{"id":95599,"date":"2026-10-26T04:37:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T20:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=95599"},"modified":"2026-10-26T04:37:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T20:37:04","slug":"arkham-city-remains-batmans-last-gaming-masterpiece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=95599","title":{"rendered":"Arkham City Remains Batman’s Last Gaming Masterpiece"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Batman: Arkham Asylum<\/em> was released in 2009 at a time when superhero video games were usually relegated to being uninspired movie tie-ins. Some of them were good, like X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/em>, but most of them were either forgettable or downright bad. Arkham Asylum<\/em> was something different \u2014 a superhero game based on an original idea from a renowned Batman writer, Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series<\/em>). It was great, and set the foundation for its even greater 2011 follow-up.<\/p>\n

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Rocksteady\u2019s Batman: Arkham City<\/em> came out on Oct. 18, 2011. 15 years later, it\u2019s still considered one of the best games around, and its influence can still be seen in other superhero games. It\u2019s also undoubtedly the last universally beloved Batman game.<\/p>\n

Compared to Arkham Asylum<\/em>, Arkham City<\/em> opens things up. Instead of being confined to the creepy corridors of the psychiatric hospital like in the first game, a whole section of Gotham becomes Batman\u2019s playground for brutally maiming criminals within an inch of their lives. Random enemy encounters, fun one-off boss battles, and countless collectibles \u2014 so many goddamn Riddler trophies \u2014 populate its world. With all these elements, Rocksteady basically created a playbook for future superhero games, like Insomniac\u2019s Spider-Man series, to successfully copy.<\/p>\n

Those Spider-Man games, and non-superhero action games like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor<\/em>, borrowed heavily from the Arkham games. They\u2019re known for their free-flowing, counter-based, combo-heavy combat that finds Batman sliding around the battlefield breaking elbows and smacking goons in the face. Stealth is equally viable in Arkham City,<\/em> as he can hunt goons and henchmen from the shadows. Throw some gadgets into combat and, truthfully, playing Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man 2<\/em> isn\u2019t much different than Arkham City<\/em>, despite coming out 12 years later.<\/p>\n

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\"Batman\n <\/picture>Image:\u00a0Rocksteady Studios\/WB Games<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Even though Arkham City<\/em> is at the top of the class in terms of superhero games, it\u2019s kind of surprising there hasn\u2019t been a truly great Batman to come for its throne since. That\u2019s not to say we haven\u2019t gotten any good<\/em> ones, though. For example, 2013\u2019s prequel Arkham Origins<\/em> was a solid entry from a different developer, WB Games Montr\u00e9al, but was a snow-covered imitation of what made Arkham City<\/em> great.<\/p>\n

The final Arkham game came closest to topping Arkham City<\/em>, but it wasn\u2019t without its flaws. While the first two featured Joker as the primary antagonist, Batman: Arkham Knight<\/em> brings him along for the ride as a hallucination living inside Batman\u2019s head, almost like Rocksteady was too afraid to do a Batman game without him. Add in the disappointment that the titular Arkham Knight \u2014 whom Rocksteady teased would be an original character \u2014 was unsurprisingly just a rehash of Jason Todd\/Red Hood, and Arkham Knight<\/em> lacked truly compelling antagonists.<\/p>\n

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\"Batman\n <\/picture>Image:\u00a0Rocksteady Studios\/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

It also included way too much reliance on the Batmobile, which was more of a tank than a car, and didn\u2019t quite jive with Batman\u2019s whole no guns and no killing policies. The Batmobile was much more appropriate in this summer\u2019s Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight<\/em>. It\u2019s the best Batman game we\u2019ve gotten since the Arkham series, mostly because it\u2019s an imitation of what made those games great\u2026 except it\u2019s, ya know, kid-friendly and made of Legos.<\/p>\n

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But Legacy of the Dark Knight<\/em>, as great as it is, might only make you yearn to revisit Arkham City<\/em> and its adult-oriented, gritty, and grimy take on The Caped Crusader. It does just about everything better than its many successors and imitators in the years since.<\/p>\n

Arkham City<\/em> is so beloved, and sold so well (it reportedly moved over 12 million copies), that it\u2019s surprising Rocksteady and publisher Warner Bros. largely left the series on ice after Arkham Knight<\/em> (aside from a couple VR games). Arkham Origins<\/em> developer WB Games Montr\u00e9al instead went on to make the panned Gotham Knights<\/em>, while Rocksteady spent an eternity making the live-service failure Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"Batman\n <\/picture>Image:\u00a0Rocksteady Studios\/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2025, reports claimed Rocksteady was looking to make a single-player Batman game, and rumor has it that game would spotlight Terry McGinnis\u2019 Batman Beyond. Whether it\u2019s another Arkham game or one set in Neo-Gotham, just the idea of Rocksteady returning to Batman is enough to get any Dark Knight fan excited.<\/p>\n

Until Rocksteady\u2019s next Batman game comes out \u2014 if it ever does \u2014 at least we have Arkham City<\/em> to replay. No other superhero game can quite match its highs.<\/p>\n