The Last Horseman wrote:Got it, and I like it, but damn I can't get a highscore on any challenge maps. I just can't get the flow with combos, or special moves. (Especially those damned X+Y and A+B moves, why the hell couldn't they figure that out? I have to look at my controller to pull those off...)
Of course, I never even got Freeflow Perfection in the first game...
As someone who got all trophies AND achievements for Arkham Asylum and has already gotten all the medals for Arkham City for every combat map with every character(except Robin, since I don't have him yet), I'll try and tell you what seems to work for me in getting high scores.
I don't hear a lot of people say it, but the vault over move is essential to combat in my opinion. It keeps your combo going, can substitute for a counter, and allows you to move around the combat area to get a more advantageous position or just get a view of what's happening around you. I use it constantly. I'm talking about the move Batman does when you move your analog stick towards a guy and hit the run button
Also remember a few more things. You can dodge roll away from someone ONCE without breaking your combo. However, you'll have to hit someone, use a gadget on someone or vault over someone immediately after to keep your combo going. Batarangs are really handy in combat. They can knock down or stun someone dangerous like a guy with a gun or a guy who is about to throw something at you. It's also great to toss out a Batarang if you just don't have anyone near you to attack, though once Batman's combo meter gets high enough he has enough range to hit just about anyone no matter where the hell they are on the screen. He is the goddamn Batman after all! You can toss out up to three Batarangs in quick succession too without breaking a combo. Sometimes I'll just toss out one or two of them when I'm in the thick of a crowd as it's a quick attack and it's bound to hit someone. Plus, I'll get lucky sometimes and take out a guy with a gun or projectile that I wasn't even aware of
A couple more things to remember. If you get your combo high enough you enter focus mode, which slows combat down. You can stay in this mode as long as you don't use a special move. I love focus mode because if your combo meter gets this high you can start really racking up points by doing nothing more than just attacking. That's the trick, don't use your special moves. If there are a fairly large number of enemies still around, you'll get more points just using regular attacks on them. If you do a special, it'll not only end focus mode but it'll KO a guy that you could have possible gotten three or four attacks on to built up your combo further AND increase your score
Speaking of specials, when I do use them I only ever use the ground take down. So if you're having trouble remembering them all, just stick with that one. The others specials are just for fun or just for show in my opinion. Ground take down will instantly take out just about anyone and gets the job down. What I love about this move is that it allows me to avoid unnecessary combat shenanigans. Instead of having to find ways to break through the defenses of shielded or armored enemies, I can just use the ground take down to take them out.
I also never use blade dodge or blade takedown. If a knife user tries to take a swing at me I just vault over him. It's much less complicated than blade dodge and I can quickly take him down with a ground takedown or a few regular attacks. Again, blade dodge and blade takedown are just for show in my eyes. Fun to do, but unnecessary. In my opinion, if you want high scores with little hassle, just stick to the essentials and avoid the fancy stuff
If you stun an enemy with Batman's cape you can quickly built up your combo score by pummeling him with the beat down move. This is handy and sometimes I'll keep an armored foe conscious just so I can do that to him or even go after him first to quickly built up my combo score.
When you're facing a round of thugs backed up by the big one armed guys or the big, hulking guys, go for the big dudes first! This sounds insane, but if you can get them out of the way early, you can more easily pick off the rest of the guys while building up your combo and racking up points. Plus, if you're good you can quickly build up your combo early by doing the beat down move on the one armed guys, or attack the big, charging guys so you can jump on their backs and rack up points using them to hit other guys(particularly if there is a handy electrified fence to knock them into heh heh heh)
I'll mention a few other random things. You get a pretty big score bonus for getting through a combat challenge without taking damage. I've gotten high scores on some maps without it, but it's a big help. I think it's 5000 points. Catwoman kind of sucks for challenge rooms. It's not super hard to get high scores with her, but it's easier with Batman and Nightwing. She can get the job done though, don't get me wrong. Oh and swing the camera around at every opportunity with the analog stick so you get a sense of what's happening around you
A sad state of affairs for big-budget PC gaming.
