Batman: Arkham City (so far)

So I've been playing Batman: Arkham City for the last couple of days, and my initial reviews are pretty favorable. There are a few things that bug me though....


1. The remote controlled batarang that you absolutely HAVE to use to get past a few of the obstacles. Really, Rocksteady? It's lame, and if you get any kind of motion sickness you won't make it past this level.


2. All the dumb-ass side missions you HAVE to complete before you can carry on with the main story, even though there's an obvious time limit. Seriously, it's gotten to the point now that when I ever do get back to the main story mission, I'm just waiting for another dumb-ass side mission to crop up in the middle of everything....which it does.


3. Initially I thought the switching back and forth between being able to play Catwoman's storyline and then Batman's storyline was cool, but then you start missing Batman's gadgets and moves when playing Catwoman. You also miss Catwoman's ridiculously easy levels when playing Batman's levels. 


4. The Ra's Al Ghul level. Pissed me off to no end with the gliding bullshit. 


5. The lipsynching, or lack thereof. It's actually pretty bad. Add to it the over-exaggerated character animation to cover up the particularly bad moments of lipsynch, and it's slowly becoming my new pet peeve. Yeah, I notice these things since I'm looking for a job in animation. Seeing what employed, and supposedly professional animators do on these games mystifies me on how they get employed in the first place.


Yeah, I'm not the most proficient video gamer, but I do know what I like. Also, there seem to be a few little bugs in the game still. Every now and then Bats get caught up on something like he's half in/out of a wall. Like back in the old days of gaming. 


The settings are nicely done, as are the characters. I really dig The Penguin with a British accent ala like the pig farmer guy out of the movie Snatch. Makes him much more menacing, especially for an arms dealer. Old Gotham (under Arkham City) is a cool touch too. 


So if you haven't gone out yet and bought it, do it. You won't be disappointed. I rarely play video games, if that gives you any indication of how good this game actually is. 


Enjoy.