Batman: Arkham City

Plot synopsis:
=== Characters ===
Arkham City features a large ensemble cast of characters from the history of Batman' comics. Returning characters from Arkham Asylum include Batman (Kevin Conroy), the Joker (Mark Hamill)—in what Hamill stated would be his final time voicing the character; (he subsequently reprised the role in Arkham City's successor Batman: Arkham Knight)—Warden-turned-Mayor Quincy Sharp (Tom Kane), police Commissioner James Gordon (David Kaye), and reporter Jack Ryder (James Horan). Returning villains include the Riddler (Wally Wingert), Victor Zsasz (Danny Jacobs), Bane (Fred Tatasciore), and Poison Ivy (Tasia Valenza). Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn also returns, voiced by Tara Strong, who replaces Arleen Sorkin. Batman's supporting cast introduces Catwoman (Grey DeLisle), Robin (Troy Baker), and Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis), who provides radio support alongside the returning Oracle (Kimberly Brooks). Nightwing appears as a playable character outside of the main story via challenge maps.
Other characters marking their debut in the series include the manipulative warden of Arkham City, Hugo Strange (Corey Burton), Two-Face (also voiced by Baker), and the Penguin (Nolan North). Stana Katic lends her voice as Talia al Ghul, and Maurice LaMarche voices both Mr. Freeze and Calendar Man. Other characters include the zombie Solomon Grundy (also voiced by Tatasciore), the shapeshifter Clayface (Rick D. Wasserman), the League of Assassins's leader, Ra's al Ghul (Dee Bradley Baker), the mind-controlling Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol), and the assassin Deadshot (Chris Cox), who has infiltrated Arkham City to kill several high-profile character targets. The villain Hush (also voiced by Conroy), the mysterious Azrael (Khary Payton), and reporter Vicki Vale (also voiced by DeLisle) also appear. Black Mask (also voiced by North), Killer Croc (Steven Blum), and Freeze's wife, Nora Fries, make cameo appearances in the game.
=== Setting ===
The events of Arkham City are set one year after Batman: Arkham Asylum. Quincy Sharp, the asylum's erstwhile director, has taken sole credit for halting the Joker's armed siege, using this distinction to become mayor of Gotham City. Declaring both the asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary no longer suitable to contain the city's detainees, Sharp's administration orders both facilities closed and he purchases Gotham's most notorious slums, converting them into an immense prison enclosure known as Arkham City. This facility is subsequently placed in the care of psychiatrist Hugo Strange—who is secretly manipulating Sharp—and monitored by a rogue private military firm, TYGER Security. Strange permits the inmates to do as they please, so long as they do not attempt to escape. A wary Batman maintains his own vigil over the new project, concerned that the chaotic situation there will get out of hand. Meanwhile, the Joker is suffering from a potentially fatal disease caused by his previous consumption of the Titan formula, an unstable steroid serum which turns men into maddened monsters.
=== Plot ===
At a press conference held by Bruce Wayne to declare his opposition to Arkham City, TYGER mercenaries arrest and imprison him in Arkham City. Hugo Strange discloses his knowledge of Wayne's dual identity as Batman before releasing him into the prison's criminal populace. While Strange prepares to commence "Protocol 10", Wayne obtains his equipment via airdrop from Alfred Pennyworth, allowing him to become Batman. He first saves Catwoman from being executed by Two-Face, who hopes to gain respect by murdering her. After Joker attempts to assassinate Catwoman, Batman tracks him to his hideout in the Sionis Steelmill, believing Joker may know the truth behind Protocol 10.
There, Batman learns that the unstable properties of the Titan formula are mutating in Joker's blood, gradually killing him. Joker captures Batman and performs a blood transfusion on him, infecting him with the same fatal disease. Joker also reveals that Gotham hospitals have been poisoned with his infected blood. Desperate to save himself and innocent citizens, Batman seeks out Mr. Freeze, who had been developing a cure but has since been kidnapped by the Penguin.
Tracking Penguin to the Cyrus Pinkney National History Institute, Batman defeats his forces, his imprisoned monster Solomon Grundy, and ultimately the Penguin himself, before liberating Mr. Freeze. Freeze tells Batman that he has already developed the cure, but its instability renders it useless. Batman deduces that the restorative properties of Ra's al Ghul's blood can complete the cure and tracks one of his assassins to his underground lair, leading Batman into a confrontation with Ra's and his daughter Talia, Batman's former lover. With Ra's al Ghul's blood, Freeze is able to develop an antidote, but it is stolen by Harley Quinn before Batman can use it.
When he returns to the Joker, Batman finds him restored to health. While the two fight, Strange activates Protocol 10, which is revealed to be a scheme to wipe out the entire population of Arkham City and destroy the criminal element of Gotham. The TYGER troops begin executing inmates as Strange launches missile strikes on Arkham's denizens from his base in Wonder Tower. A missile hits the steelmill, burying Batman under rubble. Before Joker can take advantage of the situation, Talia arrives and offers him immortality in exchange for sparing Batman's life. After escaping with the help of Catwoman, Batman is convinced by Alfred to end Protocol 10 before pursuing Talia and Joker.
Batman infiltrates Wonder Tower and disables Protocol 10. Ra's al Ghul is revealed to be the true mastermind behind Arkham City and mortally wounds Strange for failing to defeat Batman. With his dying breath, Strange activates "Protocol 11", the self-destruction of Wonder Tower. Batman and Ra's escape, but Ra's commits suicide rather than risk capture. Joker contacts Batman, threatening to kill Talia unless Batman meets him at the Monarch Theater. Once Batman arrives, Joker demands the cure but is stabbed and apparently killed by Talia while distracted. Talia admits to stealing the cure from Quinn, when she is killed by a second Joker, still stricken with the disease. The healthy Joker that Talia stabbed then reanimates into the shapeshifting Clayface, who is revealed to have been masquerading as a healthy Joker all along at the ailing villain's request.
Batman defeats Clayface despite Joker blowing up the theater floor. Batman drinks a portion of the antidote, and destroys Ra's' rejuvenating Lazarus Pit before the Joker can use it. As Batman debates curing his foe, Joker attacks him, causing the antidote vial to inadvertently smash. Batman admits that in spite of everything Joker had done, he would have saved him. After Joker finally succumbs to his illness and dies, Batman carries his body out of Arkham City. As Commissioner Gordon asks what happened, Batman places Joker's body on the hood of a police car and leaves in silence.

Tags: gothic, violence, plot twist, insanity, romantic, revenge

Review:
Then, in 2009, against all odds,Rocksteady released "Arkham Asylum." Instead of being a tie-in to existing movies or comics, it took place in the developers' own unique version of Batman's universe.
Turns out to make players feel more like they were in Batman's shoes, it just took a good combination of stealth game play and brute combat, with a healthy dollop of fan service thrown on for good measure.
Batman, naturally suspicious, finds a way inside to investigate, and he finds a gang war being being waged by some of his most notable arch-enemies.Those who have played "Arkham Asylum" will be familiar with the basic game play, divided between two main components: free-flow combat and stealth, or "predator", tactics, enabling Batman to take out throngs of thugs head-on and pick out armed enemies from the shadows with equal ease.
There are also new types of enemies that must be "stunned" first using specific combos, which keeps fights from being identical button-mashers, but sadly also slows the pace a little.Predator tactics come into play when Bats enters an area being guarded by armed foes.
Most of the key locations you'd expect in Gotham City can be found walled off in Arkham, and Batman fans will definitely be in awe.
Another great performance comes from Nolan North, who voices my all-time favorite Batman villain, the Penguin.
Chances are, between the main story line, the Easter eggs scattered throughout the city, and side missions, if you've got favorite Batman characters, they're in this game, and they're done justice.The storyline is from TAS writer Paul Dinni, and ranks alongside of some of my favorite Batman comics.
Like in "Arkham Asylum", fantastic use is made of the characters in the "Game Over" screens, now with a larger cast of enemies to taunt you, your taunter usually being determined by whose henchman defeats you.
Unlike "Arkham Asylum", a fantastic game up until its anti-climatic ending, "Arkham City" only ever gets better as you progress through it.
Batman Arkham City took everything that was great about it's near perfect predecessor and improved it beyond belief.
Batman must enter the city and find out Strange's real plan, along with stopping his old foes from killing each other.This is the basic plot of the story, but there are a number of sidequests you can take throughout the game.
With all these sidequests combined with the main story you're looking at many hours of gameplay and with new game plus you can replay the game with all the gadgets from your first game and keep any riddler secrets you've found.The challenge areas are the same as the first game, but there are a lot more to be played and with all the new combat and silent predator moves in this game you will have a blast taking down nameless thugs with an even greater sense of being Batman.
With downloadable characters like Robin and Nightwing you have a lot more reason to play the challenge maps then in the first game.I could go forever on how awesome this game is.
With a great plot with a lot of twists and faster combat this game has exceeded all expectations and is without a doubt one of the best games of the year, if not all time.
If you thought Batman Arkham Asylum was one of the greatest games ever then you are highly mistaken!This game is very dark and very intense, a lot of the features from the first game that made it so good appear in this game also, plus the new plot line, new twisted characters and intensity make it one of the best games i have ever played!This game is clearly 10/10!
I couldn't help but spin the camera angle around Batman a few times before finally starting out my first mission.This was only a fraction of what took my breath away in this game.
There's a lot of thinking and strategy needed for many parts of the game and there were definitely a few moments where I had to stop for a few moments to figure out just what to do.The detail was out of this world, from the dark and perfectly toned scenery to just the simple things like thugs talking about the villains while you fly overhead.
The first time i played Batman Arkham Asylum i could not wait for the sequel.
And after playing Batman Arkham City, i can safely say that it is the best superhero game ever.
The voices for the characters were well suited (Mark Hamill giving another astounding performance as the joker.) But i have to say, the thing i loved most about the game was the additional things, the side missions were great and the Riddler trophies, though challenging, were fun to do.
Batman Arkham City Is The Best Game out There.
And as always their first Batman Arkham Asylum video game which i played was just amazing.
But Rocksteady did a good job on this again in bringing it back.If you are a fan of Batman Arkham Asylum which is the first game that i played and enjoyed forever, Then you are definitely going to love Batman Arkham City.
Also this game has great new free flowing combat that Batman can use and can attack his enemies more faster.
Each boss fight will be difficult so it will be harder to beat them in time.Also this game does have new enemies including Harley Quinn, The Joker, The Penguin, Mr Freeze, Clayface, And of course Solomon Grundy.
It's one of the best superhero games of all time!Taking place after the events of Arkham Asylum, the action takes you to a super-prison located in the middle of Gotham's slums.
This game dominated the superhero videogame genre for the better and much more great things were to come like the Injustice series and Spider-Man PS4!Batman Arkham City has fantastic gameplay, great themes, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill knock it out of the park as Batman and Joker, additional content was a welcome addition, the boss fight with Mr Freeze was so well done and Paul Dini's writing really makes the game addictive.Arkham City is wonderful and still holds up to this day.
Great story (maybe a bit rushed here and there), great side missions, amazing game play, open world, very good graphics (even for this day standards), and a tons of (did i say a Tons?) of Riddle trophies.
If you like Batman, then play this game..
It's somehow much more fun to beat up criminals as Animated Series or Dark Knight Returns.You've gotta hand it to the studio for putting together a blockbuster Batman game; the voice talent is top-shelf, the story's ambitious, and the gameplay is addictive.
I also love its art-- although Arkham Knight obviously has better graphics, its Batman/Bruce Wayne facial profile is better than any other game.
The addition and bonus play as Catwoman is just the icing on the cake.If it has any flaws, it's that it emphasizes Joker and Harley Quinn for the ten billionth time (Dr. Strange and Penguin were funner to me), and it seems to end abruptly even though you still have quite a bit of story and side missions to cover even after the credits roll, which is odd.But I love it..
Batman: Arkham City is one of the best open-world video games I've ever played and experienced.
It's right up there with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Grand Theft Auto III, IV & V, Red Dead Redemption and even The Mass Effect Trilogy.Arkham City has so many sub-missions and side stories that it shows Batman and other comic characters are ideal for the world of video games, to explore their own lore and make experiences larger than life.
As if one ticking clock wasn't enough, the voice of the installation's director(and this whole idea makes sense as a twisted psychological experiment), Hugo Strange(Burton, calculated), ominously threatens that within a number of hours, Protocol 10 will commence.I will be covering the Game of the Year edition, complete with all DLC, including the meh, set-after-this Harley Quinn's Revenge(hence why I am not reviewing that one separately).
Essentially, it boils down to being able to play as Catwoman(also available in the main story; caltrops, bolas) who can climb on ceilings, Robin(bullet shield) and Nightwing(wrist darts) in the 31 (evenly divided between the only two game-play types, which I will define shortly) challenge-maps and 15 -campaigns(made up of a few of former levels, with modifiers that have to be used before the end of it, some of them positive, such as more power, others negative, like less health; you can also customize your own).
Why not placing GPS-y stuff on tall buildings, switching between fast/tough armor, maybe stealthing into a base(and once cleared, maybe 2/3 less rifles, or the like, in the rest of this, because it was a gun-runner) belonging to one of the dozen or so villains, since they're not doing anything here other than showing up and giving you someone to punch.Story here is mainly to work in all of the familiar faces, and the poor writers bend logic and coincidence far past their breaking points in order to put them all in there, give them *something* to do(in the first, our nemesis was pulling off a clever plan, and we were at his mercy here, you forget that it's a bad guy who's in charge; there is escalation, and it feels excessive).
The story is slightly better than Arkham Asylum, if there is any nitpick against it - I'd say at the end there are too many twists.The challenges would be worth the price of this game alone.
Which might tell you the gameplay is exactly the same as Arkham Asylum, only if 2 people are about to hit you and you block - you block both of their attacks.So if you think Superhero games aren't worth it - check this one out.
The story is great, the game offers an even bigger open world environment (and meeting Bane Zsasz and The Riddler to name a few), The gameplay is perfect for a beat-em-up and if you can find the spot - you will find a lot of depth to Batman.
Using her whip, she jumps around like a cat, which surely comes to no surprise, and a sequence of well-timed jumps will make her move smoothly across walls and obstacles.Read more: http://gamingirl.com/xbox-360/xbox-360-news/batman-arkham-city/.
The challenges try to give meaning to the pointless gadgets and try to find clever uses for them which are hardly necessary in incapacitating the various enemies making your efforts feel pointless and or unnecessary.The majority of voices for the characters and villains used where plain awful no Oscars, or any actual judges of them so they sounded equally as bad to the point of mute.
Joker has big plans for Armageddon in Gotham, so Batman heads over the wall to bust some heads.I liked Arkham Asylum quite a lot, but they should have went in a new direction for a sequel.
There is a lot about Arkham City that makes it a great video game, but I've been there and done that with Arkham Asylum and the sequel should have given us something different.There are 71 trophies but I only unlocked 50% as you need to invest about 100 hours in reaching the Platinum and one particular trophy requires a YEAR'S worth of playtime.
We would have waited for this if it was the third Arkham game.The plot is that you play as Robin fighting through the Harley Quinn Steel Mill because she has planned to trap and kill Batman.
The gameplay is fun - I mean it's exactly the same as a regular Arkham game and the story isn't bad.
Arkham City is perfect for Batman Fans and DC fans and marvel fans might like it to.
And Wally Wingert's Riddler significantly steps up his ongoing rivalry with the Darkknight Detective.It was hard to believe that Rocksteady and Warner Brothers could have developed a Batman game that was darker than 'Arkham Asylum', but they really do succeed here.The cut scenes and cinematics are amazing, particularly the opening sequences, which send the player crashing headlong into the game play...happily so!
Batman Arkham City came out and I had to wait awhile to get the game because there were a lot of people inside the store.
Going to the courthouse twice.I just thought that with Arkham City the size it was that a villain wouldn't be foolish to go back to a place after Batman finds them the first time.
Therefore a sequel was inevitable.Now then Batman Arkham City takes place one year after the events after Asylum.
It contains the heroes and villains that we all know and love like Joker, Mr Freeze, Catwoman and even some that we honestly don't care about such Calendar man (luckily he doesn't have a huge part in the game).
You suit up and start to investigate through Arkham City, discovering something about Protocol 10, which is also conducted by Strange.The engine is the same, just like in the Arkham Asylum, Batman is a little bit upgraded, he has some new weapons and some new martial arts moves and techniques, it reminds you on MMA for some reason.
Batman looks terrific, you can also choose different "skins" (or costumes) to play the game and you can also glide a little longer than in the "Asylum", which is cool.
The gameplay is very similar just like Asylum, only this time, it's a more open world and Batman gadget's for example...
Having really enjoyed Arkham Asylum I (like everyone) was looking forward to this game and I picked it up a few months after release and got back into the world without a hitch.
Perhaps felt this way because my previous game was Skyrim (where I don't think the quests ever stop) but with Batman I started collecting Riddler trophies and solving the really easy puzzles before asking myself why I was doing it – I wasn't really enjoying it, it was just something to do – and sadly this is a lot of the story mode once the story is finished.
However, the story itself is what I was here for and it did deliver and it gave me a good chunk of time all of which i enjoyed.Graphically the game looks great throughout – the cut scenes are the best, but to be honest the rest of the game matches it.
I enjoyed the sequel to the great Batman game Arkham Asylum.
The story is top notch and once again Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker are great.
Batman Arkham City is a great Game better then Arkham Ayslam much bigger and a lot more villains Joker is again the main Villain Again Voiced again by the Brilliet Mark Hamill the other villains that appear are the Penguin.The Riddler.TwoFace.Poison Ivy.Mr Freeze among others all look good and are voiced well The Story Mode is Excellent but to short and has a surprise ending but there is plenty more to do besides the story mode you have side Missons you can play 4 Levels as Catwomen Riddler Challages and much moreyou start with all the Gadgets you had in Arkham Ayslam and there are a few new Gadgets to get in this game Ice Grenades and Jammer and othersI have to say the Graphics for this game are amazing i would recommend this to anyone 9/10.
I loved Batman Arkham Asylum, my favorite game on PS3.
I just got Arkham City yesterday and only had a chance to play story mode (up to when Batman encounters Bane and agrees to destroy the Titan stuff from the last game) and one of the challenge maps.
I think this is one of the best games in the entire Arkham franchise, the characters were memorable like Two-Face and Mr Freeze, the story was amazing and the Catwoman DLC was one of the best DLC characters in the franchise.
Rocksteady's 2011 game " Batman: Arkham City " is one of- if not , THE - greatest games ever made.
But the Arkham games aren't just known for their gameplay , the stories which they tell are original and often some of the best Batman stories ever told.
In this story , Batman is thrown into Arkham City ; a cornered off super-prison right in the heart of Gotham ; by Hugo Strange and is forced to fight for his life in the hellish prison.
It also makes sense you could link this game to that , as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill return to yet again brilliantly play the roles of Batman and the Joker.
Batman Arkham City is a Phenomenal sequel to one of my absolute favorite games.
The Predator game-play is more challenging, There is so much more to do this time around and it features a much deeper storyline that the origin Arkham.
The game play is very much the same as Asylum with an open world twist this time around.
It came from pretty much no where and blew people away with it's dark tone, great story and characters and real feeling of "being Batman".So now here is the sequel...and it's a disappointment.
Where as 'Asylum' was one, organic game play and story experience.
Batman Arkham city gameEveryone who likes batman should play this game.
Of course, Hugo Strange plays a large part in the plot; one of my favourite angles on Batman is how he may have been the reason for so many weird criminals popping up throughout Gotham, and Strange touches on this several times in the game, which I really enjoyed.
Arkham City makes Arkham Asylum look like the video game version of Spider-Man the Movie.
You actually feel like your the Batman even more so this time around because you have an entire city to explore.