I enjoyed the change up from the usually Battlefield war setting to cops 'n' robbers here. I played through the campaign in a few sittings. It feels like a detective TV show at the beginning with its cut scenes and action sequences. The plot features some twists and some of the environments and maps for the levels are well done. Nothing revolutionary, but it's a fun FPS.
Gameplay 4/5
Graphics 4.5/5
Sound 4/5
Difficulty 4.5/5
Originality 3.5/5
I hardly got into Batman: Arkham City until after I played this, so I don't feel the sameness associated with this to City which is the main complaint I see from others. The story is great and controlling Batman is still badass. As I felt with Arkham Asylum at times, I'd love more of an opportunity to stealth rather than button mash for 5 minutes fighting 30 bad guys. The next Batman game needs to include the batmobile as well.
I gave this a go upon its release and stopped around the time when the game puts you in Catwoman's shoes. I think I just didn't get in the mood to push further. Playing this again properly and finishing on normal difficulty years later, apart from the minor role she plays in the storyline, I don't really see the need for her to be added to this as it doesn't really offer that much of a different gameplay experience compared to using Batman. The other major thing that irked me whilst playing this was the backtracking, which is a usual bugbear I have with video games.
Compared to Arkham Asylum, the extra freedom is great, and was something that I wanted to be implemented from Arkham Asylum. There is a lot less detective work to be done in this from memory as well. Playing this after Origins, I can definitely see the complaint people had with Origins being too similar but there are some things Origins improved upon such as moving from rooftop to rooftop being faster, fast travel, bigger world, better story, and so on.
One of the better Batman and film to videogame adaptations, and one that feels a bit like a precursor to the gameplay of the acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum. The combat is a tad ruff, and there are inconsistencies with when you can use items, but it's well worth picking up.
