Where to begin? Back in 2009 when I first heard of Batman: Arkham Asylum, I totally wrote it off, like a dumbass. I was at the time in talks with a videogame distributor because I was considering opening up a small-town video game retail store in Colorado, and I remember scoffing. I scoffed. Pfft. Batman? That’s not gonna be any good. She assured me otherwise, but it wasn’t until a year later that I picked up the game and grew familiar with the flavor of crow.

I loved Arkham Asylum, and Arkham City refines the original game’s formula. The fighting is slightly more complex due to even more options, but still as smooth as ever, and now you can counter multiple opponents simultaneously and use the environment as part of your attack animations. The first time Batman slammed a thug’s head into the wall as part of a standard attack, my jaw dropped.

I don’t know whether the game was actually shorter than the original, or if it just feels that way. Time passes quickly when you’re thrashing hardened criminals. I’m currently listed as about 50% complete in the game, although I’ve finished the game’s main story. I still have a lot of side quests and riddler trophies to pick up. And I’ll probably try out the new game plus at some point. I may not get the calendar man achievement, finish all the combat and predator challenges, or finish all the augmented reality training – gliding through hoops is a bitch! – but I’ll try like hell to get every last Riddler trophy. I did it in the first game.

I really feel like the role of Catwoman has been overstated in the gaming media. She has a few very short segments, and aside from the non-story challenges and the post-story ability to roam the city as her collecting catwoman trophies, the amount of time you spend as Catwoman in-game is very small. I don’t mean to detract from Catwoman – she’s fun to play and very well implemented – but if I’d had to play without the DLC I wouldn’t feel like I was missing out on that much.

The last thing I’d like to say – and I can’t say much here because I don’t want to spoil anything – is that the game’s ending was wonderful. I won’t put it in the same class as the amazing ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2, but if Mark Hamill is quitting as the Voice of The Joker, he couldn’t have gone off on a stronger note.