I have never considered myself a comic book hero enthusiast in the past. That all changed when Batman: Arkham Asylum came out in 2009. The game had an amazing story, detailed graphics, superb combat and predator challenges, haunting music, and a game I could not put down. When I heard there was going to be a sequel, I nearly fainted. Two years later, Batman: Arkham City was released.

The games story revolves around DC Comics superhero Batman, while he is trapped in a newly built prison called Arkham City. After previous events that Happened at Arkham Asylum, involving multiple inmates escaping, Warden Quincy Sharp deduced it was unfit to house criminals, and, after becoming the mayor of Gotham, bought off a large section of Gotham City, built walls around it, armed many, many guards, and let the prisoners do whatever they want in there.

Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter ego, was opposed to this, and launched a campaign against the super prison. While giving a speech, Bruce was kidnapped by Arkham City guards, and was brought before the new warden of Arkham City, Hugo Strange. After a quick talk with Hugo, who lets on that he knows Bruce is Batman, Bruce is put into the super prison. Then, after a fast confrontation with Penguin, one of the games super villains, Bruce manages to find a place to put on the Batman suit and get his gadgets. He is convinced that Hugo is up to something, and remains in Arkham City to find out what.

Arkham City is far and wide, and thankfully, every nook and cranny has something to hide. When you get bored with the story, there are multiple side missions to complete, leading you everywhere around the prison. From tracking down a stolen wife, to rescuing hostages, to answering payphones,(yes, you answer payphones.) you simply will not be bored at all!

The graphics in the game are simply breath taking. It's a good thing to, since you are traveling for at least a good ten miles till you are done with the game, and it would stink to have a dull background. The music is astounding, giving you a haunting feel, and the characters movement is nice and fluid along with your controls.

The combat system will be familiar to those of you who have played Arkham Asylum. However, instead of one enemy coming at you at once, you might two or three enemies coming at you, taking a swing. Also, they have new weapons, like blades, broken bottles, fire extinguishers, and other things that they throw at the dark knight. In the new game, Batman can also incorporate his gadgets into combat, like explosive gel and the batclaw, do deal additional damage. Plus, there are lieutenants and behemoths you'll have to take out.

There are instances in the game where a direct confrontation would be suicide, and you must then take out the henchmen out silently. In these stealth parts, the dark knight can use all of his gadgets, as well as his acrobatic skills, to the fullest. The challenges feel realistic due to the fact that as you take out more and more guards, the ones remaining ones get terrified, and start shooting whenever they turn a corner. Of course, the enemies will gradually get harder, as they acquire armor, jamming devices, and snipers.

The last thing you need to know, is that Catwoman is a playable character in the game. If you buy the game new from Gamestop, you can get a code to play her in the game, but other wise, she is available for download from the PlayStation Store, or Xbox Live.

I have personally invested about seventy hours into this game, and have only reached the 86% done mark. There is so much that has gone into this game, you will want to play it over and over again, making sure you've gotten every last secret the prison has hid. Don't let this game escape you, because you will regret it.