Topic: So is nobody playing Arkham City?

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

I've been soaking in it for a few days now.  It's pretty awesome.
Love the good treatment the characters have gotten.  That is, how well they have translated into the Arkham/Videogame world.  Mr.Freeze, in particular.

[DarkPrinceAlucard]

I've been soaking in it for a few days now.  It's pretty awesome.
Love the good treatment the characters have gotten.  That is, how well they have translated into the Arkham/Videogame world.  Mr.Freeze, in particular.

Yea Freeze definitely holds the number 2 spot of all time best boss battle in Arkham City IMO.

He is right behind Solomon Grundy and right before Clay face in my book.

I just hate that scarecrow was not in this game.

He was so freaken cool in AA and I loved the dream parts of the game.

It would have been awesome to see that in AC.

[Vampire Killer]

I was hoping for some Scarecrow action as well, but then there's the...

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Mad Hatter to make up for that. Although short, it was cool. Really freaked me out too.

And in case you didn't know....

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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*

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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...

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....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

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Clayface

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)

[KaZudra]

All I gotta say is that the ending has balls.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Catwoman has auto-disarm if you use her Whip.  I've disarmed a few fellows with it.
I have not AT ALL done any challenge maps.  Right now I'm finishing up some quests and getting the Riddler Trophies and Riddles.  Haven't done the investigations on the Identity Theft Murders yet, but I finished the Deadshot, Zsasz, and Azrael sections.

I bought the Special Edition so I got... Batman: The Animated Series Catwoman. HOLY CRAP she's sexy even though she's fully covered up.  Meooow indeed!
I wish they had Batman: The Animated Series Batman (instead of The Dark Knight Returns boxy-as-hell Batman).

[Vampire Killer]

That, I'm aware of. What i'm talking about is the specific 'Disarm & Destroy' move that Batman can purchase later on in the game. It's one of my favorite moves. Makes things a hell of a lot less annoying. In fact, w/o it, the game becomes a bit too much of a pain in the ass. Too many things going on at once. Especially for those effing shield. Having the ability to destroy them outright, keeps anyone else from just picking it up 2 seconds later and becoming an extreme nuisance. It's also a must for the stun rods. The knives I can handle, and feel cool doing it 

I was able to get around 934,000 on the Joker's Canrival map. Good lord making it to 1million is hard. I almost had it but when you reach level 6 a freakin Titan pops out, and there was just too damn many thing going on at once for me to Batman my way out of it.

[Vampire Killer]

Sorry for the double


I was thinking that I'd love to see game of this caliber made specifically using The Animated Series world, graphics, and settings. The story could still be just as serious (some of TAS episodes were really intense), but more kid friendly like TAS.

Don't get me wrong, I love everything about AC, I just know that I wouldn't let my kid play it. Which is too bad, because there's so much awesome there to be played. I just think that something like Zasaz would give a kid nightmares.

Would like the combat to be simplied a bit (but only a tiny bit), and made a bit more forgiving as well, so as not to be overly frustrating for junior.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

That, I'm aware of. What i'm talking about is the specific 'Disarm & Destroy' move that Batman can purchase later on in the game. It's one of my favorite moves. Makes things a hell of a lot less annoying. In fact, w/o it, the game becomes a bit too much of a pain in the ass. Too many things going on at once. Especially for those effing shield. Having the ability to destroy them outright, keeps anyone else from just picking it up 2 seconds later and becoming an extreme nuisance. It's also a must for the stun rods. The knives I can handle, and feel cool doing it 

I don't know... later on they just have stashes of guns, so even destroying them doesn't help 'cuz they just run to the box and get more.  I wish you can destroy 'em.  Hell, I wish I could drop a huge "STUN ALL" detonator or something (the Smoke Bombs are the closest thing).

[Vampire Killer]

True about the boxes, but Once you destroy that one from the box, no more come from there. Honestly, it's mostly useful when only a few guys have guns.

Love it for shields though.

[A-Yty]

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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.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

True about the boxes, but Once you destroy that one from the box, no more come from there. Honestly, it's mostly useful when only a few guys have guns.

Love it for shields though.

How do you destroy the one from the box?  Explosive Gel or something?  I can't target the box with anything, as far as I can tell.
I love using the Remote Electrical Charge and the Freeze Blast mid-combo.  It's just awesomesauce.

Playing NewGame+ and it's SO HARD! x_X

[Vampire Killer]

How do you destroy the one from the box?  Explosive Gel or something?  I can't target the box with anything, as far as I can tell.
I love using the Remote Electrical Charge and the Freeze Blast mid-combo.  It's just awesomesauce.

Playing NewGame+ and it's SO HARD! x_X

The freezeblast is great. Stops thugs in their tracks, and does so for quite some time.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, but YOU CANNOT destroy the gun from the box while it is still inside it. What I meant was that once a thug pulls a gun from a box, that's it, they only pull that one. kinda dumb, since if you look up close at the box after it's been opened you can clearly see several more guns laying inside. My point was that you only have to worry about one gun from each box, which isn't too bad.

The RMC works wonders on armored guys I've found. Knocks them (and anyone standing behind them) right on their ass.

Yeah, NG+ was a bit more difficult. The battle against Freeze is definitely harder (and more enjoyable).

Took me some time to get used to reading an enemies movements in NG+, instead of relying on the spider-sense indicator. The fights are often not as close up as in AA, which makes it more difficult for me to clearly see and quickly react in time when surrounded by thugs. I found playing w/o indicators easier in AA.

I love how Batman (and Catwoman) will react with the environment when performing certain moves. Like when you do a counter near a railing, Batman will often bash the thugs head into it.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Yeah when I was looking for Riddler Agents I interrogated one near a ledge and he grabs him and dangles him over the ledge.
"Riddler.... TALK!"
"Alright alright!  I'll tell you everything I know!"
"I know you will!"  **DROPS**

It was extra hilarious 'cuz the ledge was only a few feet off the next step.  At worst the thug would've just had a bump on his back.
It's kinda messed up that he still beats up the thugs that help him... but they were trying to shoot him before, so I guess it's ok?

[Vampire Killer]

lol, I know right. Apparently Batman is a bit of a sadist, as he really seems to take pleasure in causing pain. I lol'ed when some thug starts complaining about how in AA Batman really messed him up, and he wasn't looking forward to that happening again. I usually try to save those guys for last, so that I can use an instant take-down on them  . Give them something to remember for the next game.

Don't know if this has happened to you, but when playing NG+ on Hard, sometimes when I suddenly appear in the middle of a group of thugs, some of them will literally run for their lives. On one of the broken bridges, I dropped down into a group of about 12 of them, and no joke, one of them basically said to run for it, and then almost half of them jumped off the side of the bridge and into the water to avoid the impending beating. I LMAO....then kicked the crap out of the remaining fools who didn't know better then to escape my wrath.

Plus, some of these poor thugs must be getting their ass beat multiple times by Batman, since when you return to areas, they are awake and moving around again. I figure they just eventually wake up from the concussion, only to have Batman do more of the same. Some of the thugs must really be in a lot of pain. I just figure though, don't shoot at Batman, and he won't dislocate your arm. Again.

God I love this game 

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

It's not like I'm gonna be levelling up.  If they didn't come at me with guns, I'd ignore them altogether.
"Of course, it's shank or be shanked." -Scruffy-