Batman Arkham City Lockdown Review

With the proliferation of iOS games built in sophisticated 3D graphics engines like the Unreal engine, there have been more titles every day making gamers stop and scratch their heads in wonder at a new level of graphical fidelity not before available on their devices. Batman Arkham City Lockdown, the iOS counterpart to the console game Batman Arkham City, is a title that showcases just how much developers learned about programing software for the iOS hardware in order to squeeze ever more impressive visuals out of the platform. What's more, this game is much more than just a pretty face; the gameplay is solid, crazy fun, and plays to all the strengths of iOS devices.

In Batman Arkham City Lockdown, gamers play as none other than the dark knight himself, and in doing so they hand out uber-violent beat downs in Batman's unique hand-to-hand style as they clear Gotham City's streets of criminals that have escaped from the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Unlike it's console counterpart, this Batman game is not an open world adventure. Instead, Arkham City Lockdown is split up into different levels that they player chooses from a map of Gotham City. In each level, Batman faces off against various inmates and bosses one by one. The combat is not unlike that of the Infinity Blade series, where players watch for enemy attacks and then swipe or tap the screen in specific ways to perform dodges, blocks, and attacks. There are several different enemy types with different styles of attacks and each boss fight has it's own unique action, meaning players won't get bored playing out the same fights again and again.

As players progress, they will gain experience points and level up. They are also awarded points that they can use to upgrade Batman's abilities and gadgets to make him more even more fearsome in battle. There are also other goodies included with the game such as comics to read, wallpapers, and extra Batman character skins that are available via in-app purchase.

This game looks nothing short of gorgeous, and it really shows off how pretty an iOS game can be. The action may be a bit scripted and linear but it is so varied from moment to moment and executed so smoothly that players will hardly feel confined or restricted. This is a much needed addition to the iOS library, and it shines.