In the words of a vigilant Arkham City inmate “Look! It’s the bat, he’s back!”, and that he is. Bruce Wayne dons that unmistakable suit for a second outing to clear up the streets of Gotham, this time however things will be a little different. Arkham City is bigger, badder, and bolder than its predecessor, it pulls no punches (well, only literal punches) with what it offers, giving you access to the entire map straight from the word go. Is this at the games detriment, or is it in fact the smartest move Rocksteady could have done?

Well yes it is, by giving you the freedom of the entire map they have essentially given you a playground for you to explore and test your Batman skills to a level you feel comfortable with. No longer are you hurried along from one section of island to the next, with a handful of side missions to distract you. No, here in Arkham City you alone control the pace, you are after all the bad-ass Batman. With so much on offer, it’s a wonder that you ever get around to finishing off the storyline to the game, something that only bags you a minimal game percent completion score too.

That is not to say the story is meagre, it’s anything but a beast. Mark Hamill reprises his role as the Joker once more, and not only does he completely out do his performance in Arkham Asylum, he also makes Heath Ledger’s Joker look like a stage magician instead of a big villain. Indeed Arkham City‘s story is easily the best Batman tale ever projected into the media, it is also one of the best found in any game this year, a very strong contender for Game Of The Year. Its start is both ingenious and exciting and, despite the ability to mosey around for hours, the pace of the plot never slows down, its a masterclass in open world narrative. For those who purchase the game new, Catwoman is also interwoven to the storyline. This is also done most excellently, in fact her sections of the game are potentially the more enjoyable aspects of the game, even if they are short and sweet.

When you venture into the streets of Arkham City, either for the first time or after you finish the game, there is plenty to do to keep you occupied. There are more character cameos than Robin could shake his stick at. You’ll have plenty of side quests to keep yourself occupied, some manifest themselves directly in front of you, whilst others you’ll have to hunt down and compile evidence to attain. You can also train your skills with Batman through AR training that is dotted across Arkham City. These training sections not only improve your ability to control that “pointy eared freak”, but they also unlock extra gadgets and skills for the Bat to enjoy. Arguably the largest side-quest comes from Mr. Edward Nigma is back taunting players as The Riddler, and this time giving you not only a side story to his madness, but a hell of a lot of Riddler Trophies and riddles for you to solve as well as in game combat challenges, doing them all will take some real skill and panache. The Riddler challenges don’t just end in the walls of Arkham City however, exiting the game itself and exploring its menu screen shows you a Riddler Challenge set of game levels to play through, similar to the Joker Challenges of Arkham Asylum, except this time there are 180 of them, and you can play as Batman or Catwoman. It’s mind boggling just how much content has been crammed into this game by Rocksteady.

Combat is probably the only low point of this extremely amazing game, that is not to say the combat is bad though, just that not much has changed. Since the rest of the Batman universe seems to have expanded to new heights, literally as some structures are vertiginously high, it feels awkward that combat underwent only some revision. This is probably because Arkham Asylum boasted some fun combat mechanics. It seems this time around reaction times have been tweaked, combos are more varied and the use of gadgets in combat is much smother, allowing you to rack up combos with general ease. Fights really start to differ when you begin to alter Batman’s abilities though his Waynetech upgrade system, allowing new uses to existing gadgets right in the middle of a fight, or opening up new special combos and takedown routines. It’s fun and makes the combat more immersive, but as said before you wont be surprised at what Batman can do, especially in comparison to the jaw dropping world around you.

Which brings us on rather nicely to its sumptuous visuals. As with Arkham Asylum this title is one hell of a looker. Water looks wonderful, and glistens over other textures, characters move realistically and the draw distance is just incredible. Detective mode makes a return too, bathing the screen in a digital blue effect, although removing the compass so you can’t just sit in Detective mode all game. Arkham City is a work of art unfolding before your eyes. Character design is incredible, the little details have really been paid attention too, and the feel of a comic book come to life is no more present than here. In fact each character is so well done they each have their own bio and some have interview tapes and phone messages to listen to through the game, adding more backstory to a very well fleshed out cast.

All in all Batman: Arkham City is not only the best Batman game to date, it’s arguably the best Batman experience anybody will have for a long time, yes even more than the highly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises film. It offers players a level of immersion seen almost nowhere else, especially with a subject so popular as Batman. There is plenty to do to keep you playing long after the credits have rolled, and before any inevitable DLC rolls in to greet you. Although this year’s Christmas release schedule is jam packed with triple A titles, once the dust has settled this’ll be the title you wish you had bought straight from the off.

Final Score: 5/5