Batman Arkham City Review

Arkham City also excels if you lop off the context and characters and judge it purely as a game. Rocksteady's balanced mix of generous input windows and gorgeous, silky animations still makes for a refreshing change from the button mashing habits of its contemporaries. The simplicity of the controls only embellishes the gratifying crunch of enemy bones, and the challenge comes from maintaining a steady rhythm of unbroken attacks - the tense satisfaction of watching your combo meter tick slowly upwards is virtually unmatched.

Incoming attacks are indicated by flashing icons, which can be countered with a single button, and now several attacks can be deflected with multiple presses; watching Batman catch the arm of one attacker and throw him into another is a timeless gaming moment. As the enemies become more robust, you'll also have to dodge knives, bounce over shields, and knock out armoured foes with devastating flurries of strikes.

Stumbling onto enemies with guns triggers a change of tact, requiring Batman to stick to the shadows in order remain imperforated. Here the focus is on positioning into one-hit takedowns, dropping down and popping up from scattered vantage points to thin out the ranks before launching a satisfying gliding kick into the last man standing. Patience is your main virtue, but downtime between knockouts is minimal.

Batman's gadgetry has been tweaked and rounded, the game handing out new toys and smoothing the rough edges off the existing arsenal to ensure each piece of gear has its own defined purpose. The easy-to-exploit Ultra Batclaw is gone, and you can't chuck a handful of Batarangs anymore, but the neutered remains are complemented with ice grenades and a powerful electric cannon.

Nowhere is there more of a testament to the quality of these raw mechanics than in Arkham City's returning suite of challenge rooms. Here the game is stripped to either combat or stealth, with 12 scenarios for each, and players are left to hit increasingly demanding sets of targets. Strict and unrelenting, it's an utterly compelling addition that Rocksteady is confident enough to use as the basis for premium post-launch content.

It doesn't take the world's greatest detective to spot that this is an expertly crafted adventure, one that maintains a breathtaking pace and invigorating rhythm from beginning to end. Dizzyingly extensive and lovingly detailed, Rocksteady has created an intricate, spirited and unequalled playground worthy of one of the most iconic characters in modern fiction.