Batman Arkham Asylum vs Batman Arkham City

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Am I the only one who thinks Arkham Asylum is better than Arkham City? I'm not what you would call a "Hardcore Batman Fanboy", I've seen the animated series and some of the (awful) movies, but I never really got into the comic books. Batman is a superhero I neither love nor hate, but I do find some things about the franchise interesting.

I havn't played a lot of the game Batman: Arkham Asylum, but personally I think it's the better game when compared to Arkham City. Mostly because I think the setting is rather unique, the idea of it being set inside the mental asylum where many of Gotham's dangerous villains get locked up and having to stop them from breaking free. The game also has all the cheesiness you could ever want like the sexy-dressed female villains Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, the unintentionally homoerotic thugs for Batman to beat up (seriously I havn't seen so much half-naked muscley manliness since Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever"), and compared to the many kiddy Batman games out there Arkham Asylum has a dark theme which is mature enough for adult gamers to enjoy.

Now my problem with Batman Arkham City is that I feel it's not only too dark (in a highly cynical way like the comics I never cared about), but the setting doesn't really make sense to me the way Arkham Asylum does. I mean how the heck could the Warden-turned-Mayor from Arkham Asylum be allowed to lock up every criminal in Gotham City inside a portion of the city and basically leave them there to rot and fight each other off, while threatening to shoot anybody who tries to escape? Considering the fact that the Batman franchise is set in the United States that seems pretty much like a violation of basic human rights that people would go apeshit about. I understand it's a comic book world where real-world logic doesn't apply, but considering how messy that entire situation sounds I fail to see how exactly Batman is going to "save the day".

Also I have an issue with Harley Quinn's new wardrobe. In the comics and cartoons she was always potrayed as wearing a clown suit, and while her outfit in Arkham Asylum was a lot more revealing it at least made sense that she would be wearing a stolen nurse's uniform to inflitrate the facility and help Joker. Her outfit in Arkham City just seems completely unnessecary, especially considering the other villains like Catwoman and Penguin wear their well-known outfits from the comics. Harley Quinn looks too much like a tattooed goth girl instead of a clown-themed super villainess, she doesn't even resemble a clown anymore which is what she at least did with her face make-up in Arkham Asylum.

Anyways that's basically my opinion on the two games, what do other people think about them? Making this topic kind of makes me want to finish beating Arkham Asylum now.

Don't get me wrong, Arkham Asylum was one of the best Batman games in existence, but several elements of the game - such as the Scarecrow encounters and avoiding Killer Croc in his lair - drag on predictably. Not to mention the final Joker battle is one of the easiest boss fights in existence, but nevertheless, it is still a great game. The Predator challenges kept me coming back for more, along with the mastering of the Freeflow combat system.

Arkham City looks set to eclipse Asylum, and i for one cannot wait to get my grubby mitts on my pre-ordered copy over here in the UK come October 21st. Harley Quinn's outfit and voice change (Tara Strong now) may seem unnecessary, but i think it won't put hardcore Bat fans off. The new character of the Penguin looks darker than previous incarnations (The bottle-top monocle confirms this), as does Mr Freeze. But one element of the game i am most looking forward to is the Riddler's death trap puzzles. It seems that Rocksteady were inspired by the Saw films, can't wait!

I'm really looking forward to this game as well.

I think the setting is quite in keeping with Batman... It looks like a mix of No Man's Land and Escape From New York. Themes of urban corruption and decay seem very Batman to me.

I agree that the decaying urban streets does feel more like the real Batman, however in my opinion there's been enough Batman adabtions that take place on the streets of Gotham City. I loved how Arkham Asylum took place in the mental facility where the series' most dangerous villains were kept, and one of the cool touches was how they were all wearing prison uniforms that they changed to resemble their traditional villain costumes.

I guess maybe AC is going to have better gameplay features than AA and be truer to the Batman franchise, but it's the little things like what I mentioned above that make me appreciate the first game a lot more.

Oh and also I started playing the game more and I got to the part where you have to solve The Riddler's puzzles, it really is a fun game. One of the things I can't wait to do is unlock all of the character trophies.

^^^ Not to mention Paul Dini is writing the story for the game.


He's one of the best modern Batman writers...


I'm not worried about this being a great game or staying true to the characters.


From the dialog in the Hugo Strange trailer it seems they'll be exploring the theme of "BATMAN cure or cause?"

I think there will be plenty of interesting stuff to think about. I don't think Dini would go there if he didn't have something interesting and original to add.