As a Batman enjoyer, I always wanted to play this game, seeing how much praise it got. Finally, after getting my hands on every Batman Arkham game (With the exception of Blackgate), I had the chance. But I chose to play them in release order, starting with Arkham Asylum, which put Rocksteady on the map as a studio to keep an eye on and was a very cool game in my opinion. And only 2 years later they would put out a game to rival Skyrim as the game with the most accolades of 2011, and even after almost 13 years it's very easy to see why: This is one of the best superhero games ever made, and with the exception of visuals, it hasn't aged a day.

Asylum had an open-ish map, which was mostly used for traversal between the asylum's buildings. It was cool to see it evolve as the events of the story unfolded, but it wasn't really meant to be explored in detail. This time however, a whole section of Gotham City has been converted into a super-prision, Arkham City, giving the player an actual open world this time. The map is full of challenges and secrets, being a step up from the "means to an end" asylum. Mechanically, it plays almost exactly like its predecessor: The combat feels very similar (General feel has improved as systems got more refined) with some new moves, there's a couple of new gadgets, there's still collectibles and riddles all around the place (More on that later)... But that's only if we're talking about Batman, because this game introduces new playable characters: Catwoman in the main story, and Robin in the DLC. In terms of combat, they basically play the same as Batman, with different animations of course to reflect their respective fighting styles, but they have their own unique tricks up their sleeves, adding new flavor to the game. I feel like they could've been used more, but it's a Batman game, of course we'll be Batman for most of the time.

Part of what adds so much to this game are the things you can do between story missions, the two main activities being collecting riddles/trophies, and sidequests. This time, Riddler is much more proactive and made sure to spread hundreds of collectibles all over the map, each one with a challenge related to your gadgets, skills, and deduction abilities. This is a logical step up from the first game, and they're pretty cool, however I believe there's a little too many of them, I don't think I got even close to half of it. On the other hand, I couldn't get enough of the sidequests. Each one of them will have you facing or sometimes helping villains from the rogue gallery, be it by tracking their positions, stealth engagements, search & destroy missions, and more. If not for these, it would've been a pretty short game, maybe even like an hour or so shorter than Asylum, and they're one of the best parts of this game.

But it's not like the main story isn't good, on the contrary, it's better than Asylum's. This time, the stakes are much higher, and it's not just Joker that Batman has to worry about. Here, as part of the main story, you'll deal with many villains that didn't show up in the previous game, and also some returning ones. I dare say that, at least in video games, it's Batman's most dangerous and high stakes adventure, Bruce's own life is on the line, and as a race against time it makes sense that the story never slowed down, and never got boring. It still follows that same comic book vibe from Asylum, and mixes the most scientific aspects of Batman with the more mystical ones. For people that like Batman stories, this will be fantastic.

Visually, this game looks quite a lot better than Asylum, which is kind of impressive considering they were released only two years apart and within the same console generation. Of course, it's dated by today's standards graphically, it's not fair to judge it based on that. But the art style and the general vibe they went with is part of why I said it didn't age a day, Rocksteady captured the essence of how a Batman story of this type should be like, dark and gloomy but with lots of colors in contrast with it all.

As for the sound design, I'd say it's better (Or at least I like it more) than in Asylum. The soundtrack is perfect at every moment, it adds so much to the experience and Batman feel that I can't imagine myself playing this game on mute. Stalking henchmen from gargoyles and having the music ramp up when you take them down is a feeling that hasn't been replicated in other superhero games other than the ones from the Arkham series. Even the more minor sound effects will probably stick with you just like they did to me, like batarangs, the batclaw, opening vents, etc.

Batman: Arkham City was a massive achievement for Rocksteady, for Batman, and for superhero video games in general, one that would inevitably be very hard to follow up on (Although, controversially, I do believe the next Arkham game did it justice). It's not flawless, but I had a great time with it, and it just made me even more hyped for my Arkham Origins replay, my first in about 4 or 5 years. Just like Arkham Asylum, if you like action adventure games and is a Batman fan, this is a must play.

SCORE: 9/10

Good game, but I wish there was more to the gameplay. I thought the first game had better gameplay, and seeing how sequels usually have better gameplay, it was a bit disappointing. I didn't really get into any of the new characters either, only slightly. The game does look amazing, however. Definitely one of the best-looking games I've ever seen. Sound design is on point again too, so I would say the game is worth playing for sound and visuals alone. If you only care about gameplay, then this is not the game for you.