Got back into playing this a little last night. I've had it for a while, but got majorly distracted by a very shiny thing called Skyrim...
Anyway, since Zeke is knee-deep in Skyrim right now (he's "sharing" my disc), I decided to head back into Arkham City. I can't speak highly enough of it. The combat is just sublime - keeping that flow going, meting out some Batty justice to a room full of thugs one thump at a time. And, in the new game you can even weave attacks from the Bat-gadgets into the combat if you wish - so cool!
Detective mode is also vastly improved. It's no longer a magic know-everything vision mode. It's used for solving problems and puzzles, doing recon on the next room of thugs, etc., but you aren't chicken-winged into running around in x-ray mode all the time this time.
The plot is also really awesome this time, weaving in literally every Bat-universe character that I can even think of. The plot event that just happened with Harley and the Joker was amazing, and ended with a dramatic cliff-hanger cut to Catwoman's story. Speaking of which, this universe's Selina is perhaps the sexiest treatment this character ever received. I think I'm enjoying the combat with her even more than Batman - she's much more of a finesse fighter, while Bats is obviously a hard-form martial arts beast.
Anyway, if anyone's on the fence, this game is even better than Arkham City - really good stuff. What a great year for video games!
Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham City
"This enemy you cannot kill. You can only drive it back damaged into the depths, and teach your children to watch the waves for its return." - Quellcrist Falconer