Rocksteady’s 2011 masterpiece is weirdly dense. You’d think after over a decade, we’d have exhausted every square inch of the place, but Arkham City side quests are notoriously easy to mess up or just flat-out miss. Most people fly through the main story—Chasing Joker, dealing with Hugo Strange, the whole Protocol 10 mess—and they treat the side content like a post-game checklist. That’s a mistake. These missions aren't just filler; they are the actual connective tissue of the DC Universe, and frankly, some of them are way more interesting than the primary plot.
If you’ve played it, you know the feeling. You’re gliding over the Bowery, heading toward the Museum, and suddenly you hear a phone ringing. Or you spot a political prisoner getting beat up. It feels like a distraction. It isn't.
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The Cold Call Killer and the Stress of the Ring
Victor Zsasz is a creep. In Arkham Asylum, he was just a guy you took down in a scripted room. In Arkham City, he becomes a city-wide nuisance. The "Cold Call Killer" quest is one of those things that starts off annoying and ends up being one of the most stressful experiences in the game. You're literally racing across the map to answer public payphones before the timer runs out.
Honestly, the trace mechanic is what makes this one stick. You have to keep your cursor within a moving circle while Zsasz rambles on about his "work." It’s a clever way to force the player to listen to the lore. He’s not just a serial killer; he’s a guy who views life as a void. Rocksteady used this quest to ground the player in the reality of the prison city. While you’re worried about super-villains and titan formulas, there’s a guy just killing people because he’s bored and nihilistic.
Most players fail the trace a few times because they get distracted by a group of thugs or just misjudge the distance to the next phone. Pro tip: Don't engage with random fights when you're on the clock for this one. Just dive-bomb and pull up to maintain momentum.
Why Arkham City Side Quests Feel So Grimy
There is a specific atmosphere to missions like "Identity Thief." You find a body. It’s wrapped in bandages. You use Detective Mode to scan for evidence. It feels like a genuine procedural crime drama dropped into a superhero game. This is where the game excels—it lets Batman be a detective.
The Hush Mystery
When you finally track down the killer, the reveal of Thomas Elliot (Hush) is one of the best moments in the franchise. It’s not a boss fight. It’s a horror movie reveal. He’s spent the entire game literally carving the faces off victims to look like Bruce Wayne. The nuance here is incredible because if you haven't been paying attention to the bodies scattered around the city, the ending of this quest carries zero weight. But if you've been scanning those bloody patches of ground in the back alleys of the Industrial District, the payoff is chilling.
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The Deadshot Problem
Everyone remembers Deadshot from the movies or the later games, but his appearance in the Arkham City side quests is surprisingly grounded. "Shot in the Dark" starts with a single bullet. You have to trace the trajectory, which sounds simple enough until you realize the shot was nearly impossible.
It’s about the angles. You’re looking at ricochets off railings and water towers. It forces you to actually look at the architecture of the city. Rocksteady built this world with incredible verticality, and Deadshot’s mission is the one that makes you appreciate the line-of-sight work the developers put in. You find his stash, you find his hit list, and you eventually take him down in a stealth encounter that—if we’re being honest—is a bit too easy compared to the buildup. But the investigation? That's top-tier Batman.
Fragile Alliance and the Bane Betrayal
Bane is a bit of a joke in the first game. He’s just a big charging bull. In the "Fragile Alliance" side quest, he’s a temporary partner. You’re working together to destroy Titan containers. It’s one of the few times you feel like you’re part of a living, breathing ecosystem of villains who have their own agendas.
Of course he betrays you. It’s Bane.
But the fight in the toy factory is iconic. It’s cramped, it’s chaotic, and it serves as a reminder that Batman is always alone, even when he thinks he has an ally. This mission is essential because it wraps up the Titan storyline from the first game while setting the stage for the power vacuum that defines the rest of the series.
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The Watcher in the Wings: Azrael’s Prophecy
If you haven't seen the hooded figure standing on rooftops, you aren't looking. Azrael is the most mysterious part of the Arkham City side quests roster. He doesn't fight you. He just watches.
- Catch him at the top of the Ferris wheel.
- Spot him near the courthouse.
- Find him in the Industrial District.
- Locate him on the building overlooking the GCPD.
Each time, he leaves a symbol. You scan them, you align them on the map, and you get a prophecy. "The gates of Gotham will burn." It was the ultimate teaser for Arkham Knight. At the time, we didn't know that. We just knew this guy looked cool and spoke in riddles. It’s a perfect example of a "bread-crumb" quest that rewards exploration without hand-holding.
The Tedium of the Riddler
We have to talk about Edward Nigma. There are 440 challenges. That is, quite frankly, an insane amount of content. Most people hit a wall at about 200 and give up. But the actual side quest—the "Enigma Conundrum"—where you have to save hostages from elaborate traps? That’s where the real meat is.
The traps are genuinely clever. They require you to use every gadget in your arsenal, from the Line Launcher to the Remote Electrical Charge. The frustration comes from the padding. You shouldn't have to collect 400 green trophies just to see the end of a story thread. However, the satisfaction of finally punching Nigma in the face after he's spent 20 hours screaming in your ear through a radio? Unmatched.
Tips for Efficiency
Don't try to clear a district all at once. It’ll burn you out. Instead, grab trophies as you travel between other missions. If you see a green glow, grab it. If you see a Riddler informant (the guys glowing green), interrogate them immediately. It populates your map and saves you hours of aimless wandering later on.
Acts of Violence and the Moral Compass
"Acts of Violence" is the most "Batman" thing in the game. It’s not a scripted mission with a boss. It’s just random political prisoners being assaulted by thugs.
You’ll be in the middle of a high-stakes chase and hear a cry for help. The game tracks your progress as a percentage. To get 100%, you have to save a lot of people. It’s a subtle way of reminding the player that despite the theatricality of the super-villains, the real victims of Arkham City are the people trapped inside with them. It adds a layer of heroism that isn't tied to a cinematic—it's tied to your willingness to stop what you're doing and do the right thing.
Final Insights for the Completionist
To truly master the Arkham City side quests, you need to change how you play. Stop using the fast-travel-lite method of just grappling and gliding in a straight line.
- Listen to the radio: The TYGER fire and thug conversations often trigger quest markers.
- Upgrade your gadgets early: You can't finish "Shot in the Dark" or "Identity Thief" without specific forensic upgrades.
- Check the map for pulses: Sometimes a ringing phone or a titan container won't show up as a waypoint, but a pulsing icon.
- The Mad Hatter is a trap: Don't ignore the "cure" drop-off point near the courthouse. It's a trippy, hallucination-filled side quest that most people skip because they think it's just a health refill.
The real beauty of these missions is that they turn a prison into a home. By the time you've tracked down Zsasz, unmasked Hush, and solved Nigma's riddles, you know the skyline of Arkham City better than your own neighborhood. You aren't just playing a game; you're patrolling a territory.
Next Steps for Players:
If you are currently sitting at 80% completion, go back to the Industrial District and look for the hidden cameras. They don't just give you XP; they lead to the final data clusters needed to trigger the last Riddler hostage. Also, make sure you visit the Calendar Man on specific real-world holidays—his stories provide a backstory for the city's downfall that you won't find anywhere else.