Batman: Arkham City is most definitely one of the highest anticipated titles of the season, and for a good reason. I’ve noticed a long standing tradition ever since I could ever remember playing games. Superhero comic books lend themselves well to be produced into action oriented video games.
Not every title ends up as critically acclaimed as Batman: Arkham Asylum (see Superman 64), but I believe that there’s a reason why superhero comic books and video game tend to work so well with each other. In the early eras of video gaming and to some extent even today, graphical quality hasn’t been powerful enough to convey the mundaneness of reality and realism. Therefore, it becomes easier to immerse players in fantasy or fictional realms. The superhero comic book universes of Marvel and DC are so unique that they could be considered as important as the characters that reside in them. Gotham City, Metropolis, and Marvel’s New York City have all been replicated in digital form in numerous marvelous ways.
Superheroes themselves lend themselves well to video game gameplay, because of their super powers. Video game heroes like Mario have super powers. Through the use of power-up, Mario is not only able to shoot fireballs from his hands, but he can fly, turn invisible, turn metal, or even turn into a statue. These powers are not unlike ones you’d see from X-Men characters, in fact, many of them are exactly the same.
Although video games related to comic book licenses can and are used as promotional tools, like film licensed video games, every so often (usually when there’s no time restraints for development) an amazing title is released. Batman: Arkham City and Rocksteady continue that in a grand way.
