Surprisingly, Yahtzee's review isn't nearly as scathing as I thought it'd be. I think most of the reviews I read are a little disjointed. They all go like this:
1. It's glitchy
2. The combat and predator is still the same engine, and they didn't mess around with it too much
3. Because it's more of the same, but not better than Arkham City, it sucks.
I fail to see the logic here. Firstly, if you read the previews and opinion pieces on most gaming websites the past year, EVERYONE told WB Montreal to play it safe and not reinvent the wheel, and now people are bitching about not pushing the envelope. Secondly, I fail to see how a great engine, and something that most of these 'bad' reviews says still feels like an Arkham game can ever be atrocious. I think compared to the others, you could say it's not as good. Does that mean it's bad? No, that's just silly. I've played it, and there are some niggly questions I had, but nothing game-destroying. Of the points of criticism that make sense, they are the following:
1. The game is hella glitchy.
Glitches get patched, mistakes happen. Skyrim and Oblivion were hella glitchy and people laughed it off. I'd give WB Montreal the benefit of the doubt here.
2. The additions to the combat system get mixed reviews.
This relates to a) Combat being more brutal because more enemies and counter-countering requiring relatively excellent rhythm and timing on higher difficulty levels, and b) The Shock Gauntlets. Regarding (a) I say the following: Remember that the freeflow combat system was originally supposed to be a rhythm game system, so don't complain about timing there. Secondly, if they didn't take a risk and add new things, they'd have gotten even more flak. Yes, there are glitches, and personally I feel the camera gets in too close, but those can be fixed (yet again). Regarding (b), some people I've talked to say the shock gauntlets add an interesting strategic element to fights, unless you want to spam them (which I was always able to do with other gadgets as well in a Arkham City when in a pinch). Secondly, you don't start with them, so they're a reward of sorts (no spoilers). Thirdly, they probably would have gotten more flak without taking a chance on them (yes, I know, yet again).
3. The storyline gets mixed reviews.
That's a matter of opinion. Some hardcore comics fans who reviewed the game, including some of my friends who are absolute crazy batman fanboys, lauded the story. Others didn't. Make up your own mind on this one.
4. The voices get mixed reviews.
Yet again, this is a matter of opinion.
So, all in all, if you've bought it already, you probably won't regret it, especially once patches come out for it. If you're considering it, I'd read more than just the Destructoid review (there are tonnes of reviews out there on metacritic calling it just as good as the others, for instance), as opinions are clearly divergent, and a lot of people are, IMHO basing their impressions on what they wanted rather than what they got (which is a classic fallacy when it comes to sequels in a series). This notion of spectacle creep, and just wanting more every single time until it breaks a game, is something which they also recently discussed on Extra Credits (
http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/spectacle-creep), and before you simply (instinctively) complain about things not being "more than" the previous one, watch it.