In the last decade or so there have been so many super hero films we have all lost count. However, when it comes to gaming, our shelves and cupboards are almost bare in comparison.

Futile attempts have been made to convert a successful super hero film into a top quality game that excite gamers rather than putting it onto their discard pile. I have to say I am kinda glad that finally after the many years of looking at the failures of the superhero gaming industry one such game really caught my eye. It delivered and outstanding all round performance and really revolutionised one aspect of the gaming industry which probably won’t be the same again. (Definitely in a good way)

“I’M BATMAN”

Ok, that was pretty cheesy but Batman: Arkham Series really did a number on its predecessors. Batman Arkham City capitalised on the marketing hype of the Batman movies and became at that time one of the fastest selling games ever, selling 6 milion copies on the first day; compared to Batman: Arkham Asylum sold 4 million on its entire release (It certainly set the platform).

Lets move away from the numbers and get into why I really love this game and which part of the gaming industry it revolutionised…

Third person gaming was pretty annoying especially when it came to hand to hand combat. Those of you who have played Dynasty Warriors will understand how tedious and annoying it is to directly control which person you attack. In this game to alleviate this issue to a certain extent the attacks where pretty widespread and caught a lot of enemies at once. Another third person game which was pretty well known to most of you in the gaming world; GTA4. The in game hand to hand combat was a very unpredictable system often leaving gamers with a sour taste in their mouth, especially when it was forced down our throats in the TBOGT dlc. This system was an improvement, all be it very minor, to the Dynasty Warriors because of the lock on system

 

What Batman: Arkham series did to revolutionise third person fighting was to make it more fluid, alleviating the hack and slash aspect of earlier games and intricately adding the targeting mode without destroying the game play. Adding in simple counter button for incoming attacks which was terrible frustration to activate in GTA4. Finally having multiple enemies which require a separate skill really pushed the difficulty levels but not making it impossible. Its definitely not something you can master straight away making this a rewarding part of the game once the concepts are grasped.

(A recent game to implement this style is Square Enix’s; Sleeping Dogs, this months FREE GAME on Xbox Gold)

 

To top it all off a well crafted story which was very entertaining with many plot twists. The accompanied acoustics both suited and matched the dark eerie superhero. Well known Villains can often be seen butting in trying to make Batman’s life that much more difficult.

Finally the Predator Mode (is like a challenge mode) takes a step further from the story and adds a competitive element. With the many gadgets Batman has this mode becomes a blast watching the crooks crap themselves as you finish them off in different ways. This mode comprehensively reminds me of my MGS days.

Overall, this game made me watch the Batman Movies and that’s saying something!

My Rating

Game Play: 9.2

Story: 8.8

Sound: 7.4

Graphics: 9.2

Replay Value: 7

Overall: 83/100

Great game play props this game up quite high on the rating but with the many buttons sometimes its a little difficult to remember all the possibilities. Fantastic story which grips the player from start to finish. Being quite a dark and eerie game the music is often forgotten and nothing really sticks with you after you’ve finished the game. By far the best graphics I’ve seen in any game and also has a 3D feature for all those with 3D TVs. Once the stories been told with the climax its kinda hard to go back and play it again.

Not bad for a Super Hero Game!