Game Review: Batman: Arkham City.

Before I got my PS3, the last game system I owned was a NES.  Yes, the video game equivalent of a stone tablet and a bronze chisel.  I know.  But over the course of the last couple years, I've discovered the joy of console gaming with such titles as Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Demon's Souls, Skyrim, and now Arkham City.

I prefer games that involve some thinking and problem solving.  Pure combat games, like God of War, bore me to tears.  I bought the game thinking I might like it and within a day I was back at the game store trying to get as much as I could from it.  Thanks, but no thanks.  If it's just about jerking a joystick and mashing buttons, count me out.  There has to be more than that.

I've been a computer gamer for years, and a table-top gamer before that.  Right now I'm waiting for the release of Guild Wars 2.  I played GW 1 for years and enjoyed it immensely, though one could say that my computer gaming experience started with such things as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights.

I also introduced my wife to the first Dragon Age, which we got for the PC and then the PS3.  Both of us were relatively disappointed in DA 2, though for somewhat different reasons.  She wasn't as amused by the dialogue and I thought the gameplay was far too simplistic.  The PS3 version of the original game was far easier than the PC version.  Seems a waste to me.

I LOVE the Assassin's Creed universe, but I have to say I think I actually like Arkham City better, game-wise.  I have a feeling that will change once I get the chance to play Assassin's Creed 3, coming out this Fall.

I love the three dimensional nature of the game.  That the sky is literally the limit.  Soaring over Arkham, watching for minions, and taking them down in a flurry of blows and using an assortment of Wayne Tech gadgets.  What fun.

I just picked up the Catwoman DLC as well, partly because her primary weapon is a whip and I'm writing a story in which the main character also uses a whip--not only as a weapon, but as a means of transportation.  I wanted to study the mechanics of it.

I won't include any spoilers here.  Suffice to say that if you like the movement of the Assassin's Creed or even the Uncharted series, you should love Arkham City.  The freedom of movement can't really be described, it must be experienced.