20 Greatest Batman Video Games Of All Time

Superhero games usually aren't very good. Bizarrely, the prospect of having the player fill the shoes of a man, woman or alien bestowed with eye lasers, flight, super speed or any other hundreds of abilities seems to create some real problems for games developers. The problem is balance. How, for example, do you make a Superman game that's challenging when the titular character is practically invincible and can freeze any threat instantly simply by breathing on them? Sure, you could tone down such extremely powerful abilities, but that just risks alienating (and irritating) fans who are supposed to buy your product. Or you could make enemies just as powerful as the protagonist, but that ultimately results in the player feeling rather unexceptional. It's for those exact reasons that Batman is the exception to the rule: Bruce Wayne's alter ego has no powers beyond a kick-ass costume, slick gadgets and a physique to rival Arnold Schwarzenegger's. He works as a playable hero because he's entirely killable. And of course his genius perfectly suits investigative gameplay, gadgets are ripe for becoming part of an upgrade system, and his peak physical human strength paves the way for fun combat and RPG-like skill trees. While his digital history has been far from flawless, the fact that twenty good Batman video games exist is a testament in itself that the Dark Knight is the best when it comes to superhero gaming. But which deserves the crown as the best?

Arkham City was a worthy successor to Asylum, but the former's more contained game world and in turn, more focused gameplay and narrative make it the greatest Batman experience to date.