The Greatest Batman Game of All Time Released 14 Years Ago, and It Still Hasn’t Been Topped

As arguably the most enduring fixture in the superhero genre, Batman has had a lot of adaptations over the years. Especially in the world of gaming, there are hundreds of iterations of the Caped Crusader for players to step into. The most successful of these video game reinventions is likely the Arkham series. Developed by Rocksteady Studios under the Warner Bros. Games umbrella, Batman: Arkham Asylum introduced a vivid take on the Dark Knight and his rogues’ gallery, all set within an expansive take on the titular hospital/prison/lair for the villains of Gotham City.

With a compelling story, great graphics, clever level design, and a combat system that has since influenced an entire generation of action titles, Arkham Asylum initially appeared to be an unassailable mountaintop for the franchise. Then Rocksteady released the direct sequel, Batman: Arkham City in 2011, which took everything Arkham Asylum did and improved upon it. Batman: Arkham City came out 14 years ago on October 18, 2011, and it remains one of the best action games of the 21st century. The refinement and expansion of the formula Arkham Asylum had already nailed, which has yet to be truly surpassed, and it remains the crown jewel of Rocksteady’s Batman output.

Be The Batman You Want To Be

Arkham City is very much an expansion of Arkham Asylum, broadening the player’s sandbox to an entire section of Gotham City. Following the events of the first game, Quincy Sharp and Hugo Strange arrange for a section of the city to be used as an informal prison complex. Batman sneaks into the space to investigate what’s happening, uncovering a sprawling conspiracy that involves one of his most dangerous enemies. At the same time, Batman is forced to contend with a lethal virus spread to him by the Joker, who is also dying from exposure following the events of Arkham Asylum. This puts the player on the clock, with Batman desperate to find a cure, stop Strange, bring down the Joker, and save Gotham from collapsing into pure chaos.

Once the game brings players into Arkham City, the world opens up and becomes a wide-open adventure. While the map may not be as massive as the one introduced in the subsequent sequel Arkham Knight, this tighter space is still big enough for all sorts of secrets and surprises — all without leaving it too open-ended, where players could get lost amid the neon-lit city streets. The scale of Arkham City is the exact right playground for players to explore, leading to lots of side-missions and challenges to naturally stumble upon. This carries over to the pure traversal mechanic as well. While the Batmobile has its strengths, it’s simply not as fun as Arkham City’s reliance on the grapple hook/cape combo.

The combat in Arkham City is also a step up from the already strong fighting system of Arkham Asylum. The counter-based combat flows much faster and cleaner in the sequel, with the addition of new gadgets creating plenty of fresh combo opportunities. It lends itself well to the visuals and proves to be the ultimate example of “easy to learn, hard to master” action. Arkham City also builds on the clever boss battles of the previous game, with confrontations against Solomon Grundy and Mr. Freeze among the more memorable fights in the entire series.

On top of all the tight controls, tense stealth, destructive gadgets, and strong combat, Arkham City also gives players the ability to play as Catwoman. She operates with just the right amount of consistency with the rest of the gameplay, all while feeling unique in her own ways. It all speaks to the overall strength of the game design in Arkham City, which leaves enough room for the players to feel like they have complete agency in Batman’s mission while still charging along in a compelling tale about the Caped Crusader.

Welcome To Arkham City, Hope You Survive The Experience

This focus on tight action and natural exploration is the key to Arkham City‘s playability, naturally letting players discover more of the game’s overarching story on their own. Just as with Arkham Asylum, famed Batman creative Paul Dini penned the story for Arkham City alongside Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill. As opposed to the more straightforward path of Arkham Asylum, Arkham City lets players solve the mysteries of Hugo Strange and the plans of the Joker at their own pace. Side-missions can be unlocked at certain points, opening up new corners of Gotham and letting players solve mysteries on their own.

Finding Riddler’s death traps, confronting the Mad Hatter, and stopping Victor Zsasz’s killing spree all require a mix of combat, stealth, and wits. It’s a terrific way for the game to really make the player feel like Batman, giving them mysteries to solve around every corner, even as it builds up a larger overarching narrative. The frequent random bursts of action on the streets of Gotham, courtesy of the goons working for established villains like Penguin or Joker, also provide players with plenty of opportunities to test their might in sudden confrontations, quickly leveling up Batman and improving their skills in combat without ever feeling like the game is forcing these confrontations upon them.

Soaring through the skies above Gotham, players want to strike fear into the hearts of criminals by confronting them. All these side encounters play into the sense that the entire game is a fully fleshed-out world, with minor threats that play into and further complicate the Caped Crusader’s attempts to bring down the Joker and Hugo Strange. That primary storyline also proves to be very compelling in its own right, especially once Strange reveals his true colors and the Joker seemingly finds a cure for the effects of the Titan poisoning.

It feeds into a narrative about heroic responsibility, whether that be the small choices of antiheroes like Catwoman or the noble sacrifices of Batman. It’s a great translation of the Batman/Joker dynamic, building to one of the most surprising and effective plot twists in recent gaming history. For Batman fans and newbies alike, Batman: Arkham City is the epitome of what the superhero genre can be in the gaming space.

Why Arkham City Is The Best Batman Game Ever

The rest of the Arkham series has its strengths, with the tight design of Arkham Asylum and the massive cityscape of Arkham Knight giving players solid experiences. There have been other good Batman games before and since as well. None of them found that perfect alchemy that Arkham City did, however. The combat was enhanced, the stealth missions made trickier, with a greater emphasis on exploration, puzzles, and storytelling all bringing new depth to a game model that was already very impressive.

All of this refinement paid off with critics and audiences. Arkham Aslyum had received rave reviews from the gaming media, but critics like Game Informer’s Andrew Reiner described the sequel as the best example of what a licensed game could be. It remains one of the most acclaimed games to ever be based on a superhero, with the subsequent Arkham Origins, Arkham Knight, and other Batman titles all failing to reach the same heights.

The game made over $600 million across the course of its release, and was celebrated as one of the best games of 2011 alongside The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. More than anything, Batman: Arkham City feels like the epitome of the Dark Knight in the video game space. It has a plot that feels perfectly attuned to the character, with distinct takes on some of his most iconic enemies.

The gameplay’s flexibility in action lets players determine their approach to the superhero, whether that be a gadget-heavy, stealthy style that avoids confrontation to a gung-ho brawler who dances around enemies while delivering punishing blows to his foes. It never distracts from the plot, which explores some of the Dark Knight’s most important relationships and dynamics. Regardless of the player-specific approach to the title, it all feels authentically like Batman. Arkham City remains the best example of how Batman works in the video game space, a throne it seems unlikely to give up anytime soon.