GOTY 2011: Best Action Adventure Game – Batman: Arkham City

We were flooded with a huge amount of quality games throughout 2011, delighting millions of players, no matter their actual preferences. For a broad genre like the action adventure one, it made deciding a winner that much harder, as more than enough contenders appeared throughout the year, from the likes of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, to Assassin’s Creed: Revelations or even Infamous 2. 

Still, when I look back, one of the best action adventure experiences I had this year was with Batman: Arkham City.

Arkham Asylum, its predecessor, came out of nowhere and surprised a huge number of gamers with its sharp gameplay, great story, and top-notch production quality. As such, with Arkham City, the developer, Rocksteady Studios, had a lot to live up to and, fortunately, it succeeded, delivering one of the most impressive Batman experiences ever seen by fans of the Caped Crusader.

Batman has become a hot commodity in recent years, largely because of The Dark Knight movie series made by Christopher Nolan in an ultra-realistic manner. Fortunately, Rocksteady’s take on the comic book character embraces the traditional Batman universe, delivering a stylized experience that lends itself perfectly to gaming.

From the beginning to the end, except for the sequences where you control Catwoman, the game makes you feel like you’re inside Batman’s suit. From using your cape to glide around the city, to the variety of gadgets and weapons that help solve puzzles and surprise enemies, to the martial arts maneuvers needed to subdue them in a non-lethal manner, every bit of gameplay feels just right.

Throw in a huge cast of villains and characters from the comic books, like the ever crazy Joker, as well as new enemies like Two-Face or The Penguin, not to mention allies like Catwoman or Talia al Ghul, and you’ll actually feel like you’re in an interactive version of a Batman comic book.

For making this possible, Batman: Arkham City is the best action adventure game of the year. In case you want to see the game in action, check out the video below.