This has to be one of the most baffling Batman stories ever in terms of quality. There's things I LOVE here. I would even say has some of the best Batman moments I've read in forever...and then some of the worst. What a weird back and forth I was having here.

This collection mostly deals with the War Games. It's brutal, vicious, ugly cycle of death this book carries on that actually works really well for suspense. Batman is getting screwed pretty much every turn he makes. Just when you think he's making some leeway into winning his city back it gets a lot worse for him. I loved seeing him struggle yet still keep his composure up so well. I really enjoy seeing all of the Batfamily working either together or on their own. I liked the feel of losing for our heroes, the pacing was sporadic (well till the last 4 issues when it was the "Conclusion" issues of war games). The art is mostly solid too. Black Mask was a vicious and evil piece of shit that was interesting to see him take center stage.

Now on the flipside we have Black Mask as a fun villain but the story has him basically beat mostly women and also have him wear ACTUAL black face. Which is...questionable to say the least. Also on top of that we have Bruce being extremely rude to his people, but mostly to the women. He even throws a line out with "you scream like a girl" which feels...shitty? I'm not one to let older comics get to me too much but it was pretty silly and stupid to have these lines when the women in here saved his ass so many times. It just rubbed me the wrong way. Also the final twist is stupid and is retconned a few years later.

I have to say it's such a mix bag. I really did enjoy 70% of what I was reading. I had a lot of fun. I felt the last few issues dragged on and didn't add much. The big twist was also stupid as fuck. But I did have fun watching Batman get cornered so much and him basically losing ground quicker than he could gain it.

A 3.5 out of 5.