Batman Arkham Asylum/ Arkham City Comparison

Basically, Arkham City is a very different game to Asylum. At first, it might not seem like it, but under the surface, there is a lot more depth and complexity to City than Asylum.


First off: The graphics. In all honesty, I prefer those of Arkham Asylum. I know there isn't much difference, but Asylum has stronger graphics...ever so slightly. Most people with smaller TV's won't notice the difference, but I had the good fortune to get a really large one so I can see the slight difference in quality. The other thing that Asylum had was this sort of comic book style art to things like the character bios and even in the gameplay. I miss the comic style now that's it's been replaced with a more computerized style. But, hardly any difference overall. This is probably because Arkham City is open world, which brings me to my next point. ARKHAM CITY IS OPEN WORLD!!! This changes the style drastically from a slightly claustrophobic game to a free roam one. You can fly about the large map as you choose, picking fights with thugs as you see fit. However, there is always stuff to do. There are loads of side missions and riddler trophies and riddles to conquer. Arkham Asylum has a very narrow path to follow. That's not a bad thing, but I feel that Arkham City truly was Batman's playground. However, I did like the feel of being trapped on island with hundred of people gunning for me. Speaking of riddler stuff, there are some changes this time. Arkham City has over 400 whereas Asylum has over 200. Also, the trophies aren't just collectables, most of them have a tough puzzle about them. This is more engaging and generally more fun. You can also interrogate thugs lit in green to find riddler secrets on the map. This is really handy. Now to the biggest part of the game. The combat. There are a lot more moves that Batman can use in City like the beatdown and the special combo Bat-Swarm which add to the combat even more with strategy and flow. And I don't know how I beat up bad guys without freeflow focus. The stealth has also been improved on with new moves like the double takedown and new gadgets like the disruptor (upgrade it the first chance you get) The enemies have more variety than just knives and tasers and the stealth bad guys have things like thermal sensors and detective mode scramblers. Basically, City is better in almost every aspect except perhaps the story. It's good, but it feels a little jumbled because of how many side missions you do, and sometimes you wonder why somebody like Two-Face is in the game if he only appears twice. Two-Face could be the bad guy for the next Batman game, but instead, one of Batman's biggest enemies is thrust into a small role that doesn't suit him. Aside from that though: ARKHAM CITY IS A MUCH BETTER GAME