
With many of you still playing Arkham Knight, this is perhaps the best time to take a look back on it's predecessor and get all soppy and nostalgic; it's the grand-daddy of the Arkham Trilogy, the second tier in a three-stage evolution pokemon if you will; it was better than Arkham Asylum and laid the foundations for Arkham Knight, yes it can only be Arkham City.
Released in 2011, Arkham City follows Batman and his exploits within, well, Arkham City - a super prison that is run by Hugo Strange, houses Gotham's most dangerous criminals and replaces the Asylum from the first game. Even though Arkham Asylum was a sandbox game, Arkham City truly builds upon that potential; with an entire city to explore Rocksteady were able to include more side-stories and missions adjacent to the main story.

Arkham City, which is only the second instalment in the grand scheme of Rocksteady's storytelling for the entire trilogy, probably has the plotline that most fans remember because of one single thing.
The game opens with Bruce Wayne becoming incarcerated within Arkham City when Hugo Strange issues an order for him to be taken in when he is holding a press conference near the perimeter. Whilst there, Wayne works as Batman at uncovering the true intent behind the prison; which is to destroy the city with something called protocol 10, a citywide bombing attack that will be used to kill all of the prisoners held there. Batman uncovers that Strange was working for Ra's al Ghul and anyone who knows Ghul's motivations, knows this ultimately explains the motives behind Arkham City.

Yep, The Joker dies and the game ends. So, in the Arkham video game universe, The Joker is dead and (at the time) it was revealed that it was also the last time Mark Hamill was going to be voicing the character, so it was a big deal and kind of moving in a strange way.
Just as Arkham Asylum laid the foundations for the storytelling and gameplay mechanics for Arkham City, Arkham City laid down the foundations for Arkham Knight. And let me tell you, those foundations are very strong indeed.
We're Batman...

What are your memories of Arkham City? Let us know in the comments below!