Batman Arkham City Review

braincore02

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obscurumlux01 said:
Steve Butts?
I am disappoint.

Failing to mention important information such as the gross overuse of the word '*****' to refer to females is a discredit to yourself as an editor/professional and to your audience. [http://kotaku.com/5851358/batman-arkham-citys-weird-*****-fixation]

Kotaku got it right, so why the hell didn't you include this, at all? Perhaps a monetary payout or other consideration from the publisher for 'forgetting' to mention this aspect? Hmm?
What other biases or manipulation should we be made aware of? Full disclosure would be too much for any of you to handle, lol. Your lawyers would have a heart attack at the lawsuits that could be filed if it was done that way.

Please include this information, or refrain from turning the Escapist into the next IGN.

K-thx-bye.
How can you be offended by this word when everyone who says it is usually pummeled to near death by Catwoman shortly thereafter?
 

anthony87

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SonOfVoorhees said:
obscurumlux01 said:
Steve Butts?
I am disappoint.

Failing to mention important information such as the gross overuse of the word '*****' to refer to females is a discredit to yourself as an editor/professional and to your audience. [http://kotaku.com/5851358/batman-arkham-citys-weird-*****-fixation]

Kotaku got it right, so why the hell didn't you include this, at all? Perhaps a monetary payout or other consideration from the publisher for 'forgetting' to mention this aspect? Hmm?
What other biases or manipulation should we be made aware of? Full disclosure would be too much for any of you to handle, lol. Your lawyers would have a heart attack at the lawsuits that could be filed if it was done that way.

Please include this information, or refrain from turning the Escapist into the next IGN.

K-thx-bye.
Its just a word, and in context of the game its fine. What else do you expect pissed off criminals to call her? Did it need to be in the game, no. End of the day Catwoman is hardly an innocent and weak woman, she is fully capable and does indeed kick the crap out of everyone. What if they kept calling Batman "*****" would that piss you off just as much? Apart from the irony that "*****" is a female dog and thus calling it to Catwoman is pretty dumb, and maybe that she should have commented on that in the game. But i played the game and i didnt even notice it much, just the same repeated statement by random enemies you encounter. I think your making a far bigger deal out of it than it warrants. Could have been worse, of all the words to call a woman, ***** seems the weakest....they could of called her a whore or **** - which would be far more offensive to me.
I've seen this whole "offensive language" thing brought up on a few sites and it's really pissing me off to no end.

These are murderers, rapists, cannibals and so on so why is it such a surprise that when they see a woman in a skin-tight catsuit they fantasise what they'd do to her? Is it really so wrong for them to refer to said woman as a "*****" when she starts beating the shit out of them? These guys are hardly gonna stick to polite and proper etiquette.

I've seen a number of sites refer to this as "lazy writing". Those people can piss off. When it boils down to it, it's some pretty damn realisitic writing right there.

(I'm aware that this should probably be directed at the dude you quoted, but he seems kinda stupid so I figured I@d direct it towards yourself as you seem not stupid....ugh, the mods probably won't like the "stupid" remark)
 

Steve Butts

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anthony87 said:
I've seen a number of sites refer to this as "lazy writing". Those people can piss off. When it boils down to it, it's some pretty damn realisitic writing right there.
I agree with everything you said except for this point, and I even MOSTLY agree with this bit I just quoted.

My point about it being a failure of creativity rather than sensitivity is based on its overuse. There are several sequences where its repetition is simply distracting and makes it seem as if the person writing the dialogue didn't know more than just that one way to depict the attitudes of the characters towards Catwoman.
 

Tarkand

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I have to say Steve, I don't really understand your complaint about too many gadget/combo.

If you don't want to use them, don't use them - there is no drawback whatsoever to having more tools at your disposal. Hell, if nothing else, I wish they were more! On the other hand, having all those gadgets available and linking them all up in a 50+ combo is extremely gratifying (and also a lot more effective than simply smashing the punch button 50 times).

Not to mention that using more variation also means faster xp, so the game rewards you for mastering it - while not punishing you if all you want to do is hit strike and counter. It's just weird to see you complain about something that is a strength of the game, not a weakness.

Steve Butts said:
anthony87 said:
I've seen a number of sites refer to this as "lazy writing". Those people can piss off. When it boils down to it, it's some pretty damn realisitic writing right there.
I agree with everything you said except for this point, and I even MOSTLY agree with this bit I just quoted.

My point about it being a failure of creativity rather than sensitivity is based on its overuse. There are several sequences where its repetition is simply distracting and makes it seem as if the person writing the dialogue didn't know more than just that one way to depict the attitudes of the characters towards Catwoman.
Funny thing is that of all the bad words that thugs with little education would use to insult a woman with, ***** is probably one of the mildest...
 

Badassassin

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anthony87 said:
I've seen this whole "offensive language" thing brought up on a few sites and it's really pissing me off to no end.

These are murderers, rapists, cannibals and so on so why is it such a surprise that when they see a woman in a skin-tight catsuit they fantasise what they'd do to her? Is it really so wrong for them to refer to said woman as a "*****" when she starts beating the shit out of them? These guys are hardly gonna stick to polite and proper etiquette.

I've seen a number of sites refer to this as "lazy writing". Those people can piss off. When it boils down to it, it's some pretty damn realisitic writing right there.

(I'm aware that this should probably be directed at the dude you quoted, but he seems kinda stupid so I figured I@d direct it towards yourself as you seem not stupid....ugh, the mods probably won't like the "stupid" remark)
This is very true....
However I think it's AWFUL coincidental that whenever you play as catwoman thugs suddenly stop talking about how cold they are and start talking about how much of a ***** catwoman is.

Also, I keep hearing everyone saying how catwoman is really weak... Am I the only one who loved cartwheeling into a group of guards and acrobating my foot into their face in two seconds flat? I didn't think she was weak at all, except against guns, but whatever....
 

rsvp42

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Tarkand said:
Funny thing is that of all the bad words that thugs with little education would use to insult a woman with, ***** is probably one of the mildest...
And seeing as how it's rated T, are they even allowed to use anything worse?
 

rsvp42

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Badassassin said:
Also, I keep hearing everyone saying how catwoman is really weak... Am I the only one who loved cartwheeling into a group of guards and acrobating my foot into their face in two seconds flat? I didn't think she was weak at all, except against guns, but whatever....
You're right about the guns thing, but I seem to do better with Catwoman in the challenge maps than with Batman. And after a certain point, you're not really even getting hit anymore so her lower health isn't a problem.
 

Tarkand

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Badassassin said:
anthony87 said:
I've seen this whole "offensive language" thing brought up on a few sites and it's really pissing me off to no end.

These are murderers, rapists, cannibals and so on so why is it such a surprise that when they see a woman in a skin-tight catsuit they fantasise what they'd do to her? Is it really so wrong for them to refer to said woman as a "*****" when she starts beating the shit out of them? These guys are hardly gonna stick to polite and proper etiquette.

I've seen a number of sites refer to this as "lazy writing". Those people can piss off. When it boils down to it, it's some pretty damn realisitic writing right there.

(I'm aware that this should probably be directed at the dude you quoted, but he seems kinda stupid so I figured I@d direct it towards yourself as you seem not stupid....ugh, the mods probably won't like the "stupid" remark)
Actually, quite a few bad guys mentionned stuff like 'Catwoman should be careful walking around with an outfit like that... she could get in trouble' or stuff like that, even when I'm playing as Batman. This implies rape. Several comment about Harley Quinn are also of that caliber ('When Joker won't be around anymore, I'll get to ride the Harley!').

I don't find myself, but I do think on the 'morality scale', implied rape oughta be worse then a 2nd degree curse word... yet, that's not what people are complaining about. Which I find totally baffling.


And for what it's worth, I find Catwoman's greater speed and easier counter to be an quite an equalizer when it comes to comparing her to Batman. I find her a lot easier to use in the Combat Challenge... she is penalized in points because of her lack of gadget, but her greater speed means it's much easier to get perfect scores.
 

Tarkand

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rsvp42 said:
Tarkand said:
Funny thing is that of all the bad words that thugs with little education would use to insult a woman with, ***** is probably one of the mildest...
And seeing as how it's rated T, are they even allowed to use anything worse?
Pretty much.

Slut, Whore, ****? I mean seriously, would the game be better if that's what they called her? I don't think so. I'm kinda happy they stuck with *****.

I don't know if you can really accuse it of being 'lazy writting' either... remember - those are thugs with little to no education, most of them are idiots on top of that... how much vocabulary do you think they have?

Grasping at straws.
 
Aug 10, 2011
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Regarding obscurumlux01's post:

Ladies and gentlemen, please move along, there is nothing to see here. While I recognize that refusing to respond could by some be seen as a tacit tolerance of the post, I think the reviewer has responded in an appropriate manner and that should be the end of it. I believe this forum prides itself on its maturity and I hope very much those that read this post agree with me when I assert that minimal interactions with such posters is indeed the most mature option to take.

For what it is worth, I quite enjoyed the review, found it to be informative, and appreciate the efforts of the reviewer that have contributed to the high quality of the website.
 

ExtraDebit

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So anyone play this on hard yet? I found it even more challenging than dark souls or at least rival that of. Can't imagine how hard it'll be on hard and new game+.
 

nyysjan

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I also like the flow combat system, except the knife counters (almost never work, easier to just jump over the knife wielder and hit them from behind), and the camera is too close (i end up loosing the flow combo because i could not find the next target).
Camera while gliding is also pain in the arse (trying to grab the next gargoyle or water tower from a distance can get tricky).

But all in all, good game (although only at the third catwoman sequence now, will play it more when during weekends), don't like the portrayal of the females though, Ivy and Harley especially, but Catwoman and Talia feel off as well.
 

Preacher zer0

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Love it.

They've done a great job here, the plot is highly complex (maybe too complex for casuals, but batman fans will eat it up).

Catwoman's sections are cool, she is very different from Bats, she moves throughout the city in a much more grounded fashion (rooftop running far more than Bats) and she can't take as much punishment... so guys with guns are srs bsnz.

They even managed to make the Penguin work with the cockney accent (and believe me, I was hating this idea when I saw the trailer).
He's actually a very good 'version' for Rocksteady's Bat Universe and well, it works imo.

Freeze sounds and acts exactly the way I hoped.

Ivy and Harley and still the Ivy and Harley we got in AA... Rocksteady's Ivy and Harley and for what they are, they work.

Talia I wasn't too keen on, I'm used to Morrison's Talia who is a MUCH stronger character.
But Ras made up for it... That was beyond doubt my favourite encounter (except for the hallucinated section, didn't like that... prefer scarecrow for trippy Bat action tbh).

Game of the Year... no question.
 

ExtraDebit

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ccdohl said:
ExtraDebit said:
So anyone play this on hard yet? I found it even more challenging than dark souls or at least rival that of. Can't imagine how hard it'll be on hard and new game+.
I'm playing on hard. The enemies just move faster. They still have the counter indication though, unlike AA.
There's no counter indicators on new game+. Anyway maybe I'm just getting old and my hand eye coordination isn't what it used to be. Found the difficulty fun and rewarding though, unlike the 0 difficulty games as of late.

But one thing I don't like is how they didn't give you enough freedom on how to approach combat, I wish stealth was more expanded and a viable alternative to melee.

If only Assassin's creed was this hard, I'll be in love all over again.
 

anthony87

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ExtraDebit said:
So anyone play this on hard yet? I found it even more challenging than dark souls or at least rival that of. Can't imagine how hard it'll be on hard and new game+.
I'm on the hard difficulty of New Game+ at the moment and I'm actually managing fine without the counter indicator. Playing through hard really seems to have given me a feel for the timing needed to pull off the counters without the indicator. The only thing that's throwing me off is having dudes with guns and stun rods from the beginning and the larger crowds. But larger crowds just means more ass kicking for me.
 

Danpascooch

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Apr 16, 2009
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Sparrow said:
My only complaint is that I expected the campaign to be a little longer. Everything else I love.

Z of the Na said:
[sub]Exactly how does a steel grate hold back a powerhouse like Bane?[/sub]
You know what part of the plot confused me the most?

There was one vial of serum left. Batman took half, then it smashed... so, what about all the folks the Joker poisoned? Are they dead now, or what?
I wondered the exact same thing, kind of an important bit for the writers to just straight up forget about.

I hope there's some DLC where Batman is accused of stealing and consuming the only thing that could have been replicated to save those people (which he is totally guilty of doing) and has to be defended by Phoenix Wright in court, it's just batshit insane enough to work!