Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition review: Wonderful toys
For Wii U re-releases of existing games, we’re republishing our original reviews with added evaluation of the new material. Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition brings a little bit more to the excellent 2011 game than some action figure-looking armor. For what is supposed to be the marquee feature, the B.A.T. armor isn’t really a big deal – except for the nice side effect of covering up Catwoman appropriately for cold weather. Poor Catwoman.
A meter fills as you punch people, representing stored kinetic energy. This can be released by tapping an icon on the GamePad or clicking both analog sticks, temporarily increasing your strength. It’s a nice feature for big fights, but not really a big deal.
What is a bigger deal is the GamePad integration. This ranges from the usual “DS port” stuff like a persistent map screen and a touch menu interface to upgrade Batman’s abilities, both of which are very appreciated, to AR tweaks like tilt-controlled Batarang aiming. I found these additions, and the use of augmented reality to search crime scenes in Detective Mode, pretty useful and natural. Aiming in particular augments analog stick targeting with tilt fine-tuning in the same way Uncharted: Golden Abyss did, and it’s welcome.
The coolest use of the GamePad, however, is in the environmental audio. When Batman receives radio transmissions from Oracle or overhears a conversation with his surveillance equipment, the audio comes in over the GamePad, simulating Batman’s earpiece. As you get close enough to a conversation that Batman would be able to hear it unassisted, it shifts over to the TV audio. It’s cool.
You can also play the entire game directly on the GamePad, which is an absolute boon for absentminded Riddler trophy searching while watching TV.
These extras – along with the presence of all previously released DLC – would all be fine reasons to opt for the Armored Edition over the normal, uh, Spandex Edition on other consoles, but there is one Bat-Caveat that must be noted. The framerate is nowhere near as smooth as it is elsewhere. Armored Edition doesn’t really have slowdown – instead, there’s a consistent choppiness to animation. I hope this is a problem Unreal Engine 3 developers get sorted out quickly. In any case, it’s not a reason I would avoid Armored Edition (it still looks great), but be aware you’re not getting the best-looking version.
Original Batman: Arkham City review by Griffin McElroy:Continue reading Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition review: Wonderful toysBatman Arkham City: Armored Edition review: Wonderful toys originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
