Has anyone played Batman: Arkham City yet?

[+Random Terrain]

Looks like the reviews are positive. Has anyone played Batman: Arkham City yet? I'm probably going to buy it some time next week.

[2600Lives]

I haven't tried it yet, but I want to. Arkham Asylum was amazing.

 

Tim Buckley from the Ctrl-Alt-Del webcomic doesn't like it, though. He's waah-waahing about not being able to play it in hard mode due to the game mechanics changing up somewhat. He's one of those guys that gets a boner from games like Dark Souls. You know, stuff so ungodly intentionally hard that most gamers get turned off quickly simply due to the difficulty. So, I'd totally disregard anything he says about it. Honestly, I've heard NO bad reviews of it besides him. If his webcomic wasn't so damn entertaining, I'd disregard anything he's ever said entirely, actually.

[+Random Terrain]

If anyone was hoping that the stupid walking in slow motion crap and having freaky acid trips where you have to perform tasks over and over again until you do them perfectly might not appear in this game, you're going to be disappointed. It's the opposite of fun.

[Numan]

I'm waiting on a game of the year edition to buy, but I did play it for a few hours recently. Recommended for Batman fans.

[cimerians]

Yeah I probably will pick this up but on the PC. (probably should be on the modern gaming thread)

 

I got a good rig and a good card and it looks pretty sweet for the PC. I also didnt like the slow walking and drug stuff from scarecrow. It was cool for the story and the effect but "playing" through those were a drag.

[Metal Jesus]

I really want to buy the game, but between Uncharted 3 this week...and Skyrim next week... there goes my November!

[+Random Terrain]

I hate parts of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. They can shove their slow walking, acid trips, and time limits. But there are enough fun things to do in both games if you can get past the crap without killing the game designer(s) who worked on these games, then yourself in a glorious murder/suicide.

 

When you beat the older Arkham Asylum game, you can keep 'playing' but there's basically nothing to do except collect items you might have missed. The whole place seems dead. If you want to play after the game is over, you have to do the little challenges from the menu. Arkham City is a big improvement over Arkham Asylum. It looks like you have a lot more to do after you beat the game. The city is still full of life.

[Lord Thag]

I had this, and got rid of it. It's not horrible, but it's by NO means the perfect 10 Game Informer gave it. It reminds me of a mix between your standard GTA open city game with some Assassin's Creed thrown on top of a (very nicely done) Batman setting. While the setting and voice acting were excellent, the game bored me. Lots of irritating 'riddler challenges' (switch puzzles and the like), while the combat was super easy and not terribly involving. Felt very 'been there, done that' to me. Your mileage may vary. I'm not a fan. This can't hold a candle to Dark Souls.

[+Cafeman]

I haven't purchased AC yet because I haven't finished my play-thru of AA yet. I bought AA late, then put it aside mid-play until this week. Now that I have a 42" HDTV, playing X360 is enjoyable again. I really like how AA looks, and it doesn't seem too difficult to me playing on normal.

 

questions for those who know:

 

1. Are the graphics improved in anyway from AA to AC? Just wondering, not really important.

2. What is basically the difference in AA between Normal and Hard?

[JamesD]

I played through AA on Normal difficulty and I'm quite a ways through AC on Normal difficulty.

Differences between the two...

AC supports 3D on a 3D TV and I'm loving that part. (both AC and the GOTY version of AA have 3D with the Red Blue glasses but I haven't tried that)

Snipers and armed inmates become a problem much earlier in AC.

The grappler isn't as useful in AC and neither are batarangs with a couple exceptions where you need the remote controlled batarang. Stealth seems to play a bigger part but after the first game it's not tough to figure out.

 

Riddler puzzles are harder. You can mark Riddler puzzels/trophies on your map and come back later.

You seem to die easier from gunshots.

Combat is pretty much the same with a couple more moves. Getting a couple of the achievements related to stringing together attacks is going to be a challenge.

Batman has some new gadgets.

 

You get to play as Cat Woman for free in several scenes if you buy the game new, it includes a code for the DLC. Otherwise it's downloadable for $ as is Nightwing (if I remember right). Solving all the Riddler puzzles isn't possible with Batman alone.

Some of the side quests are a PITA and really tough to complete, others can be completed just by following the main story.