A surreal 1990’s Batman noir, drawn in black and white by Tim Sale, and written by Kelley Puckett, included in Sale’s 2007 collection, Tales Of The Batman. . It’s surprising that Bruce Wayne gets any sleep in which he could have nightmares like these as he is so often out fighting crime at night, but it seems that his sleep is disturbed by a dreadful recurring nightmare.

In the dream Wayne sees a city in fear of the Joker escaping to embark on another reign of terror. Politicians assure the panicking city of Gotham that the Joker will never get free. Wayne commits himself to a fierce exercise regime to prepare for any such eventuality.

We don’t see the escape, but suddenly Batman and Joker are fighting on top of a giant Ferris wheel, and then both seem to be tied up on it as it is about to explode. The Joker is telling Batman that if he thinks he can actually stop crime, he is even madder than the Joker, as crime is getting worse despite the Batman’s activity. The Batman / the waking Bruce claim to be able to achieve the fight against crime.

Batman’s answer is of course self-defeating. That he has to go out again and again is itself proof of the failure of his mission. The wheel shows the karmic circular nature of life – the horrors that keep returning. The final panel shows a happy memory of Wayne as a child with his parents before their murder started his whole battle against the night. Crime and justice can never defeat one another – the conflict seems both essential and futile. The Joker is capered but fate has the last laugh.

A dark statement on the nature of the Batman, and the neurosis that drives him. A very Freudian Batman story.

Arthur Chappell

An extra-violent Batman story, dealing with the difficulties faced in legally incarcerating The Joker, Batman’s most formidable and dangerous enemy.

Set right after The Joker’s first arrest by the vigilante Batman, the story has modern day devises like cell-phones and references to movies like Silence Of The Lambs, alongside older movie references such as that involving Carmen Miranda, but despite that, it is a very gripping fast paced, and even shocking story.

The Joker enjoys his arrest, mocking the cops and then killing many, as well as the judge who tries to sentences him, prison officers, cell mates and his own psychiatrist.

Gotham has no death penalty, so The Joker is able to show that he can take control in any prison or psychiatric facility. Arkham asylum for the criminally insane is opened specially for him, but even that proves incapable of stopping his rampage.

Not only does he kill people in immediate contact, the Joker also organizes the suicide of a cop’s wife by phone, and drives that cop into an insane murder spree of his own. Even Batman finds himself doing little more than cleaning up the mess created, with The Joker mocking him right to the closing panel.

There are pointless cameos by The Riddler, and Harvey dent (later Two-Face), but the emphasise on the sheer psychosis and pleasure in killing by The Joker is astonishing. Andrew Kriesberg writes well, capturing a sense of genuine frustration for the law in dealing with serial killers, and there are many memorable moments, such as having Batman / Bruce Wayne masquerading as a cell-mate to try to unearth what makes the Joker tick, only to have The Joker spot the ruse from the start.

A great work of retro-story telling, that is spoilt only by its modern period references.

Arthur Chappell

Cover of Batman: The Killing Joke

We stay in darkish times. Just this week, the town of London was thrown into chaos by a bunch of rioting youths. With no political will, these have been simply senseless acts of violence by gangs wishing to put in fear and violence throughout the capital. What began as a small remoted incident, rapidly escalated into nationwide pandemic of violence. It was then I realised just how related the Batman character is to our modern society.

What I find most interesting about Batman is his origin. After witnessing his parents being gunned down at the age of eight, Bruce Wayne might have gone off the rails and grown up to be a revenge pushed psychopath. An attention-grabbing thought was raised in Alan Moore’s ‘The Killing Joke’. The concept is that Batman and Joker are two opposite parallels. Each had been victims to what Moore describes as “one bad day” that sent them on the path to insanity. The prompt origin of the Joker is that the lack of his spouse and baby, adopted by his disfigurement sent him insane. It is the choices of Batman and Joker that hold them apart. Batman chose to harness his inner demons and use them to seek honest justice and fight crime. Regardless of his horrific experience, Batman primarily remains ‘a good guy’. This is additional conveyed by his decision to hunt justice under honest means. While beating criminals to a pulp pushes moral boundaries, his choice to capture criminals and let the justice system decide their fate retains the Dark Knight’s ethics in the best place. Capturing them down, or murdering his victims, makes Batman no completely different from enemies. On the risk of sounding delusional, how many people can say that they don’t take satisfactions within the thought of a hero praying on the type of criminals we noticed within the UK final week?

One other great side of the Batman character is that he can match into any storyline/subtext. He can be used in storylines with political subtexts such a Frank Millar’s amazing ‘The Darkish Knight Returns’ or fantasy subtexts as seen in a few of Grant Morrison’s latest work. So long as the key mythos is the same, and that Batman is an strange man searching for to fight crime and evil, Batman works in any storyline. His mission is endless. As seen in the Nolan films, Batman fights for a day the place he’s not needed. He sees himself as a way to an end. A intelligent theme explored in ‘The Darkish Knight’ is that a day will not come where both Bruce or Gotham do not want the Batman. Frank Millar’s ‘The Darkish Knight Returns’ additionally explores the notion that Batman had become crucial to society. With out him, crime will finally seize Gotham. You will not find many heroes that carry as a lot gravitas as the Caped Crusader.

Regardless of the rise of Marvel’s heroes on display, Batman will all the time stay essentially the most compelling comedian e book character ever created. Batman is relevant to the screwed up world we live in. His option to struggle crime is something many individuals can relate to. He carries more emotional weight than another comic guide character and his storyline potential is endless.

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• Atmospheric, fascinating world rich with details and secrets   
• Satisfying, varied, hard-hitting combat   
• Grappling and soaring around the city is thrilling   
• Great assortment of involving side quests   
• Makes terrific use of a host of Batman characters.

The Bad

• Boss fights are too easy.

Gotham City. This crime-infested metropolis has been famously imagined and reimagined in comic books, cartoons, and films. Now, we have a new vision of Gotham, and it stands not just as one of the most unforgettable incarnations ever of the city that Batman is devoted to protecting, but as one of the most richly detailed and exciting environments ever seen in a game. Building on 2009’s outstanding Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City sets you free in the intoxicating neighborhood of North Gotham, now a sealed-off superprison for the city’s worst criminals. As the Caped Crusader, you struggle to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic streets, foiling the plots of supervillains and protecting the victims of those who prey on the innocent. With its atmospheric setting, thrilling movement, immensely satisfying combat, and tremendous assortment of secrets to discover, side quests to complete, and other attractions, Arkham City is a fantastic adventure game.

It’s winter in Gotham City, but the streets of the part of town now known as Arkham seem particularly cold. Snow falls on the criminals who roam this place, making the asphalt shimmer with reflections of the neon signs advertising shuttered shops that once upon a time bustled with business. Gotham faced a prison crisis in the wake of the events of Arkham Asylum, and certain unscrupulous characters took advantage of the situation by acquiring the run-down neighborhood of North Gotham, walling it off from the rest of the city, and tossing the criminals in there to fend for themselves. It’s an inhumane and immoral operation; food and warmth are scarce, and some inmates are people whose only crime was voicing a negative opinion of Arkham City and those who run it.

But their misfortune is your gain. The area of several city blocks that makes up the superprison isn’t especially vast as open worlds go, but what it lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in atmospheric detail. Arkham City is home to an old courthouse, a former police headquarters, a musty museum, a disused subway terminal, and other fascinating places. These structures, with their faded portraits, old billboards, and plentiful other features, convey a sense of history. The exceptional art design draws on 1930s art deco and makes Gotham seem like a once elegant and shining city that has fallen into darkness. It’s clearly a work of imagination, but as you explore it, its richness pulls you in, and it becomes a world you can’t help but believe in.

Batman has no choice but to explore the alleyways and underground tunnels of North Gotham. Within the prison’s walls, Joker is dying, and the villain’s schemes force the Dark Knight to help him find a cure. That quest brings Batman into contact with the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and numerous other members of Batman’s rogues’ gallery. Each character is represented terrifically, with plenty of nods to their histories as established in the comics, and part of the fun of progressing through the story lies in seeing what character might make an appearance next. The excellent Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and the Joker, heading up an ensemble of voice actors who never miss a beat.

Before beating up bad guys, Batman like to take a moment to do some brooding.

Also returning from Arkham Asylum is that game’s accessible and satisfying combat system. At its core, it’s quite simple: one button performs your attacks, while another counters enemy attacks. The combat rewards good timing, and when you get into the rhythm of battle, chaining your attacks together and turning your enemies’ attacks against them, it’s deeply absorbing. It’s also as graceful as it is brutal, making it a joy to behold. The varied attack animations make most tussles look as if they might work as choreographed fight sequences in a movie. In response to your inputs, Batman might simultaneously counter two attackers with a single impressive move, or take advantage of a convenient surface and slam a thug’s head against it. As you progress, you encounter enemies equipped with things that make taking them down more complicated. Guards with stun batons can be attacked only from behind; enemies with shields require the use of an aerial attack; and foes with body armor can be injured only with a rapid-fire punch attack called the beat down. It’s especially satisfying to defeat large, diverse groups of enemies against whom you must use a variety of techniques. Zoomed-in camera angles that give you a close look at moves that finish off a battle add impact to your attacks and make your triumphs all the more rewarding.

Batman’s assortment of gadgets plays a bigger role in combat than it did before. In Arkham Asylum, you could throw batarangs and keep your combo going; here, you can quickly fire off many of your wonderful toys in the heat of battle. A blast from your remote electric charge device can make an enemy involuntarily swing his hammer at surrounding thugs, and a quick placement and detonation of explosive gel can knock nearby foes off their feet. The variety of “quickfire” gadget options and other special moves that Batman has at his disposal can actually be overwhelming, and you may occasionally find yourself pressing the button combination for one gadget when you want to use another. But the game does an excellent job of easing you into the finer points of the combat system, displaying button prompts when you have a good opportunity to use a particular technique. And if you don’t quite grasp a move the first time, you can go into your upgrade menu and re-enable its tutorial for a refresher. The addition of quickfire gadgets gives you a number of new options, and skilled players can benefit a great deal from the smart use of these techniques, but you never need to rely on these abilities. If you prefer to keep things simple, you can certainly get by relying primarily on your fists.

Detective mode shows you which thugs made the mistake of bringing guns to a batfight.

Of course, thugs with shields, blades, and body armor are one thing; enemies with guns are something else entirely. Batman is tough, but far from invulnerable, and when faced with such firepower, it’s time for him to rely on stealth. As in Arkham Asylum, you sometimes find yourself needing to take out rooms of gun-wielding enemies, and all of Batman’s techniques from that game are still every bit as fun to use. Sneak up on an enemy from behind and you can take him down silently. By hanging from a gargoyle, you can ensnare an unsuspecting enemy below with an inverted takedown. Your detective vision gives you an edge, letting you see the positions of enemies patrolling the room through walls and floors. And Batman has a few new tricks up his sleeve. When spotted, you can toss a smoke pellet, aiding your escape and possibly leading confused enemies to accidentally attack each other. And you eventually acquire a new gadget that’s great fun in these situations: the disruptor, which lets you can remotely disable a thug’s gun. It’s especially satisfying to do so, then jump down in front of him and watch as he attempts to shoot you, and then knock his lights out. The disruptor’s use is limited, so you can’t overdo it, but it’s a great new addition to Batman’s arsenal. The excellent sound design adds tension to these stealthy standoffs, with bad guys becoming increasingly frightened as you pick off their buddies one by one.

As you win battles, you earn experience points and periodically level up, which lets you upgrade your suit, gadgets, and combat skills. These upgrades have a real impact on gameplay and create a rewarding sense of growth as you advance through the game. Purchasing the batclaw disarm move, for instance, lets you yank weapons from enemies’ hands, while the critical strikes upgrade rewards precise timing in battle with more powerful attacks that let you build up to special combo moves more rapidly. There are an impressive number of upgrade options to choose from, and you’ll probably still be leveling up and unlocking upgrades well after finishing the main story.

It’s not all about combat in Arkham City, though. Far from it. One of the greatest joys of the game is the act of moving around its open world. The grapnel gun made getting around enjoyable in Arkham Asylum, but Arkham City, with its numerous buildings to grapple onto and soar off of, is a veritable playground. You can zip up to ledges and rooftops with the push of a button, and you can leap off these surfaces as well, using your cape to glide through the air. Once you get the hang of generating momentum with your dive-bomb move, you can soar through the city, diving and climbing like a roller coaster. It’s an exhilarating way to travel. And if, as you’re flying high above the streets, you spot a group of thugs and fancy a fight, it’s easy to plummet straight down and plant your boot in a goon’s face.rkham City also acknowledges that Batman’s brains are at least on par with his brawn. Occasional clever environmental puzzles, such as a situation involving a pool of water covered in thin ice, frozen cops who need to be saved, and a giant, deadly shark, require you to make smart use of your gadgets. More significantly, the Riddler returns to torment Batman, and he has stepped up his game considerably. As in Arkham Asylum, Riddler trophies have been placed throughout Arkham City. Some of these collectibles have been hidden in the city’s nooks and crannies, and if you locate them, you can simply pick them up. However, in many cases, the trick is not locating them, but figuring out how to get them. There are Riddler trophies in plain view all over Arkham City, but they’re enclosed in cages, and to retrieve one of these, you must figure out how the mechanism for that particular cage works. There might be a series of switches on a nearby wall that need to be triggered in a particular order. Or it may be a test of agility, with a switch that opens a gate some distance away that you have only a short time to reach before it closes. Some of these puzzles are surprisingly tricky, but there’s always a discernible logic that makes working out the solutions rewarding. And in a nice touch, you can mark the location of trophies on your map so that if you can’t figure out how to get one at the time, you can easily come back to it later.

In addition to his trophies, the Riddler has a new set of environmental riddles for you to solve. Some of these take the form of questions or statements, such as “Do you have Strange thoughts? Maybe you should seek help?” and “I am an actor who can transform a film with the final cut. Who am I?” Answering these requires you to locate the sign, storefront, or other environmental detail that contains the answer. The richness of the world already makes exploring it a pleasure; tracking down these solutions makes doing so even more engaging. Each of these that you solve unlocks an Arkham City story, which offers some textual background on the people associated with that particular riddle, deepening the neighborhood’s sense of history. The Riddler’s perspective puzzles also make a comeback. These are question marks painted in the environment that need to be viewed from just the right place to appear correctly. Working out the proper vantage point from which to solve these puzzles is as enjoyable as ever.

Solving these conundrums doesn’t just reward you with a job well done. This time around, the Riddler has kidnapped hostages and placed them in riddle rooms throughout Arkham City, and the only way to get the locations of these rooms is by completing enough of the Riddler’s challenges. And this is just one of the numerous side quests you have the option of pursuing or ignoring during your time in Arkham City. You’ll almost certainly want to complete many of these, though. These engrossing quests often make great use of villains from the Batman comics who don’t play a role in the main quest, and they have their own story arcs that are worth seeing through. They’re also fun to play. There are strings of murders to investigate that have you analyzing crime scenes, following bullet trajectories and trails of blood. There’s a madman who forces you to race across town to answer ringing pay phones before time runs out and he kills a hostage. There are innocent political prisoners who need your help. And much more.

The world is packed with references to famous Batman characters.

If you buy the game new, you receive a code that gives you access to Catwoman. (If you don’t have the code, you can purchase one in the game’s online store.) If you have this content loaded onto your console, the story will occasionally switch to Catwoman. The paths of the two characters occasionally intersect, and if you have the Catwoman content, her occasional interludes offer some illumination on how she gets into the situations in which you encounter her as Batman. Playing as Catwoman is enjoyable; she has just enough abilities that are unique to her to make her feel distinct from Batman, while controlling similarly enough to feel immediately familiar. She can cling to certain ceilings and use her claws to scale walls, and her caltrops and bolas can be used in combat to trip and immobilize enemies. You spend only a short time playing as her during the main story, but once that’s complete, you can switch between Batman and Catwoman at any time, and she has her own objectives and challenges to complete, and her own set of Riddler trophies to collect.

Once you complete the main story, you unlock the new game plus option, which lets you carry over your upgrades but also makes your life more difficult; you have to do without the helpful lines that appear in combat informing you that an enemy is about to strike. But once you’ve spent that much time with the game, you’ll likely be ready for this challenge. And, as in Arkham Asylum, there are a host of challenge rooms that test your skills both in all-out combat and in stealth situations. Some challenges take the form of small campaigns that alternate between combat and stealth scenarios. Each campaign assigns you an assortment of modifiers and requires you to use each of them once. One modifier might benefit you, perhaps giving you regenerating health, while another might benefit your enemies, perhaps giving one a protective aura that prevents him from taking damage. These modifiers, and the tactical process of applying the detrimental ones to the easier scenarios and the beneficial ones to those scenarios you might have a tougher time with, make these campaigns feel distinctly different from the encounters you have during the story.

One Batman against a mere six thugs? Hardly a fair fight.

But more than anything else, it’s your adventures and explorations in the city of Arkham itself that make this game extraordinary. The game’s boss fights look dangerous and spectacular, but they’re disappointingly easy, and on occasion, context-sensitive actions may thwart your efforts. You might intend to evade an enemy attack, for instance, but instead your button press makes Batman slowly disable some device as bullets are shredding your health. But these criticisms are nitpicks in a game that does so much so well. From the speedy exhilaration of soaring high above the streets to the atmospheric thrill of discovering long-forgotten secrets in the tunnels below Gotham, this is an unforgettable adventure that will keep you coming back to the cape and cowl long after you’ve seen the credits roll.

The Good

• Atmospheric, fascinating world rich with details and secrets   
• Satisfying, varied, hard-hitting combat   
• Grappling and soaring around the city is thrilling   
• Great assortment of involving side quests   
• Makes terrific use of a host of Batman characters.

The Bad

• Boss fights are too easy.

Gotham City. This crime-infested metropolis has been famously imagined and reimagined in comic books, cartoons, and films. Now, we have a new vision of Gotham, and it stands not just as one of the most unforgettable incarnations ever of the city that Batman is devoted to protecting, but as one of the most richly detailed and exciting environments ever seen in a game. Building on 2009’s outstanding Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City sets you free in the intoxicating neighborhood of North Gotham, now a sealed-off superprison for the city’s worst criminals. As the Caped Crusader, you struggle to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic streets, foiling the plots of supervillains and protecting the victims of those who prey on the innocent. With its atmospheric setting, thrilling movement, immensely satisfying combat, and tremendous assortment of secrets to discover, side quests to complete, and other attractions, Arkham City is a fantastic adventure game.

It’s winter in Gotham City, but the streets of the part of town now known as Arkham seem particularly cold. Snow falls on the criminals who roam this place, making the asphalt shimmer with reflections of the neon signs advertising shuttered shops that once upon a time bustled with business. Gotham faced a prison crisis in the wake of the events of Arkham Asylum, and certain unscrupulous characters took advantage of the situation by acquiring the run-down neighborhood of North Gotham, walling it off from the rest of the city, and tossing the criminals in there to fend for themselves. It’s an inhumane and immoral operation; food and warmth are scarce, and some inmates are people whose only crime was voicing a negative opinion of Arkham City and those who run it.

But their misfortune is your gain. The area of several city blocks that makes up the superprison isn’t especially vast as open worlds go, but what it lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in atmospheric detail. Arkham City is home to an old courthouse, a former police headquarters, a musty museum, a disused subway terminal, and other fascinating places. These structures, with their faded portraits, old billboards, and plentiful other features, convey a sense of history. The exceptional art design draws on 1930s art deco and makes Gotham seem like a once elegant and shining city that has fallen into darkness. It’s clearly a work of imagination, but as you explore it, its richness pulls you in, and it becomes a world you can’t help but believe in.

Batman has no choice but to explore the alleyways and underground tunnels of North Gotham. Within the prison’s walls, Joker is dying, and the villain’s schemes force the Dark Knight to help him find a cure. That quest brings Batman into contact with the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and numerous other members of Batman’s rogues’ gallery. Each character is represented terrifically, with plenty of nods to their histories as established in the comics, and part of the fun of progressing through the story lies in seeing what character might make an appearance next. The excellent Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and the Joker, heading up an ensemble of voice actors who never miss a beat.

Before beating up bad guys, Batman like to take a moment to do some brooding.

Also returning from Arkham Asylum is that game’s accessible and satisfying combat system. At its core, it’s quite simple: one button performs your attacks, while another counters enemy attacks. The combat rewards good timing, and when you get into the rhythm of battle, chaining your attacks together and turning your enemies’ attacks against them, it’s deeply absorbing. It’s also as graceful as it is brutal, making it a joy to behold. The varied attack animations make most tussles look as if they might work as choreographed fight sequences in a movie. In response to your inputs, Batman might simultaneously counter two attackers with a single impressive move, or take advantage of a convenient surface and slam a thug’s head against it. As you progress, you encounter enemies equipped with things that make taking them down more complicated. Guards with stun batons can be attacked only from behind; enemies with shields require the use of an aerial attack; and foes with body armor can be injured only with a rapid-fire punch attack called the beat down. It’s especially satisfying to defeat large, diverse groups of enemies against whom you must use a variety of techniques. Zoomed-in camera angles that give you a close look at moves that finish off a battle add impact to your attacks and make your triumphs all the more rewarding.

Batman’s assortment of gadgets plays a bigger role in combat than it did before. In Arkham Asylum, you could throw batarangs and keep your combo going; here, you can quickly fire off many of your wonderful toys in the heat of battle. A blast from your remote electric charge device can make an enemy involuntarily swing his hammer at surrounding thugs, and a quick placement and detonation of explosive gel can knock nearby foes off their feet. The variety of “quickfire” gadget options and other special moves that Batman has at his disposal can actually be overwhelming, and you may occasionally find yourself pressing the button combination for one gadget when you want to use another. But the game does an excellent job of easing you into the finer points of the combat system, displaying button prompts when you have a good opportunity to use a particular technique. And if you don’t quite grasp a move the first time, you can go into your upgrade menu and re-enable its tutorial for a refresher. The addition of quickfire gadgets gives you a number of new options, and skilled players can benefit a great deal from the smart use of these techniques, but you never need to rely on these abilities. If you prefer to keep things simple, you can certainly get by relying primarily on your fists.

Detective mode shows you which thugs made the mistake of bringing guns to a batfight.

Of course, thugs with shields, blades, and body armor are one thing; enemies with guns are something else entirely. Batman is tough, but far from invulnerable, and when faced with such firepower, it’s time for him to rely on stealth. As in Arkham Asylum, you sometimes find yourself needing to take out rooms of gun-wielding enemies, and all of Batman’s techniques from that game are still every bit as fun to use. Sneak up on an enemy from behind and you can take him down silently. By hanging from a gargoyle, you can ensnare an unsuspecting enemy below with an inverted takedown. Your detective vision gives you an edge, letting you see the positions of enemies patrolling the room through walls and floors. And Batman has a few new tricks up his sleeve. When spotted, you can toss a smoke pellet, aiding your escape and possibly leading confused enemies to accidentally attack each other. And you eventually acquire a new gadget that’s great fun in these situations: the disruptor, which lets you can remotely disable a thug’s gun. It’s especially satisfying to do so, then jump down in front of him and watch as he attempts to shoot you, and then knock his lights out. The disruptor’s use is limited, so you can’t overdo it, but it’s a great new addition to Batman’s arsenal. The excellent sound design adds tension to these stealthy standoffs, with bad guys becoming increasingly frightened as you pick off their buddies one by one.

As you win battles, you earn experience points and periodically level up, which lets you upgrade your suit, gadgets, and combat skills. These upgrades have a real impact on gameplay and create a rewarding sense of growth as you advance through the game. Purchasing the batclaw disarm move, for instance, lets you yank weapons from enemies’ hands, while the critical strikes upgrade rewards precise timing in battle with more powerful attacks that let you build up to special combo moves more rapidly. There are an impressive number of upgrade options to choose from, and you’ll probably still be leveling up and unlocking upgrades well after finishing the main story.

It’s not all about combat in Arkham City, though. Far from it. One of the greatest joys of the game is the act of moving around its open world. The grapnel gun made getting around enjoyable in Arkham Asylum, but Arkham City, with its numerous buildings to grapple onto and soar off of, is a veritable playground. You can zip up to ledges and rooftops with the push of a button, and you can leap off these surfaces as well, using your cape to glide through the air. Once you get the hang of generating momentum with your dive-bomb move, you can soar through the city, diving and climbing like a roller coaster. It’s an exhilarating way to travel. And if, as you’re flying high above the streets, you spot a group of thugs and fancy a fight, it’s easy to plummet straight down and plant your boot in a goon’s face.rkham City also acknowledges that Batman’s brains are at least on par with his brawn. Occasional clever environmental puzzles, such as a situation involving a pool of water covered in thin ice, frozen cops who need to be saved, and a giant, deadly shark, require you to make smart use of your gadgets. More significantly, the Riddler returns to torment Batman, and he has stepped up his game considerably. As in Arkham Asylum, Riddler trophies have been placed throughout Arkham City. Some of these collectibles have been hidden in the city’s nooks and crannies, and if you locate them, you can simply pick them up. However, in many cases, the trick is not locating them, but figuring out how to get them. There are Riddler trophies in plain view all over Arkham City, but they’re enclosed in cages, and to retrieve one of these, you must figure out how the mechanism for that particular cage works. There might be a series of switches on a nearby wall that need to be triggered in a particular order. Or it may be a test of agility, with a switch that opens a gate some distance away that you have only a short time to reach before it closes. Some of these puzzles are surprisingly tricky, but there’s always a discernible logic that makes working out the solutions rewarding. And in a nice touch, you can mark the location of trophies on your map so that if you can’t figure out how to get one at the time, you can easily come back to it later.

In addition to his trophies, the Riddler has a new set of environmental riddles for you to solve. Some of these take the form of questions or statements, such as “Do you have Strange thoughts? Maybe you should seek help?” and “I am an actor who can transform a film with the final cut. Who am I?” Answering these requires you to locate the sign, storefront, or other environmental detail that contains the answer. The richness of the world already makes exploring it a pleasure; tracking down these solutions makes doing so even more engaging. Each of these that you solve unlocks an Arkham City story, which offers some textual background on the people associated with that particular riddle, deepening the neighborhood’s sense of history. The Riddler’s perspective puzzles also make a comeback. These are question marks painted in the environment that need to be viewed from just the right place to appear correctly. Working out the proper vantage point from which to solve these puzzles is as enjoyable as ever.

Solving these conundrums doesn’t just reward you with a job well done. This time around, the Riddler has kidnapped hostages and placed them in riddle rooms throughout Arkham City, and the only way to get the locations of these rooms is by completing enough of the Riddler’s challenges. And this is just one of the numerous side quests you have the option of pursuing or ignoring during your time in Arkham City. You’ll almost certainly want to complete many of these, though. These engrossing quests often make great use of villains from the Batman comics who don’t play a role in the main quest, and they have their own story arcs that are worth seeing through. They’re also fun to play. There are strings of murders to investigate that have you analyzing crime scenes, following bullet trajectories and trails of blood. There’s a madman who forces you to race across town to answer ringing pay phones before time runs out and he kills a hostage. There are innocent political prisoners who need your help. And much more.

The world is packed with references to famous Batman characters.

If you buy the game new, you receive a code that gives you access to Catwoman. (If you don’t have the code, you can purchase one in the game’s online store.) If you have this content loaded onto your console, the story will occasionally switch to Catwoman. The paths of the two characters occasionally intersect, and if you have the Catwoman content, her occasional interludes offer some illumination on how she gets into the situations in which you encounter her as Batman. Playing as Catwoman is enjoyable; she has just enough abilities that are unique to her to make her feel distinct from Batman, while controlling similarly enough to feel immediately familiar. She can cling to certain ceilings and use her claws to scale walls, and her caltrops and bolas can be used in combat to trip and immobilize enemies. You spend only a short time playing as her during the main story, but once that’s complete, you can switch between Batman and Catwoman at any time, and she has her own objectives and challenges to complete, and her own set of Riddler trophies to collect.

Once you complete the main story, you unlock the new game plus option, which lets you carry over your upgrades but also makes your life more difficult; you have to do without the helpful lines that appear in combat informing you that an enemy is about to strike. But once you’ve spent that much time with the game, you’ll likely be ready for this challenge. And, as in Arkham Asylum, there are a host of challenge rooms that test your skills both in all-out combat and in stealth situations. Some challenges take the form of small campaigns that alternate between combat and stealth scenarios. Each campaign assigns you an assortment of modifiers and requires you to use each of them once. One modifier might benefit you, perhaps giving you regenerating health, while another might benefit your enemies, perhaps giving one a protective aura that prevents him from taking damage. These modifiers, and the tactical process of applying the detrimental ones to the easier scenarios and the beneficial ones to those scenarios you might have a tougher time with, make these campaigns feel distinctly different from the encounters you have during the story.

One Batman against a mere six thugs? Hardly a fair fight.

But more than anything else, it’s your adventures and explorations in the city of Arkham itself that make this game extraordinary. The game’s boss fights look dangerous and spectacular, but they’re disappointingly easy, and on occasion, context-sensitive actions may thwart your efforts. You might intend to evade an enemy attack, for instance, but instead your button press makes Batman slowly disable some device as bullets are shredding your health. But these criticisms are nitpicks in a game that does so much so well. From the speedy exhilaration of soaring high above the streets to the atmospheric thrill of discovering long-forgotten secrets in the tunnels below Gotham, this is an unforgettable adventure that will keep you coming back to the cape and cowl long after you’ve seen the credits roll.

The Batman Robin Costumes are available for men and women of all ages. Kids and toddlers too can dress up as robin in these costumes. The adult robin costume features a red and green jumpsuit, cape, belt and mask. The child costume includes a romper, removable cape and mask. There is also a sexy robin girl costume available which is a delight for girls. The sexy robin costume for girls features dress, cape, glove lets, foam belt and masks.

You can further adorn these costumes and experiment with the robin look with the help of accessories and decorations available in the market. All these varieties of robin costumes are available in many sizes including large and plus size. The wide choices bring exciting dressing ideas for couple. You can dress as robin and buy a sexy robin girl costume for your partner. Even, a family can adopt the robin costume theme and various members can dress in as Robin.

The Costumes are made using good quality materials and are free of any toxicity and irritation. The costume is comfortable enough to wear for long hours. The Batman robin costumes are easy to put-on and take off. Moreover, you can also wash it at home and keep it clean and dry for other occasions. The batman robin costume truly comes as an excellent costume idea for the Halloween

Maybe I’m overreacting, perhaps all will be well fifty years from now, and I will be able to swim in the ocean, learn how to surf like I always dreamed, and have a climactic underwater battle with Jaws and a giant jellyfish named Bob.  But…maybe not.  I seem to recall from my Sunday School lesson that at some point a third of the worlds waters would be poisoned.  Wait, did I miss the Rapture?  Are there millions of people missing and I didn’t notice?

Perhaps I should research missing persons reports. …

Okay, I’m back.  Don’t research that, whatever you do.  You’ll be scared silly.

Anyway, in order to forget about Sea World and my future battle with Jaws, I’ll turn to America’s favorite standby.

“When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.” ~ Mark Hamil as ‘The Joker’.  Business as usual, right?  That’s what we have to do to keep our economy running.  Go shopping, and all will be well.  At least I hope it will.  

Back to the oil spill, why are there pre-emptive political measures being taken in the case the Atlantic seaboard is also damaged by this, not just the Gulf.  Oh, I see, its because of the Atlantic Conveyor Belt connected to the Gulf Stream.  I guess now would be a good time to heat things up and stop that Conveyor Belt, ey, Global Warming?  It’s quite possible in this case that one problem will actually solve another problem.  But can it happen fast enough to matter?

Okay, now I’m worried about more than Disney World.  What about Oysters?  What about Shrimp?  Oh wait, we started farming fish a while ago, didn’t we.  No worries.  

You know, I hear a lot of whining about safety measures that could have been better, and all the rest of it.  I don’t cry over spilled milk.  Spilled oil, maybe.  The point is, is there a solution?  I believe at the moment things are supposedly capped.  For how long?  Accomplishing anything at that depth is tougher in many ways than operating in outer space.  And the dispersant being used has been linked in a previous spill to a lot of health problems for the workers, and nearby residents.  Health problems like death.  And now this dispersant  will mix with the oil and together they will happily head off into the Atlantic sunrise. 

So forget about Sea World, will I still be able to go to Baltimore Aquarium in the future?  For me, only time will tell.

Getting compliments on a well made outfit is really rewarding, especially when you go out with a group of friends who are all dressed with a single theme. Alice in wonderland is a great group theme – the Cheshire cat, Alice, king and queen of hearts, the mad hatter, maybe even a walrus, dormouse or jabberwocky if you feel like going to a lot of effort. Comic book characters can also be a fun idea, like a group of batman villains – poison ivy, the joker, two face, cat-woman, there’s an enormous selection there. This year I’d love to see a Watchmen group complete with a Rorschach, a comedian and a Dr Manhattan ^_^

One of my personal favourite costumes was a girl dressed as leeloo from the fifth element – orange hair, outfit made out of white strips… complete with a leeloo Dallas multipass. Priceless.

Image via Wikipedia

Here are just a few ideas:

• Egyptian – eg. Cleopatra

• animals – you cant miss a giant bunny or panda wandering around

• a tetris block or pacman

• pirates

• magicians

• movie characters – like harry potter, the matrix or lord of the rings

• fairies or pixies

• gypsy/belly dancer

• medieval gowns, armour

• robot

• a sweet cupcake/candy themed outfit

• roman toga

• goth/punk (lots of eyeliner and fake tattoos)

• recognisable celebrities – this works well as a couple

• army/navy

• ninja – always an easy costume: all black with a tshirt around the head and face

• masquerade ballgown and mask

• japanese kimono

• showgirl

Just a final note: if you really get stuck, cross dressing is always an option – just make sure everybody is very drunk and you have plenty of confidence have a fun night, everybody!

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Then what are you going to wear. All you need to wear is a suit it can be any kind of suit because people will recognize you with the nice joker face you have.

Then when you are done you should look some thing like this. Enjoy your Halloween!

A lot of people make the point that people who dress up or hide behind a costume are either lacking in self confidence or not happy with themselves. I’m not endorsing pathological, chronic costume-wearing, just advocating the fun of mixing up the routine and escaping reality for a little bit. Also, dressing up allows you to experience the company or someone who you’ll never meet in the comfort and safety of your own home. Like if you have a thing for Batman, you can just talk your boyfriend into wearing the outfit And if you happen to be wearing a Joker costume, where’s the harm?

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Sorry if I deeply disturbed anyone with that last example, it’s a subject close to my heart. That may not be your fantasy, but everyone has then and it’s healthy to explore them. If you want to experience something different, out of the realm of the ordinary, them you can – safely.

I also believe that the outfits we choose to dress up in say a lot about ourselves. That’s why halloween is such a great night, you find out a lot about your friends. There’ll always be hoardes of young women in skin-tight cat outfits (which I’m not complaining about by the way) but I love seeing really unique outfits.

Essentially, role playing is a fun and exciting option which is open to all of us to expand our realm of experience outside the ordinary; escape the square we live in every day - just for a little while.