29. Batman: Arkham City
PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (2011)
Rocksteady Studios
By the time Batman: Arkham City came out, Rocksteady Studios had already made a name for themselves with the excellent Batman: Arkham Asylum. Just as Christopher Nolan took Batman from the confines of its comic book trappings to create an amazing movie series, Rocksteady did the same thing for the caped crusader in the world of video games. And just as Nolan's second film "The Dark Knight" took Batman to the next level, so did Rocksteady's Arkham City. City upped the ante on every level, with a more open "Zelda-esque" design (as opposed to the confined Metroid inspiried Asylum), implementation of Batman's greatest foes, a fantastic story not confined to the world of comics (allowing RockSteady to forge their own Batman destiny), and one of the best climaxes I've ever experienced in gaming. All this pieced together by fantastic gameplay that really nails the feel of how it would be to be the dark knight himself (the added grapple boost is a brilliant addition to Batman's arsenal). Although Origins was a great game, I cannot wait to see what the ramifications of City have for Batman and the city of Gotham. Arkham Knight is going to be awesome!
