DChas introduced fans around the world into the fictional world of superheroes saving the day from villains who are bent on wreaking havoc on innocent villains. Since the inception of DC Comics in 1937, several of these heroes became pop culture icons, cementing the company’s status as a powerhouse. Despite the comic book industry crisis in the 1990s that dealt bothDCand its competitor Marvel severe blows, the company emerged stronger for the challenges it faced. It has diversified its media to generate more income streams, foraying into the movie and video game industries.
In the same year of the release of the firstSupermanmovie, DC also made a video game rendition available on Atari. From that 1978 release, a host of new games followed as a way to keep up with the rapid digitalization of media. Every company has hits and misses in this department, and DC is no different. Some of these games were fan favorites and lauded as masterpieces, while others got criticized and even became jokes in the social media era.
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Batman: Arkham City (2011):It’s not often sequels live up to the expectations of the original in the media world.Batman: Arkham Citydidn’t just meet the standards set by its predecessorBatman: Arkham Asylum. It blew it out of the park. This is the gold standard of how to make follow-ups to a popular game.Batman: Arkham Citybuilt upon the successesofBatman: Arkham Asylumand left out the less popular aspects, giving players an incredible gaming experience.
Players had a few complaints, such as the robotic movements andBatman having too many villains, but the consensus is that this is a game that far exceeded expectations. Combat mechanics were greatly improved to an almost cinematic feel, and the amount of detail in the design of the Arkham City world was stunning to behold. The city planning was excellent as well, with each street containing unique landmarks and structures while not overloading the player. While a game can’t reach absolute perfection, it came pretty close for the gaming audience. Achieving scores of 91% on Metacritic and 9.5 on IGN makesBatman: Arkham Cityone of the highest-rated games ever made.
Injustice 2(2017):Another sequel to an already great game,Injustice: Gods Among Us, which was a cultural movement in the gaming community in its own right,Injustice 2also built on the successes of its predecessor.NetherRealm had the blueprintwith the first edition and utilized it to the maximum to improve the sequel, bringing it to a state of near perfection. The graphics got far more detailed in this reboot, with the color palette receiving an upgrade after gamers complained about the lackluster coloring in the first edition.
The fighting received the most noticeable upgrade as movements became far more fluid and natural to the eye.More DC characters were introducedto the game along with a few popular guest characters, providing players with more options to choose from.Injustice 2is firmly in the conversation for one of the best fighting games ever seen.
Batman: Arkham Asylum(2009):Widely considered as 2009’s Game of the Year across multiple publications,Batman: Arkham Asylumheld the Guinness World Record for the Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever until it got overtaken by its sequel,Batman: Arkham City. Before this release, there hadn’t been many video games in the Batman franchise, and the ones preceding it had failed to capture thedynamics that are fitting of a Batman game. The game’s plot was outstanding and well-developed, and the newly designed combat system became a flag bearer for fighting games.
Players found it easy to learn but hard to master, a perfect blend of basic functionality and advanced mechanics. The darkness of Gotham is perfectly portrayed with murders in the street, and the vocals featuresome of the best voice actorsin the business, such as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Critics were hard-pressed to find faults in the game, and getting so close to perfection sealsBatman: Arkham Asylum’s place in the S-Tier.
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A-Tier
Batman: Arkham Knight(2015):The finale to the Arkham series did not disappoint, despite having sky-high expectations from the epic releases of its prequels. The combat mechanics were exquisite, somehow managing to improve upon the already excellent experience provided byBatman: Arkham City. The graphics were top-notch and missions were long enough to be satisfying. Additionally,players got to drive the Batmobilefor the first time. Despite these improvements, the plot felt a little labored and lacking in detail. Overall, the game is still one of the better ones based on the DC universe, and only inconsistent ratings from critics keepBatman: Arkham Knightfrom being discussed in the same breath as its predecessors.
The Wolf Among Us(2013):Based onFables, a DC Vertigo comic property, and set some years before the events in the comic,The Wolf Among Ustells a multilayered story through a system of choices and consequences across five episodes in the game. The episodes bring several characters to life, giving them well-developed backstories through world-class writing and scintillating action.Bigby Wolf pulls playersalong on a journey that requires gamers to make some character-defining choices.The Wolf Among Usis highly rated across different critic platforms. With an 83% score on Metacritic and an 8.9 rating on IMDb, it doesn’t quite make it into the S-Tier, but it is a superb game nonetheless, and one of the best based on the DC universe.
Batman: The Enemy Within(2017):AnotherBatmanseries makes it into the highly rated tier.Batman: The Enemy Withinlets players control their choices, similar toThe Wolf Among Us, as each conclusion is impacted directly by players' actions. The voice acting in the game was amazing, and the actors received several nominations for their phenomenal performance, managing to win the NAVGTR Awards in 2018. Telltale Games does a great job on theJoker’s personality and the fighting scenes. With an 8.4 score on IMDb and 81% on OpenCritic, the game was well-received by the industry.
B-Tier
Injustice: Gods Among Us(2013):NetherRealm was determined to make a bang in the gaming industry after the just-alright performance ofMortal Kombat vs. DC Universewith critics. Therelease ofInjustice: Gods Among Usprovided a solid foundation for the success ofInjustice 2simply because of the amount of detail that went into it.Injustice: Gods Among ustargeted characters only from the DC Universe, even creating a new story of a heartbroken Superman who goes insane. The plot was great, and the fighting mechanics incorporated some of the combinations from theMortal Kombatgames, making for a quality combative experience. Scoring 80% on Metacritic and 8.2 on IGN, it was another successful release for the company.
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes(2012):The second installment of theLEGO Batmangames is the best of the three titles released. It significantly improved onLEGO Batman: The Videogame, expanding the number of playable characters to 75. This included characters from the entireDCuniverse and offered full voice acting for each of them. Players were also able to explore the full open map of Gotham City, unlocking characters while progressing in missions.Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroeswas rated a 7.8 on IMDb and 7.3 on IGN.
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C-Tier
Batman: Arkham Origins(2013):Sandwiched betweenBatman: Arkham CityandBatman: Arkham Knight,this game was the least popular in the Arkham series. The game development felt undercooked, featuring very little upgrades to the fighting mechanics.Several items fromBatman: Arkham Cityseemed imported without modifications to the new game. However, it wasn’t all negative in this edition.Batman: Arkham Originshas arguably the best boss fights in the series with the battle with Deathstroke. However, the lack of upgrades was not lost on critics, leading to ratings of 74% on Metacritic.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe(2008):A nice crossover between the world ofMortal Kombatand DC by NetherRealm, the game’s fighting mechanics were top-notch. TheDC characters received new finishing moves and brutalities, ensuring a smooth mix of both worlds. Unfortunately, the plot lacked substance, and fans were disappointed when they learned the famousFatalities from theMortal Kombatserieswould not appear in this game. For critics, it didn’t perform too poorly, achieving ratings of 7.5 on IGN.
D-Tier
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters(2011):Much was left to be desired in this release featuringRyan Reynolds starring as the Green Lantern. Though there were no glaring flaws in production, the graphics were a let-down, and the character dialogue was thin, failing to draw players in. The gameplay was notably disorienting at times and really should have been improved before its release. The presence of so many areas of imperfection earned thisGreen Lanternrendition a mere 6.0 on IMDb, and some might argue it should be lower.
Catwoman(2004):Catwomanis considered by some critics to be the worst DC releasesince games became based on the universe. While the puzzle setup appears alright, the control system is so restrictive it is almost a disaster. The fixed camera does not let players see where they are going, the voice acting is weak, and the fight scenes need a ton of work. The graphics don’t help matters either, and these elements combine to makeCatwomana perfect storm of chaos.
