*Before my review I need to say something: I, being a Nintendo person, had to play this game on PC (which is actually preferred, anyway). Because of this, and because of the terrible (and I mean TERRIBLE) optimization of this game when it was first release, and the logical deducing that pc gamers ‘don’t matter,’ I had to wait month(s) to play this game because it wouldn’t function on my computer. Just for the record, I have a pretty darn good computer, and my brother in law has a beast machine (he couldn’t even play it very well). I only recently was able to play it, due to the updated, and was able to get 30fps (which is fine for me). Because I believe a review of a game should take a multitude of things into consideration and not just focus on what many consider to be “major” areas, I have to take into considerations this debacle and I am going to take off -5 points because of this mess. This is the first, and hopefully last, time I have to do something like this in a review.
Originality: Last night, I ordered a “salad” from a restaurant. When said “salad” was delivered to me, there were two small blades of lettuce, which I soon discovered were decorative, and the salad consisted of huge slices of fresh mozzarella, olive oil, pepper, and slices of tomatoes complimented by green olives. It wasn’t a “salad” to me in the traditional sense, and after my initial snarling of my nose I tried it and loved it. That is what it was like first playing Arkham City (my first Batman game). Now, instead of reinventing the wheel, they are refining it. The only major thing that is different is the vehicles combat, and it is wonderful (felt like Transformers combined with Batman). However, one major difference (or ingredient) doesn’t change this from what it is.
15/20
Graphics: What can I say? This game looks beautiful as all the Arkham games do.
10/10
Art Style: Once again, fantastic art style. I especially like the Harley Quinn scanner mode.
14/15
Story: This game started out strong with the burning scene, and I REALLY loved the Joker kind of haunting Batman throughout the game. I was disappointed to find out the Knight was Robin 2 (mostly because he sounded like a whiney boy the entire game), disappointed to find out Scarcrow was the main villain in this game, and was disappointed with the ending… until I read a fan theory that people are claiming is the truth pertaining to what happens after Knightfall (that was quite interesting). Overall, though, the story was still really good, just not as emotionally intense as City.
24/30
Game Interface: I didn’t enjoy having to pause so much to change weapons and missions. I wish it were on the main screen without interrupting gameplay.
3/5
Controls easy and fluid or difficult and rigid? Easy enough, not messed up like Asylum on the PC (in my opinion).
5/5
Is it fun? It was a lot of fun. I loved how big the city felt and I loved the vehicle combat.
15/15
86/100
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100 + 5 = 105
Shovel Knight – 95 + 10 = 105
Shadow of Mordor = 95 + 5 = 100
Zelda Skyward Sword-98
Hyrule Warriors – 93 + 5 = 98
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 93
Zelda Minish Cap – 92
Portal 2 – 87 + 5 = 92
Portal – 87 + 5 = 92
Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86 +5 = 91
Zelda Windwaker HD – 86 + 5 = 91
Bayonetta 2 = 91 NR
Bayonetta (Wii U) – 91 NR
Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91
Metroid Fusion – 91
Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86 + 5 = 91
Zelda Twilight Princess – 90
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90
Guildwars 2 – 89
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89
Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84 + 5 = 89
Pokemon X – 88
Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78 + 10 = 88
Kid Icarus Uprising – 88
Darksiders 2 - 88
Fire Emblem Awakening – 88
Batman Arkham Knight - 86
Dishonored - 84
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84
Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83
Rome 2: Total War - 83
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83
Super Mario 3d land – 72 + 10 = 82
Batman: Arkham Origins - 81
Trine – 80
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze* - 68 + 10 = 78
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74
Black Ops 2 - 74
Rome: Total War-74
Paper Monster Uncut (Wii U) - 70
Red Alert 3 - 70
New Super Mario Bros. U - 66
New Super Mario Bros.Wii – 57 *
Assassins Creed 3 – 57 NR
Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53*
Kirby Squeak Squad – 43
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42
Project X Zone - 18
* Means it was more fun than the score indicates. Scores judge the overall quality of the game (how fun it is only counts for 15% in my reviews)
NR means Not Recommended based on inappropriateness.
^Charm is rewarded to games that have an undefinable quality to them that makes them amazing and have high replayability value.
