Batman Arkham City (Xbox360) : First Impressions
I wasn’t planning on getting Batman Arkham City until next year when the inevitable price drop occurs. With all the AAA games that have been released recently, my goal was to focus my time and energy on multiplayer (MP) games only because those are the games where you can really suffer if you are late to the party. No one likes coming into a competitive MP game as a beginner when everyone else has had months to gain more experience in such things as map knowledge, gun proficiency and unlocking higher skilled attributes. This can really put you at disadvantage.
This “rule” of mine changed when Future Shop decided to put it on sale for $30 this weekend. At that price, I just couldn’t resist. Besides, I also realized that I needed a single player game to have around while at home so I can actually pause the game without negative effects when the Wife is trying to talk to me. Don’t you love it when you are deep in a competitive match, concentrating, playing great and she suddenly says “hey can you pause the game for a second, I need to ask you something”. You really can’t pause a MP game.
First Impressions after playing for about an hour:
- Great graphics
- Cool story (I am a sucker for comics so that’s a no brainer for me)
- Great voice acting – Mark Hamill is phenomenal as the Joker once again.
- Open world concept – Not as linear as the previous Batman title. Here, you can explore the city with lots of various side missions, quests and objectives that give you an alternative to the main mission
- Impressive combat system – Improved combat system is more fluid and dynamic that allows you to flow through various moves and improvise while fighting large groups of opponents
- Playable Catwoman character is fun and provides a different perspective as well as unique combat and player movement
- You’ll feel like a badass playing as the Dark Knight
- Controls are easy to pick up and play the game with the provided hint system
The Old Guy in Me Says
This is a great game to add to your library because there’s no restriction on the amount of gaming time you need to put into it in order to have fun. You can jump in the game for 10 minutes, cruise around the city and beat up a few thugs along the way and then quit and take off. Added bonus is that your wife/girlfriend might actually enjoy watching you play this one since it’s pretty much like watching a superhero movie. Or she might even want grab the controller from you to play as Catwoman. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing though.
Conclusion
BUY IT- Even after just a short period of playing, I know already that Batman Arkham City is a must buy if you are a comic book fan, hell if you are a video game fan: you MUST own this game. Period.
An ongoing series where we play a new game for a short time and give our initial thoughts about it. We simply don't have the time to finish the game quickly. However, what we do have is enough gaming experience to be able to tell you what we think of the game and if it's worth it for you to invest your own time to playing it.
A note on our rating scale: We rate things out of five, but don't confuse it with ratings from other publications. We’re not professional reviewers who do this for a living, we don't get sent free copies of games, and we don't have the luxury to play a ton of games during our work hours - we buy/borrow all our games and do this during our off-time, outside of our jobs and families. Our ratings take into account the time and money spent, and are here to help you make an informed decision on whether this game is worthy of your hard-earned cash and limited time.
5 – An almost flawless game with good graphics, sound and gameplay. You might even want to replay it many times, despite your busy schedule. A must-buy.4 – It has some flaws, but it’s still worth a playthrough. Buy it if you like this type of game.
3 – An average game targeted to specific niches. It has its redeeming factors. Buy it on sale or if you fit its target demographic/niche.
2 – The game sucks, but some will get enjoyment out of it. Play it at your own risk.
1 – Broken, ugly game with few redeeming qualities. Probably shouldn’t have been made. Leave this game alone and don’t even look at it.
0 – Worse than garbage. Game companies should pay you for the time you spent playing this trash.
