Batman: Arkham City

Actor Mark Hamill was reluctant to return for the sequel, wanting to leave the Joker role on a "high note", but relented after learning of the involvement of Paul Dini and Kevin Conroy.[49]

Arkham City features a large ensemble cast of characters from the history of Batman comics. Returning characters from Arkham Asylum include Batman (Kevin Conroy),[50] the Joker (Mark Hamill)—in what Hamill stated would be his final time voicing the character;[51] (he subsequently reprised the role in Arkham City's successor Batman: Arkham Knight)[52]—Warden-turned-Mayor Quincy Sharp (Tom Kane), police Commissioner James Gordon (David Kaye),[53] and reporter Jack Ryder (James Horan).[54] Returning villains include the Riddler (Wally Wingert),[55] Victor Zsasz (Danny Jacobs),[44][54] Bane (Fred Tatasciore),[56][57] and Poison Ivy (Tasia Valenza).[57][58] Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn also returns, voiced by Tara Strong, who replaces Arleen Sorkin.[54] Batman's supporting cast introduces Catwoman (Grey DeLisle),[59] Robin (Troy Baker),[43][60] and Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis),[53] who provides radio support alongside the returning Oracle (Kimberly Brooks).[53] Nightwing appears as a playable character outside of the main story via challenge maps.[61]

Other characters marking their debut in the series include the manipulative warden of Arkham City, Hugo Strange (Corey Burton),[62] Two-Face (also voiced by Baker),[60] and the Penguin (Nolan North).[63] Stana Katic lends her voice as Talia al Ghul,[64] and Maurice LaMarche voices both Mr. Freeze[65] and Calendar Man.[53] Other characters include the zombie Solomon Grundy (also voiced by Tatasciore), the shapeshifter Clayface (Rick D. Wasserman), the League of Assassins's leader, Ra's al Ghul (Dee Bradley Baker),[53] the mind-controlling Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol),[53][66] and the assassin Deadshot (Chris Cox), who has infiltrated Arkham City to kill several high-profile character targets.[53][67] The villain Hush (also voiced by Conroy),[53] the mysterious Azrael (Khary Payton),[53] and reporter Vicki Vale (also voiced by DeLisle)[68][69] also appear. Black Mask (also voiced by North),[70] Killer Croc (Steven Blum),[57] and Freeze's wife, Nora Fries, make cameo appearances in the game.[71][72]

The events of Arkham City are set one year after Batman: Arkham Asylum.[73] Quincy Sharp, the asylum's erstwhile director, has taken sole credit for halting the Joker's armed siege, using this distinction to become mayor of Gotham City. Declaring both the asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary no longer suitable to contain the city's detainees, Sharp's administration orders both facilities closed and he purchases Gotham's most notorious slums, converting them into an immense prison enclosure known as Arkham City. This facility is subsequently placed in the care of psychiatrist Hugo Strange—who is secretly manipulating Sharp—and monitored by a rogue private military firm, TYGER Security.[74] Strange permits the inmates to do as they please, so long as they do not attempt to escape. A wary Batman maintains his own vigil over the new project, concerned that the chaotic situation there will get out of hand.[17] Meanwhile, the Joker is suffering from a potentially fatal disease caused by his previous consumption of the Titan formula, an unstable steroid serum which turns men into maddened monsters.[74][75]

At a press conference held by Bruce Wayne to declare his opposition to Arkham City, TYGER mercenaries arrest and imprison him in the City itself. Hugo Strange discloses his knowledge of Wayne's dual identity as Batman before releasing him into the prison's criminal populace.[76][77] While Strange prepares to commence "Protocol 10", Wayne obtains his equipment via airdrop from Alfred Pennyworth, allowing him to become Batman. He first saves Catwoman from being executed by Two-Face, who hopes to gain respect by murdering her.[18] After Joker attempts to assassinate Catwoman, Batman tracks him to his hideout in the Sionis Steelmill, believing Joker may know the truth behind Protocol 10.[19][78]

There, Batman learns that the unstable properties of the Titan formula are mutating in Joker's blood, gradually killing him. Joker captures Batman and performs a blood transfusion on him, infecting him with the same fatal disease.[78][79] Joker also reveals that Gotham hospitals have been poisoned with his infected blood. Desperate to save himself and innocent citizens, Batman seeks out Mr. Freeze, who had been developing a cure but has since been kidnapped by the Penguin.[22][80] Tracking Penguin to the Cyrus Pinkney National History Institute, Batman defeats his forces, his imprisoned monster Solomon Grundy, and ultimately the Penguin himself, before liberating Mr. Freeze.[22][81]

Freeze tells Batman that he has created a cure, but it is rendered useless via instability. Batman deduces that the restorative properties of Ra's al Ghul's blood can complete the cure and tracks one of his assassins to his underground lair, leading Batman into a confrontation with Ra's and his daughter Talia, Batman's former lover.[80][81] With Ra's al Ghul's blood, Freeze is able to develop an antidote, but it is stolen by Harley Quinn before Batman can use it.[82] When Batman returns to the Joker, he finds his health has been restored.

While the two fight, Strange activates Protocol 10, which is revealed to be a scheme to wipe out the entire population of Arkham City and destroy the criminal element of Gotham. TYGER troops begin executing inmates as Strange launches missile strikes on Arkham's denizens from his base in Wonder Tower. A missile hits the steelmill, burying Batman under rubble. Before Joker can take advantage of the situation, Talia arrives and offers him immortality in exchange for sparing Batman's life. After escaping with the help of Catwoman, Batman is convinced by Alfred to end Protocol 10 before pursuing Talia and Joker.[83]

Batman infiltrates Wonder Tower and disables Protocol 10. Ra's al Ghul is revealed to be the true mastermind behind Arkham City and mortally wounds Strange for failing to defeat Batman.[83] With his dying breath, Strange activates "Protocol 11", the self-destruction of Wonder Tower. After Ra's commits suicide to avoid capture, Joker contacts Batman, threatening to kill Talia unless Batman meets him at the Monarch Theater. When Batman arrives, Joker demands the cure from Batman but is impaled and apparently killed by Talia while distracted. Talia admits to stealing the cure from Quinn,[84] before she is killed by a second Joker, still stricken with the disease.[83][85]

The healthy Joker that Talia impaled then reanimates into the shapeshifting Clayface, who is revealed to have been masquerading as a healthy Joker all along at the ailing villain's request.[86] Batman defeats Clayface despite Joker blowing up the theater floor. Batman drinks a portion of the antidote, and destroys Ra's' rejuvenating Lazarus Pit before the Joker can use it. As Batman debates curing his foe, Joker attacks him, causing the antidote vial to inadvertently smash. Batman admits that in spite of everything Joker had done, he would have saved him. After Joker finally succumbs to his illness and dies, Batman carries his body out of Arkham City. As Commissioner Gordon asks what happened, Batman places Joker's body on the hood of a police car and leaves in silence.[75][85]

Veteran Batman comic book writer Paul Dini, pictured in 2007. After writing Arkham Asylum, Dini reprised his duties for Arkham City.

Rocksteady conceived the idea of a sequel before development of Arkham Asylum had concluded, developing ideas for both the story and setting so the games' narratives could be effectively connected; a secret room was hidden in the asylum warden's office in Arkham Asylum containing hints of how the sequel would progress, including blueprints for the Arkham City prison;[87][88] the blueprints are quite similar to its final layout in Arkham City.[44] The original idea was to take the game out of the asylum setting and onto the streets of Gotham City while retaining the level of design detail put into the asylum. To that end they wanted to include locations from the Batman mythos that were notable and meaningful to the character, instead of a series of generic streets; Rocksteady was initially unsure how technical considerations would limit the scope of this idea.[44]

Serious development of the game's story and concept started in February 2009, as teams were moved from Arkham Asylum to Arkham City's development as they completed the work on that game.[89] By the time they had programmed Batman to dive and glide between buildings of the asylum, the adaption of the gameplay to the city was considered natural.[88] Rocksteady decided to not include the Batmobile, because it would be unable to travel on the city's broken terrain. Batman's gliding provided a sufficient means of transportation, and it was considered that putting Batman in any vehicle would make it a completely different game.[44] Sefton Hill, Arkham City's director from Rocksteady Studios, stated that a key goal for the game was to deliver the "'Batman in Gotham' feeling."[88] The sequel was described by Conroy as "really, really dark". While relating the game's dark nature to the animated movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Conroy also said, "It involves a lot of the villains and it goes to that area – it's that dark."[50]

As part of the "Batman in Gotham" design philosophy, Batman's arsenal of moves and actions were expanded. Although the team developed several ideas for new moves, gadgets and abilities, they only went forward with those that they felt would be authentic to Batman.[88] They also chose to have Batman start the game with access to the gadgets unlocked in Arkham Asylum, to convey the impression that Batman is fully prepared for the inevitability of things going wrong in Arkham City.[44] The studio reviewed the play and combat systems used in Arkham Asylum, and built the new moves as natural extensions of the existing system as a means to "add even more depth and gameplay instead of changing them fundamentally".[88] The number of animations were doubled to reflect the larger arsenal of moves at the player's disposal.[88] The X-ray-like "Detective Vision" mode used to highlight certain objects in-game was redeveloped for Arkham City because it was considered to be too useful in Arkham Asylum, resulting in some players using it throughout almost the entire game; the visual effect also obscured the game's design aesthetic.[90] One idea was to introduce a time limit on its use, but it was considered that Batman "wouldn't make a gadget like that".[91] Instead, the mode was designed to be difficult to use in certain situations such as obscuring navigational information, and combat where enemy strikes will blur the screen when "Detective Vision" is active.[78][92] Rocksteady art director David Hego described the new "Detective Vision" as an "augmented reality mode".[90]

Another way the developers wished to enhance the player's Batman experience was through the larger game world. Arkham City has a virtual footprint five times larger than that of Arkham Asylum, and the navigational aspects were improved to offer the player "the freedom and exhilaration of gliding down alleyways and soaring above the skyline".[88] Though the concepts were compared to an open world game, Hill notes that such freeform nature would not be appropriate for a Batman game because it would inhibit the atmosphere they wanted to create, and that Arkham City was designed to challenge the player to think like Batman to survive.[88] To counterbalance the larger game world, the developers also sought to include more challenges and side missions while keeping the player alert as to the primary mission, such that the players constantly are aware of "extreme pressure of the challenges that they face".[88] The Riddler Trophies were designed towards the end of the game's development and were incorporated into every area of the map without overpopulating it, resulting in 440 trophies. Rocksteady aimed to make the player think creatively when collecting trophies by requiring the use of gadgets to solve puzzles, rather than placing the trophies in obscure areas of the map as mere collection items.[31]

With the open game world, Rocksteady included more villains to create challenges for Batman. Hugo Strange was selected as a primary antagonist, as his power and controlling manner help maintain the lockdown on Arkham City once Batman enters. Strange is aware of Batman's true identity, making Batman "vulnerable and exposed in a way that he has never been before", according to Hill. He noted that Strange is a character new to many players but that his backstory and character are detailed throughout the game.[89] Catwoman was also included based on her long history with Batman, though she was given her own agenda running parallel to the events within Arkham City.[93] Catwoman's missions initially ended with her coming to Batman's aide, but late in development, the developers decided to give the player an alternate choice, allowing them to have the morally grey Catwoman leave the city with her loot; the addition was implemented in two days.[94] Batman's sidekick Robin also appears, featuring a shaved head and contemporary costume design that were intended to move away from his traditional "Boy Wonder" image. Senior concept artist Kan Muftic explained: "Our vision of Robin is the one of a troubled young individual that is calm and introverted at times, but very dangerous and aggressive if provoked. The shaved head is inspired by cage fighters, because we thought that Robin might be doing that in his spare time to keep him on his toes. Still, we kept all the classic trademarks of Robin's appearance, such as the red and yellow colors of his outfit, the cape and the mask."[95] Rocksteady originally did not plan to include Robin in the main story but later decided to as an authentic means of delivering new gadgets to Batman, as well as to introduce their version of the character and his relationship with Batman.[31]

Rocksteady intended for Batman, Catwoman, and Robin to offer three different playing experiences.[44] Other villains from Batman's comic history were selected to show that the prison was a melting pot of people from Gotham. The developers believed that providing a small part of each villain's story rather than focusing on a select few allowed the player to meet many more characters and effectively conveyed the feeling of being in a superprison filled with supervillains.[31] Rocksteady decided early on that the Joker would die in the story, and developed the idea of him poisoning Batman with the same affliction, in order to show how the two diametrically opposed characters would interact in pursuit of a shared goal. Warner Bros. and Dini did not oppose killing off the character as long as it was not done for shock value, and as long as they made it clear that Batman was not at fault, since he would not intentionally kill someone.[94]

The developers had considered adding a multiplayer element to the game, but ultimately decided against it. According to Hill, "If we use all of the energy that is required to create multiplayer and instead focus this on the single player, would that deliver a better overall game?", and decided in the affirmative.[93]

Variety was added to the city itself, as certain areas were designed around the villains that control that particular territory. Dax Ginn, marketing game manager at Rocksteady Games, said, "If you move into Joker's territory, you get a very Joker-ized experience, and all the artwork on the buildings – whether that's graffiti, signage, or whatever it might be – gives you a dense kind of Joker experience. So our art team has really put a lot of effort in making that sort of transition between one turf zone to another – really helping the player feel like they're making a physical transition into another emotional space."[96] The architecture was imbued with 19th century Art Nouveau design, such as Strange's Wonder Tower which was inspired by the Eiffel Tower, while character designs employed a modern Hyperrealism style. To keep the environments interesting, base color schemes such as Mr Freeze's ice-themed area, Joker's fire-themed steel mill, and Poison Ivy's jungle-themed area were populated with contrasting elements: for example, the steel mill uses large, white clown faces to contrast the oranges and reds used throughout.[97] To develop the expanded environment of Arkham City and build a "natural urban environment" for Batman, Rocksteady expanded its workforce from 75 to over 100 people.[98]

The game's release was accompanied by two albums of music released by WaterTower Music.[99][100] Batman: Arkham City – Original Video Game Score was released on October 18, 2011, and features 19 tracks written for the game by Arkham Asylum composers Nick Arundel and Ron Fish.[99] Batman: Arkham City – The Album was released on October 4, 2011, via CD and digital download. The album contains 11 original songs inspired by the game from mainstream artists including Daughtry, Panic! at the Disco, and Coheed and Cambria. An extra song was made available via the Collector's edition of the album,[100][101] and the Deluxe edition included a portion of Arundel's original score.[102]

Warner Bros. partnered with several retailers and companies globally to provide bonus content as a reward for pre-ordering, including: Best Buy, Amazon.com, GameStop, Game, Gamestation, EB Games, Tesco, and Asda.[119][120] The content was only made available by pre-ordering the game with a specific retailer or purchasing a product, such as a NOS beverage, to obtain an unlockable code.[121]

A variety of alternate outfits for Batman were revealed in August 2011, including suit designs worn by the character in The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Earth One, the Bronze Age of Comics, Batman: The Animated Series, and Batman Beyond.[122] The Batman: The Animated Series skin was initially only available to GameStop customers in the U.S. with a Power-Up Rewards Membership.[123] A PlayStation 3-exclusive Sinestro Corps outfit was revealed in August 2011 that initially was only unlockable via a unique code obtained by purchasing the extended cut edition of the Warner Bros. film, Green Lantern on Blu-ray Disc.[124][125]

Batman's sidekick Robin (Tim Drake)[43] was made available as a playable character for use in challenge maps, with his own set of combat moves and gadgets. Additional Robin skins were also released, including his appearance from Batman: The Animated Series and the Red Robin outfit.[126][127] The character came with two exclusive challenge maps: "Black Mask Hideout" and "Freight Train Escape".[43] The "Joker's Carnival" challenge map was also made available; it set within the Joker's Sionis Steel Mill base where the player is faced with multiple waves of opponents.[128] The pre-order content was considered an "early access opportunity" for customers,[129] with Ginn confirming that all of the content would be made available for download after the game's release date.[38][129] Pre-orders for Arkham City numbered more than 200% above those of Arkham Asylum.[103]

In the United Kingdom, the Robin Edition was announced, available exclusively through retailers Game and Gamestation, containing the game and all of the Robin pre-order content including the playable character, skins and challenge maps.[130] A series of "Steelbook Edition" versions of the game were also made available, featuring the standard game with a metallic case. The Joker-themed Steelbook includes the "Joker's Carnival" challenge map, the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood on DVD (Blu-ray for PlayStation 3), and the Bronze Age Batman skin DLC.[131] Three other villain-themed steelbook cases were also offered, featuring the likenesses of Two-Face and the Penguin.[119] A fourth steelbook featuring Catwoman was released, containing the Batman: Earth One alternative skin for Batman.[132]

The Collector's Edition contains a Batman statue by Kotobukiya, a collectible art book, Batman: Arkham City – The Album from WaterTower Music, the animated film Batman: Gotham Knight, The Dark Knight Returns skin and the Penguin-themed "Iceberg Lounge" challenge map.[133][134] In July 2011, the Microsoft Windows version of the game was revealed to use Games for Windows – Live (GFWL) to access online services.[135] Confusion concerning the use of GFWL was raised when a distributor was told by Warner Bros. that the title did not use the Live system, but the use of GFWL was confirmed in late August.[136][137]

On October 25, 2011, a Batman themed Xbox 360 console bundle was released, containing the game, a DVD of Batman: Gotham Knight, a DVD of the Green Lantern film, the Green Lantern video game tie-in Rise of the Manhunters, and a 250GB Xbox 360 console. A bundle containing these items and a Kinect controller was also released.[138]

A Game of the Year edition was announced on April 23, 2012, containing the game and all of the released downloadable content (DLC). A free download of the animated movie Batman: Year One was also included with versions released in the United States and Canada.[38][110]

Actress Tara Strong replaced Arleen Sorkin in Batman: Arkham City as the voice of Harley Quinn, and reprised the role for the "Harley Quinn's Revenge" downloadable content.

New purchases of the game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are provided with a unique code that unlocks the "Catwoman" DLC, enabling a series of missions for Catwoman, with unique weapons and moves.[39][139] Although the missions were presented as part of the main game, on October 13, 2011, Warner Bros. announced that it would be restricted to new purchases.[37][139] Users can also purchase the content separately. It was later announced that pre-owned copies purchased from GameStop would contain the necessary unlock code.[140] A Warner Bros. rep confirmed that playing as Catwoman would not be required to complete the game.[141] The Catwoman DLC also contains two alternate skins for the character: her appearances from The Animated Series and Batman: The Long Halloween.[142] The PC version of the game includes the DLC, requiring no downloads or further installs to access.[39]

Additional DLC packs were later released. The "Nightwing" pack, released on November 1, 2011, includes Batman's ally Nightwing as a playable character for the game's challenge maps, an Animated Series alternative skin for the character,[45] and two more challenge maps: "Wayne Manor" and "Main Hall".[143] The "Robin" pack was released on November 22, 2011, and contains the Robin pre-order content.[144] A "Skins" pack containing all of the alternate Batman pre-order skins was released on December 6, 2011.[145] Another pack was announced for release on December 20, 2011, containing the pre-order "Iceberg Lounge" and "Joker's Carnival" challenge maps, and a completely new challenge map: "Batcave".[146] On December 19, 2011, a new Batman skin was released—based on the character's outfit from Batman Incorporated—to download for free on all platforms.[147]

On October 23, 2011, an official map app was made available to purchase on the iOS App Store that contains maps for Arkham City, the locations of in-game collectibles, and the solutions to the Riddler's riddles.[148]

"Harley Quinn's Revenge", a story-based campaign expansion, was released on May 29, 2012, for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, with a PC version coming out a week later. The campaign features a new story, new areas, new enemies, and both Batman and Robin as playable characters. The story takes place two weeks after the events of Arkham City. The mega prison has since been evacuated, but Quinn returns and sets up in Joker's former base.[46] The game follows Robin's search for Batman, who has gone missing while hunting Quinn;[38][46] Batman has been acting differently following the end of the main game story, concerning his allies.[149] On the same day, it was announced that all of the released DLC, including "Harley Quinn's Revenge", would be made available as part of the Arkham City Game of the Year edition.[38][110]

Arkham City is one of the fastest selling games in history.[178] Worldwide, two million units were sold in its first week from approximately 4.6 million shipped units, compared to Arkham Asylum's 4.3 million units sold in its entire release. On February 8, 2012, it was announced that more than six million units of the game had been shipped since release.[179]

During the first week of sales in the United Kingdom, Batman: Arkham City became the number-one selling game on all available formats, replacing FIFA 12 atop the charts for PlayStation 3,[180] Xbox 360,[181] and all-format[182] games. It became the fourth-biggest launch of 2011 after FIFA 12, Gears of War 3, and L.A. Noire. It became the biggest UK game launch in the history of Warner Bros., doubling the first week sales of Arkham Asylum.[183] It was the tenth-best-selling game of 2011 with approximately ten weeks in release, and the 34th-best-selling game of 2012.[184][185]

According to NPD Group, Batman: Arkham City was the second-best-selling game in the United States for October 2011, selling 1.5 million copies across available formats, the tenth-best-selling in November,[186][187] and the seventh-best-selling game overall in 2011.[179] Game-rental service GameFly announced that it was the most requested game of 2011, beating out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.[179]

The game reportedly sold over 12.5 million copies and generated $600+ million in revenue within 12 months.[188]

Batman: Arkham City won multiple awards at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards including: Character of the Year (Joker), Best Xbox 360 Game, Best Action Adventure Game, and Best Adapted Video Game; and received nominations for: Best Original Score, Best Graphics, Best Performance by a Human Female (Tara Strong), Best Performance by a Human Male (Mark Hamill), Trailer of the Year (Hugo Strange Reveal Trailer), Studio of the Year (Rocksteady), and Game of the Year.[189][190] As part of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) 2011 awards, the game was named Adventure Game of the Year,[191] and received nominations for: Outstanding Achievement in Animation; Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction; Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering; Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction; and Game of the Year.[192][193] The 2012 British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) awards saw the game win two awards for Performer (Mark Hamill) and Action game,[194] and receive nominations for: Artistic Achievement; Audio Achievement; Best Game; Design; Original Music; Story; and the publicly voted GAME Award of 2011.[195] Paul Crocker, Paul Dini, and Sefton Hill were nominated for the Video Game Writing award by the Writers Guild of America,[196][197] and Crocker won the Best Videogame Script award from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.[198] The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers awarded the game in the categories Control Design and Lighting/Texturing.[199] The game was also awarded as Outstanding Action / Adventure Game by the 16th Satellite Awards.[200] At the 2012 Develop Awards the game won in the category Use of a License[201] and the International 3D Society awarded the game in the category 3D Videogame – PC.[202] At the 5th Annual Cody Awards the game won in the category Best Licensed Game[203] and it was nominated in other categories (Game of the Year, Studio of the Year, Best Action-Adventure Game, Best Graphics).[204][205][206][207]

The Daily Telegraph awarded the game Best Original Score (Nick Arundel) and Game of the Year, with a statement that said: "as a video game, it's a magnificent piece of work, but it also shines as a unique, lovingly-crafted slice of Batman fiction."[208] The newspaper also nominated the game for: Best Director (Sefton Hill); Best Acting Performance (Mark Hamill and Nolan North); and Best Developer (Rocksteady Studios).[208] The game was nominated for Game of the Year and Best Game Design at the Game Developers Choice Awards,[179] and Game Audio Network Guild award's for Music of the Year, Best Soundtrack Album, Best Audio Mix, and Best Original Vocal – Choral for the track "Main Theme".[209] The game was named the Best Action/Adventure Game and Best Overall Game of 2011 as part of the 2011 Yahoo! Games Game of the Year awards.[210][211] Batman: Arkham City received several honors from GameTrailers.com, including Best Xbox 360 Game of the Year, Best PC Game of 2011, as well as Best Action/Adventure game.[212] It also won the Best Action-Adventure Game award at the 2012 Golden Joystick Awards, and was nominated for Top Gaming Moment for the game's ending, Best DLC for "Harley Quinn's Revenge", and the overall Ultimate Game of the Year.[213][214] It was nominated for Game of the Decade at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.[215]

According to Metacritic, the PlayStation 3 version of the game was the highest-rated game of 2011; and across all formats, the game was tied with the role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as the highest-rated game of 2011.[216] This also tied Arkham City for the sixth-highest-rated game ever.[217]

Batman: Arkham City appeared on several lists of the top video games of 2011, including these: number 1 by E! Online,[218][219] and CNET;[220] number 2 by Gamasutra;[221] number 3 by Digital Spy,[222] Joystiq,[223] VentureBeat,[224] and Wired;[225] number 5 by the Associated Press,[226] and Time;[227] and number 10 by the Daily Mirror.[228]

Several international video game websites and magazines labeled Arkham City as their favourite Game of the Year[229][230][231][232][233][234][235] and as their favourite Action/Adventure Game.[236][237][238][239][240]

GameSpot labeled it the Best Action/Adventure Game as part of its Best of 2011 series,[241] Game Informer named it their Best Action/Adventure game of 2011 in their February 2012 issue, and highlighted specific points of the game including placing Batman number 1 on their list of the Top Ten Heroes, and the Mr. Freeze boss fight number 4 on their list of Top Ten Video Games Moments.[242] Always Game Informer labeled the game as Best Adventure Game on its Best of E3 2011 Awards.[243] PlayStation Official Magazine UK placed Batman: Arkham City as their number 2 Game Of the Year.[244] IGN labeled it as Best PC Action Game and as Best Overall Action Game of 2011 and the game won the IGN's People's Choice Awards for Best Xbox 360 Action Game and Best Xbox 360 Story.[245][246][247][248] At the Official Xbox Magazine Game of the Year 2011 Awards the game was awarded as Best Action-Adventure Game and became runner-up in the categories Best Story and Best Voice Acting.[249][250] DieHard GameFan awarded the game as Best Action Game and Game of the Year.[251] The BTVA Voice Acting Awards awarded the game in the categories Best Male Vocal Performance in a Video Game (Mark Hamill) and Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game.[252] The game also won in the category Best Interactive Animation at the Pulcinella Awards.[253] The game also won in two categories at the X-Play Awards 2011.[254] 1UP.com placed the game's main theme song as number 6 on its "Top 10 Theme Songs of 2011".[255] In January 2012, Eurogamer listed it as the third-best game of 2012.[256] In November 2012, Time named it one of the 100 greatest video games of all time and said, "It's hard to imagine a better superhero game than Batman: Arkham City. It's also hard to imagine a better video game in general."[257] Also in November, Entertainment Weekly named it one of the ten best games of the past decade (2002–2012) and said, "this is the definitive superhero adventure of the decade."[258][259] In 2013, Game Informer named it the best superhero game of all time,[260] and GamingBolt listing it at number 62 on its list of the 100 Greatest Video Games Ever Made.[261] In 2014, Empire placed it at number 12 on its list of the 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time, ahead of Arkham Asylum at number 28.[262] PC Gamer named it the 68th-best PC Game,[263] and IGN named it the 24th-best PC game of the preceding decade,[264] and the 16th-best game of the contemporary console generation.[265] In 2019, IGN listed it as the 54th-best video game of all time.[266] Metacritic, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes and IGN put the game among the best video games of the decade 2010–2019.[267][268][269][270]

During launch week, issues were found to exist in the code-restricted content. Some customers discovered the code to be missing from their copy, preventing them from obtaining the Catwoman story missions. The problem was reported by customers in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Warner Bros. issued a statement claiming that the missing codes had affected less than 0.5% of customers.[276] Upon release in the United Kingdom, a technical issue rendered the game unplayable for some players, booting them from the game with an error message that the "downloadable content is corrupt." Rocksteady European community manager Sarah Wellock claimed that the fault lay with the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live online systems.[277]

In early November 2011, Rocksteady confirmed that it was investigating reports by numerous users that save files for the Xbox 360 version of the game were being erased without prompting, resulting in players losing their progress and being unable to complete the game.[278][279] On launch, performance issues arose for the PC version when DirectX 11 features were enabled; the developer acknowledged the inconvenience and recommended running the game with DirectX 9 until a title update was released to address this matter.[280][281]