[private]Note: This is a review of the Nightwing DLC for the PS3 version of Batman: Arkham City. There may be variations and difference in gameplay and facts between consoles.

 

Okay, before I dive into how awesome the new Batman: Arkham City DLC is, check out the rather awesome trailer for it below:

 

 

Today I finally found the time to sit down in front of my Playstation 3 and sign into the infamous PlayStation store. After all the drama this part of Sony has faced recently, I can’t deny a bit of hesitance in this being the first content I’ve charged to my credit card since the PSN went down. Never the less it was a rather painless experience and $6.99 is the most minuscule amount to pay for playing as Nightwing in the new Batman: Arkham City game.

Batman: Arkham City - Nightwing DesignNow for those of you who don’t know, Nightwing is Dick Grayson (the original Robin), one of Batman’s many protégé’s and (in my humble opinion) one of the coolest comic characters out there. He first appeared in DC’s Tales of the Teen Titans #44, has had several mini-series, an on-going series that broke 100 issues, and even became Batman twice! The great guys at Rocksteady Studios provide us with a Nightwing very much resembling his long running on-going series look. He wields dual escrima, wing-dings (the Nightwing version of a Batarang), darts, a disruptor, and the usual collection of Bat-toys. Everything about this DLC makes me smile the biggest of comic fanboy smiles.

Included in the DLC is not just the ability to play through challenge modes as Nightwing, but an additional skin and challenge maps. Once your DLC is installed you can go to the Riddler’s Challenge section and choose to play as the Arkham City Nightwing or the Animated Series Nightwing. Once that hard decision is made, you can play through any of your unlocked challenges or two new ones provided in the DLC. The new challenge maps are Wayne Manor and Main Hall. Neither of these challenge maps are anything extraordinary or new, but they still give you a fun experience and more face time fighting with your new character.

Playing as Nightwing takes a small amount of getting used to because of the lack of tutorial or guide, yet diving right into game play with him allows you to pick things up rather quick. Nightwing’s freeflow combat system runs very similar to Batman’s, with a few aesthetic differences designed to give the character a personal touch more similar to his comic persona.  In general combat Nightwing’s big differences are his use of escrima fighting sticks over punching, wing-dings instead of batarangs, darts to stun or knock out the enemy (if shot in the head), electrical blasts, and the ability to throw the original mentioned escrima (don’t worry, they tend to come back to you). Much like the Catwoman DLC, I’ve found playing as Nightwing is much more accommodating to my faster button tapping style. However, once you get into stealth challenges it becomes a very different game indeed. Nightwing’s radar vision and aerial mobility are very different from Batman’s and almost closer to Catwoman’s style. Furthermore, his gadgets will definitely put a spin on how you take out your enemies.Batman: Arkham City - Nightwing In Game

All in all this DLC is more than just a skin, but not as fulfilling as Catwoman’s additional story content. If you’re looking to add to your story mode experience, you can skip this DLC (and like the upcoming Robin pack, if you didn’t already get that for free). However, if you’re at all a fan of Nightwing or adding more variation to the already packed challenge modes, this DLC is a must!

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