The worst thing about the end of the year is not trying to figure out which games you loved the most, it's to look back and realize...man...I didn't play all the games I wanted to. So coming up with a Game of the Year list is a tad frustrating, because there are plenty of games that could be on this list that aren't simply because of the time or money that didn't allow me to get to them. So as a heads up, I want to make everyone aware that I have only played games on the Playstation 3. Due to how my house is configured, the Playstation is the easiest console to own and play on. After a year of my Xbox 360 collecting dust, I went ahead and got rid of it entirely. Which is why no 360 games will appear on this list. Here is my list, in order:
10. Little Big Planet 2
It's hard to believe that the year started out with this. Little Big Planet 2 came out shortly after the year started and tested the minds of players around the world. While the game itself still suffered from a weak storyline about a space dragon who tried to devour everything and a little sackboy who finds ways to get around the universe gathering allies, the levels themselves help you forget about the lingering narrative problem both games have had. Greater improvements with the physics in this game, although Sackboy still has that "lift" in his jumps and hesitation when he jumps, along with more creative levels from the developers made me eager to get through all the levels to not only see what was in store for Sackboys' story, but also the variation what can be done.
Sackboy himself is still as adorable as ever and the developers were smart in allowing people to pull over the content from the previous game into the new game. Allowing players to keep all the costumes that were available from the first game was a major plus and adding the number of stickers and hats only made it that much better. They then went an extra step and found a way to link the games in multiplayer as well allowing people playing the second game to jump into levels made in the first game and play those as well.
The level creation has always been something I've never been good at. I've never quite figured out how it all works, but at the same time, I can tell when it's been improved. Using the term dumb-down may be seen as a criticism, but for this game it's a much needed addition to the user-generated levels. And they did exactly that for making your own levels, they dumbed-it-down. They added more tools and tutorials to help out people with creating whatever comes to mind including adding ways for story beats and linking levels. This of course ended with a ton of levels created simply for trophies, but that's something that's unavoidable.
While a lot of games make vast steps past it's predecessor, Little Big Planet 2 did something not a whole lot of games can do. They made their previous game almost pointless to go back to. While the story is different and the costumes are not the same, finding ways to incorporate the first game into the second without needing the first game was an amazing feat and one of the best ways to start the year out.
9. Mortal Kombat
I'm not normally into fighting games. I'm terrible when it comes to specific button presses and combos are never something an opponent has to worry about from me. Mortal Kombat is one of the few games that despite my inadequacies in the fighting department, I can still find quite a bit of pleasure in.
The fighting itself is still very much Mortal Kombat. You can expect fatalities at the end of your match, maneuvers only certain characters can use, fluid controls, and uppercuts that will take you into a new part of the level. While teleportation can be a frustrating opponent move used by what seems like half of the characters in the game, the game itself feels balanced in the move department. You won't find yourself stuck in the sweep glitch that the original game allowed players to manipulate, but the feel of the original Mortal Kombat is something the new Mortal Kombat exudes.
Mortal Kombat has always had a storyline that I have found incomprehensible. Too much has happened and since I haven't played every game, I have become lost in the MK lore. Luckily, this game throws that to the wind and offers a sort of reboot that bounces the player back to the beginning and adds a sort of "alternate timeline" to the events of Mortal Kombat. Much easier to follow and no previous knowledge is needed. I believe games like Tekken could take a beat from how Mortal Kombat approached their story.
The best mode this game has to offer is not the story mode or even the multiplayer. Instead, what it has are the challenge rooms. While there are rooms where you fight against three other characters, the most fun is had in the quirkiness the rooms provide. There is something oddly enjoyable about seeing your characters arms fall off and realize you have to win the match only kicking. With hundreds of scenarios to choose from, this mode provides players a nice break from the regular game.
Playing the original Mortal Kombat
8. Catherine
I felt lied to. That's what crossed my mind after finishing Catherine. The box art, the advertisements, the pictures...all pointed at a possible dating simulator. And as someone who has never played a dating simulator, it intrigued me. Instead what I got was Catherine. Instead of a dating simulator, I was playing a horror game with puzzle-platforming gameplay. In the end, I was still glad.
Catherine stars Vincent, a man who has trouble sleeping because every time he falls asleep he becomes a man sheep. He inhabits rooms with other sheep who are trying to make it to the top of a stack of blocks while the bottom falls out from under them. Usually, it's because a large horrifying creature is chasing them trying to kill them all. When he wakes up, he can't remember what he's been dreaming about. In the main world, he's questioning his relationship with his girlfriend Katherine while bumping into a new bombshell Catherine. Let me tell you, that caused a lot of problems when I was trying to explain the story to my wife and brother-in-law.
While the puzzles the dream world provides were not terribly hard and involved a bit of strategy, it's also where the game suffered the most. There didn't seem to be enough variety in the puzzles and each dream could have had one or two less of them since each dream had 4 -7 block puzzles each. But to add to the difficulty of the puzzles, there would also be a number of other sheep who were also trying to survive this level. And while they didn't seem eager to reach the top, they had no problem trying to make sure you didn't. So these added to the strategy by trying to find ways past them of ways to take them out of the level entirely.
Instead, the game should have stuck to the best part of the game, and that's the story. The idea that men are dying in this world in their sleep and that Vincent is someone who looks to be heading down the same road was fascinating to me and had me engaged. Adding to that, Vincent has friends that were interesting and fun to listen to and I wish the parts of the game with them in it was expanded. The thing that I have to keep reminding myself is, the in-world gameplay part...didn't really have much gameplay. It was links between the puzzle sections. Vincent is in a bar surrounded by people (who you meet in your dreams as sheep) and you talk to them and give them advice. Since the characters were so distinct and interesting, I loved this part, even if it meant I didn't get a lot of gameplay in. Just listening to their stories and the excellent voice work was well worth it. Add it to the amazing graphics and it was a world I wanted to stay in.
While I feel Catherine may have been a better game as a dating simulator, it still held it's own as the game it released as. The characters in this game were some of my favorite characters in the games I've played this year. They had a life to them most games can not express. If Catherine expanded on it's positives and focused less on it's puzzle aspects, it would be much higher up on this list.
7. Infamous 2
While Infamous 2 suffered from some flaws, the greatest flaw it made was releasing during E3. This game was overlooked by games that weren't even out yet and reviewers didn't have the time to review it. So some outlets didn't get an Infamous 2 review out until almost two weeks after release.
Cole McGrath makes his return from the previous game and it starts out with a bang. Watching your old city get trampled by a giant monster was pretty amazing and a great way to bring players into this game. While the overall game isn't terribly difficult, too often you find yourself outmatched by sheer numbers. Most enemies can either teleport to where you are or shoot projectiles at you. And when there is twenty or so enemies around, this can cause a problem. Even though they have given Cole more powers to play with, the overabundance of enemies can still cause frustrations.
Getting around the city is still a blast grinding on rails and hovering over large gaps, though the biggest improvement on this came in the DLC follow-up "Festival of Blood". And while Festival of Blood only provided a few hours more of content, the new way of travel made me yearn for an easier way to make my way around New Marais.
Infamous 2 expands on it's mission structure that plagued the first game by adding many more missions and going the Little Big Planet route of user-created content. At a certain part of the game, the player can access missions that other players have created that allow for more mission variety. They can also add a story to the mission, which can kind of break the game depending on what the user decided to make. One mission in particular had me chase down Cole's friend Zeke around New Marais in an attempt to kill him. Considering his part in the game...it doesn't quite work. However, it was a nice thing to add to the game, and can help mix up the mission structure a bit.
While most of the lead-in to the game focused on the look of Cole and what his voice sounded like, as a whole, this game was overlooked. But with everything Sucker Punch added to this game, it has me looking towards the third game. I would love to fight more giants, because this game had plenty of them and they were all pretty good.
6. Dead Island
If this list was about game trailers of the year, Dead Island would have taken the top spot. The initial trailer featuring the little girl dying while the adults tried to fight off the zombies was heartbreaking and set a tone, that if pulled out in the game, could make this game one of the best emotionally-driven game released in recent memory.
However, Dead Island failed in that regard in every way possible. I found myself not caring about any particular character in the game and found most under-utilized, including the forgettable main cast. The one character who receives the most character development in the game is a female mechanic who loses her father due to the zombie outbreak. Unfortunately the bad voice acting and cheesy dialogue ruins what should be emotional moments between them and everything about this plot line is predictable and ends just how you think it would. This isn't a problem this one plot line has, as the majority of the game's plot is cliche'd and can be figured out rather quickly. If you come to this game for a deep story experience, you will be let down.
But where it fails in story it makes up in level design and overall development. I have always had a problem in first person games with combat, but Dead Island was able to correct it and make what is normally a terrible melee experience into a likable one. It's still not great, but it works. And in a game like this, that's really all I need. Having two methods of melee also helps, where you can either have the normal swing of a melee weapon, or you can use the analog stick to pinpoint on the zombie where you want it to hit. While it isn't perfect, it works pretty well. Especially when you add to the fact that zombies are able to have their bones broken. The sound of hearing the bones break is superb and having the zombies arm go limp and attack you with headbutts is wonderful. This small, but important, gameplay mechanic adds an extra touch to the game that I think a lot of RPG's should take into consideration.
As far as level design, what can I say about this game? It's beautiful. Clearly a lot of time was spent making this world look as fantastic as it does and it is a big game. The main problem I have with this game is that the best level is the first one. It's nice to have a game that doesn't involve zombies chasing the player through an empty city and I was hoping this game would be it. There's a nice contrast the resort level provides having a gorgeous are overridden by zombies and dead bodies lying around. But that changes as the later levels move into a city, a jungle and a jail. All zombie tropes I would have preferred to avoid. So it's sad that the best level is what they start with, but all levels are well designed and look amazing. But it will be hard to recapture that resort feel if a Dead Island Two makes it's way around.
While a varying zombie type would have been welcomed and having a weapon-upgrade system that made me want to switch out to better weapons should have been in place, this game came out a lot better than I thought it would. The story aside, it's a very competent game. While the threat of zombies may be waning in the general public today, Dead Island is able to create a fun experience with them that hasn't been felt since the original Dead Rising. If they can make the needed improvements for a potential sequel, I could see this becoming a new successful franchise.
5. Battlefield 3
I haven't been exposed to a lot of Battlefield as the first game I played was two years ago. Battlefield 1943 I felt was amazing but Bad Company 2 didn't quite pull me in. So I was somewhat excited for Battlefield 3 but it wasn't something I would grab right out of the gate. But this game did something that most games have not done for me, and that was rejuvenate my interest in multiplayer.
So let's just get this out of the way. The single player campaign. Terrible. There can be no argument that they went the Call of Duty route with big setpieces mixed in with a lot of running to one area, having a shootout, then running to another area, having another shootout, then rinse and repeat. Also, considering that Call of Duty: Black Ops was released last year, their method of storytelling is a bit questionable seeing as it's how they both have someone being interrogated to remember what led him to the situation they are currently in. And while the controls work perfect and the crew you are with actually succeed in killing people, there's a lack of feeling to the single player campaign that some first-person shooters suffer from. Perhaps it's the fatigue of military shooters in general, but single-player campaigns in these shooters struggle. But like most, it's the multiplayer where the game really lies.
DICE should have just spent the time from the single player campaign and work on the multiplayer some more. Just make this game an online game only. While this could make sales suffer, it would have made the experience better. The single player campaign left a sour taste in my mouth that the multiplayer had to rinse out. But it worked. The multiplayer is solid. Besides the usual Deathmatch modes every shooter has, Battlefield excels with Conquest and Rush. Both modes do what Deathmatch (or really any other military shooter) does not do, and that's have the best team win. Not the best individuals, the best TEAM. That is why Battlefield is such a great multiplayer experience.
I'm terrible at shooters. Absolutely awful. But Battlefield 3 allows me to help my team in ways Call of Duty never allowed me too. I'm fortunate to have a positive kill/death ratio, but I'm fantastic with helping revive my teammates. Being able to get points by spotting enemies that are later killed or drop medical boxes and ammunition is the best ways to get players like me involved. It is very possible that someone who goes 4-15 to still come out with the best score in the match because of these other methods of getting points. Being a team is the key in this game. Even being in a squad gets you points since having your squad members spawn on your location also boosts your point total. Everything in this game rewards you for being a team member opposed to the lone wolf feel of success other games give you. And if there is one thing that Battlefield 3 does better than any other multiplayer game, it is making the teamwork feel like an important part of the game.
There is one area this game could definitely improve in that isn't single-player, and that's getting used to the jets and helicopter controls. There needs to be a sort of tutorial section where people can just get used to the controls of these vehicles. No player should be worried to jump into a helicopter because they are unsure of how good of a pilot another player is. But that's what Battlefield 3 does. With no other area to learn these, players get upset and vocal about who is flying these vehicles. And after a few attempts with death being the end result of every one, players just give up and wait for someone else to fly it. But that shouldn't be the case. DICE needs to add a section for players to get used to these controls that won't affect their in game stats or anyone else's for that matter.
Aside from the lack of vehicle tutorial and the skippable-worthy campaign mode, I can't find many complaints about Battlefield 3. Some of them will be getting corrected in future patches, so there's no point in mentioning them here. But the real draw is the multiplayer and that's where DICE should focus their attention in the future. Because right now, Battlefield 3 is the best military shooter on the market. And aside from numbers, nobody else has a better multiplayer experience.
4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I was in the minority in terms of excitement for Skyrim. I hated Oblivion. In fact, hated is an understatement. I found the gameplay boring, the voice work dry, the camera work shoddy, and the combat system the worst. I was hesitant to pick up Skyrim even after the reviews started to come out. Eventually, I worked up the nerve to pick it up. And if you were a skeptic of Oblivion, I hope you you pick it up too. You may be pleasantly surprised.
You have to give it to Bethesda, they know how to make beautiful worlds. Skyrim is no different. The game looks amazing. While the people can still look stiff at times, they have more life in them than the characters in Oblivion did. It also helps that the camera does not zoom in to their face and instead focuses in on that characters entire body. These characters inhabit a detailed world where one minute you are walking through a forest jumping over boulders and the next you see a transition onto a snowy pathway as you make your way up a mountain. While paths may be difficult to find at times, it takes no effort to make a path of your own by using the geography to your advantage and forcing your way up a mountain where you can get a view over all of Skyrim. And when you finally reach a height great enough to look out over the land, you can appreciate the work that Bethesda put into this game. No other world has this much craftsmanship put into it. And none that you will spend as much time in just walking around trying to discover the number of icons that come across your compass.
The story itself I still can't find myself drawn into. Perhaps it's because the main story quest is the least of my concern as I travel Skyrim and instead focus on all the side quests and leveling up my character. From my understanding, dragons have returned to Skyrim after at one point being thought of as extinct. You realize this just as you are about to be beheaded and after escaping certain death, you travel the world trying to find out why these dragons have returned and your link to them. Mix in some religious conflict, political conflict, and racial conflict, and the story of Skyrim surpasses any game in recent memory.
While leveling up is a feeling of accomplishment in this game and I'm eager to do it every time, it is far too easy to grow in more areas than others. Some skills are used quite a bit and due to how the enemies levels scale in terms of the players, leveling up in lockpicking or sneaking may not always be the best route. This can lead to a level 28 character who is undetectable and a real charmer but absolutely dreadful in battles because the armor or magic wasn't leveled up enough. It would be a great feeling to not worry about spreading the perks too thin and overpowering your character in only a few levels, but that's what happens. With only 80 perks to choose from out of 251, I don't like having to worry about what I pick. And as far as I know, there is no way to go back and retool the character if you don't like how the character has been upgraded.
My biggest fear in this game was the combat. I wish I could say it was perfect in Skyrim, but it isn't. The melee attacks still move slow and sloppy and connecting with an enemy has been a consistent problem. Magic hasn't been as big of an issue, but a lock-on system would be a way to improve on easy misses. While the combat needs work, it still works. The companions that can join you help with this to take attention off of your character during battle. The only regret I have with the companions are how easy they go down at times or how your shortcuts lead to them taking longer ways around. It hasn't affected me in the main world, but this is problematic in dungeons or caves. Shortcuts for you may end up with the companion to take the long way and run into a group of bandits. When you go back to find them, you find the remaining bandits attacking and his dead body ready to be looted.
The best thing about the game are the dragons. If there was a moment this year that had to define "epic" in gaming, I would say Skyrim is what brings that moment. There is nothing more terrifying than traveling through the world and then the Skyrim music pops on and a dragon roars. There is such a rush of caution and excitement trying to locate the dragon and prepping for the showdown. It's even better the randomness of which they show up which could lead to battles in towns. Unfortunately for me, the only town I've fought them in consists of two guards and the rest as civilians. They don't help particularly well. But it sure feels good to be in battle with some enemies, have a dragon crash the party, and the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" come to life as everyone starts attacking the dragon.
While I have found my experience in Skyrim enthralling, Skyrim the problems in Skyrim can outweigh the good on many occasions. While playing the PS3 version is not the way to go (but my only option) the various freezes and lag issues are concerning. Many concerns going into this game have been kind of addressed, but are still existent and I have yet to have a real "water-cooler" moment that everyone else playing this game has had. I have however had a lot of moments with guards who all sound the same pulling off their best Arnold impression along with overused dialogue. I love hearing shopkeepers tell me "Some may call this junk, but I call them treasure...". But regardless, it's hard to deny how great this game is. Especially when you spew flames at mammoths.
3. Portal 2
How do you improve on one of the greatest games that has ever been released? I think a lot of people were asking that when news of Portal 2 came out. For a puzzle heavy game, it was able to tell a story better than most games are able to. But of course, there was only one real character in the first game, and that was GLaDOS. And while it didn't have the same "oomph" that the first game had, Valve was able to succeed in putting out another Portal game.
The player returns to Aperture Science Enrichment Center as the main character Chell, who once thought she escaped. She wakes up in a room, that after an encounter with her new friend Wheatley, begins to break apart and you are whisked away to a new area of the Center in an incredible looking sequence. You inevitably return to the spot where you defeated GLaDOS in the previous game and after some terrible instructions by Wheatley, GLaDOS is reactivated and begins retesting Chell. And while Wheatley brought humor to the table, I found myself laughing the most as GLaDOS begrudgingly comments on Chell during testing.
The third and last character that this game has is Cave Johnson, the CEO of Aperture Science. Not only does this section allow Chell to explore the back story of Aperture Science (along with who GLaDOS really is) it adds in a new upgrade to the portal gun. Instead of shooting portals, it shoots out different colored goo. This adds to the puzzles by allowing players to bounce on blue gel, speed up on orange gel, and white gel to add portals to areas that previously could not have portals put on them. And since the puzzles in Portal 2 are still difficult to figure out, but in a "oh, why didn't I think of that" sort of way, adding more elements to these puzzles make it even better.
But although the puzzles are what help make this game what it is, there were too many times I found myself bored with the area I was in. I know a lot of people wanted a longer Portal game, but perhaps Valve had it right the first time. Playing through double or triple the testing rooms and adding an underground section with more puzzles made this game drag in areas that I didn't think were possible. And although the characters and story is what helped pull me through these times of lost interest, it would have made the game better had they shortened it up and made it tighter. Now this isn't to say the puzzles in the game are terrible, because they aren't. The puzzles are creative and well thought out and many of them have multiple solutions. I would say that these puzzles are much better than the first game's puzzles. But having too many of them still make the game drag especially since the best part of the game isn't the puzzles. Since I never played the multiplayer section of the game, I don't know how well those puzzles were laid out, although I have heard some good and challenging things about it. Soon I should be able to play it since a friend of mine is finally getting the game. Very much looking forward to it.
I can not stress enough how it is the story and characters that really make this game work. Chell is nothing more than an avatar and isn't really a character in the game, and Cave Johnson is nothing more than a recorded voice. Yet, somehow, Valve is still able to make the four main characters work. The relationships between everyone is so dynamic and perfect that it's disappointing when the game ends. Valve are the masters of voice work and Portal proves this. There are no other games that could bring the characters to life the way Portal has and not have some sort of body that emotes expressions with it. But thanks to the script, the voice work and the setting of the game; Valve succeeds where most would fail. And that is why it is one of the best games of the year.
2. Bulletstorm
While most gamers may have overlooked this game, there were some who clearly didn't. And by some, I mean Fox News. At the beginning of the year, this game came under controversy because of it's crude language and foul skill-shot system. Of course Bulletstorm had to be called out by a bunch of tightwads who hadn't played the game, for if they had, they would have had a ton of fun with this game and realized all of the criticism they were giving it was wrongly placed.
Well...for the most part. The game has a ton of language not suitable for children. That I will give them. What they failed to mention was the context most of the language was in and that it was done in a way that was more silly than serious. All the insults and profanity were goofy and absurd and is what helped set the characters apart from any other in games this year. Has anyone ever told you they will "Kill your dick"? And if they did, would your response be "What? What does that even mean? Your gonna kill my dick? I'll kill your dick! How bout that, huh?". The conversations that these characters have or the one liners that leave their lips may be riddled with language to get you kicked out of a church, but it's also in a context that will have you rolling on the floor.
Unlike most first-person shooters, the guns in Bulletstorm didn't range by simply the spread of the shot or how powerful it was close up. These guns would blow entire torsos apart, shoot out bouncing mines, or you could maneuver bullets around objects using the sniper rifle. Each gun also has a secondary fire where it may allow you to blow up bullets before it hits the enemy as if acting like a grenade or when it hits the enemy causing them to dissolve to nothingness. Despite how much fun it was to use these weapons, it was the two simplest weapons in the game that was the most satisfying. Throwing your leash to pull someone close than kicking the shit out of them.
The leash is used just like it sounds, you throw an energy rope out to lasso someone and you pull them towards you. As they get nearer, time slows down allowing you to basically do whatever it is you want to this poor floating soul. If you rather not drag them towards you, the leash also has a secondary fire which propels them into the air then crashes them back to Earth in a large blast. Not only does that enemy get affected, but any enemy near them all fly into the air. Simple but effective. The leash may work well for distances, but what about close quarters? Well, that's where your large ass feet come in. The player has the ability to not only melee enemies, but kick them as if they are kicking in a door. Like the leash, once an enemy is kicked, time slows down allowing you to do whatever you want. This is where the skill-shots best come into play.
In Bullestorm, Sausage Fest isn't a party with only men. Nope, instead it's when you kill enemies by blowing up a hot dog cart. And I'm sure most people can figure out what a gang bang is, but in Bullestorm, this is when you kill two or more enemies with an explosive flail. As you can see, this is where Fox News had the problem with the skill-shot system. All in the name. In total, there are 135 skillshots using a variety of weapons and surroundings. When I say surroundings, some skill-shots involve kicking enemies towards walls where they may be impales on objects or burned alive. These skillshots can all be stacked to help boost points which you get for killing enemies. These points are received by the skillshots used, the number of enemies killed using these skillshots and the type of skillshot used. These points then go towards new weapon unlocks or bullets at drop kits littered around each level.
This entire time I've been explaining the weapons and skill-shot system and have yet to talk about the actual story. Going into Bulletstorm, I wasn't expecting a whole lot. It had a lot of Gears of War looking characters and a generic video game name. Yet People Can Fly and Epic Games crafted an amazing storyline about friendship and survival hidden behind what most people noticed in the first place, and that's the language. But once you get past the language the characters used and the words that pop up during kills, you find Grayson who's trying to right the wrongs of him and his crews past. And while during so, trying to save his friend Ishi's life who is slowly being taken over by his robot side after it was implanted because Grayson almost killed him when getting revenge on the person who ruined their past. Their banter is friendly and light-hearted and taking your time navigating the levels are fine since you get to hear them joke with each other.
All around, this was easily the best first person shooter experience I have had in a long time. The weapons are fun and creative, the skill-shot system brings a challenge to killing enemies, and the characters and story make for a compelling experience. Of all the new IP's I have played this year, Bulletstorm is the game I would be most excited to play a sequel for. The problem being it didn't sell very well, and a sequel is unlikely. On the plus side, the game is on the cheap side now, so if you haven't played it, go pick it up!
1. Batman: Arkham City
Say what you will about Batman: Arkham City. There are too many tools, the dialogue is cheesy, the magic of being Batman is gone....it really shouldn't matter. When Arkham Asylum came out, people were amazed that a comic book game of that caliber had been released. Arkham City is an improvement in every way. So giving it the criticism that other games should (but do not) get is unfair considering it's hard to fix what's barely broken in the first place.
Batman punches people in the face. Hard. Many times in fact. He may even mix in a few cape swipes, kicks and batarangs for good measure. And why shouldn't he? He's the god-damn Batman. And it still feels sweet beating the hell out of enemies as Batman. I don't think I'm alone in saying that Arkham City has, hands-down, the best melee combat in all of video games. It is quick, responsive, flows well, and makes you feel untouchable. The combat also allows the player to mix in gadgets to boost the combo to make attacks more fierce and finish fights more quickly. But although having all of the gadgets at your disposal is nice and helps change-up the fight, they aren't really needed. Which in some cases may seem bad, but because fighting with no gadgets is still a blast and gives the player a sense of bad-assness that no other game has done, sometimes all you want to do is go hand-to-hand with 15 gang members at once.
While Arkham Asylum had a more hallway approach to it's level design with a few open areas, I wasn't quite sure how Arkham City's "open-world" would work out. Rocksteady pulled it off though. While it still borrows the same hallway interior settings that Arkham Asylum did, it also built a beautifully detailed section of Gotham where every nook and cranny has details most games would have ignored. No matter what part of the city you are in, there is never a feeling of being lost. Certain buildings are nice landmarks that help you get your bearings of where you are in the world and there is never a boring moment in Gotham. Most open world games have stretches where nothing happens as you walk from one area to another before you run into something worth doing, but the city has so many villains around, Riddler trophies to gather, or other side mission stories to do that there is never a slow moment in getting around the city.
Which, getting around the city was another fear. I think a lot of people were expecting to drive the batmobile or bat-gyroscope around the city. If they want to add the bat-gyroscope, they can still do that since it's awesome. But moving from one end of Arkham City to the other is rather fast and fun. Using the cape to dive and ascend is a blast once you get the hang of it especially with the sound affects of the cape adding to the experience.
If there was one area where Arkham Asylum suffered the most, it would be the boss battles. Aside from Poison Ivy, the boss battles were nothing more than fighting the regular titans in the game but longer fight sequences. Arkham City improves on that greatly. While fighting some of the villains are still rather "meh", they have changed it up enough so it didn't fall into the same trap Arkham Asylum did. The best fight in the game is against Mr. Freeze. The thing they did though was use Batman to the best of his ability. They didn't add any special way to take him down, instead they force you to use Batman's skills. They want you to use the various take-down moves in the game to weaken Freeze enough to beat him. So instead of putting Batman in a circle and having him fight, they give you an entire room where you must sneak around as Freeze hunts you down using your heat trail. Again, they did nothing special in this boss fight, but it is the best fight in the game.
Of course you can't mention Arkham City without acknowledging the great voice work. Kevin Conroy still has the best Batman voice and could only be improved with better dialogue. We get it Batman, you are the shadows or whatever lame line you want to spout before you engage the enemy. Though having some nice one-liners were great. Arleen Sorkin is replaced by Tara Strong who fills in surprisingly well for Harley Quinn, and of course Mark Hamill stealing the show as the Joker. Almost comically, the worst voice-actor of the bunch is Nolan North pulling out a dreadful Penguin. His whole "cockney" accent doesn't feel right but luckily voices many thugs throughout the city who don't sound half bad. Except...you know...most of them sound the same.
Not everyone was able to play as Catwoman, and I'm not going to go into that whole debacle with the online pass. But playing as Catwoman was both fun but also a chore. Having the Catwoman pass allows four mini-missions that allows you to step into that those high heel boots of Catwoman and prowl the city kicking ass. The kicking ass part was fun. The getting around the city, not so. Catwoman plays a lot how I feel a Spider-Man character would play. She's agile and flexible, fast and loves to hop around. She doesn't have a wide array of arsenal at her disposal, but the caltrops are particularly great since they are spikes that enemies than step on and complain. Fighting with Catwoman is a blast especially since it's a nice contrast to the power moves that Batman has. However, she doesn't traverse as well as Batman. Instead of quickly zipping to a rooftop she uses her whip to pull herself to the side of a building and she has to hop up. It isn't fun and takes a far greater time to move throughout the city. The mini-missions themselves are not spectacular, but again, can be a nice change of pace from playing as Batman.
There are very little problems with this game and most complaints against this game are absurd. People complain about too many gadgets (most of which you rarely have to use), no explanation of why they made Arkham City (there is, but you have to collect the Riddler trophies), why Batman is helping villains (most of the help is actually helping Gotham as well or Batman himself), or being Batman is less impactful (which I can understand for the most part). Instead they should focus on the side missions that usually end poorly and too quickly, the few boss fights that are kind of bad, some story beats that aren't made too clear at times, and of course the abrupt and disappointing ending. You don't hear these other reviewers complaining about picking up audio logs in Bioshock or Resident Evil which is no different than the Riddler trophies. In fact it's worse because you aren't even shown where they are and there is no incentive to get them other than the back story. I also don't see reviewers moan about the over-abundance of magic in Skyrim the way they are troubled about the 9 or so gadgets Batman has in Arkham City. Perhaps it's my bias towards Batman since I read comics....
Regardless, I think it would be hard for anyone to call Arkham City a terrible game especially if they loved Arkham Asylum. Arkham City has made improvements in areas that were flawed in the previous game, in created a bigger detailed world, the best melee system in gaming, quite a bit of stuff to do in an 8-10 hour story game, great voice-work...the list goes on and on. No other experience this year has given me the same amount of enjoyment that Batman: Arkham City did. And because Rocksteady has pulled a second successful and great comic book game out of their hat, I am more excited than ever to play a third game.
