This review contains spoilers
This game follows up from the previous entry extremely well with the setting of an abandoned section of Gotham were they dump criminals like it's Australia all over again (after Arkham got destroyed in the first game) is mega interesting.
I love how the world building is told through the environment showcasing how the criminals have used this opportunity to build their own version of society. For example, the likes of Two Face, Penguin and Joker are at war with eachother within the premises and they each have their own gang of thugs worker for them/base of operations. Penguin turned the abandoned Gotham Museum into a fortress whilst Joker transformed the Gotham Steel Mill into his fun house of doom.
The side quests in Arkham City are ten times more interesting than the ones in Insomniac's Spiderman in my opinion. The ones in the latter usually are just helping a civilian thwart yet another wave of Fisk henchman whereas here not only are they way more unique, they also involve more characters; the only optional mission in Spiderman PS4 that I remember liking outside of the decent bunch was Tombstone's questline. The side quests in Arkham City involve the likes of The Riddler in his own hostage saving and riddle solving crusade, tracking a serial killer through phone calls whilst playing his dangerous game, saving a reporter from the Mad Hatter, working with Bane temporarily, etc.
In short, the optional stuff gives you a lot of extra interesting stuff to do.
The combat, gliding and grappling feels more smoother and faster from Asylum which is a big improvement. Stealth is also less infuriating too. Few might think the combat is repetitive but I like how the game makes you pay attention to counterattack and gives you many ways to approach combat. Whilst I prefer the combat here than in Spiderman PS4, I can see why others might fancy the other due to that being feeling more acrobatic and faster. Then again, I can understand anyone who might find it a bit repetitive too.
A thing that drags the experience down a bit outside of a couple weird character designs (Poison Ivy looks weird and jfc pull your zipper up Catwoman), I felt the story got a bit weaker towards the end. I mean, the final cutscene is banger but the plotline regarding Protocol 10 left be feeling a bit underwhelmed since Hugo Strange is a far more interesting and threatening than Ra's Al Ghul. Though there are briefs and explanations, I felt as if the game expected me to have knowledge of the Batman universe when it came to understand the likes of the League of Assassins. Since I don't really know much about Ra's Al Ghul, I thought his section of the game was more part of the journey to get the cure instead of being a bigger presence than it actually was. Whilst I like it when things are connected, here it feels really jarring when Hugo Strange just acts like an idiot for no reason saying "I am above you Batman! I have won!" right in Batman's face before getting punched. I felt disappointed that this supposed genius who I found to be a really interesting character ended up crying "You've ruined everything " only to then be stabbed by Ra's Al Ghul which, going back to my main point, leaves a sour taste in my mouth when this old ass mf starts claiming that Hugo Strange was basically his puppet all along.
I wasn't expecting a big ass boss fight but why didn't we have a more interesting psychological confrontation between Batman and Strange? Mayhaps they could have tried convincing eachother who is right and who is wrong. Despite me hating how Ra's Al Ghul came along basically acting as if he did everything, if they wanted to keep that why didn't they make Hugo Strange aware that he would likley be betrayed and do something interesting? I am aware he had protocol 11 hidden for an emergency but that just felt like another ass pull the writers did just to shock the audience even more.
I must emphasise the saltiness about this because Strange had a way more wider presence across the entire game than Ra ever did, every countdown to Protocol 10 added to the tension since Batman (and us) were still unravelling the mystery to what it is whilst looking for a cure. So for this weirdo to come out of nowhere when I only met him for a short period of time rubbed me the wrong way massively. I am unsure if this interpretation is flawed but I guess the disappointment mostly comes from how the conflict with Hugo Strange and Protocol 10 as a whole concluded as if it was an R-rated Barney the Dinosaur episode. All the assets where there for a great clash of ideals and events but I was left disappointed unfortunately.
Even though the final fight of the game is flawed (what were you thinking stabbing Batman whilst he held the cure Joker, etc), I still thought the death of the Dark Knight's arch nemesis was handled with pure epicness, for that very last line Batman says to the Joker is chilling.
I love how the world building is told through the environment showcasing how the criminals have used this opportunity to build their own version of society. For example, the likes of Two Face, Penguin and Joker are at war with eachother within the premises and they each have their own gang of thugs worker for them/base of operations. Penguin turned the abandoned Gotham Museum into a fortress whilst Joker transformed the Gotham Steel Mill into his fun house of doom.
The side quests in Arkham City are ten times more interesting than the ones in Insomniac's Spiderman in my opinion. The ones in the latter usually are just helping a civilian thwart yet another wave of Fisk henchman whereas here not only are they way more unique, they also involve more characters; the only optional mission in Spiderman PS4 that I remember liking outside of the decent bunch was Tombstone's questline. The side quests in Arkham City involve the likes of The Riddler in his own hostage saving and riddle solving crusade, tracking a serial killer through phone calls whilst playing his dangerous game, saving a reporter from the Mad Hatter, working with Bane temporarily, etc.
In short, the optional stuff gives you a lot of extra interesting stuff to do.
The combat, gliding and grappling feels more smoother and faster from Asylum which is a big improvement. Stealth is also less infuriating too. Few might think the combat is repetitive but I like how the game makes you pay attention to counterattack and gives you many ways to approach combat. Whilst I prefer the combat here than in Spiderman PS4, I can see why others might fancy the other due to that being feeling more acrobatic and faster. Then again, I can understand anyone who might find it a bit repetitive too.
A thing that drags the experience down a bit outside of a couple weird character designs (Poison Ivy looks weird and jfc pull your zipper up Catwoman), I felt the story got a bit weaker towards the end. I mean, the final cutscene is banger but the plotline regarding Protocol 10 left be feeling a bit underwhelmed since Hugo Strange is a far more interesting and threatening than Ra's Al Ghul. Though there are briefs and explanations, I felt as if the game expected me to have knowledge of the Batman universe when it came to understand the likes of the League of Assassins. Since I don't really know much about Ra's Al Ghul, I thought his section of the game was more part of the journey to get the cure instead of being a bigger presence than it actually was. Whilst I like it when things are connected, here it feels really jarring when Hugo Strange just acts like an idiot for no reason saying "I am above you Batman! I have won!" right in Batman's face before getting punched. I felt disappointed that this supposed genius who I found to be a really interesting character ended up crying "You've ruined everything " only to then be stabbed by Ra's Al Ghul which, going back to my main point, leaves a sour taste in my mouth when this old ass mf starts claiming that Hugo Strange was basically his puppet all along.
I wasn't expecting a big ass boss fight but why didn't we have a more interesting psychological confrontation between Batman and Strange? Mayhaps they could have tried convincing eachother who is right and who is wrong. Despite me hating how Ra's Al Ghul came along basically acting as if he did everything, if they wanted to keep that why didn't they make Hugo Strange aware that he would likley be betrayed and do something interesting? I am aware he had protocol 11 hidden for an emergency but that just felt like another ass pull the writers did just to shock the audience even more.
I must emphasise the saltiness about this because Strange had a way more wider presence across the entire game than Ra ever did, every countdown to Protocol 10 added to the tension since Batman (and us) were still unravelling the mystery to what it is whilst looking for a cure. So for this weirdo to come out of nowhere when I only met him for a short period of time rubbed me the wrong way massively. I am unsure if this interpretation is flawed but I guess the disappointment mostly comes from how the conflict with Hugo Strange and Protocol 10 as a whole concluded as if it was an R-rated Barney the Dinosaur episode. All the assets where there for a great clash of ideals and events but I was left disappointed unfortunately.
Even though the final fight of the game is flawed (what were you thinking stabbing Batman whilst he held the cure Joker, etc), I still thought the death of the Dark Knight's arch nemesis was handled with pure epicness, for that very last line Batman says to the Joker is chilling.