 01/03/2025