Pow! Sock! Crack! Ouch!

I don't have time to play many console games these days, but I'd like to make an exception when "Batman:  Arkham City" comes out in October.  Of course this is the sequel to "Batman: Arkham Asylum", probably one of the best games ever made.  I like games with hand-to-hand combat (guns bore me, I don't want one), and it's clear to me that the Arkham Asylum game (along with another game, of supernatural bent, "Bayonetta"), had some of the most dynamic and innovative combat to be found in a while.  It was GREAT fun lurking in the shadows as Batman, studying the movements of various opponents and, one by one, leaping out of the darkness to pummel someone with fluid kick and punch combos.  The growing apprehension of Joker's thugs as they gradually fell victim to an unseen assailant, made for a realistic and very satisfying atmosphere. 


I don't recall where I saw it, but one of the worst game reviews I ever read, pretty much said that Batman was a wimp for resorting to stealth tactics when dealing with armed thugs in "Arkham Asylum".  Well, what's an unarmed man supposed to do?  Batman doesn't have bullet-proof skin.  The fact that he can defeat a room full of armed villains using cunning and martial arts moves, is about as good as it gets. What's also cool is that Batman never bothers to pick up and use any of his opponent's guns.  He's bad-ass enough as it is, and he's not there to kill anyone.       


I have to wonder how the Joker and Harley Quinn could ever be on the loose again, after what they did at Arkham Asylum, murdering so many prison guards.   But I'll look forward anyway to wiping the floor with them again!


Speaking of Batman, here's a cover of an old comic book that I've had for years.  An interesting and unusual encounter with the Hulk!