I think it was a very interesting take on the character. He don't have to be "evil", he isn't a chaotic psychopath like the Joker or a crimelord like Penguin, he isn't bound by any specific goal like Freeze or cursed with something abnormal like Croc. He - though the details can change with every writer - can't lie and is a big fan of mind games and puzzles. And even if we take his rivalry with Batman into the equation, there is nothing that made him necessary evil. While he isn't as intelligent as Batman and way worse equipped (especially his Arkham variant is almost pathetic), but he is a smart guy and could do a lot of good, even if he would only be doing it for his own ego. He was quite pleased to annoy Batman without him being able to apprehend him.
Speaking of which, there are a lot of interesting variants of Batman villains that are not really evil or at least not completely black. The characterization of the villains in the Arkham games is very shallow. They're insane, evil and have schtick, only Origins tried to give some of them a personality and a reason.