head to head
vs
Batman: Arkham CityvsCrackdown 2
Batman: Arkham City leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Crackdown 2 leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Batman: Arkham CityCrackdown 2
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 2
Crackdown 2 leans harder on variance: Freak swarms and emergent chaos shuffle encounters mildly
Optimization5 vs 6
Crackdown 2 leans harder on optimization: Skill grinding, orb routes, and absorption beacons reduce to checklists
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.