Gadgetory

well what's up guys come in here with TLD bringing our full review of Batman Arkham City for the Xbox 360 and ps3 now the game takes place after Arkham Asylum and these games do have their own timeline separate from the normal Batman continuity so while they do pull from events in popular Batman history they are given a little more leeway to kind of do what they want with the plots we can get an interesting storyline going on and there are some fun plot twists that take place now one of the great things about the setting in this game is that they're able to make use of a large cast of characters including not only popular villains like the Joker Bane two-face Catwoman but also some of the lesser known ones like Victor saws one of the great achievements of the theme is the fact that while boasting such a large cast of popular characters none of them really feels out of place or left behind everyone has their own little time and spotlight and has their own interesting little quirks and parts in the story now as far as gameplay is concerned they pull a lot of the base elements from Arkham Asylum but it expanded them into a much more robust but still easy to grasp system there's no longer constrained to being just indoors like they were an asylum but now have a whole city they're able to explore and not only does the main questline have players travelling around the city but they're also given a lot of encouragement to do the exploring of their own for both completing side quests and finding hidden Riddler trophies side quests act as a way of not only granting Batman additional experience to unlock more gadgets or special upgrades like better armor but also act as a way of giving different villains more time for spotlight and the Riddler trophies are used as a means of being able to unlock a number of different bonuses such as concept art or challenge maps now people who buy new copies of the game will also be able to occasionally play from the perspective of Catwoman who has her own set of gadgets and special abilities to give her her own little edge in gameplay now like an Arkham Asylum combat situations you normally boil down to one of two different situations either all-out melee brawls against large groups of enemies or more stealthy scenarios where players have to carefully dispatch a smaller group of enemies armed with firearms because unlike some Supergirl games getting shot by shotgun really really hurts in this game in melee fights the game makes use of what's called free flow combat which allows players to make use of simple attack combos making use of just the X button however players will also be able to make use of certain situation abilities such as counter attacks or stun abilities to get around certain enemy defenses like shields now the system has been expanded from Arkham Asylum as players are not able to not only counter one enemy but several at once and are even able to make use of gadgets in the middle of combat for instance you're able to shock one enemy to make him impulsively attack people around him or even said explosive gel on the ground and detonated shortly after the system relies heavily on players gaining momentum and once you get a good combat multiplier going bad can seem almost unstoppable as he's just flying across the battlefield taking enemies out left and right with quick combos in situations involving armed enemies the game takes a much slower pace but allows for much more inventive and creative combat tactics players not only able to simply sneak behind enemies to take them out but can also make use of a number of different special hiding spots such as making use of underground tunnels hanging off ledges to pull enemies off them or even just hiding up above and grabbing enemies from below players can also make creative use of their gadgets to trap enemies such as detonating weak walls to knock them out or remotely exploding the enemy's own mines against them these scenarios can end up being some of the most difficult parts of the game but are also some of the most entertaining as they really let you get the Batman feeling of hiding in the shadows and taking enemies down one by one with ambush and diversion tactics the game also features a small number of boss fights each which have their own little quirks and strategies going on normally involving players need to trap their enemies in certain ways and then unleash all hell with melee combos and once players are done playing through the campaign Arkham City does also offer a number of challenge maps to help them put their skills to the test in both the melee fights and the stealth scenarios not only that players are also able to use characters other than Batman in these challenge maps such as Catwoman and eventually Nightwing and Robin through DLC each of which have their own special abilities and gadgets for handling these situations overall Batman Arkham City is a solid title that not only offers a strong plot line but also simple mechanics that allow for complex and creative combat tactics in the end the game accomplishes the one important thing that any superhero game needs to do making you feel like you are that hero you feel like you're Batman when you're playing this whether it's while you're taking down groups of enemies with awesome combat abilities or screwing with their heads while hiding in the shadows and taking them out one by one offering an enjoyable storyline that appeals to hardcore fans but it's still easy enough to jump into for those of us that don't know all the Batman backstory Batman Arkham City is a solid enjoyable title that anyone can enjoy and I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of not only Batman but also just action-adventure games that's a review of Batman Arkham City for the Xbox 360 and ps3 if you guys haven't got a chance yet make sure to check out my latest two bids where I gave first looks on Kirby Return to Dreamland and battlefield 3 til next time i'm kevin for TLD thanks for watching