Batman: Arkham City

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:54 pm

Something has been bothering me..morality wise....

Spoiler:

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:16 pm

Daehawk wrote:Something has been bothering me..morality wise....

I'm pretty sure 9/10 of the people Batman fights in these games will die of broken necks, fractured skulls or collapsed rib-cages....

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 7:03 am

It is complete. Can't say i agree with the ending.

Anyways I thought it was over but Catwoman is supposed to go in the museum and get her stuff. But i've been all over in there where I can go and just cant get past the water so i find nothing. no worries though as I doubt Ill play it any further.

I skipped a lot. I guess it just didn't interest me. Did about 200 of Riddlers stuff so never met him, Never met Killer Croc, and didn't find that mysterious guy that left symbols.

IceBear · Post by **IceBear** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:05 am

I was stumped there too, but you can get there with her crawling on the ceiling ability. I think you need to go under the grating you're standing on first (memory is foggy)

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:46 pm

Just a puzzle under there. I'll look again. A video i watched online showed Batman meet her. Maybe I went to the museum to quickly.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:59 am

You don't get the ability to freely switch to Batman until you finish that mission.

Underneath the entrance to the shark tank is where you need to go. Swing down underneath right where you come in and then continue forward until you get to the grates that Catwoman and swing up through. From there you should be in the caged in area. Jump to the ceiling again and crawl through the small opening and you will be where you need to be. The boss battle is in the room with the woolly mammoth. As Catwoman you never have to cross the main expanse of water.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:07 am

thank you. I could not find a way to get on the ceiling until you mentioned being IN the cage. then it was easy

There is a handful of trophies inside chain link type cages scattered around with a neon like door on them and some magnetic/electrical discharge type stuff too. I've not figured even one of these out. The door never opens and if i electrify any of the generators they simply shoot a bolt of power out that zaps the trophy inside it's little dome cage. Nothing else happens.

Effidian · Post by **Effidian** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:44 am

Daehawk wrote:There is a handful of trophies inside chain link type cages scattered around with a neon like door on them and some magnetic/electrical discharge type stuff too. I've not figured even one of these out. The door never opens and if i electrify any of the generators they simply shoot a bolt of power out that zaps the trophy inside it's little dome cage. Nothing else happens.

Spoiler:

This game has the best collectibles ever. Each one is like a little puzzle. Makes other collectibles look like boring filler...

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:46 am

new patch out today. Here's the changelog:

Release notes:
We have just released a patch for Batman: Arkham City PC that provides fixes a variety of DX 11 issues, as well as fixes for a few other non-DX 11 related issues. The DX 11 fixes will apply for the majority of players, however, some specific Steam users will experience issues when running under DX 11.
With this latest patch, Steam users with the following Windows Operation Systems should avoid running the game under DX 11 until further notice:
- Windows Vista 32 bit
- Windows 7 32 bit
Users running Windows 7 32 bit or Windows Vista 32 bit should ONLY use DX 9 settings until a future patch that addresses this specific issue is released. We are actively working to address the remaining issue tied to DX 11 for users running 32 bit versions of Windows Vista or Windows 7.
Major fixes that this patch addresses are listed below.
- Performance / hitching issues have been greatly improved for running in DX 11.
- An issue with players running out of Video Memory or encountering a Rendering Thread Exceptions has been address. This was primarily affecting 32-bit Operating Systems.
- A progression block after defeating Ra’s Al Ghul has been fixed. This was issue occurred primarily on lower end computer setups and described as Batman not readying his Reverse Batarang.
- A crash that occurred when scrolling between the Character Bios and Arkham City Stories has been fixed.
- A crash that occurred when selecting “Press Start” immediately when available at the Title Screen has been fixed. The issue was described as crashing/hard locking around the DLC (Downloadable Content) check.
Thank you all for your patience.

I know we're nearly talking apples and oranges, but this game has been a breath of fresh air in terms of polish and stability. With so many games requiring massive day one (and even month one, two, and three) patches to clean up a myriad of problems, seeing the first major patch with a changelog less than a full page long is a nice change of pace.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:18 pm

I was hit by the "press Start" bug quite often, so I'm glad to see that fixed.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:49 am

Batman Arkham City: Harley's Revenge is out on Steam today. It’s the first story based content since release and picks up after the end of the main game. Reviews of the 360 version were generally favorable but said it’s very short (~2 hours). Anyone picking it up?

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:51 am

maybe. i finished the base game and intended to finish all the riddler stuff but got burned out on the constant hunting so never did. What's the pricetag?

Doomboy · Post by **Doomboy** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:28 pm

The Riddler stuff in the first game was just about right to make me feel like I was a super smart detective guy for figuring it out.

The Riddler stuff in Arkham City is just annoying and difficult. Most of it requires lots of super reflexes. I did not like Arkham City nearly as much as Arkham Assylum.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 12:32 pm

Jow wrote:maybe. i finished the base game and intended to finish all the riddler stuff but got burned out on the constant hunting so never did. What's the pricetag?

$9.99

Jow · Post by **Jow** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:22 pm

holy crap, for around 2 hours of gameplay? No sale.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:34 pm

$10 gets you a movie ticket these days. For comparison, it's not a horrible deal. But I'm sure it will be reduced in the future on a sale.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 3:12 pm

Steam sales have turned the gaming community into penny pinchers. $10 is a bit steep but I also know how much content costs to make now days and when you factor in voice actors and employing a team those 2 hours probably cost over $10,000 to make. If you only buy things on sale they stop getting made.

Not to mention a good many $60 FPS clock in at under 5 hours these days.

Sabin Stargem · Post by **Sabin Stargem** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:05 pm

Count me as Scrooge McDuck, then. I am going to wait for the GOTY edition, as I am not fond of micromanaging my purchases.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:50 pm

Lordnine wrote:Steam sales have turned the gaming community into penny pinchers. $10 is a bit steep but I also know how much content costs to make now days and when you factor in voice actors and employing a team those 2 hours probably cost over $10,000 to make. If you only buy things on sale they stop getting made.

Not to mention a good many $60 FPS clock in at under 5 hours these days.

It's horribly steep and that's not just coming from a "Steam sale" perspective.

I paid $55 for the first Fallout. Fallout was not an 11 hour game. I paid $60 for Diablo 3 and I probably have 40 hours in and will easily double that. Even if we're just talking DLC, I paid $10 for Undead Nightmare for RDR. Easily 20+ hours out of that.

No one is paying $60 for a 5 hour FPS. That 5 hours just the singleplayer fluff as part of what is primarily a multiplayer/coop game like COD or BF3. People get way more than 5 hours of gamplay.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:08 pm

In non-Steam related news, Kevin Smith has a new Batman centered podcast series out and the first interview is with Paul Dini, writer for Batman: The Animated series and Batman: Arkham City among many others.

http://smodcast.com/channels/fatman-on-batman/" target="_blank

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:16 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
No one is paying $60 for a 5 hour FPS. That 5 hours just the singleplayer fluff as part of what is primarily a multiplayer/coop game like COD or BF3. People get way more than 5 hours of gamplay.

Fear 3 had a 5 hour campaign and only horde mode for multiplayer.
Red Faction Armageddon had a 6 hour campaign. Only horde mode.
Rage is in a similar boat.
Portal 2 could be beaten in about 5 hours. 2 hour co-op mode.

Just to name a few recent high profile games.

Fallout and Diablo are not shooters. Diablo is a special case but Fallout was made back when games were a lot cheaper to make. Game budgets now rival blockbuster movies in how much they cost to produce. As Isgrimnur stated, $10 gets you a movie ticket these days. Why is a $10 game required to last longer than a $10 movie?

Victoria Raverna · Post by **Victoria Raverna** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 3:05 am

Lordnine wrote:Game budgets now rival blockbuster movies in how much they cost to produce.

Most new games with production cost that rival blockbuster movies doesn't result in better games.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:07 am

Lordnine wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
No one is paying $60 for a 5 hour FPS. That 5 hours just the singleplayer fluff as part of what is primarily a multiplayer/coop game like COD or BF3. People get way more than 5 hours of gamplay.
Fear 3 had a 5 hour campaign and only horde mode for multiplayer.
Red Faction Armageddon had a 6 hour campaign. Only horde mode.
Rage is in a similar boat.
Portal 2 could be beaten in about 5 hours. 2 hour co-op mode.

Just to name a few recent high profile games.

Fallout and Diablo are not shooters. Diablo is a special case but Fallout was made back when games were a lot cheaper to make. Game budgets now rival blockbuster movies in how much they cost to produce. As Isgrimnur stated, $10 gets you a movie ticket these days. Why is a $10 game required to last longer than a $10 movie?

Fear 3 had multiple characters to play through. Portal 2 has free DLC. RF Armageddon had Ruin Mode with leaderboards. Rage has MPDM and separate Coop campaigns. Still, you're right and none of those titles lasted more than 4 months at full price, except maybe Rage, don't remember. Precisely because of their short length. Not because of some Steam effect. People read reviews and except for day 1 purchasers, most aren't willing to pay $5+/hour for a game.

$10 got me a movie ticket back then. $15 gets me a movie ticket now. But the comparison is not a good one. When I buy a movie ticket, I'm paying not only for the 2 hours of content, I'm paying for the AC, the cushy chair to sit in, the ushers, etc. All that overhead in addition to the movie's production. With games maybe back in the day I'd be paying for distributors and shelf space but no anymore. Bandwidth is negligible. The only thing I'm paying for with DLC in addition to the content is the store (Live!, PSN, Steam, etc) if there is one (and there isn't with Origin and other 1st party sellers). And that's after buying the original game.

As for blockbuster budgets, that is a development decision, not a necessity. How much did Minecraft pour into voice acting and CGI? Was Oblivion really that much better for a tutorial featuring Patrick Stewart and repetitive "dialoge" from Linda Carter and Terence Stamp? It's a risk/reward proposition and it's not on the customer to pay for mistakes by studios.

Besides all that, they're different types of entertainment. Expectations are different. Why should I pay $4 for a beer that I'm going to drink in 20 minutes? Why should I pay $80 for a 3 hour baseball game? I guess the point is that people are generally going to be turned off by a 2 hour game that goes for $10. Why on earth would anyone pay $10 to watch a a movie once when they can buy it for the same price (or pirate it for free)? Hell, I can walk to the marina and watch boats for free. We could eventually get the "right" price of entertainment down to zero.

Bottom line: $10 for 2 hours of Harley Quinn seems like a lot to me and apparently to others. Especially after paying $10 for Catwoman's "optional" content (which I know was "free" with a new purchase but the game + DLC purchase was still cheaper used).

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:33 am

BTW, my fault but this is starting to veer off topic an is right in-line with the discussion over in the EA/IP thread so we should just take any cost-of-gaming stuff over there.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:56 am

Victoria Raverna wrote:
Lordnine wrote:Game budgets now rival blockbuster movies in how much they cost to produce.
Most new games with production cost that rival blockbuster movies doesn't result in better games.

This is true at least in part.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Was Oblivion really that much better for a tutorial featuring Patrick Stewart and repetitive "dialoge" from Linda Carter and Terence Stamp? It's a risk/reward proposition and it's not on the customer to pay for mistakes by studios.

It really depends on the game. Oblivion I didn’t really care for on the whole but in a game like Batman, yes, the high production values actually are the reason I like the game. I’m much more interested in the experience than longevity and lots of voice acting and story elements make the experience better, at least for me. I’ll always take the 8 hour game with nothing but the elements I enjoy over the 16 hour game that is padded out with tedious combat or backtracking.

With the exception of Rage, which I honestly didn’t play, I greatly enjoyed all the games I listed for exactly the reasons above. Red Faction is really the best example of this when compared with its predecessor. RF: Guerilla was open world and easily 3-4 times as long as RF: Armageddon and I hated it for it. So much time was spent just driving from place to place or destroying the same buildings over and over that I just wanted the game to end. When it finally did I didn’t care anymore. RF: Armageddon on the other hand was almost the perfect length and just when it was starting to feel tired it ended on a high note.

Hell, I can walk to the marina and watch boats for free. We could eventually get the "right" price of entertainment down to zero.

I always base purchases on cost vs income. If something provides more entertainment than the time it took to earn that money than it’s automatically a good purchase.

But that’s all I have to say and I agree we've gone way off topic.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 8:20 am

Yesterday, I saw the new Batman movie, so decided to get Arkham City started, finally. Fired it up and first spent about a half hour fighting around with the GFWL UI to get my new password in, then trying to figure out where the resolution settings were.

When I finally got the game started, I found I had no dialog audio in the opening cutscene. I had music and sound effects, plus subtitles, but no dialog. When I skipped the cutscene, I heard a line or two of gameplay dialog, but then quit in frustration.

Anyone run into this or seen a fix for it? I'm starting to wish I'd just gotten the Xbox version.

Baroquen · Post by **Baroquen** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:43 pm

I remember the frustration of getting the stupid GfW crap situated. When I bought the game, I did load it up and start playing. Do not remember any audio problems. Since then, I've gone back to try and finish off Asylum first though, so I didn't get very far into the game yet. Hopefully soon.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:11 pm

Late to the party. Bought it 2 months ago, didn't install it until now. 19 GB of download?! Then their installer goofed and can't deal with spaces in its own install path. Had to rename the subdir and run the alternate install. (it's GAME.MSI, not setup.exe) then wait about a hour. THEN endure two separate key entries... One for securom, the other for GFWL. ARGH!

Got in, and was quite impressed. though I'm missing a few things, like how the heck do I get that riddler trophy next to the Calendar Man's cell. The Wiki doesn't say anything. I got the one off the ceiling with the bat claw, but the one in the cell? Detective vision says it's linked to a fusebox outside, but I can't figure out how to overload that fusebox as I can't seem to launch my remote batarang...

ibdoomed · Post by **ibdoomed** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:22 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:$10 gets you a movie ticket these days. For comparison, it's not a horrible deal. But I'm sure it will be reduced in the future on a sale.

Not sure where you live but around here movies are $6 normal 2d and $8 imax (no idea on 3d, I don't do that crap).

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:23 pm

Quite a few of the trophies are tantalizingly out of reach until you unlock parts of the story and gain access to new powers or gear. However, unlike the first game, you can actually mark them on your map and come back to them in the future.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:20 pm

Calendar Man requires you to play the game on a certain date every month for an entire year.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:23 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Calendar Man requires you to play the game on a certain date every month for an entire year.

Or you can change the date on your computer....

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:23 pm

ibdoomed wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:$10 gets you a movie ticket these days. For comparison, it's not a horrible deal. But I'm sure it will be reduced in the future on a sale.
Not sure where you live but around here movies are $6 normal 2d and $8 imax (no idea on 3d, I don't do that crap).

The 9th largest city, the 5th largest media market, and the 4th largest MSA by population.

ibdoomed · Post by **ibdoomed** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 2:50 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:
ibdoomed wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:$10 gets you a movie ticket these days. For comparison, it's not a horrible deal. But I'm sure it will be reduced in the future on a sale.
Not sure where you live but around here movies are $6 normal 2d and $8 imax (no idea on 3d, I don't do that crap).
The 9th largest city, the 5th largest media market, and the 4th largest MSA by population.

Sorry, my condolences.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 3:11 pm

It's been a vast improvement over the city that's 84th largest that's 300 miles west.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 12:38 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Calendar Man requires you to play the game on a certain date every month for an entire year.

Not the achievement... The riddler trophy in the cell next to him.

According to the walkthrus, I need access to the RC batarang, and that I access via the D-pad. And I need to fly it through some sparks first, THEN down the stairs to the fusebox.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Sat Jun 08, 2013 1:14 am

The RC batarang parts of the game are almost impossible without a gamepad, so make sure you are using one for that. I did manage to get all the trophies with just keyboard and mouse but the amount of frustration was ridiculous.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sun Jun 09, 2013 5:14 am

Yeah, driving that thing is nearly impossible. There's a couple things in the former police HQ that I didn't get.

Just wiped out all of Penguin's scramblers, and was half way into tracking Riddler's hostages, then Szazz's phone tracking. What a crazy rogue's gallery.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:32 am

Finished. Wow, what a ride. At the end I had almost no tactics left, it's almost random button smashing with occasional muscle memory of combos.

THis game managed to do all the little things right, and is perfectly playable, while packed with all the acrobatic **** that the trophy completion hunters demand in such open-ended games. The side missions are nice too. I was a little worried about how the side missions may interfere with the main mission, but it turned out okay as the game's smart enough to delay side missions until the primary missions have reached some sort of conclusion.

It's also cute that they let you play Catwoman, who gets something very SIMILAR to Batman, yet feels very different as well. The different weapons feel quite... organic to the Batman mythos. The bonus items, like "Game Plus" mode, DLCs, concept art, 3D models, and such are just icing on the cake.

Got this through GamersGate sale, not through Steam, so didn't get any screenshots.

I nver played Arkham Asylum, and my exposure to Batman was mostly through movies, so I appreciate the extra background all this gave. It's quite fun to play, yet challenging enough, even on EASY mode.

I think I'll end up leaving a lot fo the Riddler Trophies unclaimed.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:48 am

FWIW, I still think Arkham Asylum was a better game. The story was more interesting and it just felt more focused. Arkham City was definitely an excellent game, but I don't think it hit the high points of Arkham Asylum. The jury is still out on the upcoming Arkham Origins as there is a completely new developer and new voice talent.