The combat itself was very much the same between Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. However, Arkham Asylum took place largely indoors, whereas Arkham City gave you a whole cityscape to play with. My recollection was that Arkham City was MUCH larger than Arkham Asylum was. You got new gadgets and moves, too. Plus you got a ton of side missions to complete in addition to the usual collection quests. Arkham Asylum was a much larger-scale game on the whole than Arkham City was. It built upon what the former did.
But honestly, watching the gameplay in this, it looked like even the same maps taht we played in Arkham City. Like, there was one walkway between buildings and I was thinking "I've glided past that plenty of times already..."
Look at it this way. Arkham Asylum was to Arkham City what Assassin's Creed 1 was to Assassin's Creed 2. A smaller version of a very similar game.
This game appears to be more like Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, which didn't really add a ton to the game, but simply continued the same gameplay. Moreover, the story itself, while possibly cool, is a prequel, and dammit I'm sick of prequels.
What was I looking for? Obviously, it'll be very similar in terms of the core gameplay, but I was looking for considerably different settings, and much more expanded gameplay.
I mean, ok, the game may be cool, but it seems a very...timid step, and I'd much rather see the storyline moved forward. Killing the Joker at the end of Arkham City was amazing. Adding in Robin for single player was a nice touch. I'd like to see more expansion on that kind of thign. What happens to the city in the wake of the Joker's death? And I'd like to see future games give a range of playable characters, including Nightwing, Robin, and Catwoman, not as DLC, but as part of the main storyline.
So, like I said. Worth $30? Yah, probably. Worth $60? Nope.
