2. Batman: Arkham
The Franchise: Rocksteady's Arkham series doesn't just have you playing as Batman; it makes you feel like you are Batman. Focusing as much on stealth and slowing picking off goons as much as face-to-face combat, the shadows quickly became your home, fear your main weapon. The franchise as a whole (even Arkham Origins, from developer Warner Bros. Games Montréal, which admittedly slowed the series' momentum) is a highlight from the past few years, giving us one of the best adaptations of the Dark Knight. If fans were a bit jaded by Nolan's real-world take of Gotham, the angular designs on show here should make up for that. But the series didn't just prove you can make a great superhero game; it showed a superhero game could tell a great, original story. Driven predominantly by the Joker (voiced in the first two games by Mark Hamill), the plot of the games is more than just a contrived way to get you fighting the best of the rogues gallery, with Arkham City ending with one of the biggest moments in Batman history, full stop.
Why The First Was Best: Yeah, the ending of City, the second game in the series, was pretty damn exceptional. Unfortunately the open-world game couldn't match the excitement of its more confined predecessor; having Batman swoop through a big city was cool, but the game felt less-focused in the bigger map. Like Portal, Arkham Asylum was a perfectly measured game, never letting the plot overwhelm the experience and advancing combat options at just the right time. Will Arkham Knight dethrone Asylum? We'll have to wait until next year to find out.