Arkham City
If you're into Batman...wow. This game lived up to the hype...yes. Aside from having a story full of set pieces where you're like, "Oh, crap, that didn't just happen" the game world itself is just chock full of stuff. Little side missions, little easter eggs for those familiar with the various incarnations of the Batman universe. It's like Arkham Asylum...only bigger.
I admit, I was skeptical when I heard the "Escape from New York" set up of converting part of Gotham into a massive prison...but it works within the narrative. Works VERY well.
Did I mention there is a ton of stuff to do? After I had finished the campaign, I fired it up a couple days later to try to finish up my hunt for Deadshot. I started out on top of a building and when I rotated the camera around, "Holy crap, that's Azrael!" Yeah, turns out there's a side mission of following him around...because, apparently, if you're paying attention, he's been following YOU since you came into the prison. Observant me...I get lucky and spot him near my respawn point (facepalm).
Yeah, I'm DEFINITELY going to fire up a NEW GAME + file on this to try to catch all the little story cameos I missed on my first playthrough (yeah, I missed Killer Croc in the sewers, dagnabbit, but I DID take down the Mad Hatter, THAT was a mind trip, I tell you) Again, so much stuff.
If you haven't played Arkham Asylum, DO SO! Both games have Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (Batman and Joker respectively from the Animated Series) so the VO work is awesome and the story, as touted by the back of the Arkham Asylum box, is by Paul Dini (you know, of Batman:tAS, and Superman:tAS fame). You'll geek over this stuff.
As for editions, if you're looking at picking up Arkham Asylum, the only REAL difference between the first release and the Game of the Year Edition is a few challenge maps (at least as far as the PS3 version goes).
SIDENOTE: The Catwoman pack that you get if you buy new...not that great, really. A handful of missions and, well, admittedly, a short but mindblowing alternate ending (I freaked out when it said SAVING and the credits rolled on that one!) Yeah, if you play the Arkham games, the game will mess with you a few times...whether it be something Scarecrow is doing...or the Mad Hatter. Still, good times.
I admit, I was skeptical when I heard the "Escape from New York" set up of converting part of Gotham into a massive prison...but it works within the narrative. Works VERY well.
Did I mention there is a ton of stuff to do? After I had finished the campaign, I fired it up a couple days later to try to finish up my hunt for Deadshot. I started out on top of a building and when I rotated the camera around, "Holy crap, that's Azrael!" Yeah, turns out there's a side mission of following him around...because, apparently, if you're paying attention, he's been following YOU since you came into the prison. Observant me...I get lucky and spot him near my respawn point (facepalm).
Yeah, I'm DEFINITELY going to fire up a NEW GAME + file on this to try to catch all the little story cameos I missed on my first playthrough (yeah, I missed Killer Croc in the sewers, dagnabbit, but I DID take down the Mad Hatter, THAT was a mind trip, I tell you) Again, so much stuff.
If you haven't played Arkham Asylum, DO SO! Both games have Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (Batman and Joker respectively from the Animated Series) so the VO work is awesome and the story, as touted by the back of the Arkham Asylum box, is by Paul Dini (you know, of Batman:tAS, and Superman:tAS fame). You'll geek over this stuff.
As for editions, if you're looking at picking up Arkham Asylum, the only REAL difference between the first release and the Game of the Year Edition is a few challenge maps (at least as far as the PS3 version goes).
SIDENOTE: The Catwoman pack that you get if you buy new...not that great, really. A handful of missions and, well, admittedly, a short but mindblowing alternate ending (I freaked out when it said SAVING and the credits rolled on that one!) Yeah, if you play the Arkham games, the game will mess with you a few times...whether it be something Scarecrow is doing...or the Mad Hatter. Still, good times.