Batman Arkham Knight

When you look at a list of great video games, and you see classics like Super Mario Bros, Final Fantasy VI or the original Bioshock you might be surprised to find the Rocksteady Arkham games are on there. Superhero adaptations are all the rage right now but when it comes to video games I'm surprised at how limited your options are when it comes to genuinely good superhero games (there are a CRAPTON of shitty licensed ones). The LEGO games and various free to play MMO's are a thing but they don't really count, I'm talking about a fully fledged AAA experience that fully takes into account just what it's like to be the shoes of your favorite superheroes. The Arkham games are somewhat of an anomaly in their excellence, when 'Arkham Asylum' was released in 2007 (a year before superheroes became a big thing) it became a beloved classic overnight. It's free-flow combat system, fantastic execution, engaging storyline and genuine love for the Batman mythos just all came together in a way that made you stand up straight and pay attention, while also putting the previously unheard of UK developer Rocksteady on the map. 2011's 'Arkham City' took the standard sequel approach by upping the stakes and moving away from the confined spaces of the Asylum to a fully fledged open world, and that's exactly what we wanted. If 'Asylum' was a proof of concept that a good Batman game can exist, then 'City' was all about filling out that dream even more. Fast forward three and a half years later and we've finally got our hands on Arkham Knight, the supposed final chapter in Rocksteady's 'trilogy'. So, how does the latest Batman simulator stack up?

Like most final chapters this game starts with a gloomy narration: 'This is how it happened. This is how the Batman died'. What warrants such a gloomy narration you ask? One year after the events of 'Arkham City' Scarecrow decides to step into the limelight by threatening to bomb the city in fear toxin. Everyone evacuates, which leaves the entire city susceptible to Batman's rogue gallery looting the place and doing whatever the hell they want. Working in cohoots with Scarecrow is the mysterious Arkham Knight, who invades Gotham with a massive, unjustifiably big army equipped with hundreds of tanks and airborne drones. Batman literally has to go to war against an entire army and a large handful of his rogue gallery all at once. Suffice to say, it's going to be a busy night.

The first thing you'll notice when booting up the game is how slick and shiny this thing looks. The power of next gen is in full effect here, this is easily the best looking open world game you can buy right now. To justify the presence of the Batmobile Gotham is a lot larger in 'Knight' however it retains Rocksteady's attention to detail and succeeds in capturing your eye at every turn. It's also packed full of fun easter eggs if you're a DC fan. Everything just looks gorgeous, I spent a good chunk of time just looking at the reflections on the rivets of Batman's armor because HOLY CRAP I CAN SEE THEM (nothing sells graphics like pretty reflection/rain effects). Even ignoring the visual fidelity you'll still find an incredibly polished experience. Aside from moments of extreme Batmobile chaos Arkham Knight's performance is buttery smooth: I don't think I've encountered one single glitch or framerate drop in the entirety of my 30 hour playthrough which considering the state that games launch in nowadays is a minor miracle. The presentation is flawless, every cut scene and scene transition is incredibly well done (props to the director) and you'll often find yourself wondering how the hell they pulled some of this stuff off. Few games I've played come close to this level of slick cinematic greatness, the direction and presentation are leaps ahead of the competition. Now add in destructible terrain as you're cruising around on the Batmobile along with a high amount of enemy density this is a remarkable technical achievement, as close to perfection as you can get. 

Batman's family have a big presence in this game, so expect these two to show up a lot.

The next gen jump doesn't just mean a better looking game, the patented Arkham combat has also been refined to perfection this time around. This franchise's claim to fame will always be in it's free-flow combat system, it's so good I can't count the number of games in the past few years that have tried to imitate this style imperfectly. No matter how hard they try, nobody gets the 'rhythm' as right as Rocksteady. It treats Batman's fighting style like a dance, chaining attacks seamlessly from enemy to another while also piling on layers and layers of special moves, different enemy types and complexities that resemble a fighting game. For example Medics will revive fallen allies, brutes are heavyweights that require a lot of attention to take down, shields are a nuisance because they block your attacks and let's not get started on the shock stick guys *SHUDDERS* After three games of adding new abilities/enemy types/mechanics into the mix the complexity, and therefore difficulty of these free flow fights are at all time high in 'Arkham Knight'. I got my ass handed to me several times in normal mode, and that was just the free flow combat. Pretty much every aspect of the game has once again been refined, rather than scrap it they just keep adding new wrinkles into the mix that throw you off guard. The biggest shake up to the free flow system is dual-play, which allows you to control Batman's allies during the diverse range of side missions offered to you sporadically throughout the game. Switching mid fight to play as Catwoman, Nightwing or Robin for a while is fun, and while they control similarly to Batman they still have unique gadgets and finishers to keep things fresh. Unfortunately dual play is severely underused, I would love to see more of it in the future. 

The second major pillar of gameplay in this game are the classic predator takedown sequences, essentially a game of hide and seek as you creep around spaces taking enemies out one by one and trying to avoid being spotted. At this point you can hide in vents, hack drones/turrets, blow up walls, fake voice commands, disable enemy weaponry, perform multi-takedowns (a new favorite of mine, essentially the most badass way of taking down a group of enemies), disable doors, sabotage ammo caches....it'll be quite frankly overwhelming to a newcomer. Enemies are also equipped with new tools, you'll often find you can only perform one trick once. A bomb in the vents will make it harder to sneak up on them, a drone can scan the ceiling and overusing your detective vision will get you caught. Everything they've added makes 'Arkham Asylum' look like child's play, so prepare to have your ass handed to you. 

The third pillar of gameplay in 'Knight' is a brand new addition to the Arkham formula: the Batmobile! Integrated into nearly every part of the game, the Batmobile is half unstoppable race car, half tank and this cool beast of a machine justifies why Batman can take on an army and win. Think of it as a swiss knife of different abilities that can aid you on the streets or in puzzles, it's hardly just a fancy looking car that gets you from A to B. Nothing can match a high octane chase through the streets of Gotham smashing through anything in your pursuit of a militia commander. Can't get to a group of bad guys behind a wall? No biggie, just blow up the wall with the Batmobile's weapons. Speaking of weapons, the tank battles are equally satisfying, dodging enemy fire and unleashing a barrage of missiles blowing up all kinds of armored warfare is fun and helps demonstrate the increase in stakes from a gameplay perspective. Using you shiny new toy is fun but my biggest complaint about the game from a gameplay perspective is how much they shove the Batmobile down your throat. Those tank battles were fun the first fifteen times, but do we really need to include the Batmobile in every single mission? The last third of the story is a near constant onslaught of tank battles and the endless fanfare really starts to get monotonous after a while. I was genuinely getting sick of it by the end. It seems that because the Batmobile is the big new feature of the series they decided to cram it in as much as they could into the main story, which overall weakens the game. The car looks, feels and plays awesomely but it's too much of a good thing, which segways into a few critiques I have of the game's side missions. 

This isn't a pre-rendered cutscene, this is IN ENGINE. Holy sh*t.

Side missions in Arkham Knight are called 'Most Wanted' cases, and for the most part they're fun diversions that mix up the gameplay beyond the Batmobile heavy main story sequences. Two Face is robbing banks, Nightwing wants Batman's help to destroy the Penguin's weapon cache's, there's a serial killer on the loose ect...there is a lot of cool stuff to see and do. Quite a few of them suffer from bloat though: yes taking out military checkpoints and watchtowers are fun, but why do the developers think that including twenty of them was in any way a good idea? There's a lot of padding unfortunately, I'd say a good chunk of the fourteen 'Most Wanted' missions could be cut down a bit, as they only serve to extend the game's duration. I know I'm criticizing a game for having too much content, as It's all optional of course....unless you want to get the full ending of the game. YES, YOU HEARD RIGHT. If you want to get the 'full' ending to 'Arkham Knight' you have to 100% complete the game, and that means collecting ALL of the 243 riddles scattered around the city. F*ck that, just go look it up on Youtube like I did. Either way, cutting down on the length of some of these quests and putting more effort into challenge maps would be appreciated.

Storywise the Arkham games have always been pretty good, they do a good job of making there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you hooked or another objective in reach. Well 'Arkham Knight' is just as deceptive. Narratively this game has a massive WTF under it's belt, a killer twist that adds a third wheel to the Scarecrow/Arkham Knight conflict that hasn't been shown in any pre-release footage. It's therefore impossible to talk about this game's story in-depth without going into spoiler territory, which I'll mostly side step. In my mind though it's the single best thing about the entire game, it gave me pretty much everything I had hoped for and reminded me about what the Arkham games are really about. Hint: it's not Batman. Aside from this genius twist however it pretty much goes exactly where you expect it to go, I was a bit disappointed the third act didn't throw in a major curve ball like the other two Arkham games. The over-use of the Batmobile tank sections and an incredibly unsatisfying reveal to the Arkham Knight's identity in the latter half left a sour taste in my mouth (seriously, he's the first guy you think of). But it's hard to nitpick something when the execution is so flawless, and HOLY CRAP this game's ending sequence delivered. Seriously, very few games have utilized narrative told through gameplay this well. 

There is a lot to do and see in Gotham city.

Another misstep the story takes is making Batman an emotionless a-hole. He's a massive dick to everyone in this one, which is fine but why do you get legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy to come in and deliver incredibly boring lines in a story that's all about breaking Batman down eludes me. Batman can be an emotionless brick, but especially considering certain scenes of a spoilery nature in the story some emotion other than 'I AM BATMAN!!!!' is sorely needed. Also don't be expecting a ton of character development, because there isn't any. For anyone. There are a lot of interesting potential relationships hinted at in this game but the story fails to include an interesting conversation with any of them. Catwoman probably gets the most out of Batman but even then all the brooding twat can say is a variation of 'I must go.' F*CKING EMOTE BATMAN YOU DICK!!!! ALL of cast are incredibly well voice acted though and the villains are perfectly portrayed....even if Batman refuses to have a conversation with any of them. Overall I'd say that the only thing the story is lacking is more characterization on Batman's part, which seems like a big flaw but the tremendous voice acting and directing makes up for it. It still feels like you're watching a great episode of the Batman animated series, and that's one hell of a compliment. 

It might use the Batmobile a bit to much, feature an emotionless lead and has quite too many firefighters to save but 'Arkham Knight' is still a great game and an amazing ride. The presentation and combat is about as perfect you can get, and the story overall satisfies. Sure narratively it's not quite as good as it's predecessor, but 'Knight' trumps 'City' in every other aspect. I cannot accentuate enough that this is an extremely impressive game and definitely one you should consider buying (as long as it's not on PC, I hear the port is crap). It would be my favorite game on PS4 if the Witcher 3 hadn't come out a month earlier, but I'll get to that game soon. 

Positives:

+ Flawless presentation, directing
+ Lot's of variety, plenty of stuff to do
+ Combat has been ridiculously refined at this point
+ Good story, voice cast
+ Driving the Batmobile is a dream come true
+ Anything related to a certain character that I will not mention because *SPOILERS*
+ Imaginative ending sequence

Negatives:

- Side missions are prone to 'do X of X', feel a bit padded out in length 
- 243 Riddler trophies: F*CK YOU GO TO HELL.  
- 100% completion is required to get the full ending
- Batmobile tank sequences are overused towards the end
- Lack of any arcs or meaningful characterization on Batman's part
- Arkham Knight's identity is so obvious it hurts