Some time after the conclusion of Arkham Asylum, Batman is at it again, doling out his special version of justice in the form of cracked ribs and shattered skulls. Arkham City is the name for a walled-in section of city containing all of the criminals in Gotham, ranging from your street-corner hoodlums to your super-villains like Joker, Two-Face and the like. It was created by Dr. Hugo Strange in an attempt to keep Gotham as crime-free as possible, but as you progress you discover that all is not quite as it seems, and Dr. Stranges intentions might not be as pure as one might have thought initially. There are a lot of Batman adversaries contained in Arkham Citys walls. It would be a common complaint for people to make that Rocksteady tried to shoe-horn too many of them into one game. However, because of the over-all narrative of the storyline, this actually makes sense here. So it is a treat to be able to interact with some of Batmans more obscure nemeses without it feeling like they were just an after-thought or somehow forced into the storyline at the expense of continuity. This fact also produces some great dialogue throughout, with villains referencing one another, or their minions getting into fights with each other, over who is best. It sets a great foundation upon which the gameplay and storyline events unfold.

One thing that Rocksteadys prior title, Arkham Asylum, got right was the ability for Batman to take on hordes of enemies all at the same time. That tradition continues, and is vastly improved upon, in Arkham City. There are points where you have more enemies on-screen than you think any human could tackle, and yet with the right timing of button-presses and a bit of patience, you will be flipping all around the area, dispatching the baddies with ease. In the effort of keeping things fresh though, the thugs around Arkham City (and in the various hideouts the super-villains use for their bases of operation) gradually become more well-armed-and-armored. There is a story-line point for this which I will not go into for spoilers sake, but it makes for a great reasoning behind these regular enemies becoming more powerful and harder to defeat.

Speaking of disposing of your foes, you have a bevy of Bat-gadgets with which to tackle that undertaking, in addition to helping the Detective get around the city. From the trusty batarang (including upgraded ones with remote-controlled or sonic capability) to the foaming explosive gel, from the decrypter to the remote electric charge gun, there are many ways to maneuver the varied challenges that await in Arkham City. Utilizing the gliding ability that Batmans cape affords him along with the ubiquitous grapnel gun means being able to traverse the entire expanse of the game in a relatively short time-span, which is very beneficial when it comes to some of the missions you encounter.

As you get deeper into the storyline, you encounter some villains with whom you create uneasy alliances to the benefit of both parties. This makes for a rather interesting experience as some of these alliances stick while others, well… dont. But the beauty in all of it is the way these adventures make the true enemy in the game seem all the worse. If Batman will actually forge alliances with villains to conquer the greater evil, how bad has that evil got to be?