Batman Arkham City

[chronovore]

Batman Arkham City is good enough that I occasionally think about it while playing Saints Row 3. I didn't think any other open world game could tear my attention away from SR3.

There are so many things they've done to keep players immersed in the Batman-isms. Seriously, no fall-to-death? I love that. The game lets you feel like a badass, even when reconnoitering a scene. Sometimes the bad guys spot you, and they panic, they just freak the hell out. If you leave, they suddenly get very "brave at a distance"...

[Great Rumbler]

"Ha! I knew you'd chicken out!"

And that's right before I swoop down on them.

[chronovore]

Are there any tips for the Augmented Reality Training Stuff? I can't seem to get a grip on the dive/glide timing for them. I can do it pretty well in free-roam, but once I have to dive, then glide at a specific height, it's beyond my ability.

In particular, the one in front of the museum, where you have to dive-bomb through two hoops, then flatten out and fly UNDER a low roof, and then a left turn. I always impact against the lower lip of the roof.

[Robo]

If I remember correctly, the game is very sensitive to how much you need to pull up to level out from a dive.  It doesn't take much.  I think I did that one in just a few tries, but it took me FOREVER to get the one where you need to glide through that narrow tunnel near the Joker's hideout.

[chronovore]

Yeah, okay. I'll try and give it a go away from the AR trials, and get a better feel for it.

[cool breeze]

I started this and played for a few hours.  I can already see why the cat woman stuff is lame because the game has a random ass opening where you're playing as catwoman before it tells you how to play, and then you're into the real intro as Batman.  Plus you have like 40 or 80 more collectibles, on top of FOUR HUNDRED RIDDLER COLLECTIBLES.  what the fuck??

The open world seems like it's a lot of that.  cameras, balloons, etc etc.  It's fun to run around as Batman and beat up thugs whenever, but so far not feeling how they've handled it.  The grapple can get annoying because everything is automatic.  The controls haven't been changed to suit an open environment.  You do a lot more running and gliding, but those're mapped to 'A', which sucks because you can't look around while gliding, which is weird because you can look around while gliding; if you make the claw, there is a free camera, but humans with their one thumb on each hand can't take advantage of this.  And the indoor areas I've gone to have been really basic, but when I quit it said I was only 3% into the main story so what do I know.

Combat is unbelievably fun.  Um, I like that there's no tutorial nonsense.  You're free to fuck around from the start.  It blocks some areas, more Zelda style than Metroid style now, but before even going to court house I knocked around some other prisoners and riddler stuff.  Barely into it and it's already kick ass, other than my sort of arbitrary problems.

[cool breeze]

Playing as Catwoman is weird because all the baddies' taunts are variations of "we're going to rape you"


Game is kick ass.  Collecting is out of control, but whatever.  Everything else is incredible.

[Positive Touch]

hard mode does not fuck around.  right out of the gate theyre like "heres 15 enemies at once; have fun!"  i just met dent and ive  already seen the game over screen at least 10 times.  gonna take me a minute to get back into the feel of the combat.

[chronovore]

I decided that I wanted to have fun, so I'm playing on Normal. I've still seen the Game Over screen a few times, but not to the point that it's upsetting or anything.

[Sho Nuff]

Playing as Catwoman is weird because all the baddies' taunts are variations of "we're going to rape you"


Game is kick ass.  Collecting is out of control, but whatever.  Everything else is incredible.

Yeah, everything they say is super creepy without going into specifics. Like "We're gonna HURT you"

[The Sceneman]

I overheard some goons talking last night, and they were like "If I'm gonna get beaten up by anyone, I'd choose Catwoman anyday" 

but yeah amazing game. I just finished the main campaign, now I'm just working on the side missions and collecting all 6000 Riddler Trophies

I'm not sure if I like the ending or not.

SPOILERZ

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I've always said I hated open ended endings in games, but the ending for Arkham City was suitably dark. Whats going to happen to all the people in Gotham who got poisoned by Joker? Are they all going to die? Pretty grim stuff. Batman seems kind of screwed in that area. All the cure is gone. Maybe they'll follow it up in the sequel, or hopefully as a future DLC pack.

[close]

Anyhow this game has great value for money, which is what I was looking for for my holiday game. Packed with content, and I've still got NG+ and all the challenge medals to collect.

Definitley deserving of a GOTY award. Dark Souls is still my top game for the year, but this is right up there.

9.5/10

[The Sceneman]

hard mode does not fuck around.  right out of the gate theyre like "heres 15 enemies at once; have fun!"  i just met dent and ive  already seen the game over screen at least 10 times.  gonna take me a minute to get back into the feel of the combat.

yeah same thing happened to me. It gets easier once you get into the flow of the gameplay, but that took me a couple of hours as its been years since I played Arkham Asylum. Hard mode gets easier as you progress, due to upgrades and your skill improving. i beat the game on Hard, but NG+ is supposed to be even harder :/ I'll see how I go

Some parts on hard were quite frustrating, like there was one fight as Catwoman when you have to fight 30 of Two Face's goons at once, that sucked

[Positive Touch]

but NG+ is supposed to be even harder :/

bonerton

i love the double-countering in this game

[TakingBackSunday]

triple and quadruple countering is even better

[demi]

Hard is casual and NG+ is even moreso. Felt like standard Batman to me.

[cool breeze]

so, Arkham Asylum is a way better game than Arkham City.  Open world is fun when you're flying around, but that's about it.  Respawning enemies are lame, the billion inconsequential collectibles are lame, all the side quests are pretty lame.  A whole lot of faffing for fan service.  It's amazing how nothing about the story or progression is coherent.

The Batman mechanics are mostly improved from Asylum.  The only part of combat that's worse is knife/blade dodging; it completely ruins the flow of the combat.  That and the stealth are still top notch.  It's mostly how the game is structured and the pacing and things like that. 

and Batman is a prick.  He's nearing All-Star Batman, except no one reacts to his dickish attitude. and again, the insults towards Catwoman are so bad.

complaints aside, it was a pretty great game.  Arkham Asylum is justbetter.  well, the another problems I had with AA too were the character designs.  I hate most of them.  The Penguin is heinous.

[chronovore]

I gotta admit that Cobblepot's coke-bottle monocle is pretty stupid.

[cool breeze]

yes! I hate it! he's an English geezer who fell into a dumpster.  And Bane is more shoulder than man.  And everything has to glow for some reason.  Catwoman is pretty well done if you excuse her zipped down getup.


and the transitions between animations in this game seriously shame other developers.  Uncharted 3, for all the praise given to its graphics, animations like loose fitting skin.  The way your attacks blend together in arkham city look cohesive, like it is an intended combo, only everything is free form.  The real time combat could pass as a cutscene or scripted sequence in other games.

[The Sceneman]

got all 440/440 of Riddler shit, amazing game. Gonna fuck around with some challenges then get stuck into NG+

I disagree with most of Linkzg's criticisms actually. Game is better than Arkham Asylum in every way.

cant wait to get my 1000

I'll probably end up buying Robin and Nightwing too.

[cool breeze]

in NG+ do all the riddler collectibles carry over? I'm thinking what probably soured my experience was going after the riddler stuff instead of straight through the main story (though I hear the side quests get locked off if you don't do them in time).

[The Sceneman]

yeah Riddler stuff carries over, so in NG+ I'm just gonna blow through the story and side quests real quick.

Just got "Perfect Freeflow 2.0", and managed to get the 50x combo cheev in the same combo. That was kinda frustrating

[The Sceneman]

bleurgh Xbox keeps hard freezing when I'm in the middle of Riddler campaigns.

Would lick someones ass for new xbox

[chronovore]

bleurgh Xbox keeps hard freezing when I'm in the middle of Riddler campaigns.

Would lick someones ass for new xbox

[The Sceneman]

these Extreme Predator challenge maps are nut busting to say the least. Some of the medal requirements are so ludicrous

[The Sceneman]

okay I cleared my cache and deleted 8GB worth of shit so I could install the game, in the hope that it would stop the freezing.

Everything was going smooth and I was dominating in a Riddler extreme campaign, I was on the final map and set to get all 9 medals then BAM hard freeze. I FUCKING RAGED. I KICKED MY XBOX LITERALLY. I hope the fucking thing is broken now.

Maybe I should play something else, this game is driving me fucking nuts. The challenges aren't so bad on their own but the campaigns are fucking sadistic

[Himu]

I don't see how AA is better in any way.

[cool breeze]

yeah, that's how opinions work.

[Positive Touch]

I don't see how AA is better in any way.

well it doesnt have a shitty overworld that has you doing that awful glide move all over the place, for one

[Stoney Mason]

I preferred the first game. I thought it was tighter and the concept a bit fresher and I preferred the story in it. That's not to say that Asylum is better than City in any "definable" sense. I liked both but I liked the first a lot more. If somebody said the exact opposite I could understand where they are coming from too.

[Great Rumbler]

Gliding is awesome, especially after you get the first upgrade to the grappling hook.

[Himu]

I don't see how AA is better in any way.

well it doesnt have a shitty overworld that has you doing that awful glide move all over the place, for one

Gliding owns

I think AA is a better experience but AC is a much better game. The Riddler trophies aren't just simplistic puzzles but take an ounce of puzzle solving and brain power; the game has far better and varied set pieces and levels; AC features a far more robust combat system that takes more effort to master, not to mention better boss fights and level design.

The core problem with AA is basically that its the same core experience over and over again, splitting the game between stealth and action pieces, AC features far more variety, not only in terms of enemy variety and the way you can take out enemies but also level design. The Mr. Freeze, Rhas Al Ghul, and Penguin Shark portions of AC are much more creative than any part I can think of in AA.

Not to mention the side quests actually have a semblance of creativity and make you feel like you're Batman: find "Bruce Wayne", stop Zasz from killing random people, stop the assassin and more; these scenarios are far more involving than mindlessly solving riddles in AA.

That the first game is more "focused" (it really isn't though) seems to be a consisten complaint and one I can understand. Apples and oranges, but I really think they raised the bar for licensed games with AC, even if AA has a better story. Honestly my only big nitpick with the game is the ending - it's shit.

[chronovore]

okay I cleared my cache and deleted 8GB worth of shit so I could install the game, in the hope that it would stop the freezing.

Everything was going smooth and I was dominating in a Riddler extreme campaign, I was on the final map and set to get all 9 medals then BAM hard freeze. I FUCKING RAGED. I KICKED MY XBOX LITERALLY. I hope the fucking thing is broken now.

Maybe I should play something else, this game is driving me fucking nuts. The challenges aren't so bad on their own but the campaigns are fucking sadistic

"Violence and technology? Not good bedfellows!"

[The Sceneman]

yeah my xbox got to the point where it was freezing every 10 minutes of gameplay (in other games too) so I've tried removing the hard drive and running my save data and dlc off a USB stick, and this seems to have fixed the problem... fingers crossed.

Anyhow there's a free Batsuit skin on the marketplace. A "Batman Inc." skin. It ain't bad.

Also I saw that if you buy the "Arkham Bundle" you get the Robin and Nightwing DLC and the batsuit skins pack for 1200MSP. Since Robin and Nightwing are 560MSP each this effectively gives you the skins for 80MSP as opposed to 400. Not bad at all. I'll probably pick it up, I've grown to really enjoy the challenges lol.

What a great game

[chronovore]

(copy-pasted from the "what are you playing?" thread)

I haven't sussed out pressure plate Riddler Trophies. I guess they just involve gliding or leaping instead of walking or running? I am having a hard time with them.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

you have touch touch all the plates in a sequence without touching the ground.

[close]

tip:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

PLENTY of them require using the line launcher to zip around and drop on the pads. Others require gliding and bouncing off walls. You can trust me, I have 440/440 Riddler items

[close]

Thanks! I'm cleaning up now. Game went back from tedious and frustrating to interesting.

Unfortunately, none of the enemies at GCPD/Bane's Hideout are respawning, so there are no Riddler Informants to fill in the blanks for that area. You guys said all side missions must be cleared in normal game and NG+, right? If so, Riddler Hostages require trophies to unlock, so do I have to get the Riddler Trophies before starting NG+ ...?

Also, is there an easy way to find the remaining "Acts of Violence" political prisoners/victims? I've got 90% and want to wrap them up mucho mas immediamente.

[The Sceneman]

yeah you wont find any goons along amusement mile, but keep interrogating goons anywhere else, and they will eventually fill in all the trophies on the map once you interrogate enough.

You will have to re-do riddler hostages in NG+ regardless, but depending on how many trophies etc. you have Riddler will just hand the missions out. So if you already have all the trophies, you can do all the hostages straight away in NG+.

[chronovore]

Thanks.

I think the clearer way to phrase my question is, "Now that I'm done, if I start NG+ and then get all the side-quests, does Perfect Knight pop, or do I really have to do all the side quests twice?"

[The Sceneman]

you have to complete the story twice, do all the side quests twice (including Riddler hostages) AND get all the challenge medals for Prefect Knight. I'm still working on the medals, some of the extreme campaigns are BRUTAL

[chronovore]

Ah, OK, I won't worry about it then. I'll just dick around and not worry about the 1000/1000 thing. Thanks!

[Eel O'Brian]

man, they really shit the bed on deadshot's costume






 

[chronovore]

Wow, I had NO idea that was supposed to be the same guy. I always get DC's Deadshot and Marvel's silver-head and red torso Deathlok confused with each other.

[The Sceneman]

yeah Deadshot sucked in AC. I'm not familiar with the character, but I figured he was supposed to be some badass sniper and instead you find some fat fuck with wrist mounted nerf launchers

[Yeti]

I just viewed it like the dude was in prison, so he could only smuggle in the bare necessities, and had to improvise his costume out of his prison garb.

And it's not like his original costume is all that great to begin with.

[Eel O'Brian]

this zsasz side mission goes on forever

that guy is the most boring fictional serial killer ever

[cool breeze]

Deadshot looks bad, but Bane is Rocksteady's worst.  Character design is the one sour spot of both games for me.

[Eel O'Brian]

harley quinn looks like some random extra in a 1990s direct to vhs road warrior ripoff

[Himu]

harley's design in AC is based off a design used in a comic iirc

[chronovore]

Harley was better in Arkham Asylum, visually. She looks more generic this time around.

Bane has never been impressive for me, but I wasn't following the Batman comics at the time he was big news.

Until I read the in-game bio, I didn't realize that the Penguin's monocle was supposedly the result of an injury, and cannot be removed. When was that introduced? Is it specific to the game's fiction, or is it also in the comic?

[cool breeze]

saying the design is from a comic isn't really a defense

this was in a batman comic:



all these years and I still don't know what those little bubbles are supposed to be.

[Eel O'Brian]

blisters from the metal chafing

Bane has never been impressive for me, but I wasn't following the Batman comics at the time he was big news.

Until I read the in-game bio, I didn't realize that the Penguin's monocle was supposedly the result of an injury, and cannot be removed. When was that introduced? Is it specific to the game's fiction, or is it also in the comic?

specific to the game, unless they have retconned it into the comic since the game came out

his personality is closer to the way he's portrayed in the current comics, though

[Mr. Gundam]

this zsasz side mission goes on forever

that guy is the most boring fictional serial killer ever

Once you finish all the phone chase sequences, the actual "fight" is really quick. Just finished it last night.

[Robo]

It was fittingly anticlimactic after listening to his silly sob story. 

Speaking of, is it possible to drag that story out to its conclusion if you REALLY suck at the mini-game or does it just pace it so you hear the whole thing no matter what?  I stopped paying attention after the third call, so I can't quite remember if he ever wrapped it up or not.

[Mr. Gundam]

It was fittingly anticlimactic after listening to his silly sob story. 

Speaking of, is it possible to drag that story out to its conclusion if you REALLY suck at the mini-game or does it just pace it so you hear the whole thing no matter what?  I stopped paying attention after the third call, so I can't quite remember if he ever wrapped it up or not.

It took me 5 calls and I think it was wrapped up. Wasn't really paying much attention.

[chronovore]

Took me a bunch of calls.

[Yeti]

I didn't mind the Zsasz missions, but I got lucky. They came nice and spaced out through the course of my playthrough. Deadshot and the one where you save political prisoners, though, I rarely got a trigger to do the next sections and those missions were mostly all clumped at the end of my game after I had beaten everything else.

[Himu]

saying the design is from a comic isn't really a defense

this was in a batman comic:

(Image removed from quote.)

all these years and I still don't know what those little bubbles are supposed to be.

I'm not saying it's a defense, just saying Rocksteady didn't come up with the Harley costume design.

[chronovore]

I've been SLOWLY working through NG+ and feeling the pain of no "combat cue" warnings for Counter and Knife Counter... and Shield Bash warning, come to think of it. Any big fight, I'm having to re-do it a few times, because in my first run, I never learned to fight properly.

But what I really wanted to post is that the NG+ boss fight against Mister Freeze is SO ANNOYING. I think you have to use each Takedown move available, and each only works once. I think Freeze took 5 hits in the Normal play through; pretty sure he took 7 tonight. I was running around and couldn't even remember what moves were available to me. 

It's still a great boss fight. I just didn't even remember that there was a "Line Launcher Takedown" and I forgot that I had Freeze's own weapons disruptor.

This game; it keeps on giving and giving.

[benjipwns]

Trying to finish the side missions in this, I've only had one for a long time and it's The Riddler.

I liked finding them in the original game, I liked finding a lot of them in this game as well.

But having to find 400 of them? And all the ones in the "city" where you have to do whatever the puzzle is, not really satisfying. AA was mostly about finding them where hidden, this is seeing them and then trying to figure out how the puzzle works or spending a few attempts to dive bomb or glide so you can do it.

Why couldn't they have let you say complete his side missions with half or even two-thirds of the riddles, why do I have to get all the standard Batman ones and then try to clean up challenges or Catwoman ones... And the informant crap. (Although I probably would have gone after them all anyway, I still like the idea of being able to finish his side mission and then just cleaning up the rest on my own.)

His puzzles aren't even worth it, some of the shit he has lying around Arkham City is far more baffling than what the throws at me to save hostages!

Just to throw up some random comments as I haven't and you clearly want to read them:

I love the game, fantastic, got it for $25 in Steam sale since I had gone for Saints Row: The Third first and while this didn't really last as long as that (was very close) it's hard to pick between the two.

I loved the original as it was Batroid and just so well done, and so is this, though it oddly seems rushed in parts. The first game had some of that as it came towards the end, so it's likely just Rocksteady not knowing how to end the game. (To be fair, like 95% of games are like this.) And I'm a hugggggeee Batman fan so all the fan service in this is just amazing. (I've read just...way gobs of everything Batman for years. I think No Man's Land is a god-tier all-format story.) And oddly very little of it seems forced, just like the first game there's tons of stuff placed out of way hiding in areas of the level like in the Museum.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Hush stuff is just total fangasm.

[close]

I may have mentioned before but if not, I would love to death if we got a nice DLC pack of more stuff like the Deadshot, Identity Thief, hell even something better done but like the Zsasz phone calls as that had a lot of the whole Batman feel to me. It's not just about dominating every dude you see and turning back the Joker and Two Face, it's about solving smaller crimes too. I really loved that aspect and I know it's not a popular aspect of Batman but I'd certainly pay for more of it. I would have rather there be half as much Riddler stuff and more complex versions of those crimes to "solve" even if they all ended like Deadshot instead of the Identity Thief ones. It gave a sense to standard operations of Batman instead of just him rushing in to stop the Joker or Hugo Strange's latest plot.

[chronovore]

There was probably some gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair over locking all the Riddler Puzzles/Trophies to the hostages. From a gameplay standpoint it's a little restrictive, but having Batman utterly defeat every problem that The Riddler has posed to him was a part of the writing in Arkham Asylum as well.

There was a very good piece on incorporating the collectibles with the storyline:
http://www.game-ism.com/2010/08/16/a-narrative-trumping-mechanic/

But, yeah, some of The Riddler items are a real PITA. I wish I had known that Bat-Explosive also works the same as a Batarang where puzzles are concerned. It's one more thing they just don't show the player, except in this case it isn't a carryover from Arkham Asylum's equipment/powers/movelist.

Right now I'm stuck at the base of Wonder Tower, having to take on 3 snipers and 2 jammers in a room with mines in it. Normal was easy in this room; NG+ not so much.

[TakingBackSunday]

In that case it's almost always better to wait for those jammer guys under a gargoyle or use your electrical thing to sputz them out

[chronovore]

Thanks, I'd only noticed last night that the REC Gun disrupts the jammer temporarily. Also noticed that my Glide Kicks alert everyone in the area to my location, which is a bad, bad idea with multiple snipers in the room.