Batman Arkham City PC Review

This week I finally managed to find time for the sequel to one of my all time favourite games, Batman Arkham Asylum, the multi million selling Batman Arkham City. Sure this game has been with us for quite some time now, but its popularity seems to have diminished none, not to mention we have the latest re-release of it on the Wii U, GOTY editions, Armoured Editions and a tonne of DLC that has kept the title selling well since its initial release just over 12 months ago.

So why am I looking at this one so late you might ask? Well a number of reasons really, most importantly I’ve really wanted to get around to playing this one since it came out and just haven’t been able to dedicate the time to it, something I was able to rectify over the Christmas holidays. Plus I needed an extra review to tie me over while I’m away at CES in Vegas.

Many of you may have played this game already, but I’m sure many of you will still be holding out, or maybe just waiting for another Steam daily deal to roll around. This review is for those of you who have yet to make your mind up on the caped crusader.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=944Ty9YpjEs[/youtube]

Coming from Rocksteady Studios and of course Warner Bro’s Interactive, Batman Arkham City is built upon the well established framework of Unreal Engine 3, a game engine that has proved its self time and time again across multiple platforms, but one that shines especially bright on the PC, if you have the processing power to take full advantage of all its delights.

Minimum Requirements

• Windows XP, Vista or 7
• Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or AMD X2 4800+
• 2GB Ram
• 17 GB Storage
• Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB or AMD HD 3850 512MB

Recommended Requirements

• Windows 7
• Intel or AMD Dual-Core 2.5Ghz
• 4GB Ram
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 or AMD HD 6970

Test System Requirements

• Windows 7 64 Bit
• Intel Core i5 3570K @ Stock
• 8GB DDR3 1800 MHz
• 2 x Nvidia GTX 660 Ti (SLI) 2GB

Now this is the fun part, as when it comes to PC gaming Batman Arkham City has a cheeky reputation for being hard to max out on even the most respectable gaming rigs and while I’m sure you could get it working in one context or another on the minimum requirements, I can’t imagine it would be a very remarkable experience.

I was able to max the game out on my review system, taking full advantage of all the latest graphics technologies that are available in the game and while 60FPS was there for the most part, there were a few times when the game dipped down to 30FPS, still acceptable but a good indication of the mighty system it would take to really make this game flow perfectly. Even more so should you wish to take advantage of its superb 3D features, if you have a compatible display of course.

One thing is for certain though, this is one of the best looking games on the market today, even with a year already on its clock it still out shines most entries in terms of graphics performance, with its extremely extensive use of PhysX, global lighting, destruction, very long draw distances, detailed textures and massive amounts of particles, objects, lighting and characters on screen to keep everything looking awesome from start to finish.

For those of you who played Batman Arkham Asylum, then you can expect general game play to be more of the same, yet expect to find every little detail of the game tweaked, improved and or expanded upon. Arkham City (as with Asylum) are the finest examples of third person action on the market today and in fact its hard to think of another game that has got the balance of puzzle solving, exploration and button mashing violence so right. Sure you can mash your way through combat rather nicely here, yet if you’re willing to take the time to figure out the rhythms and techniques buried in the game, there is enough expansion and detail that will satisfy the fighting passion of the most hardcore gamer.

Arkham City lives up to its name too, it really does feel like a city and the scale is impressive to say the least, with extensive detail being laid into every building and location throughout the game that makes travesing the streets or roof tops an absolute joy. It doesn’t matter if you run, climb, fly or grapple your way through the city, there is sure to be a method that is to your liking. Unfortunately no bat mobile though.

The main story (which I won’t spoil) isn’t even half the adventure and while you can plod through in about 6-8 hours, defeat the Joker and his various henchmen along the way, not forgetting a few other famous villains, you’ll be missing out if you do. Even once you complete the game, there is nothing forcing you from Arkham City and there is all the time in the world to pick off side quests.

Side missions are where the real fun is, which is saying something given the epic scale of the main story. Finding Riddler trophys and clues, dealing with Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Two-Face, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, League of Assassins, Mad Hatter, Deadshot and more all give you plenty of reason to explore the dark corners of the city.

Overall this is easily one of the best games this generation and while it’s not perfect it’s…. ah who am I kidding, I really can’t find fault with this game! and that is something I rarely, if ever say. It didn’t take long for Batman Arkham Asylum to win me over and it wasn’t long before Arkham City routed its self as one of my all time favourite gaming experiences, ranking in my personal all time top 10 with ease.

There is an incredible amount of content on offer for those willing to put in the hours and find it, being a true detective and sniffing out every secret, hidden item, maxing out your skills, playing on hard mode and solving those fiendish Riddler puzzles will take you weeks, but it will be well and truly worth it too.

Graphically it’s sublime and it’s been great to see it in all its glory on my recently build gaming rig, even if it did make my graphics card work overtime to cope with its unrelenting use of physics and lighting.

It doesn’t matter what platform you choose, sure the Wii U edition has a fancy interface and some nice tessellation, the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions are about on par with each other and the PC edition is incredible if you have the system for it, but underneath they are all still the same game and the game play is what really matters. Now that the game is 12 months old there are plenty of sales, offers and even pre-owned copies on the market, put simply, there has never been a better time to invest in this game.