The first piece of substantial DLC for one of the year’s best games is here. Harley Quinn’s revenge takes players back into Arkham City to take on Mr. J’s sadistic lady friend. More Arkham is always good, right? Well maybe not so much in this case.
The story takes place following the shocking ending of Arkham City. You start off playing as Robin in the Amusement Mile area. Harley Quinn, in full on mourning gear, has taken Batman hostage and it’s up to Tim Drake to find him. There isn’t much story here and it does little to add to the overall story of Arkham City. It feels like a side mission that doesn’t contribute to the big picture. I was intrigued by the relationship between Batman and Robin and why that tension exists between them, but there isn’t enough time dedicated to it.
The voice work is as exceptional as it was in Arkham City. The game looks and feels the same but it’s an old area which is a tad disappointing as I was hoping for a new dungeon to explore. The gameplay remains unchanged from the main game. There are some new gadgets while playing as Robin to play with and he also has some different moves but mostly it’s the same old counter and beat up action. And that’s a good thing. You do everything you did in the campaign, beating thugs, CSI like detective work and hacking codes to stop bombs. The DLC does a good job of condensing everything from the main game into 2 hours of gameplay.
And that’s one of the main issues I had. 2 hours for 10 bucks or 800 Microsoft Points. For me, it’s just not enough and a tad expensive. It’s fine that it’s packaged in the Game of the Year edition but as a standalone item it’s overly priced. My hope is that there will be more single player story DLC that expands on the main story or at least some of the side missions (Azrael? Hush?). But for now this isn’t game of the year caliber stuff and this character, and world, deserves better. After all, he’s the goddamn Batman.