Batman: Arkham City -- All In One.

I've completed Batman: Arkham City for the Xbox 360. Batman: Arkham City was developed by Rocksteady Games and was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game is the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum and successfully adds a bit of sandbox to the mix. The game is essentially the same with some added freedom and sidequests as you roam the streets of Arkham City, a walled off section of Gotham that has been turned into a prison ala Escape From New York. Arkham City is surprisingly small for a sandbox title and that works toward keeping things moving. It only takes a minute or so to get from one end of the city to the opposite end. The coolest thing about the game is how the Riddler's Challenges are integrated into Arkham City itself. They're everywhere and you just come upon them in the city. They're great puzzles that you'll have to figure out and some will stump you for quite a while. Once you've figured out all the base types however you'll just have to pull off the harder ones of the same types. There are a decent number of base puzzle types. The game offers up all the complex gadgets and combat moves of the original and adds upon them. I'm still not a fan of the combat. I know it's much beloved and most likely for the visual splendor of it all. It's truly impressive to watch with its amazing number of canned responses. But canned they are nonetheless. It's still too much Simon Says autopilot feeling for me. I am still a fan of all the gadgets in that half of the combat though. Graphically the game looks great. It has a nice art style that blends a lot of elements from various Batman sources and becomes its own thing. The game features top-notch voice acting all around. Musically the game reuses much of Arkham City's solid score. The story should appease Batman fans. The characterizations are especially strong. I was glad to see specific Batman: Arkham Asylum villains getting their chance to shine in Arkham City as they were criminally underused in the original. Batman: Arkham City is what every video game sequel is supposed to be, bigger and better, and it offers up more of what made the original a good game. I'm giving Batman: Arkham City an 8.5.