This week I'm finally going to put up my thoughts on the closure to the Arkham series, It was one of my most anticipated games for a hell of a long time and the torture of having it continuously pushed back only intensified my need to play it! But would this game truly live up to the hype surrounding it for so long? would it really show that Rocksteady used the extra time given to it by the Origins development team to their advantage?
As I mentioned in my Assault on Arkham review a few weeks ago, the Arkham series got me back into Batman and comics in general, before then I had just kind of seen a few films here and there and grew up with the various cartoons that were on the likes of Fox Kids. But this series truly introduced the mythos of the character to me on a whole new level and allowed me to find and read a large number of stories centred around that mythos.
I've definitely found enjoyment in every game released in the series with Asylum being a great start, it seemed to take place within or after the animated series' universe to a degree and while mostly using confined spaces in creepy buildings it really made you feel like Batman but more in the worlds greatest detective sense, I will admit I pretty much had the detective mode on all the time during that game as there were so many hidden easter eggs or riddles that would pop up every now and then.
Then City came along and we were finally allowed to run around in..well... the city, sort of. I felt City was a step in the right direction to expand upon the series and take it out of the confines of just a small area, truly you were allowed to feel more like Batman all around, you could do your detective work but you could leap from roof to roof and drop down in the middle of some thugs and beat the shit out of them. While this was a step in the right direction I felt the story was not as good as Asylum and the city did feel a bit desolate and lacking almost as if some areas were a copy/paste job.
After City we knew Rocksteady would be working on another title, but they needed more time, so WB stepped in and made their own title set before Asylum, titled Origins. Now I think this game gets shit on a lot and I can see why it does, a lot of people wanted to see the conclusion to the series and wrote it off because it was not a Rocksteady game, a lot of people got really mad that The Joker was again the main enemy of the game (but honestly what did you expect?).
However while I feel like this was more an expansion pack to City due to it literally having the same level layout. I felt the story was really well done, the atmosphere of it being on Xmas and having the snow everywhere was a nice change and the overall concept of the Villains going after Batman one by one due to a bounty on his head was great. Oh and the electro gloves were a always great to use, I'm surprised they were absent from Knight to be honest.
I also found the detective mode in this title to be one of the most in depth uses of it, tracing bullet trajectories and all sorts of stuff just so you can figure out what went down, all this was done during story missions too rather than on side missions like the other titles. Origins is really underrated if you ask me, but I feel the most underrated is Origins: Blackgate, a game created at the same time as the former but for handhelds (and later released on consoles).
Blackgate was set just after Origins and felt a lot more like Asylum in it's setting of a prison, but this game was really different to the other titles, it was actually set out more like a Metroid game with you being on a 2.5D plain rather than having the freedom to go anywhere, I felt this was a nice change of pace although the story was not fantastic and was honestly pretty forgettable, however I did like that there were multiple endings that you could get depending on what order you defeated people.
And with that we move on to Knight, the end all of the series that is meant to be the ultimate Batman experience, the story is meant to be amazing, the city has had a total redesign and the inclusion of the Batmobile is used all to make the player truly feel like Batman, but how does it fare?
I think I'm the only person I know who actually enjoyed the Batmobile, I really liked how it looked, kind of like a mix between the Tumbler from The Dark Knight and your typical Batmobile design. I enjoyed the Tank mode for what it was but felt battles heavily relied on it, like there was no real way to fight back as just the car. I did find myself just speeding through the city into people constantly for ages at a time though, it doesn't get old. Yet fighting against waves of armoured vehicles does, I preferred when you would have to actually chase other cars and shoot missiles.
I quite enjoyed having some sections where you hop from room to roof in the car but there really weren't enough of them, or enough sections where you would use tools like the winch in order to get to new locations. I've been playing the challenge maps a lot lately due to the latest DLC and I find them to be quite fun, while they are pretty dumb as a concept in terms of race tracks it's pretty fun if you just want a good time driving the car around and drifting like some Initial D shit.
I thought it was interesting that they tried to do a 'multi character' aspect to the game where you could play as other characters while you help out Batman but overall I felt it was not executed well. The trailers for it gave the impression of side stories and missions where you could play or even free roam as these characters but all you can really do is fight as them briefly or have them included in double team take downs. This is fine and it was fun for a time but I just felt it could have been expanded upon, but maybe they are saving future DLC for this sort of thing.
I enjoyed the use of the gadgets about as much as I did in any of the Arkham games but this time around I did feel items like the remote Batarang were not actually necessary as much as they were in previous titles. One of the new gadgets was the voice synthesizer which is interesting in theory with the ability to trick enemies into going to a certain area or doing a certain thing like locking a door however I felt as though it was only really necessary to use when you entered the airship area.
I don't think I felt compelled to use most of these items in areas like predator challenges because the AI was not as smart as it was before, I always took out most enemies just by doing silenced take downs, sometimes in front of other enemies and having them not even bat an eye. I felt the use of predator take downs were fucking rad though, just in the way Batman moves between the enemies and lays the smack-down instantly, I think it's just satisfying to hear the enemies slam against the ground so hard.
It also made for some humorous conversations, as the Joker knew everything about Bruce because he was in his own head, so you'd have him commenting on his identity, his relationships with people and at times on how he was really feeling during certain scenes. The Joker was the chaos inside Bruce and perfectly encapsulated that hidden side to him during the game.
I have to admit I saw Jason Todd being the Arkham Knight coming a mile off... Although the twist on the Red Hood story was quite nice, having him still technically be the Red Hood but not taking up that identity until just after the games main story closes. I did feel however that the design of the knight was fucking great though even if it did look a little Kingdom Hearts...
As much as I enjoyed that after the defeat of the Arkham Knight there was another character brought in to bridge the militia side missions together, I loved even more that it was Deathstroke because he was one of if not the best part of Arkam Origins and generally has a cool ascetic to him. However I feel like Rocksteady really fucked up a chance for a decent side mission boss. Throughout the game once Deathstroke is introduced he constantly reminds you of Origins and how he will get his revenge against you.
It really hypes you up and makes you want to have a proper CQC battle against him, yet his actual boss fight is literally a copy paste of a former battle against the Knight in his dumb ass 360 vision tank. I honestly though 'ok this might just be phase one' but no it's literally the entire boss fight. You easily defeat him, they tease you again by getting him out of his tank to fight you, then Batman just smacks him once and taking him to the GCPD. Absolute wasted potential if you ask me... Although it's pretty funny to see him sitting in a cell with the likes of Penguin and co, who he could easily snap the necks of in seconds.
Like most of the Arkham games the voice acting was really well done, every time you think Kevin Conroy is getting too old to continue on he knocks it out of the park and has not changed at all since his days doing the animated series, you can really tell he enjoys what he does when he plays Batman. This time around Mark Hamill did return to voice The Joker after his absence from Origins and as you can imagine he did a fantastic job, I actually thought it was still Troy Baker voicing him this time around however, which explains why I thought Troy had truly become comfortable in the role!
I think another great example of voice acting this time around was John Noble as Scarecrow, I'm familiar with Nobles work as I used to watch Fringe every now and then but I eventually dropped it, I did however think that Noble was the best part of the show. As the Scarecrow while his voice is pretty much his normal voice he just brings an air of sinisterness to it and sounds pretty creepy at times, which is how you would hope Scarecrow would sound right?
I felt the rest of the cast was also pretty good, specifically Ashley Greene as Barbara Gorden/Batgirl. I felt she perfectly captured the cute dorky side kick character of Oracle without being too serious like she has been presented in older titles. I felt she did best when playing Batgirl in the DLC story however, especially her banter with Robin.
As much as I love the Arkham series for use of somewhat decent side missions I felt like the initial set up of Hush in the previous game ultimately wasted by the time we got around to seeing him in this title. While in the previous title it was a case of finding mutilated bodies across the city and ultimately finding out that Hush was the killer who has now taken on the guise of Bruce Wayne, this time around you don't deal with him over time but in one totally separate mission which is over in just a few minutes.
This really annoyed me as I really enjoy the Hush story line and would recommend reading it if you haven't already, I feel like Hush really could have been utilised better in this title perhaps early on by having the people of Gotham believe he was Bruce while Batman is stuck fighting against Scarecrow. I will admit however that I was quite surprised that the game made you feel as though you were actually playing as Bruce entering Wayne Tower and then shocking you by showing what appears to be Bruce taking Lucius hostage.
Overall I felt the side missions in this game were pretty good, however the militia segments became the most repetitive, I feel this is because they were so much longer than the other missions and they all revolved around the same enemy rather than relating to a specific super villain like the others did, I feel the Militia missions could have been consolidated into one long mission segment and then the space they took up could be used for one or two more different missions featuring different enemies like Bane or Deadshot.
This time around the stakes felt higher, it seemed whatever you did actually mattered to the character and Gotham itself, I mean you know Batman will come out on top at the end and all but to actually have characters die was really shocking in some cases. Then again you could say the same with the Joker dying in the previous game. The game really did present itself well during its more 'tense' moments like when Batman is attempting to stop a huge bomb go off by struggling to take it apart piece by piece while Alfred begs him to get away from the vicinity.
The most powerful scene though has to be when Batman under the effects of the fear toxin believes he sees Barbara shoot herself in the head. At the time you as the player believe it is Barbara who is under the effects of the toxin and is being manipulated into killing herself, you as the player do not even find out until near the end of the game that she is actually alive and well. But to see Batman so defeated in that moment really works, this is a man who had already 'lost' one Robin (which the game constantly reminds him off) and now he believes he has lost another member of his 'family'.
I feel like now that I have finished the game and know what happens with Bruce and his ultimate reveal to the world that he is Batman that it was at this point in the games story that Bruce knew he would have to drop the cowl after he has defeated the threats to the city. The game constantly reminds you that Batman can and has failed at times to prevent a death, especially Jason Todd. The Arkham Knight is proof of his failures and how they will eventually catch up to him, while it is left ambiguous what happens to Jason during the end of the main story the Red Hood DLC does seem to suggest he has become more of an anti-hero, however he still remains a stain on Batmans past.
Surprisingly I did not see Batman having his identity revealed to the world coming and I actually commend Rocksteady for going in that direction as it gives the series a nice point to be wrapped up while still leaving enough mystery as to what happens with Bruce in the future. It is actually really interesting to play the game after beating the main story as you're at a point where everyone knows who you are.
Just hearing some of the dialogue between NPC's discussing your identity is hilarious, some now feel you are no threat and some are more frightened that someone like Bruce Wayne could take out such a huge amount of people. I think my favourite example however is when the Riddler decides that there is no possible way Bruce is Batman as it would be too obvious, he believes this to be a clever ruse set up by Batman and Bruce in order to trick him, but of course he's too smart for that right.
At this point we're a month or so into the season pass and while I got it for free I do not think it is worth it so far, however the addition of the 1989 Movie Batmobile is fantastic and I cannot get enough of it, it's the only time I have actually cared about playing challenge maps in any of these games, It's a shame it can only be used in challenge maps at this time though, but it does bring with it exclusive maps based around the film and it's sequel.
While this may be the end of Rocksteady developing Batman games I'm sure Warner Bros won't let this cash cow die just yet, I mean if they did something like Origins but actually polished it up before releasing it it might be alright, if anything they should do a Batman Beyond game,it could be different enough while retaining the same core gameplay at least.
So is this game the best of the series? Overall I would say so, the experience in general was a great one, while it has short comings in a lot of areas I feel like story wise it was fantastic and gameplay wise it gives you a pretty much complete Batman experience, you not only get all these gadgets, you get to fight with your allies, you get a whole city to explore around and you get to use the Batmobile to a pretty great extent.
I would say this game is one of, if not the best comic book genre game out there at the moment, it actually makes me sad that there probably won't be another Batman game like it for quite some time. But if the rumours are true Rocksteady may be working on a Superman title in the near future, while I don't really like Superman too much I feel like they could do for him what they have done for Batman and finally make a game that gives you a decent Superman experience.
So would I recommend this game to you? Yes, I'd say if you have never played the Arkham series then you should really try out Asylum first of all and see how you go from there but if you've played them and started to become tired of them due to their repetitive nature during fight sequences and such then seriously give this game a shot if only for the story itself, like I said the story this time around is expertly crafted and really feels like something from one of the movies or more well known comics and is definitely worth your time.
Thanks for checking my review out, it's taken a while and I've been super busy lately but it means a lot that people actually take the time to check these out, let me know what you thought of Arkham Knight and the Arkham series in general!
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