Batman: Arkham City Review

Batman: Arkham Asylum is considered one of the best games in the video game medium. Not only did it feature total immersion into your character, but it gave you an open and detailed world filled with smart villains, helpful allies, and enough trivia and side content to keep you entertained long after the main story was finished. Now, combine that with the stigma of video games based on comic book properties, and Rocksteady performed a miracle. A sequel was inevitable, and the question becomes; can lightning strike twice? Find out after the break!

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Batman: Arkham City
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Single Player
Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Publisher: Square Enix and Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
ESRB Rating: T For Teen
Price: PS3,PC, 360: $59.99

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Pros
Story: Arkham City takes you into the game, fighting masterminds, minor villains, and even allies.. Each story, aside from some hiccups, dovetails into the main narrative with ease, and the player feels the urgency the rest of the NPC’s feel. The dialogue is mostly top-notch, almost everyone feels in characters, and the added story details you unlock, the side missions and the main missions all give you a complete experience very akin to a well written story arc in comics.


Gadgets and Combat: The gadgets you unlocked in the last game are mostly kept, and the new ones add many layers to the game. The wonderful part about Batman in the comics is not only his willpower, but that he can think himself out of most situations. The game fosters that feeling with gadgets that truly make you feel that if you sit down and plan out something, you can achieve it. The reversal system, and the system that allows you to use gadgets in your combat combine to make you feel like Batman at his most Morrisonian (Grant Morrison) “Bat-God”, and leaves a very satisfied player. Altogether, you feel like a world-class martial artist, and a brilliant gadgeteer that can solve or combat anything.


Middle Ground
Graphics: It seems unfair to judge the graphics of the game too harshly, after all most of the game is lovingly rendered. The backgrounds look fantastic, the characters represent themselves well, but once things are in motion, the game has serious issues. The greatest issues are clipping with the cape and other characters, and the camera during fights. The one time you do not want to be confused, is during a fight and the camera has a nasty habit of moving in a wrong direction during climatic exchanges, not to mention the clipping of the voluminous cape can distract during a mass fight, along with issues with stepping through people, being stuck in doors, etc.


Cons
Characterization: The characterizations of the criminals, specifically Two-Face and the thugs are one note, bordering on parody. I know most developers want to save the big moments for the bad guys, but I found the utter lack of differentiation of the thugs problematic. Not only that, but Two-Face was lacking a lot of the complexity that other villains in the game displayed. Two-Face fans may be extremely disappointed in his portrayal here.


Violence and Sex: The disturbing violence in the game should be a warning to all parents who buy this for their children. Batman repeatedly abuses criminals, even some who do not deserve such harsh treatment in the game. Only the lack of blood makes this game a teen rating. The utter brutality in the game (bones breaking, dropping off rooftops, unprovoked violence etc) is disturbing as Batman is deemed heroic or even funny with each crunch.


The other issue is an old enemy of video games; sexism. When Catwoman was announced for the game, a lot of people were excited. Excitement sort of faded when it was revealed that she was only in a few missions, and faded a bit more when it was revealed what she looked like. Media consumption is part of what the rating system is all about, and when you see the game and how it refers to Catwoman and other female characters as “bitch”, the talks about lewd things that the men would do to the women, the costume designs, the camera angles; many might think twice about buying the game. It’s a major issue for the medium, the overt sexualization and misogyny directed towards the characters, show an institutionalized sexism that is impossible to ignore. The characters can be sexual, and perhaps it is in character for criminals to be misogynistic, but the camera angles that act as a voyeur (like Catwomans introduction), the avalanche of derogatory words towards women, the costume designs, the objectivication, the list goes on. Be vigilant when buying or renting this game.


Overall/Verdict
Overall, Batman: Arkham City is a fine game. Lightning will strike twice, but the scorch marks remain. It puts the player into the shoes of the iconic DC hero, and creates a world that is brutal and exciting for the characters and player to explore. The worrisome aspects of the treatment of women and the excessive violence might put off some parents, but overall the game is a fantastic recreation of Batman, and I recommend it with the hope that Rocksteady and DC Comics take the time to improve aspects of the game in a, hopeful, sequel.

5 Comics That Should Be Diversified!

Diversification in comics is a huge topic right now. DC’s relaunches is claiming diversity while some vocal fans outright claim there is none. On the Marvel side the new Ultimate Spider-Man was announced to be a half-black/half-hispanic ethnically which brings up the question: what other comic characters should be diversified? Diversity for the sake of diversity isn’t the point of this article but more so what characters or concepts should be re-looked at and show a broader representation of people.
Over on our facebook I asked what characters should be changed ethnically, gender wise or in regards to their sexual orientation. As the focus of the changes in comics have been on ethnicity many of your responses were heavily influenced based on ethnic background! Here are 5 comic characters that you and I think should be diversified!
Hawkman - Longtime NK Community member TechieMike suggested that a character in much need of change is a character that has had a long standing bout with staying relevant. I 100% agree that Hawkman should be given a change up but diversification should have been part of this character from the get go. Reincarnated Egyptian Pharaoh eventually becomes a white Archaeologist? This barbaric warrior with alien technology should most definitely be Arabic, Egyptian or of Middle Eastern decent and the best part is it won’t change a damn thing about the character. He can still be a reincarnated Pharaoh that is a modern day Archaeologist.
Dr. Doom - Damon Scott of Nfamous Gamers suggested that Dr. Doom should become African American as there is little to no mainstream black supervillains. Ethnically I am torn on this because Dr. Doom is the ruler of a Slavic-based country and I would hope that he would look similar to other Slavic-people in the region but instead he is a character that looks white but since Ultimate Dr. Doom is dead there is more than enough room for a new non-white Dr. Doom to take up the mantle. Black, Hispanic, or European this bad ass definitely could use a make over.
Wonder Woman - NK Senior Editor Jeff Adams suggest that DC Comics’ high profile character Wonder Woman should be be given the diversification treatment as well. A woman on a secluded island made up of various women from different ethnic backgrounds? Wonder Woman should be ethnically ambiguous but just like the other members of the DC Trinity she is white and blue-eyed. Making her look Hispanic or African American skin tone wise would probably piss of a whole lot of people but also being that she is from a different make believe country all together and is a symbol of truth for all mankind her ethnic background should be a mix to represent that.
Robin - A character that has almost always been a young white male is Batman’s sidekick Robin. At times the character has been female but never for too long. This sidekick being different either by its gender or ethnicity will alone set the character to be worlds apart from their predecessors. Grant Morrison has proven in the pages of Batman Inc. that different Batmen can exist so why not a different Robin?
Ultimate Fantastic Four - There isn’t much that could be done about the 616 first family but with the Ultimate Fantastic Four no longer in existence it makes a whole lot of sense of a new first family to be diverse as they come. The F4 is the perfect stage for diversification to take flight. Powers, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation could all be elements that are played with as the team has always been focused on more than just superheroics.
What other characters do you think should be changed up? Do you love or hate the list above? Leave your comments below!

DCnU’s 5 Year Continuity Doesn’t Work!

The biggest thing to happen to comics in a very long time may be standing on some shaky ground. Many writers and fans find that DC Comic’s continuity is what prevents many of the characters from moving forward or their books harder to jump into. Writers on the other hand have proven otherwise that the rich history can be utilized to not hinder the characters but propel them forward or even reintroduce them to a new audience.
So why is DC Comics attempting to reboot their entire line? I believe it’s for the two following reasons: money and creativity. The money aspect does sound like they are being a greedy typical money grubbing corporation but the facts are facts. DC Comics is a business and in order to continue to operate they must worry about their bottom line. Being second to Marvel in overall sales since the late 60’s is something DC will probably want to turn around. Creating a new line that will cater to not only superhero genre fans but also fans of horror, westerns, and war comics seems like a smart way to go. The new line may work in terms of purpose and may very well work for their goal to create a stronger brand that flows across various media forms. So why am I saying DCnU’s reboot might not work?The reboot works from every other point except the one aspect they are trying to clean up: story continuity. Yes, they are removing decades worth of cluttering history that will piss off fanboys to no end but I’m not talking about that story continuity. I am referring to the new continuity that already has 5 years of pre-set stories told with various popular tales from the old continuity still being upheld. Blackest Night, Identity Crisis, and Brightest Day will all be considered canon. Not only that but Batman and Green Lantern’s sometimes convoluted continuity will remain untouched due to their high profile success.

Apparently in a five year span of operation Batman is on his fourth Robin, the Justice League got tired of villains targeting loved ones and lobotomized them, many of the dead friends that may not have died in the new continuity returned to kill them as ring bearing cosmic zombies, Hal Jordan died and came back to life with Earth earning 3 other Green Lanterns within the 5-year time span, the JSA never existed, while the Teen Titans never met until the books release, Superman has just appeared 5-years ago, is not married to Lois Lane, and possibly never was Superboy. That still does not address any of the Crisis events that may or may not have happened. At least the heroes aren’t wearing shorts on the outside right?
Understandably, DC Comics can do whatever the hell they want in order to drive sales and open their universe to new audiences but they need to make sure that their new initiative has a cohesive story continuity to stand on. In a 5-year time span, many of the fan favorite stories logically cannot take place as they are set up by various events or plots that are being wiped out of continuity. DCnU is both exciting and scary for fans and the comic industry as decades worth of art and writing are being re-interpreted to capture a new audience in an age where print is struggling.

Motion Comics: An Oxymoronic Term

Motion Comics are defined as a hybrid between animation and comics. Adapted motion comics take the panels from the adapted text and animate certain sections or sequences. Motion Comics us a variety of techniques to combine the effects of these two mediums and in the end they create absolute crap. Motion Comics, besides being an oxymoronic term, are just bad. This article is dedicated to showing examples of comics and motion comics to show you what I specifically mean.

Lets start with what exactly these terms mean. As recounted by Scott McCloud in Understanding Comics, comics are juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence. A comic is different from animation and film in the sense that its sequential in time, but not spatially side by side for the viewer. While a motion comic takes those sequences and arranges them in time instead of space. While this might seem like metaphysical nonsense, there is a huge difference.

When one reads a book, that is maximum viewer involvement. In a book, you must supply a lot, your imagination must really be a worked muscle for books to be enjoyable. While words are in fact given to you, how it comes together in your mind is what makes it such an immersive experience. Art, static art in museums, is about what the intrepretation is. While the image is given to you, there is no context for that image. Again your imagination MUST supply a lot of what is going on. On the most immersive form of fictional enteratainment is a movie. For those wondering, a videogame does not allow you to be a passive observer. A movie allows you to sit and have words and images thrown at you, and your mind processes it. While your imagination is not overtaxed, your brain DOES process things intellcutally. What the meaning of something is, your imagination at work but not so much as in a novel.

Which comes to comics and motion comics. Comics give you an image and the words to a story, so it would seem that it would be closer to a movie then a novel in terms of imagination. A casual observer, even an experienced person would think that. You have to look closer at the true art of sequential telling. The space between the panels, called the gutter, is where the magic of comics happens. In that space, is our imagination as we, the audience, connect the dots of the story.

In motion comics, that sense of closure is completely erased. Our imagination is now being handled by a director. Unlike a movie where the camera is used to great effect to bring a reader in, the static images of motion comics keep the reader at a distance. In their own embarressment of the word balloon and sound FX, motion comics have turned comic books into 19th century puppet theater. The images dance around like marionettes, teasing the audience into caring about the performance, but never giving any substance to their flash.

Motion Comics are seen as the future to comic books. We have seen classic stories told in motion format to a variety of reactions. You dont say something is the future of the medium„ when it eradicates what makes that medium work best. Motion Comics take the soul out of the comic book and put it into some cold, unfeeling homoculi that stumbles around and tries to pretend its a new thing. Motion Comics needs a name for itself, and it needs to become its own medium. If they could somehow do that and stop using old comics and raping them of their gravitas, maybe I could accept them. Until then, they are an abobmination to comic books, comic bok creators and comic book fans. All flash and non substance.