In 2009 Batman: Arkham Asylum burst on to the scene, with a new fresh look on Batman games, but with the classic voice actors we all loved as a kid. It is clearly the best Batman game released thus far, in both the fans point of view and big time gaming medias. Not long ago we’ve learned that a sequel to the holy grail of Batman games will be released this coming October, so what could be added or changed to make this game even more epic than the first? Well, that’s what we’re about to discuss!
If Batman: Arkham City wants any chance of surpassing its legendary predecessor it must be much longer! Arkham Asylum was just too short of a game, considering how addicting it was. You could finish the entire game on your day off. Arkham City needs to bring more action packed hours of excitement, and still keep the intensity of the first title. With the addition of new villains (we’ve been shown Two Face and Hugo Strange), hopefully they’re planning just that as we’ve also seen the Joker and Harley Quinn making return appearances.
Something major that definitely needed to be revamped is the assortment of upgrades. The upgrades were simply too plain, and dull in the first title, they didn’t bring any variety at all. It may actually be safe to say the only upgrades really worth getting were Inverted Takedown, Health, and Combo upgrades. The other ones just weren’t appealing, or effective in that manner. You’d upgrade double batarang, just to unlock triple batarang, what’s the fun in that? We need more exciting upgrades, like one that lets you do a triple back flip while flying a kite during a summer storm…OK…maybe not that, but you get the point.
The Arkham City boss battles just didn’t do it for me. Every boss battle was virtually the same, wait for this to happen, and then do this! I would like to see a boss in Arkham City you can strategically fight head on, or perhaps one that requires stealth to defeat. It’s not that the boss battles in Arkham Asylum weren’t fun, and enjoyable, they were just too predictable. I think Rocksteady is more than capable of spicing things up in this department.
I’d also love to see multiplayer, at least in challenge mode. I can understand not allowing it in campaign, as I wouldn’t want someone screwing up my precise stealth operations that include hiding in vents and throwing batarangs then running away while snickering. However, the challenge mode seems the perfect area for multiplayer, if anything. Players can even share a combo counter to increase the speed of special takedowns, etc. Even dual stealth take downs, would pretty awesome.
Finally, from a fans point of view, stop making Harley Quinn’s Costume worse and worse. The nurse thing was understandable I guess, but now she just looks like someone in a Lady Gaga music video, why must you play with my emotions Warner Brothers? She doesn’t even look like a clown anymore, she looks like your everyday high school goth. But hey, thats just what I think. I love me some Harley Quinn, as most Batman Fans do.
All in all, Arkham Asylum was a great game, so it’s only natural to believe Arkham City will follow suit and improve an already great concept and engine. It’s very rare a truly remarkable game comes around that has a super hero involved, but Rocksteady Studios does it right, and hopefully will continue to do so. Batman: Arkham City is expected to hit the shelves October 18th in the US, October 21st in the UK.