I selected Normal as my difficulty, and left hints on, but I turned subtitles off. This is not a game that I want to read.
I guess starting off with Catwoman makes sense, in terms of setting up the beginning of Batman's story, but it's a little odd to just be thrown into the game right away. I kind of wish there was more of a tutorial.
The "official" opening cutscene is pretty powerful. Keeping Strange as just a seemingly omniscient voice until after it's revealed that he knows you're Batman was a good call. Plus, Kevin Conroy delivers "Shut. Arkham City. Down." perfectly. And good lord, once you see Strange is he creepy. It's weird how one of Batman's most "normal" rogues is also one of the (pardon the pun) strangest.
Strange mentions something called Protocol 10, which Bruce seems quite interested in. I guess that's the reason he's sticking around, instead of leaving, like everyone knows Batman could probably do.
I'm kind of curious what happens if you let the TYGER guard wail on you when you try to escape. But I'm too OCD to find out. :P Time to break some bones.
...Or I'll just wander around the processing area for a bit while being verbally abused. Jesus Black Mask gets the snot kicked out of him. And it's no wonder I missed his cameo the first time. There's really no other reason to look in that spot of the courtyard. I was actually wondering why I got him in my Bios folder, despite never seeing him. And am I in line behind Deadshot? I think I am. That's actually pretty cool. Aw, man! I should have checked his jumpsuit to see if his name was on it!
Strange shuttles me through into the main complex with Jack Ryder (cameo!) and some random guy. Who ends up being killed by the thugs on the other side, while Ryder gets knocked down really easily. Guess it's up to Bruce to save him.
I love the Azrael cameo in the prisoner tunnel. And zooming in on him makes him disappear in a puff of smoke. The guy is cool, but he kind of freaks me out a bit. But not as much as the Penguin. Hoo boy, does the Arkham team know how to make a villain relevant. This version is like Danny Devito's portrayal turned Up To Eleven.
Penguin captures me, and takes me to an alley for a little good-old-fashioned payback for presumably decades worth of the Waynes being better than the Cobblepots. I like that I'm able to counter his punch. I wish there were more of these Quick Time Counters throughout the game. It seems to me like Batman should be able to at least knock a few heads around before he takes the inevitable hit that the story requires. Also, I would have loved if Bruce was an unlockable costume. He's surprisingly badass even without the suit. I chose to knock Penguin out, but the uppercut you deliver bothers me. It seems like a really awkward punch to throw at that moment.
Alfred sends in the suit (proving that Bruce could probably just skyhook onto his plane, if he really wanted to get out), and takes a moment to explain B.A.T. mode to me once I reach it. I probably won't use it very much. If I get desperate for crowd control, I'll probably break it out.
Listening to Vicki Vale's radio show, and Gordon's transmission over the GCPD frequency is kind of cool. I hope I hear a couple more of these over the course of the game. I couldn't figure out when they were broadcast last time, and missed any others. But once they're done talking, it's time to listen in to Strange's broadcast. Catwoman is being held in the courthouse by Two-Face, and Batman seems to think that she'll know what Protocol 10 is (why?)
I'd heard that it was possible to save Jack Ryder from a group of thugs if you looked for him before going to save Catwoman. So I did. He's kind of an ass, and it's too bad that his alter ego, the Creeper, doesn't make an appearance, but it's still cool to have him around.
Levelled up on some goons and picked Combat Armour v2.0 as my upgrade.
Beat up some more goons on the way back to the courthouse. Gee, how can you tell that this is Two-Face's territory? Could it be that it's split straight up the middle into a pristine and wrecked side? This version of Two-Face is one of my favourites. It's basically a more realistic version of his Batman The Animated Series appearance (so, burned skin, instead of blue). The only thing it's missing is the white hair. Why doesn't anyone else do that? It's so cool!
He's also eeeeeeevil. Seeing as most adaptations like to go over his origins, it's rather rare to see Two-Face being this ruthless.
Once I take him and his thugs out, Catwoman turns out to be entirely useless to figuring out what Protocol 10 is, and the Joker takes a shot at her. Almost not worth the effort to save her from Two-Face (I kid; Catwoman is always worth it). Detective Mode is cool, and I like using the Gamepad to search for clues. Finding the trajectory of the bullet leads me to the church a couple blocks over.
Walked around to the back of the courthouse, and took a trip to visit Calendar Man in his cell. This guy is freaky as all hell. All he talks about is some demented Christmas fantasy, probably because that's the next holiday coming up.
Headed over to the church, taking out a few goons along the way. I decided to straight-up punch Harley when she attacked me, rather than Counter her. It's a little callous, sure, but it works as a sort of off-hand move. And why yes, Harley, I do like your outfit. Why do you ask~? ;) Oh, ew! Joker masturbation reference! Ew! Ew! Brain Bleach! Brain Bleach!
Anyway, once she left, I took out the four goons through the tutorial, and wandered around talking to the various doctors they were holding hostage. Two things stand out. First of all, Cash is the leader of this motley crew of medical staff. Good to see him being his typical "don't-take-no-shit" self. Second is that the doctor who went crazy and cut off his face is totally Hush! I love Hush, despite never having seen anything featuring him. He's definitely one of my favourite Bat villains, and I am looking forward to running into him later on (since that's a sidequest I never managed to finish the first time around).
Went up to the bell tower, listened to the Joker spoil the game's ending, and booked it out of there before he blew the thing up. Those Joker mannequins with the TV heads are just as creepy here as they were in Arkham Asylum.
Batman, being Batman, tracked the broadcast signal. I took some time while following it to beat up a whole lotta Mooks, and levelled up twice, picking up Combat Armour v3.0 and Shock Wave Attack as my upgrades, then headed up into the Sionis Steel Mill's main chimney stack; the only entrance into the Joker's hideout. Why is Joker in Black Mask's factory, anyway? A question for the ages, I suppose.
To be continued...
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