Shouldn't I be making games rather than reviewing them?

Seeing as I've been completing games recently, I'd thought it'd be a good idea to put some of my writing skills to practice and make some reviews.

So here we go, review #1. Exciting!

Batman: Arkham City

I'll let you in on a little secret here; I've never touched a comic book in my life, therefore I have very little emotional connection to superheroes and the like. When I was younger, whenever I was asked who would win in a fight between superhero A and superhero B, I couldn't answer them. All I could say that I didn't know, but I hope that they aim to resolve their differences over a spot of tea and in a civilised manner.

So what exactly made me shell out to get Batman Arkham Asylum despite zero knowledge of comic book heroes? Maybe it was the 'Game of the Year' tag that was plastered on the front; one that wasn't stuck on a video game with the words 'Call of Duty' or 'Halo' anywhere near it, but regardless, I got it for a rather cheap price.

And I'd say it was definitely one of the best video game purchases for some time. Excellent gameplay, excellent story, excellent atmosphere. So it was with great excitement I got my grubby hands on Arkham Ciity, and successfully managed to delude myself that my essays weren't really of great importance.

The story begins with Batman (or Bruce Wayne. Ooh, check me out) in jail for unknown reasons. After subsequently escaping, he finds that the whole city is under control by a deranged individual by the name of Hugo Strange, and he must go out to stop him.

Simple to start with, but as the game progresses, the story tends to branch out and reel in more villains from the Batman world; to most fans' glee I suppose, but to me, it was simply another crazy motherfucker whose ass I have to kick. I have to admit I did get slightly lost along the game, in the sense of the story going off a tangent and then flinging you back to the main one, which made me constantly go, 'Wait, what's this again? Oh right, that.'

If you liked Arkham Asylum, then all the mechanics that were so enjoyable in that game are still in the sequel. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it sums' it up, but in this case it's 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it and then attach a bigass turbo booster to it'. Combat has the option now of countering more than one enemy, which allows Batman to hilariously swing one thug around to knock out another two, and Batman has added a whole bunch of utilities to his arsenal, including a smoke pellet, which I don't think was in the first game, and it really bloody should have been.

The stealth section of the game is also pretty much the same, therefore it still is bloody entertaining and easily one of my favourite parts in the game. Even though once you know what to do still makes it relatively easy, it still is undeniably fun to go around getting an almost sexual kick out of doing inverted takedowns from the heads of gargoyles. Again, they've also gone and added some variety to it, like the ability for some enemies to scan gargoyles for Batman itself. A nice touch, but my problem with this is that there is an upgrade for Batman to evade this simply by standing still, thereby rendering it completely useless. Shame, really.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the game is the side missions. The majority of them consists of a past villain with some beef against Batman making him do things in order to save civilians. You can sense a recurring theme here, the game is jam-packed with baddies, which I'm sure is great news for the fans out there, but for me really made it kinda hard to differentiate between baddies. Nevertheless, the side missions themselves add some spice to the game, giving the player options to do different sorts of Arkham-saving-activity, one of my favourite being the cold call killer missions featuring Zsasz (who I suspect was created by a stray cat patting away at a section of the keyboard). 'Whenever a phone rings around Arkham City, Batman has to answer it otherwise PEOPLE DIE' pretty much sums it up, but the atmosphere it creates is pretty memorable.

The boss fights came under a bit of criticism in the previous game; it didn't take much to beat them and even the final boss was made my little bitch. But then again, I suppose when you've 100%-ed Super Mario World in your early days, then that just means you're naturally good at things now. But they are better in Arkham City, again with each boss standing out from another with their own unique quirk. I can't tell you the amount of times I got my arse kicked by Dr. Freeze in the game, that was a tough cookie.

*MINOR SPOILER ALERT*

When it comes to the ending, I thought the ending was very ambiguous, and left us with even more questions than before. It leaves itself open to a sequel, but I can't imagine what they'd call it. I was going to say Batman: Arkham Country, but that only puts in my head the thought of Batman chasing off thugs with a straw hat and a shotgun and telling them in a Southern American drawl to evacuate his premises or face immediate consequences.

I tell you what though. Do look out for the credits. Simply one of the most hard-hitting ways to end a game.

All in all, if you enjoyed Arkham Asylum, then you will definitely enjoy Arkham City. Surprisingly it's a bit on the short side, I got it on Friday night and completed the main storyline by Tuesday afternoon, and that was with rehearsals and whatnot in between, but that's only about 40% of the entire game, and if you're like me and you play games generally for the storyline and not so much for the side missions, then it would be slightly disappointing.

Arkham City is a great example of how sequels should be done. If it sucked in the first game, revamp it. If it was absolutely fine in the first game, keep it and add more to it. It makes you wonder why some game companies out there don't decide to follow this winning philosophy.

On a side note, I do wish Batman would lighten up. Listen, I'm all for the talk-little-and-kick-ass attitude, but at some points he just sounds bored, which I suppose I can't blame him for this. His to-do list consists nothing more of 'save unfortunate bastard' and 'punch belittling, mocking bastard in the face'. I do feel sorry for him, but I really shouldn't do, because that's like feeling sorry for a 16 year old girl who got a car for her birthday but not in the colour she wanted.

RATING: 4/5 stars