Batman Arkham City
Batman: Arkham City is tons of fun, and I had a rollicking good time every minute I played it.
There. Review done. Nothing else to say, no grander point to make, just “this is fun.”
…
…you’re right, that is well out of character for me. I do actually have a lot to say. I just also really wanted to preface my “a lot to say” with “this game, as a game, is tons of fun, and I loved it very much.”
Before I really launch into what I want to say, though, I’ll summarise this game. Batman: Arkham City finds Bruce Wayne locked in a district of Gotham City where, “Escape from New York”-style, all of the cities criminals and dissidents have been locked up to have a good long think about what they’ve done. Batman must investigate and solve a sinister plot by the city’s warden, Hugo Strange, called “Protocol 10,” all while working with and against Arkham City’s various supervillian residents. It is, in short, a superhero game, and it is extremely fun.
“Oh fudgemuffins,” thought Bruce Wayne. “I do believe they’ve heard about my mint Batman #1.”
Batman: Arkham City is an open-world game, giving plenty of space to swoop, dive, glide, and divebomb throughout a massive world. Batman also has an arsenal of gizmos and gadgets, and the game is generally flexible about which gadgets get used where. Leveling up provides the opportunity to improve various gadgets, or, in my case, turn yourself into an impenetrable armoured demigod. How to play is largely left up to the player. All that really matters is solving the mystery.
It’s the story and the plot, though, that really rocket this game into the upper echelons. In addition to the mechanics just being fun, the story is pounding and relentless, not leaving a single moment to breathe. From the moment Batman arrives in Arkham City to the moment he (spoiler alert) leaves, the story is constantly pushing the player to the next goal and the next goal and the next. The main storyline feels well worth completing, and the character’s urgency to solve the mystery feeds nicely into the player. I didn’t want to put the game down - I wanted to do it all in one sitting, just to see where it was going.
Also, it’s Batman, and who doesn’t love Batman?
I could end the review here, and leave it at that, leave this as a fantastic game that was extremely fun to play, and which is definitely one of the diamonds in the rough of my Steam library.
I can’t leave it there, though.
I’m writing this review during the protests against Blizzard and its culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against women. What we consume for entertainment is built on the backs of suffering and discrimination as an almost universal rule in large studios. It’s primarily called out when a game fails to meet its hype , but we need to recognise how universal this is, and what the cost of our media actually is.
Which brings me back to Rocksteady Studios.
Rocksteady, like many of its compatriots in the industry, has its own demons of sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and a culture that devalues people in favour of profits. When we write about games like Batman: Arkham City as fun and beautifully made without acknowledging how the game was made, we normalise the abuse that has become part of the games industry. Part of ethical consumption is to speak out against what’s unethical, and Rocksteady’s treatment of its female employees is unethical.
Batman: Arkham City is a fantastic, wonderful game, and I love it. I love it despite how it was made and the suffering that went into it. Whether that’s possible to do - to truly separate the art from the artist - is a much bigger conversation. Acknowledgement, though, is a first step, as is urging ethical consumption and fundamental change. People and their rights matter, and they matter more than my entertainment.
Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
Year: 2011
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Play Time: 8 - 10 Hours