While Arkham Asylum went for more of a Metroidvania style, Batman: Arkham City went for a more traditional open-world map. As a result, the award-winning sequel was filled to the brim with side missions that had players busy inside Arkham City when not fighting Hugo Strange and the Joker.
Like with most open-world games, the side missions in Batman: Arkham City vary in quality. Some are beloved quests across the entire franchise, allowing the player to encounter a variety of Batman villains. Meanwhile, others are more time-wasters to pad the game out.
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Remote Hideaway
It’s hard even really call this a side mission. After unlocking the disruptor, Batman can get an upgrade for it from the undercover police officers inside the Penguin’s famous Iceberg Lounge.
Instead of it being a gauntlet to overcome in order to get the upgrade, the player fights one small group of enemies outside the lounge. From there, Batman is simply given the upgrade thus ending the mission. It’s very anti-climactic.
Acts Of Violence
Batman is known for stopping muggings in alleyways. In that regard, Acts Of Violence are very much a staple of the character, and it can be satisfying to save innocent prisoners from criminals.
Where this side mission begins to falter is the fact that each encounter is randomized, which can be annoying if someone is aiming for 100% completion. There is also no variety to handling the muggings; it’s just finding the mugger and knocking him out however the player wishes.
Hot And Cold
This mission is essentially the same as Remote Hideaway, but at least it requires finding the upgrade within Joker’s steel mill. Also, the room in which Batman can find the upgrade is filled with a large group of enemies.
As a result, there is a bit more challenge in finding the Freeze Cluster Grenade, one of many great gadgets in the Arkham games. Still, for a side mission, it doesn’t provide much besides a slight distraction from the main quest.
AR Training
This side mission is essential since it unlocks the Grapnel Boost which is pivotal when it comes to roaming Arkham City. It’s also a good way to learn the ins and outs of gliding with Batman’s cape.
Other than it being a bit tedious finding every AR Training waypoint, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this mission. However, it also doesn’t provide anything that makes it particularly fun either other than the upgrade.
Tea Party
Peter MacNichol makes his debut in the Batman: Arkham games as The Mad Hatter via a quick side mission in Batman: Arkham City. Hatter uses his mind control devices to lure Batman into a trap and bring him to a tea party within the walls of Arkham City.
The mind tricks that Hatter plays are genuinely creepy but what makes the side mission stand out is that Batman is transported to a clockwork arena. He’s wearing a March Hare mask and is forced to fight mind-controlled thugs within Hatter’s world. It’s a little quick but it leaves an impact, hence why Hatter was brought back for both Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight.
Fragile Alliance
Batman and Bane working together is a genius concept. However, that concept is not utilized as well as it could have since it’s essentially Batman going on a scavenger hunt for Bane. It’s still enjoyable to hunt for the canisters of Titan spread across the city but it’s essentially the same action over and over again.
It does end with Batman and Bane fighting a swarm of enemies together. There is a satisfying feeling in seeing Batman ally with one of his enemies, but as the name of the mission suggests, it’s not a partnership. Bane does betray Batman which could have led to a boss fight but instead, Batman dispatches Bane with a cutscene making for another anti-climactic ending.
Enigma Conundrum
Before Riddler became one of the more overused villains in the series, his character found a proper balance in Arkham City. The riddles and trophies were plentiful with some challenging and some not-so-much. This mission really starts to shine with the Enigma machine that leads to where Riddler’s hostages are.
It’s with these hostages that Riddler becomes more of a threat with traps reminiscent of Saw. Even the Riddler from Matt Reeves’ The Batman seemingly takes inspiration from the Arkham games. The biggest downfall of this mission is how long it takes to 100% complete and the fact that Riddler’s glitching transmissions can get really tiresome.
Watcher In The Wings
There’s always a mystery in Batman stories, and the Arkham games are no different. Arkham Asylum had the Spirit Of Arkham quest that required figuring out who was Amadeus Arkham’s reincarnation. Arkham City has Batman being stalked by a strange figure in a hood and cloak.
It’s easy to miss the Watcher who turns out to be the enigmatic Azrael. Each encounter keeps the mystery going until it’s revealed that he serves an ancient order. Just when it seems like there should be a boss fight, the mission ends to set up Azrael’s return with the next game. It’s a short but sweet mission that does its job in getting fans excited for more in Arkham Knight.
Shot In The Dark
This mission has a bit more variety. There are investigative elements allowing for more detective-based gameplay, there’s a race against time to save Jack Ryder, and there is a boss fight with Deadshot.
It’s not the most complex of side missions but it does build up the lore of the Arkhamverse even more, focusing on what was a more obscure villain when Arkham City came out. Now Deadshot is more popular, having been featured in the Suicide Squad movie and will be a star player in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
Identity Theft
Similar to the Azrael mission, this is another mission that ends on a cliffhanger but it is so much better. Brutal and twisted killings are springing up in Arkham City and Batman tries to figure out why this killer is removing people’s faces.
It ends with the reveal of Hush who is also voiced by Batman’s voice actor Kevin Conroy. It builds up the tension and the mystery of what the killer is after and just when it seems like it’s about to end with a boss encounter, Hush vanishes. It leaves room for Hush to return and he certainly does in one of the more memorable side missions in Arkham Knight.
Heart Of Ice
Mr. Freeze has a talent for stealing the show whether it’s the comics, animated series, or the Arkham games. In Arkham City, his mission actually starts with one of the best boss fights in the Arkham series which not only opens up a new chapter in the main story but now Batman must find Nora Fries.
Finding Nora is not exactly a difficult challenge but Freeze’s plight is always a sympathetic one. All he wants is to be with his wife and Nora is being held by Joker thugs. It’s actually touching to bring the two back together, especially once you learn that Nora is conscious of her frozen state through dialogue in Arkham Knight.
Cold Call Killer
Ignoring the fact that Victor Zsasz has a tendency to activate his randomized quest at the worst moments within the story, Cold Call Killer is great. Victor Zsasz was given the upgrade from two small encounters to an entire long-lasting side quest dedicated to hunting him down.
Batman has to answer a call and then find another ringing phone in Arkham City. Each time, finding the next phone becomes harder with the time to answer the phone getting tighter and tighter. Thankfully, the player is rewarded by learning more and more about Zsasz’s twisted origin story and a final encounter with Zsasz himself.