Batman: Arkham City

Overview

Batman: Arkham City is a 2011 action-adventure game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to the 2009 game Batman: Arkham Asylum and the second installment in the Batman: Arkham series. It was written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini with Paul Crocker and Sefton Hill. In the main storyline, Bruce Wayne is locked inside Arkham City, a super-prison built over the decaying slums of Gotham City, and as Batman he sets out to uncover the secret behind a scheme run by the facility's warden, Hugo Strange.

The game is played from a third-person view with a focus on Batman's combat, stealth, detective skills and gadgets. Arkham City is an open world that is open from the beginning, and Batman glides across it with his cape and reaches ledges with the grapnel gun. Detective Vision highlights clues and items of interest. The Freeflow combat system from Arkham Asylum is improved so that the player can counter several blows at once, and many gadgets can be used in a fight. Experience points buy upgrades to the Batsuit, gadgets and combat and stealth skills.

The main campaign lasts about 25 hours and the side missions about 15 more. The Riddler offers 440 optional challenges, most of them trophies hidden around the city, and after a set number the player must rescue a hostage from one of his death traps. A New Game Plus mode unlocks after the story, and a separate set of challenge maps is ranked online against other players. Catwoman is a second playable character, with her own campaign that crosses the main story at set points.

Rocksteady came up with the idea of a sequel before Arkham Asylum was finished, and serious work on the story began in February 2009. The virtual footprint of Arkham City is five times that of Arkham Asylum, and the city was designed around Batman's ability to swoop and glide. The Batmobile was left out because it could not travel on the broken terrain. The soundtrack was written by Nick Arundel and Ron Fish, and a separate album of 11 original songs inspired by the game was released by WaterTower Music.

Arkham City was released in North America on October 18, 2011 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, followed by Australia on October 19 and Europe on October 21. A Windows version came about a month later. A Game of the Year Edition with all the downloadable content was released on May 29, 2012 in the United States and Canada. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions include a stereoscopic 3D mode.

The game received critical acclaim for its narrative, characters, world design, soundtrack and Batman's combat and navigation. It was tied with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as the highest-rated game of 2011 on Metacritic and won many awards, including Game of the Year. Two million units were sold worldwide in its first week, and Warner Bros. announced more than six million shipped by February 8, 2012.

The prequel Batman: Arkham Origins followed in October 2013 and the narrative sequel Batman: Arkham Knight in June 2015. A remastered version for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Batman: Return to Arkham, was released on October 18, 2016.

Official trailer

Batman: Arkham City - Launch Trailer, Warner Bros. Games ANZ. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Batman: Arkham City - Full Game Walkthrough (4K 60fps), Batman Arkham Videos. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Action-adventure

Developer

Rocksteady Studios

Publisher

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Series

Batman: Arkham

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Composers

Nick Arundel, Ron Fish

Writers

Paul Dini, Paul Crocker, Sefton Hill

Producers

Daniel Bailie, Nathan Burlow

Directors

Sefton Hill

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Disc IDs

The serial printed on the disc and the case. It tells you which region a copy is from.

Achievements

Achievements70 (1,500G)

1000G possibleYes

Total

70

Gamerscore

1500

100% time

20 to 35 hours

Playthroughs for 100%

2

DLC has trophies

Yes

DLC note

Some achievements only appear if the DLC is installed. The full list with DLC is 60 to 66 achievements depending on the source; pre-order bonus DLC is reported as not part of the launch list.

Missable trophies

4

Gamerscore, base game

1000

Gamerscore with DLC

1400

• I'm Batman Become the Bat 10G 99.86% of players
• Acid Bath Save the damsel, but is she in distress? 10G 98.14% of players
• Savior Save the medical volunteers 10G 94.94% of players
• Chimney Sweep There is only one way in 10G 90.66% of players
• One-Armed Bandit Hammer the point home 10G 86.11% of players
• Communication Breakdown Clear the airwaves 10G 75.36% of players
• Gladiator Last man standing 10G 74.19% of players
• Wrecking Ball Stop the unstoppable 25G 71.78% of players
• Lost And Found Uncover the secret of Arkham City 10G 69.03% of players
• Sandstorm We are legion 25G 68.59% of players
• Hide And Seek A deadly game of hide and seek 25G 66.6% of players
• Ghost Train Fight for survival 25G 63.76% of players
• Freefall Don't look down 25G 62.11% of players
• Exit Stage Right All the world is a stage 50G 61.47% of players
• Forensic Expert Collect enough evidence to locate the gun for hire 10G 39.39% of players
• Contract Terminated Stop the contract operative 25G 39.06% of players
• Serial Killer Track down the serial killer 25G 26.78% of players
• Mystery Stalker Reveal the mystery watcher 15G 32.91% of players
• Distress Flare Answer the call for help 5G 75.94% of players
• Broken Toys Destroy it all 25G 50.21% of players
• Ring Ring Answer a ringing phone 5G 82.89% of players
• Dial Z For Murder Stop the phone booth killer 25G 42.89% of players
• Stop the Clock Time is running out 15G 57.44% of players
• Bargaining Chip Reunite the separated couple 15G 45.98% of players
• AR Knight Complete all augmented reality training exercises 25G 26.38% of players
• Fully Loaded Collect all of Batman's gadgets and upgrades 10G 23.43% of players
• Aggravated Assault Stop all assaults in Arkham City 10G 24.56% of players
• IQ Test Solve the first riddle 10G 63% of players
• Conundrum Rescue the first hostage from Riddler 20G 52.03% of players
• Mastermind Rescue the second hostage from Riddler 20G 39.28% of players
• Puzzler Rescue the third hostage from Riddler 30G 26.51% of players
• Intellectual Rescue the fourth hostage from Riddler 30G 20% of players
• Brainteaser Rescue the fifth hostage from Riddler 40G 16.6% of players
• Genius Rescue all the hostages from Riddler 50G 14.23% of players
• Bronze Revenge Obtain 24 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman) 10G 10.06% of players
• Silver Revenge Obtain 48 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman) 20G 6.57% of players
• Gold Revenge Obtain all 72 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Batman) 40G 4.61% of players
• Campaign Bronze Obtain 36 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Batman) 10G 5.01% of players
• Campaign Silver Obtain 72 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Batman) 20G 4.04% of players
• Campaign Gold Obtain all 108 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Batman) 40G 3.65% of players
• Flawless Freeflow Fighter 2.0 Complete one combat challenge without taking damage (any character) 5G 16.53% of players
• Twice Nightly Complete New Game Plus 75G 8.59% of players
• Gotham Base Jumper Jump off the tallest building in Arkham City and glide for 1 minute without touching the ground. 5G 15.21% of players
• Pay Your Respects A moment of remembrance 5G 23.88% of players
• Storyteller Have 12 murderous dates with Calendar Man 10G 7.75% of players
• Catch Find someone to play remote Batarang catch with 5G 24.03% of players
• 50x Combo Complete a combo of 50 moves (any play mode, any character) 5G 25.5% of players
• Perfect Freeflow 2.0 Perform a perfect combo including all of Batman's combat moves (any play mode) 5G 3.75% of players
• Gadget Attack Use 5 different Quickfire gadgets in one fight (any play mode) 5G 22.87% of players
• Perfect Knight - Day 2 Complete every challenge in Arkham City 75G 3.62% of players
• Sphinx' Riddle Complete all 40 of the Catwoman Riddler grid items 10G 9.09% of players
• Arkham City Sirens Drop in on an old friend 25G 56.26% of players
• Pick Pocket Steal the score of a lifetime 25G 47% of players
• Family Jewels Retrieve your stolen goods 40G 24.9% of players
• Feline Revenge Obtain all 72 medals on the original Arkham City ranked maps (as Catwoman) 25G 2.57% of players
• Campaign Kitty Obtain all 108 medals on the original Arkham City campaigns (as Catwoman) 25G 2.21% of players
• Robin Revenge Obtain 78 medals on the original Arkham City and Robin Bundle Pack ranked maps (as Robin) 25G 2.14% of players
• Campaign Wonder Obtain 114 medals on the original Arkham City and Robin Bundle Pack campaigns (as Robin) 25G 1.97% of players
• Nightwing Revenge Obtain 78 medals on the original Arkham City and Nightwing Bundle Pack ranked maps (as Nightwing) 25G 2.14% of players
• Campaign Nightwing Obtain 114 medals on the original Arkham City and Nightwing Bundle Pack campaigns (as Nightwing) 25G 1.94% of players
• Lost Property No crimefighter should be without this 20G 18.26% of players
• Breaking and Entering Find a way into the secret base 20G 16.47% of players
• How's It Hanging? Clean up the Dry Docks 20G 15.81% of players
• The Last Laugh The joke's on who? 40G 15.33% of players
• Frequent Flyer Zip Kick 5 different thugs 10G 9.33% of players
• Battering Ram Shield Bash 5 different thugs 10G 8.93% of players
• Snap To It Snap Flash an unarmed thug, an armed thug, an environmental object and a Titan 20G 5.27% of players
• Bomb Squad Defuse all bombs in 3 minutes or less 40G 8.83% of players
• A Few New Tricks Use 5 different Quickfire gadgets in one fight as Robin in Harley Quinn's Revenge 20G 6.25% of players
• Party's Over Destroy all Harley Balloons 50G 4.26% of players

Space and patches

Space needed7.65 GB

Update patchTitle update 6

The title updates on record for this game.

DLC

Five downloadable packs came out after launch and a story expansion followed in 2012. The achievement packs have been removed from the Microsoft Store, but the Game of the Year Edition disc still carries them.

Items

Name	Adds	Obtainable today	Date
Catwoman Bundle Pack	Catwoman's campaign, unique weapons and moves, plus two alternate skins. A code came with new copies	no
Nightwing Bundle Pack	Nightwing as a playable character in challenge maps, an Animated Series skin and the Wayne Manor and Main Hall maps	no	2011-11-01
Robin Bundle Pack	Robin as a playable character with the two pre-order challenge maps	no	2011-11-22
Skins pack	All the alternate Batman pre-order skins		2011-12-06
Challenge map pack	The Iceberg Lounge and Joker's Carnival maps and a new map, Batcave		2011-12-20
Harley Quinn's Revenge	A story campaign set two weeks after the main game, with new areas and enemies, playing Robin and Batman	no	2012-05-29

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

The story, New Game+ and the challenge maps play offline from the disc.

Online

Plays offlineYes

The story is single player only. Challenge map scores are ranked online against other players.

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Xbox 360	94	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	9.5	10
GameSpot	9	10
Game Informer	10	10
EGM	10	10
Eurogamer	9	10
Official Xbox Magazine	10	10
Official PlayStation Magazine UK	10	10
GamePro	5	5
Joystiq	4.5	5
X-Play	5	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Sefton Hill
Writer	Paul Dini
Writer	Paul Crocker
Writer	Sefton Hill
Producer	Daniel Bailie
Producer	Nathan Burlow
Programmer	Ben Wyatt
Artist	David Hego
Composer	Nick Arundel
Composer	Ron Fish

Notes for collectors

• The Catwoman campaign was locked behind a one-use code that came with new copies, so a used copy may not include it. Warner Bros. said GameStop's pre-owned copies carried the code.
• At launch some customers found the code missing from their copy. Warner Bros. said it affected less than 0.5 percent of customers.
• In November 2011 Rocksteady investigated reports that Xbox 360 save files were being erased without warning.
• The Game of the Year Edition cover was widely criticised because the review scores and quotes dwarfed the name of the game.
• The Xbox 360 version has a stereoscopic 3D mode for 3D TVs, and for 2D TVs with Inficolor 3D glasses.
• The achievement list is 70 achievements for 1,500 Gamerscore: 50 for 1,000 in the base game and 20 for 500 across four DLC packs.

Credits

Publisher

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Developer

Rocksteady Studios

Director

Sefton Hill

Released

2011-10-18

Age rating

T (Teen)

Region

US

Time to beat

about 12.5 hours

Copies in the shop

• Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition – Game of the Year (XBOX 360) CA$14.99
• Batman: Arkham City (XBOX 360) CA$14.99