So yeah, BF3... It's got some design issues I have much displeasure over but for the most part, I'm digging the multiplayer. If the co-op is split screen I might even be able to convince my roomie to play to unlock weapons and stuff. So few games have couch co-op. D:
Stayed up 'till 6 this morning finishing Arkham City. And I'm... kinda disappointed, actually. Sure, it has the same problem Portal 2 had in that it was following an already nearly flawless game, but still, I really think they could have done a better job. As a whole it's a great game and again one of the greatest super hero games ever made AND I found the climax much more satisfying than the one from Arkham Asylum. (A buffed out Joker? Really? Regular Joker riding a mind controlled Bane would have been the same thing only way cooler.)
My problems with Arkham City:
-Cat Woman was a waste of space-
It seems like the dev team suddenly had an inspiration to include her as playable about midway through development because though the many buildings in Arkham City have areas only she can get to, she has little to no bearing on the story as she only appears three times and is only playable twice.
Get this: the first time you play as her she gets captured by Ivy because she needs her help to steal things and is at that point trying to convince Ivy to forgive her for... something. This happens practically from the get go. Then you continue playing as Batman, all the while Hugo occasionally pops in on the City intercom to count down something called Protocol 10, starting when you arrive at the 10 hour mark. Roughly 10 hours later you pick back up right where you left off with Cat Woman and Ivy. Literally she just finishes convincing Ivy to help her after a discussion we're left to assume that took the better part of an evening.
-The story is paper thin-
As I said, the climax is great, better than Arkham Asylum by a large margin and coupled with the stellar gameplay it's well worth playing through to see... but...
Here's the thing, Arkham City's story plays out very much like a ye olde RPG fetch quest. The kind that's a parody of said fetch quest because after you decide to go after Joker to try and get some answers, the game's story plays out like this:
Batman Villain X: I need you to go to [Batman Villain Y]'s and get [Plot Device Z].
It just goes on and on like that until Protocol 10 starts up and Batman finally decides he should probably do something about it. He had a very good reason to be side tracked, but if Hugo didn't sometimes update everyone on how much time was left before Protocol 10 started, you'd probably stop and ask yourself, "wait, why am I here again?"
And I'm not kidding about that formula for the game's story at all. With out any spoilers it plays out like this: Joker sends you to get something from [Batman Villain A]. [Batman Villain A] was captured by [Batman Villain C]. [Batman Villain C] fights you with [Batman Villain D]. [Batman Villain A] needs something from [Batman Villain E]. It plays out very much like Rocksteady just wanted to show off their super awesome character designs for Batman's rogue's gallery and tailored the story to show them off in the most efficient way possible. You only find out later on about halfway through the game the origins of Arkham City through some in game dialog. Something I really felt should have been mentioned in the beginning because you're thrown into the gameplay within the first five minutes before you can even finish asking, "what?"
-The dev team missed an opportunity-
With Arkham Asylum, like any first game in a possible series if it sells, I can understand why they didn't take any big risks. Batman pretty much sells himself and you have 50 or so years of characters and, more importantly, character development, on your side so all you need to do is make it look nice and play great. What should have been done with Arkham City is asked, "where can we go from here?" My first logical answer is, "why not introduce a new villain?" Something unexpected. Someone unknown to Batman and Batman enthusiasts alike. What sort of villain might he be? How would Batman handle this new foe? All we got however was Arkham Asylum in a different location with even more gadgets and even more villains, some of which only appear in side missions. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just ends up feeling like, as I said, a missed opportunity.
Bottom line, if you love Arkham Asylum and/or Batman, you'll love Arkham City, though the experience will leave you wishing it had been something more.
$5
$5
