10 Greatest DC Video Games of All Time

4 weeks ago 26

Being one of the "big two" comic book companies, DC Comics has had plenty of decades to give video game players the chance to play in one of its many universes and as one of its countless iconic characters. While the DC titan, Batman, has the most popular and successful games, that doesn't mean there aren't other DC titles that are phenomenal.

Indeed, the company has put out countless types of games over the years, like action/adventure, fighting, side-scrolling, choice-based, and more. There are so many DC adventures to go on as a video game player, and the best of the best have ended up being some of the greatest superhero games ever made. DC Comics has had a great reputation when it comes to its heaviest video game hitters, and we're here to praise them.

10 'Gotham Knights' (2022)

Nightwing fighting a group of enemies in Gotham Knights

After the supposed death of Batman (Michael Antonakos), the Bat-Family—Nightwing (Christopher Sean), Red Hood (Stephen Oyoung), Batgirl (America Young), and Robin (Sloane Morgan Siegel)—needs to step up to protect Gotham City in his absence. In other Batman games, it was always fun to play as a non-Batman character, which is the exact kind of appeal that Gotham Knights builds itself on.

While this game found some flak upon release because of the inevitable Arkham franchise comparisons that come for every Batman-like game, Gotham Knights is not nearly as rough around the edges as people initially said— it's actually pretty dang fun. Getting to play as all four Bat-Family members allows for not only four different play styles, but co-op play with a friend, too. While it's not nearly on the level of games like Batman: Arkham City, this 2022 project is far better than a lot of people gave it credit for.

9 'DC Universe Online' (2011)

Batman and The Flash with other characters in DC Universe Online

Everyone, at one point in their lives, wishes they could be a superhero of their own. DC Universe Online, released in 2011, allows players all over the planet to do exactly that. DC and general superhero fans everywhere have the chance to create a character with their own choice of superpowers and join the DC heroes they know and love to fight at their side.

Being an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), players also get the opportunity to not just play with their friends, but with other people all over the planet. Despite being released all the way back in 2011, DC Universe Online still has a dedicated player base, thanks to the fact that the game allows people to explore so many more corners of the DC universe than one would think. Every year, Dimensional Ink Games adds something else to love about this experience.

8 'Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes' (2012)

When it first released, Lego Batman was a gigantic hit for DC Comics and Lego alike. With how much of a success it ended up being, it was always sure to get a sequel. No one expected it to be as good as it ended up being, though. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes not only improves on Lego Batman with its gameplay, but it also adds incredible stuff to the mix.

This sequel actually happens to be the very first Lego game to feature voice acting, allowing a whole new era of writing for these games, which made for a great new style and tone. Not to mention, players don't just get to control Batman characters anymore, but far more key figures from the greater DC universe now, too. All these additions have led to Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes being an absolute fan favorite.

7 'The Wolf Among Us' (2013)

A character looking somber and smoking in The Wolf Among Us

Something a lot of casual DC fans may not know is the fact that the iconic Telltale game, The Wolf Among Us, is actually a DC Comics title. That's right, based on Bill Willingham's highly-praised comic book, Fables (2002), Telltale Games brought this story to life wonderfully. With the legendary Telltale Games' art style behind it, The Wolf Among Us was an instant hit.

Consisting of 5 episodes, this game helped put Telltale Games on the map (alongside The Walking Dead, of course) and remains one of their best titles to this very day. It's a shame, though, that it's not more well-recognized as a DC Comics game. For fans looking for more DC content, but also a breath of fresh air, The Wolf Among Us is the perfect game to check out.

6 'Batman: Arkham Knight' (2015)

After three very successful games in the Arkham franchise, fans were expecting a strong ending. While there are some parts where it's rougher around the edges than some would have liked, Batman: Arkham Knight still ended up being a very strong ending. Bringing in one of the greatest Batman stories of all time—Batman: Under the Red Hood (2005)—this game had some phenomenal writing behind it.

While people complain about the overuse of the new Batmobile mechanics, all in all, the game is a great experience and well worth the title of a worthy finale to this iconic franchise. The gameplay (outside of the Batmobile) is the same as it's always been, and such a blast to play through. While it's not perfect, Batman: Arkham Knight is more than a worthy successor to those that came before it.

Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be
Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt

Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.

🎖️Rambo

🍸James Bond

🏺Indiana Jones

🔧John McClane

🎭Ethan Hunt

FIND YOUR PARTNER →

You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.

ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.

NEXT QUESTION →

You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.

AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.

ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.

NEXT QUESTION →

The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.

AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.

APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.

NEXT QUESTION →

Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.

AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it.

NEXT QUESTION →

Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.

ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it.

NEXT QUESTION →

What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had.

ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.

NEXT QUESTION →

Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.

AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.

NEXT QUESTION →

It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.

AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been.

REVEAL MY PARTNER →

Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…

Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.

Rambo

Your partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know.

James Bond

Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.

Indiana Jones

Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.

John McClane

Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.

Ethan Hunt

Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

5 'Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight' (2026)

Ever wondered what would happen if someone took all the major iterations of the Caped Crusader and mixed them into one character and story? Well, the most recent installment in the Lego Batman franchise did exactly that, and absolutely rocked it. Some would even argue that this is one of the most definitive versions of the character to date.

Taking all the greatest things about previous adaptations—both in characterization and story—Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is unlike anything that's come before, while still being something reminiscent and true to the character. Despite just coming out this year, this newest Lego Batman installment will most certainly be a classic for quite some time to come.

4 'Batman: The Telltale Series' (2016)

The detective side of Batman is not something that is a central focus in a lot of video games, movies, or television stories, as most choose to focus on the superhero side of him. However, that changes when someone plays the likes of Batman: The Telltale Series, which puts players in control of The Dark Knight's choices as he investigates murders and crime scenes around Gotham City.

Thus, Batman: The Telltale Series is so widely beloved by fans. It is a whole new type of gaming experience for the Caped Crusader, and that helps it be a gaming experience that is unforgettable. With great voice acting behind the characters, wonderful writing, and great graphics, Batman: The Telltale Series is a must-play for any fan of the character.

3 'Injustice 2' (2017)

Everyone loves a good fighting game, and the idea of a DC Comics fighting game is already a genius one. Pitting comic book characters against each other is one of the most talked-about topics among fans online, making Injustice 2 the perfect game for anyone looking to see their favorite characters fight each other. While there is a first entry, it's Injustice 2 where this series truly finds its stride.

Not only does this sequel bring back the characters from the first game, but it introduces quite a few new ones, as well. It also features a great story mode, giving the players a chance to expand their horizons and play as characters they probably wouldn't have outside of it. Not to mention, the story itself is very well-written and a total joy to play.

2 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' (2009)

What can be said about the games in the Arkham series that hasn't been said time and time again? How does one not feel like a broken record when praising these badass titles? Batman: Arkham Asylum put this series on the map for all the right reasons. With combat unlike anything superhero game fans had experienced before, an all-new story, and the one and only Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill making comebacks, this game was sure to be a profound hit.

Rocksteady Studios really cemented themselves as rockstars in the space with Batman: Arkham Asylum. Redefining what makes a good superhero video game, this first entry in what would come to be a legendary series wowed pretty much everyone, allowing it to continuously find itself being hailed as a legendary game, even almost 20 years later.

1 'Batman: Arkham City' (2011)

Batman looking to the distance in Batman Arkham City

Everything great that can be said about Batman: Arkham Asylum, though, can be said even louder when it comes to 2012's Batman: Arkham City. To this day, people consistently consider it one of the best superhero video games ever made, improving on things like the combat mechanics, storytelling, and graphical quality tenfold.

Batman: Arkham City is a game that people still play and have fun with. Now that it's hit PC, players have made mods and are replaying it for hours upon hours. This enduring quality is all a testament to how well-made this second installment is, and why it's held up over so many superhero games released after it, despite the upgrades they get via new gaming hardware.