In today’s article, let’s look back at the brilliant superhero game Batman: Arkham City and three of its best side quests.
Arkham City is considered by many to be one of the greatest superhero games of all time, and that’s for a lot of reasons. One of the reasons is the quality of the game’s side content.
Almost every side mission of the game is made to feel as important and compelling as the magnificent storyline. While the number of side missions is not really enormous, their quality makes up for it. These side quests are what I consider to be the finest in the game.
This article contains spoilers for certain side missions of Batman: Arkham City.
Watcher in the Wings
As you enter the massive prison city, you may have noticed a shadowy figure watching you. Dressed in an outfit that looks similar to a garb of a knight or an assassin, Batman can spot this figure simply watching from high places around the city, possibly waiting for the Dark Knight to spot him. He doesn’t harm anyone, or get in anyone’s way.
Once you approach the figure, he would utter a single line. For example, he once asked, “Are you the Chosen One?” before drawing a mark on the ground and vanishing.
I won’t go into detail about how to finish the mission or explain every intricate detail within it, but you can encounter this person four times throughout the city. After analysing the signs he leaves, you can reach a location that has another mark.
At this point, he arrives. His name is Azrael, and he tells Batman about a prophecy. This side quest ends there, and it would continue in Batman: Arkham Knight.
It is a mysterious mission about a great character, and it’s very immersive and interesting how even the side quests connect with the sequel.
Identity Theft
One of the creepier side missions in the game, this is about a person who attempts to become another man. While exploring Arkham City, Batman will find bodies that are missing faces. The skin of the faces has been carefully extracted, and the heads have been bandaged.
It is soon revealed that this is the sinister work of a serial killer. By finding and analyzing another body, Oracle (Batman’s assistant back in the Batcave) tells him that the killer is none other than Bruce Wayne. An unexpected turn of events.
Of course, Batman – or rather, Bruce – has no recollection of these heinous crimes, nor is he ever capable of sinking so low. Eventually, it is uncovered that someone is pretending to be Bruce. Once Batman finds another body, he can triangulate a location. It’s a secluded apartment that looks like a laboratory.
In this dark and eerie place, Batman finds a voice message that belongs to Thomas Elliot, a friend of Bruce Wayne. Or at least, a man who pretended to be a friend but one who harboured a deep resentment towards him inside.
After the recorder finishes playing the message that reveals a lot, the room gets locked, trapping Batman inside. Then, Elliot appears and unmasks in front of Batman, revealing his face that looks exactly like Bruce’s. He then leaves Arkham City, and the case ends as a cliffhanger. It would continue in Batman Arkham Knight.
Mad Hatter
In the story of the game, Batman is poisoned by the Joker. There is no apparent cure except for one that was developed by Mr. Freeze. But Batman sends a sample of blood back to the Batcave so Oracle can analyse it and attempt to produce a cure.
At a certain point in the game, the cure gets delivered to the Dark Knight. But once he interacts with it, it knocks him unconscious. When he comes to, he is sitting -or rather, bound to a chair- with other inmates, apparently enjoying a tea party. Take “enjoying” with a grain of salt.
On the far side of the table sits the Mad Hatter, a psychotic man obsessed with hats and “Alice”. He poisoned Batman and attempted to make a slave, or a puppet out of him. Then, a fight takes place in an unusual place: a freefalling clock that continuously ticks.
This is one of the most unique and surreal moments in the entire game, and while it lasts only for a while, it’s quite memorable. In the end, Batman escapes the horrid nightmare created by the Hatter and captures him.
