Batman: Arkham Knight

[Juke Box Hero]

I have no problem with them putting battle mode in and making it part of the story, but less would have been more in this instance.

 

[The Joker]

Batmobile ruined it for me, I haven't touched it since I beat it and I didnt even do the barbara gordon DLC just watched it online.

I have no desire too play GTA in a batman game running around smashing things in a tank.

Sad this is how they ended the series, and hopefully it does mean a JL game or superman or a different hero is who they tackle next.

The excessive Batmobile stuff does hurt the replay value for me, too.

 

[v.waltzer]

I'm enjoying the game immensely. Although I've come to love Origins, at first it left me a little disappointed, especially when its game play - as good as it was - felt a tad stale when it did not progress far enough away from AC's. This time around though, I was a lot more modest in my expectations for AK and was pleasantly surprised. I found AK's combat to be fined-tuned to its limit (in a good way), and couldn't see how RS could do better than AC's; but they did.

The improved navigation and traversal is a lot of fun, where the Batmobile's addition feels just as natural as gliding and boosting around the city. Also impressive was how well the Batmobile is implemented and how seamlessly it can be used. Being able to drive at high speeds across the city and ejecting far up into the sky, where you can spot a group of enemies, engage them in combat, perform a large combo, call the Batmobile to aid you mid-combo and then driving off to then start a tank battle in some random part of the city, reminded me why I loved AC: being able to play as Batman according to how you think he would do things.

The tank battles are fun, have depth and strategy and just like the other elements of game play, encourage the player to delve deeper in the pursuit of mastery. Even the Excavator battle was not half as morale-sapping the second time around. The richness, detail and aesthetics of the Arkham world are still there, and its gorgeous visuals only elevate it even more above AC's.

If I would fault the game, most of the negativity would stem from a lack of regular combat and predator maps, affecting its replay value, and its flimsy and lacklustre DLC story packs.

 

[Paradox1]

The only tank battle I dread in this game is with the cobra's and the Arkham Knight. The rest become easy once you have a certain amount of skill and upgrades. The only thing I wish they added was what Arkham Origins did so well and that was detective mode. I loved Bats putting together clues

 

[SpideyForPrez]

As much as I agree with the consensus that this game went too far with Batmobile, I fully remember that when Arkham City came out, one of main complaints from people was the lack of the batmobile. I recall reading lots of comments and fan Q&A sessions where people asked about including it within the franchise. So while they went too far with the tank battles, Rocksteady was more or less giving the people what they wanted.

The tank stuff isn't hurting my replay value. At this point the drone battles have become pretty mindless for me. What really hurts is the lack of boss fights. I just don't feel like there are enough cool fights and moments within the story to look forward to.

I love the race tracks though. Especially the 89 ones. Racing through a death trap obstacle course is very Batman. Fighting waves of military drones is less Batman.

 

[hafizbat]

Yeah, it saddens me to say the Batmobile just really took the soul out of this game. It doesn't give me the same feeling as AA, AC, or AO. That kind of magical, fantastical feeling you get when you step into Batman's world. I think I'd put story and atmosphere above gameplay in video games, and sadly AK is lacking and that also hurts the replay value.

Even little things like the opening title screen and music matter to me, lol, and AK's is so dull and lifeless. I still remember that title screen music of AC, how excited it made me to play.

 

[hafizbat]

As much as I agree with the consensus that this game went too far with Batmobile, I fully remember that when Arkham City came out, one of main complaints from people was the lack of the batmobile. I recall reading lots of comments and fan Q&A sessions where people asked about including it within the franchise. So while they went too far with the tank battles, Rocksteady was more or less giving the people what they wanted.

The tank stuff isn't hurting my replay value. At this point the drone battles have become pretty mindless for me. What really hurts is the lack of boss fights. I just don't feel like there are enough cool fights and moments within the story to look forward to.

I love the race tracks though. Especially the 89 ones. Racing through a death trap obstacle course is very Batman. Fighting waves of military drones is less Batman.

It's not the Batmobile I resent, the car itself is great and having it to drive around greatly enhances the feeling of being Batman. It's everything the car represents that rubs me the wrong way. It's like the living symbol of everything RS did wrong...annoying level design, tank battles instead of boss battles, the militia overload,the story being infested with Batmobile stuff, half the side missions being with the car, the excessive dependence on technology, and just in general making the game less about Batman.

 

[rashad]

What really hurts is the lack of boss fights. I just don't feel like there are enough cool fights and moments within the story to look forward to.

The lack of boss fights was really one of the few disappointments I had with this game. The fights with Firefly and Deathstroke in AO were great for example. And here you regulate them to a chase and a tank battle. A missed opportunity for sure.

The fight with Freeze in AC was very unique as well.

 

[SpideyForPrez]

It's not the Batmobile I resent, the car itself is great and having it to drive around greatly enhances the feeling of being Batman. It's everything the car represents that rubs me the wrong way. It's like the living symbol of everything RS did wrong...annoying level design, tank battles instead of boss battles, the militia overload,the story being infested with Batmobile stuff, half the side missions being with the car, the excessive dependence on technology, and just in general making the game less about Batman.

Yeah, I totally agree. I imagine RS went to work creating the Batmobile and an open-world Gotham and maybe became overly-enthusiastic with what they were doing and spent less time on atmosphere and boss fights. Maybe they just didn't have the time and budget left to add to those things once they finished developing the batmobile.

Personally, I'm a little upset they never advanced the stealth gameplay much. I was hoping they would give us the ability to drag and hide enemies like Metal Gear. They definitely could have done more with predator mode.

 

[Mister J]

Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #1

Europe is continuing to get midnight releases on PlayStation Store, and the pack is now out in the UK and all of mainland Europe.

Thanks to niemepet here, we now know all six challenges:

• Assault on GCPD: Batman/Robin combat
• Newton's Cradle: Nightwing combat
• Cat's Conundrum: Catwoman combat
• Teen Titan: Robin combat
• Financial Crash: Batman predator
• Deconstruction: Batman predator

Yup, both predator maps are just Batman, which I can't imagine will be a popular move...

I swear, this was the easiest component of the game to get right. Why the flip did they have to alter it from what it was on the previous incarnations?

 

[hafizbat]

Yeah, I totally agree. I imagine RS went to work creating the Batmobile and an open-world Gotham and maybe became overly-enthusiastic with what they were doing and spent less time on atmosphere and boss fights. Maybe they just didn't have the time and budget left to add to those things once they finished developing the batmobile.

Personally, I'm a little upset they never advanced the stealth gameplay much. I was hoping they would give us the ability to drag and hide enemies like Metal Gear. They definitely could have done more with predator mode.

It's interesting to compare AO and AK. AO had the worst graphics, glitches (not for me though), and was the least innovative in terms of gameplay. Yet it had arguably the best characterization, score, atmosphere, story, boss battles.

AK is the opposite, it's far and away the most polished and innovative game of the series, the graphics are insanely slick, the gameplay is pretty much flawless, but it had the worst story, non-existent boss battles, lackluster rinse-and-repeat side missions, etc.

I think AO fulfilled the promise of making me "Be the Batman" a lot more than AK, tbh. It definitely had more of an impact on me, it was much more immersive and memorable in my eyes. I remember how much backlash there was when it came out, and how people were pining for Rocksteady's Batman. Turns out that I'm now dying for another WB Montreal Batman game

I know this was the end of the series and it's much more likely we'll get a different superhero game, I really do hope WBM gets another shot at Batman. With the time and resources RS had, I think they could do a hell of a job. Imagine the gameplay, graphics, etc of AK with the story and atmosphere of AO. THAT is the game that will truly make me "Be the Batman".

I feel the need to say AK is still awesome in many respects...it just doesn't scratch my itch the way the final Batman game should.

 

[Snow Queen]

Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #1

I swear, this was the easiest component of the game to get right. Why the flip did they have to alter it from what it was on the previous incarnations?

Oh come on, really? It's like they're trying to do it wrong at this point. They already gave us Nightwing, Robin and Catwoman in Arkham City playable on all maps, why is it so hard here? And why is it so hard to just let Batgirl, Harley and Red Hood be used on them too?

 

[spiderman2]

It's interesting to compare AO and AK. AO had the worst graphics, glitches (not for me though), and was the least innovative in terms of gameplay. Yet it had arguably the best characterization, score, atmosphere, story, boss battles.

AK is the opposite, it's far and away the most polished and innovative game of the series, the graphics are insanely slick, the gameplay is pretty much flawless, but it had the worst story, non-existent boss battles, lackluster rinse-and-repeat side missions, etc.

I think AO fulfilled the promise of making me "Be the Batman" a lot more than AK, tbh. It definitely had more of an impact on me, it was much more immersive and memorable in my eyes. I remember how much backlash there was when it came out, and how people were pining for Rocksteady's Batman. Turns out that I'm now dying for another WB Montreal Batman game

I know this was the end of the series and it's much more likely we'll get a different superhero game, I really do hope WBM gets another shot at Batman. With the time and resources RS had, I think they could do a hell of a job. Imagine the gameplay, graphics, etc of AK with the story and atmosphere of AO. THAT is the game that will truly make me "Be the Batman".

I feel the need to say AK is still awesome in many respects...it just doesn't scratch my itch the way the final Batman game should.

I have to disagree here. AO graphics where even with city. AO did not have the best story. Both city and knight had a better story. The whole joker being black mask was so predictable and just didn't really make sinces. The game was so predictable. The only thing that surprised me in AO was bane finding out who batman was. Knight had a lot of surprise in the game and joker was handle so much better. AO had some good fights but AC fights where better. I found the freeze fight and the ra's al ghul fight better then any thing in AO. While I love the soundtrack in AO AC had a better soundtrack. Knight and city also had better characterization then AO to. Asylum had the best atmosphere.

I don't really remember the side missions compared to the other games but I don't remember the side missions in the other games being all that great either. Now the boss fights cant disagree with that because knight only had like 2 boss fights lol. The biggest issue with knight is just no challenge maps and to much batmobile and no real boss fights. If the game just had like 2 more boss fights and had challenge maps it would be the best of all of the games. I would like RS to make other game and learn from there mistakes. If knight was the same game but with a decrease of like 25% of batmobil and like a 25% increase in dual play and had challenge maps I am sure it would go down has the best of all 4 games. I have AO has the second best behind AC and just ahead of knight but that is because no challenge maps = way less replay not because the game had to much batmobile or any thing else.

 

[Paradox1]

I don't care for boss fights they are an archaic remnant from video games early years. The strategy in most boss fights pretty much employs some form of pattern recognition coupled with an extra life added to the NPC. I don't play ever video game but there has to be something else that can be done than that bs.

 

[Snow Queen]

The whole joker being black mask was so predictable and just didn't really make sinces.

Compared to the shocking reveal of [BLACKOUT]Jason being the Arkham Knight? [/BLACKOUT] The story of Arkham Knight is...underwhelming to say the least. The over-reliance on the Batmobile is tedious, the second act drags and the "twist" is obvious with little impact as we know so little about [BLACKOUT]Jason.[/BLACKOUT] We never even get any resolution after the reveal. Not to mention that his existence comes completely out of nowhere as he's never once mentioned in previous games.

I enjoy the game, I do, but I feel like it's such a missed opportunity. None of the allies get their due, the villain team up is underutilized and amounts to little, lots of villains are underused in general, the militia feels so generic compared to the more creative thug designs, the twist is extremely poorly handled, the Batmobile is overused, it often felt like it lacked much in terms of interiors, the mess that is the challenge map set up, tossing aside most of the setup from City (Azrael being a footnote, Hush being insultingly underused, ignoring the fear toxin canisters Hush and Riddler had that implied they were working with Scarecrow), relying on tie-in comics to even make [BLACKOUT]Jason[/BLACKOUT] a character, could have done with more fear toxin sequences ala Asylum, lack of boss fights, an underwhelming denouement. It's fun but man it could have been so much more.

Arkham Origins remains the high point of the franchise to me with Arkham Asylum not far behind. Knight and City are a ways behind those two. Though they're still fun, they're filled with so many missed opportunities and what is actually there isn't good enough to redeem them for me.

 

[I Am The Knight]

AO had the worst graphics...

Not at all. The graphics were pretty amazing and interiors weren't filled with low res textures like in AC.

 

[HauntedKnight]

The whole joker being black mask was so predictable and just didn't really make sinces. The game was so predictable.

I'm sorry, but no it wasn't. No one had predicted that one ahead of time when I was reading through the forums before release. Arkham Knight, sure, but don't give yourself that much credit.

 

[godisawesome]

AO went for a different art style than AC; the latter still had this over-the-top and fun world of bright colors for almost everyone and embraced garish designs for everyone, while AO definitely went full-in on a neo-noir and icy blue look to contrast with the emergence of the chaos.

And while I prefer AO's story and characterization, AK's isn't bad at all, its just disappointing to more experienced fans like me.

 

[Mani-Man]

I have to disagree here. AO graphics where even with city. AO did not have the best story. Both city and knight had a better story. The whole joker being black mask was so predictable and just didn't really make sinces. The game was so predictable. The only thing that surprised me in AO was bane finding out who batman was. Knight had a lot of surprise in the game and joker was handle so much better. AO had some good fights but AC fights where better. I found the freeze fight and the ra's al ghul fight better then any thing in AO. While I love the soundtrack in AO AC had a better soundtrack. Knight and city also had better characterization then AO to. Asylum had the best atmosphere.

I don't really remember the side missions compared to the other games but I don't remember the side missions in the other games being all that great either. Now the boss fights cant disagree with that because knight only had like 2 boss fights lol. The biggest issue with knight is just no challenge maps and to much batmobile and no real boss fights. If the game just had like 2 more boss fights and had challenge maps it would be the best of all of the games. I would like RS to make other game and learn from there mistakes. If knight was the same game but with a decrease of like 25% of batmobil and like a 25% increase in dual play and had challenge maps I am sure it would go down has the best of all 4 games. I have AO has the second best behind AC and just ahead of knight but that is because no challenge maps = way less replay not because the game had to much batmobile or any thing else.

Hm, storywise Origins told a more straight forward type of story...city was all over the place...knight...well knight doesnt use his potential storywise.

The Joker/black mask thing was not predictable...not one person expected it(only in jokes they expected this)
Nobody thought the joker would be black mask, we all expected joker to take over black mask role as the main villian but not in that way.
Boss fight wise, city and origins are on par imo...they had their good and bad ones.

Personally i think its impossible to pinpoint one game being overall better then others, each one has his good points...they all are fantastic on their own.

With all the backlash and dissapointment, i really hope Rocksteady or WBGM give it another try.

 

[LEVITIKUZ]

Not at all. The graphics were pretty amazing and interiors weren't filled with low res textures like in AC.

Uh the graphics in Origins were the worst in the series.

[YT]hDtvGT2vCSM[/YT]

Not hating on Origins because I loved the cutscenes, voice work, character designs, and their take on Bane but the graphics are hands down the worst in the series.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Uh the graphics in Origins were the worst in the series.

[YT]hDtvGT2vCSM[/YT]

Not hating on Origins because I loved the cutscenes, voice work, character designs, and their take on Bane but the graphics are hands down the worst in the series.

I must be crazy then because I have played all three PS3 games and the graphics looked better in AO than in the previous ones. And again, no low res textures when going inside buildings.

Maybe what you mean to say is that the look of the game was not as shiny or colorful as the other ones, which I would agree with.

 

[DarkKnight]

This game was the saving grace for me! Don't get me wrong. I've loved all of the Batman Arkham games, but after Origins, its just felt more of the same. Three games all similar moves, gadgets, etc. was just starting to feel like more of the same, getting repetitive. Arkham Knight comes out has new combos, new ways of doing things. Being able to free roam Gotham City, able to actually drive the Batmobile. Awesome stuff the perfect way to end this franchise (If that's really what they are planning on doing.) I do agree some of the Batmobile issues were indeed tedious and pissed me off a few times, it did not break the game for me.

 

[The Joker]

Compared to the shocking reveal of [BLACKOUT]Jason being the Arkham Knight? [/BLACKOUT] The story of Arkham Knight is...underwhelming to say the least. The over-reliance on the Batmobile is tedious, the second act drags and the "twist" is obvious with little impact as we know so little about [BLACKOUT]Jason.[/BLACKOUT] We never even get any resolution after the reveal. Not to mention that his existence comes completely out of nowhere as he's never once mentioned in previous games.

I enjoy the game, I do, but I feel like it's such a missed opportunity. None of the allies get their due, the villain team up is underutilized and amounts to little, lots of villains are underused in general, the militia feels so generic compared to the more creative thug designs, the twist is extremely poorly handled, the Batmobile is overused, it often felt like it lacked much in terms of interiors, the mess that is the challenge map set up, tossing aside most of the setup from City (Azrael being a footnote, Hush being insultingly underused, ignoring the fear toxin canisters Hush and Riddler had that implied they were working with Scarecrow), relying on tie-in comics to even make [BLACKOUT]Jason[/BLACKOUT] a character, could have done with more fear toxin sequences ala Asylum, lack of boss fights, an underwhelming denouement. It's fun but man it could have been so much more.

Arkham Origins remains the high point of the franchise to me with Arkham Asylum not far behind. Knight and City are a ways behind those two. Though they're still fun, they're filled with so many missed opportunities and what is actually there isn't good enough to redeem them for me.

All hail the Queen and this great post

AO is still my favorite of the Arkham games. It has great gameplay, graphics, festive atmosphere (unlike AK where you barely have a clue it's Halloween), best boss fights, and EASILY has the best story and characterizations. The Arkham Origins suit is also my fav of the Bat suits. It also has my favorite level of all the games; the Gotham Royal Hotel. In fact that whole segment is just pure Batman greatness. From the moment you set foot in there, to seeing Joker's assassins meeting and him shoving the Electrocutioner out the window, to his whole Joker fun land he turned part of the hotel into, to the rising tension that Batman slowly realizes he's never dealt with a psychopath like Joker before, to the epic climax with Bane out on the snow filled terrace, to that amazing Joker/Harley therapy segment that follows after you save and capture Joker. It's perfection. I savor that whole segment of the game every time I play it.

 

[Parquagh]

Compared to the shocking reveal of [BLACKOUT]Jason being the Arkham Knight? [/BLACKOUT] The story of Arkham Knight is...underwhelming to say the least. The over-reliance on the Batmobile is tedious, the second act drags and the "twist" is obvious with little impact as we know so little about [BLACKOUT]Jason.[/BLACKOUT] We never even get any resolution after the reveal. Not to mention that his existence comes completely out of nowhere as he's never once mentioned in previous games.

I enjoy the game, I do, but I feel like it's such a missed opportunity. None of the allies get their due, the villain team up is underutilized and amounts to little, lots of villains are underused in general, the militia feels so generic compared to the more creative thug designs, the twist is extremely poorly handled, the Batmobile is overused, it often felt like it lacked much in terms of interiors, the mess that is the challenge map set up, tossing aside most of the setup from City (Azrael being a footnote, Hush being insultingly underused, ignoring the fear toxin canisters Hush and Riddler had that implied they were working with Scarecrow), relying on tie-in comics to even make [BLACKOUT]Jason[/BLACKOUT] a character, could have done with more fear toxin sequences ala Asylum, lack of boss fights, an underwhelming denouement. It's fun but man it could have been so much more.

Arkham Origins remains the high point of the franchise to me with Arkham Asylum not far behind. Knight and City are a ways behind those two. Though they're still fun, they're filled with so many missed opportunities and what is actually there isn't good enough to redeem them for me.

All hail the Queen and this great post

AO is still my favorite of the Arkham games. It has great gameplay, graphics, festive atmosphere (unlike AK where you barely have a clue it's Halloween), best boss fights, and EASILY has the best story and characterizations. The Arkham Origins suit is also my fav of the Bat suits. It also has my favorite level of all the games; the Gotham Royal Hotel. In fact that whole segment is just pure Batman greatness. From the moment you set foot in there, to seeing Joker's assassins meeting and him shoving the Electrocutioner out the window, to his whole Joker fun land he turned part of the hotel into, to the rising tension that Batman slowly realizes he's never dealt with a psychopath like Joker before, to the epic climax with Bane out on the snow filled terrace, to that amazing Joker/Harley therapy segment that follows after you save and capture Joker. It's perfection. I savor that whole segment of the game every time I play it.

Completely agreed with you guys, Origins is my favorite. AK felt way too focused on the Batmobile and forgot to keep the parts that made successful the previous games: BEING THE BATMAN, characterization. It still hurts seeing Batman [BLACKOUT]revealing his identity (Scarecrow won, it hurts how everyone talks and refers to him as Bruce Wayne). He didn't even consider the consequences, how his company and allies may be affeted (I mean, he's supposed to be a mastermind). [/BLACKOUT] The game is good if we consider that it is designed around the gameplay, but it lacks what it boasted in the marketing campaing: a true story and feeling of being The Batman.

 

[Kane52630]

The only issue I had with the tank battles was later on with [BLACKOUT]Deathstroke. I mean really? you're not going to do a pound for pound fist fight with him? [/BLACKOUT] That was such a letdown.