I was hoping for some Scarecrow action as well, but then there's the...
Mad Hatter to make up for that. Although short, it was cool. Really freaked me out too.
And in case you didn't know....
Scarecrow does have a few references in the game, and is shown to be alive at least (perhaps he injected Croc with fear toxin after he was grabbed?). There's a riddle on top of a square structure over a piece of road (near Joker's area I think) where-in you can see his mask. Also *SUPER SECRET SPOILER*.......if you use the cartographer (hacker) device over the hatch on the deck of the boat that you can land on, you can go inside and see where he's been hiding. Not going to tell you what the password is, but it's the most difficult one in the game to figure out.
I've beaten the game thrice over now, and I absolutely love it. Compared to AC, AA seems almost like a tech demo. As if they were using it to see what they could do, then made the real game with AC.
The combat is VASTLY improved. Compared to the AC, AA's combat seems almost too rigid. The change I'm really happy about in-particular is the almost non-existence of enemies being "magnetized" to you while attacking. In AA, I had multiple occasions where I got hit by a thug even though I should have been out of his range or had moved/dodged out of his range, as if stuck to me by some gravitational force. While still there, those instances are extremely rare. Now, when you move out of range of their attack, they miss. Plus, if while a thug is still in his attack animation you decide to attack from afar, the thug no longer has priority.
The 'Disarm and Dismantle' move is a God send. I would have really loved an upgrade allowing you to perform it after only 3 moves, not 5. Still, proper utilization of this move is essential for thug management. And in case you didn't know (I didn't until my third playthrough, doh) you can do the move against a thug holding ANY item. Yes, even the annoying shields.
Some of the animations for the moves when used against different items are great. For the shield, Batman runs up, grabs to top of the car door, then punches the thug in the face through the small window. He then puts his weight on it, leveraged against the floor, and bends it in half. For the cattle prod, he grabs it, lightly zaps whoever was holing it, and then breaks it in half. The metal pipe is particularly impressive. Batman grabs it and simply bends it in half.
'Disarm and Dismantle' works on knives too (although all Batman appears to do is knock the knife to the ground), but using it on a knife wielder is a waste. Use the Blade Dodge Takedown instead. It takes an enemy down instantly and permanently, is easy to do, and look really cool to boot. Plus, if you're going for a high score on a combat challenge map, the Blade Dodge Takedown is your best friend. Aside from helping to thin the herd, it gives you mad points (whatever your combo meter it is at X 100). The trick to doing the move correctly it to time your button presses and hold the button down between each swipe (at least that's how it works best for me).
So far, my highest combo count is 242 (on the Joker's Carnival map). I was actually able to perform a Blade Dodge Takedown as my final move so I got a whopping 24,200 points for that one move. My score for the map is around 350,000. Still need to figure out when best to bank my time though.
Story wise, I was completely surprised by the ending, did not see that coming....
*MAJOR SPOILER BELOW*
And holy crap, Clayface fell into the Lazarus Pit. What does THAT mean?
I loved all the cameos, and side quests. Bane's fate made me chuckle. And in case you didn't know, if you talk to him after having first destroyed some Titan containers, Batman will say something like "Five. I destroyed one already". I'm thinking of not talking to Bane until I've destroyed all six, just to se what happens. The game has a lot of little surprises...
....anyone else notice that when you enter the line-up area as Bruce Wayne you can see BlackMask getting beat down to your right, Azriel on top of a building, and Deadshot is the guy in line who points at you and says that he's got you in his sights or whatever. Oh, and after you finally catch the Riddler, stand in his way a few times to get a chuckle.
I enjoyed how the Riddler Trophies were each puzzles themselves, forcing you to think creatively and utilize different gadgets. My only complaint is that it's sometimes difficult to concentrate on only one at a time. My ADD kept getting in the way, lol.
Traversing around AC feels natural, and really adds to the feeling of being Batman. And once you get the hang of it, you can really sail. I'm particularly impressed with how Catwoman handles. It was a nice touch to give her her own feel of movement. And defeating some of the combat challenges with her requires a different strategy, as she lacks a Disarm move. Funhouse Brawl Extreme is particularly challenging with her. Fun though (as Batman I just keep freezing the russian guy with Freeze Grenades, to keep him out of the picture until I've thinned the heard a bit).
Another thing I love about the combat is how there is a way out of almost every situation (except the Batclaw Slam, which more often than not seems to just get you punched in the head. They really should have given you the ability to counter out of it, like you can with the Aerial Attack by pressing X). Rarely do I feel that the game is the blame.
I do wish that the Batarangs still came out 3 at once w/o having to use the item boost, but it's not a big deal. I like what they did with the stun, it feels a lot more useful.
As far as bosses go, AC is an gigantic step up from AA. When Solomon Grundy didn't simply charge me, but instead started swinging his huge balls around (tee-hee) I was very pleased. The fight was enjoyable. The second part being more so than the first. My favorite boss is probably Freeze. I just loved the atmophere, and how Freeze had an answer to every move I pulled on him, actually forcing me to intelligently use the environment (was impressed that he even had a way to keep me from doing the glide-attack). He character model and voice acting are probably some of my favorite as well.
Speaking of character model, am I the only one who feels that they overdid it a bit with Catwoman. I mean, I know she's supposed to be somewhat sultry, but she just comes off as if on a meat hunt if you know what I mean. I was thinking that if I had a daughter, I'd love for her to be able to play a game like this (action wise) as Catwoman, sans the slutty (and some of the comments made by thugs).
Anyhoo, all in all, I'm in love with Batman: Arkham City. Can't wait till the next installment (Batman: Gotham City?), and hopefully having use of the Batmobile (or at least a motorcycle)
That was either another fake Joker or he's not really dead. Everytime Batman kills him or lets die, it's the very opposite of anticlimactic. Now he just withered away.