Batman: Arkham Knight

[Joe Von Zombie]

After letting it sink in, here's what I feel about Arkham Knight.

It's a good game but the weakest in Rocksteady's trilogy.

The biggest issue really is villains. I like mostly of the stuff with the story that deals with Batman and his allies. But it's the Arkham Knight and the "villains coming together" along with gameplay for that that's the issue.

I honestly don't feel any character in the game besides Hush is badly characterized. The villains in Rocksteady's Batman universe are in my opinion the best characterization of Batman's villains (with the exception of Hush and Bane) in any take on Batman. While the characterization is perfect, how Rocksteady used the characters with gameplay and plot is the issue.

Two-Face in Arkham City was short lol. But he was important to the plot. He held Catwoman. He was connected to the plot of the game. You had to take him down there and now to advance. Arkham Knight, he's just a side mission. Even with him being a side mission he is poorly done. He robs 3 banks and each bank robbery you take his henchmen down the same way and he's not even a boss. In Arkham City, Dent was at least a boss with Catwoman.

Penguin in Arkham Knight, you basically do the same thing every time and you don't even fight Penguin. He also has zero connection to the story. Penguin in Arkham City did. He had Freeze and cops. He had Grundy so you got an awesome boss fight from Penguin in Grundy.

Riddler really was the only one improved on. I liked the Riddler challenges dealing with the race tracks and Catwoman. It felt different from City but not handled lazily.

I mean Man-Bat, you jump on him 3? 4 times?

Deathstroke, who makes sense to be in the game the way he is, is just a copy and paste of the Arkham Knight tank battle.

Batman's gameplay in Arkham Knight is perfect. It's the best Batman gameplay of the series especially considering dual play. How the gameplay is used against villains isn't.

In my opinion, Arkham Knight's Scarecrow is the best take on the character. Design, characterization, voice, dialogue. He was perfect. BUT we should have had Scarecrow nightmare fights like Arkham Asylum. Those nightmare fights in Asylum were genius. Why is there none of those in here? His character is perfect. I love how he seems more than a nerd in a costume in this Arkham series. In Asylum Rocksteady turned Scarecrow into Freddy Krueger and that was brilliant and made sense. I ****ing loved that. I want more of that Scarecrow and Knight's Scarecrow in my opinion was an improvement in design, voice, and dialogue but we never fought him. AK's Scarecrow was great though but not fighting him was a disappointment.

Last but not least the Arkham Knight. I've been thinking about it. Arkham Knight should have been Hush. There is no reason it should have been Jason. None period. Arkham City ****ing set up Hush and Scarecrow to be big time villains. Hell Hush's apartment had a fear gas tank in City.

I know people may ask, "why would Hush change his face into Bruce Wayne to put on a full body suit?" Here's my answer. Imagine if the game sorta ended with Batman captured like he was. He still doesn't know the Arkham Knight's identity. AK takes off the mask and reveals he is Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Gotham's suppose savior, is leading an armed forces destroying the city. With this being taped to the world, Batman recognizes there's only one way out. He has to reveal he is Bruce Wayne so people know Hush is lying. We have Batman unmasking himself as Bruce Wayne. That's at least how I would have done it. Hush himself has been watching from a distance. Studying Batman's skills, methods. He funds an army, hires Deathstroke, works with Scarecrow and other villains. It just makes more sense then Jason.

The problem with this game and Rocksteady I believe is that they needed Dini. I believe Dini not coming back hurt in story. How Rocksteady tells the story is brilliant. It's like how Red Letter Media said. Storytelling wise, Arkham Knight is brilliant. It's story is told brilliant but it's not the best story in the world. I mean that last level where you become Joker was told and written brilliantly. It could have easily been a cutscene but barely anything in Batman and Joker's minds in that scene was a cutscene. We played that so hats off.

I feel like at the end of the day, Arkham Knight's biggest problem isn't the Batmobile which most fans claim. The Batmobile is fine. It's just other villains really never had a chance to shine like they did in Asylum, like they did in City. Gameplay is perfect in my opinion. It's how the gameplay was used and how the villains were used which is the problems with it. It's what makes Arkham City so special. Besides Bane, can you really say any of the villains are poorly used? Yea Dent got the short hand of the stick but he was still a boss fight with Catwoman. How Deadshot was used, how Mad Hatter was used, how Grundy was used, how Harley was used, how Ivy was used, how Clayface, Freeze, Hush, Penguin, Riddler, Zsasz, Joker, Ra's, and everyone else was used was perfect. They all naturally fit and nobody felt forced. Strange may have not been the major main villain we all were hoping for. No doubt he's the weakest in the trilogy second weakest to Black Mask in Arkham Origins. Scarecrow in Knight and Joker in Asylum did feel like better overall main villains. I would say looking at it with how much new features and how everything is told and how the story is, City is the best game. Know people make a case for Origins. Love the boss fights and characterizations in that but I just feel like WB Montreal never added anything new you know. Like even the boss fights in Origins, parts are taken from boss fights in City and Asylum. WBM knows how to use gameplay within a game well based off Origins but doesn't know how to add never gameplay or features. Yea fast travel is cool but it's nothing to write home about considering how much fun gliding in these games are. Rocksteady's the opposite where they may not always use their gameplay right but they know how to add stuff. Even in Knight little things like the environment take downs and picking stuff up and using gadgets while gliding goes a long way.

Arkham Knight isn't a bad game. I'd say it's an 8.5. Problem does rest on villains in the story and how you take them down. I mean how many of us loved Scarecrow in Asylum, Croc in Asylum, Freeze in City, and others? We never really got that feeling here which is really the biggest issue.

Brilliant post, I agree with most of it, but 40% of this game being Batmobile BS is one of the games bigger problems.

 

[LEVITIKUZ]

Brilliant post, I agree with most of it, but 40% of this game being Batmobile BS is one of the games bigger problems.

The only real time with me the Batmobile pissed me off was when we fought Deathstroke. That sucked. I agree the Batmobile being a problem but as I said if the villains were greatly improved on. Say you had all the Batmobile stuff in Arkham City and AC had all the villains stuff as it already has. Wouldn't you agree that you could give the Batmobile stuff a break when you have all the great villain stuff?

Like the Batmobile isn't bad I believe but having it overshadow villains so to speak is an issue.

EDIT: Like thinking about it more and more, Imagine Hugo Strange leading the army the Arkham Knight had with Arkham City and all the events besides Deathstroke took place. I'd be alright with that.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

The only real time with me the Batmobile pissed me off was when we fought Deathstroke. That sucked. I agree the Batmobile being a problem but as I said if the villains were greatly improved on. Say you had all the Batmobile stuff in Arkham City and AC had all the villains stuff as it already has. Wouldn't you agree that you could give the Batmobile stuff a break when you have all the great villain stuff?

Like the Batmobile isn't bad I believe but having it overshadow villains so to speak is an issue.

EDIT: Like thinking about it more and more, Imagine Hugo Strange leading the army the Arkham Knight had with Arkham City and all the events besides Deathstroke took place. I'd be alright with that.

Fair enough.

 

[batfreakforever]

I play the game daily and the Batmobile give me that replay value. Look forward to playing with each new suit and new Batmobile. The Batmobile is what makes the game for me.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Yea there's nothing wrong with the Batmobiles use, gamers just have to whine about something, anything. Had it of been reversed they'd be whining that RS talked up the Batmobile and didn't let players use it enough. They always have to whine. Always. I mean there are some issues with the game, that's not one of them though

 

[Two-Face=Badass]

No, the Batmobile gameplay is a problem. The tank battles are immensely tedious and don't even feel like a 'Batman' thing, and it is crammed into every segment to the point where it is involved in every boss battle but one and even used in dull platforming segments.

 

[Havok83]

Yea there's nothing wrong with the Batmobiles use, gamers just have to whine about something, anything. Had it of been reversed they'd be whining that RS talked up the Batmobile and didn't let players use it enough. They always have to whine. Always. I mean there are some issues with the game, that's not one of them though

thats why theres a thing called balance. RS didnt get that right

 

[Snow Queen]

No, the Batmobile gameplay is a problem. The tank battles are immensely tedious and don't even feel like a 'Batman' thing, and it is crammed into every segment to the point where it is involved in every boss battle but one and even used in dull platforming segments.

Battle mode was what really killed the Batmobile.

 

[Broseph44]

Battle mode was what really killed the Batmobile.

Yep definitely. It's what also ruined the fact that we can't use the new batmobiles in story mode until after the tanks battles are all complete. Because of the ****ing battle mode

 

[batfreakforever]

Yep definitely. It's what also ruined the fact that we can't use the new batmobiles in story mode until after the tanks battles are all complete. Because of the ****ing battle mode

No. Just because you can't use the other Batmobile's with battle mode doesn't mean its a problem. Those batmobiles were not designed for the use with battle mode. RS want you to use the batmobile they designed for their game. Their batmobile is unique to Arkham knight and designed for functions in their game. The other Batmobile's were designed by other people and battle mode is not designed for those. Using the other Batmobile's is like a reward for completing RS Arkham knight story mode.

 

[Supa]

There's nothing to DO with the downloadable Batmobiles.

Who wants to pay 2 dollars to put all this work into sidequests and not be able to do anything but aimlessly drive?

You couldn't just put a gun on the damn car? Both the Tumbler and the 89 have guns on them!

 

[The Joker]

LEVI, top class post about the villain usage problem in this game

No, the Batmobile gameplay is a problem. The tank battles are immensely tedious and don't even feel like a 'Batman' thing, and it is crammed into every segment to the point where it is involved in every boss battle but one and even used in dull platforming segments.

Exactly.

 

[TX85]

I've been trying to get back into the game but I just can't, It doesn't do it for me even as a batman fix because it makes me want more or am reminded on how much potential the game had in direction but Rocksteady ****ed up more stuff than good!

Characterization for the most part and the overall story was bad to me but the biggest problem I have is the major involvement of a huge militia that forces the need of a battle mode on the batmobile constantly and the ruining mistake of batman's identity reveal. Free roam isn't all that great here either!

I loved the game at first, I tried to remain positive when I started feeling negative and batman is my favorite comic hero but now it just feels so meh to me. I have the digital game version but I think I may delete it after the holidays and just keep the space as extra spare for now.. A shame but oh well,hopefully the next batman game is not too many years away!

 

[Drz]

There's nothing to DO with the downloadable Batmobiles.

Who wants to pay 2 dollars to put all this work into sidequests and not be able to do anything but aimlessly drive?

You couldn't just put a gun on the damn car? Both the Tumbler and the 89 have guns on them!

"Shut up and give us money" - Rocksteady

 

[batfreakforever]

Yea there's nothing wrong with the Batmobiles use, gamers just have to whine about something, anything. Had it of been reversed they'd be whining that RS talked up the Batmobile and didn't let players use it enough. They always have to whine. Always. I mean there are some issues with the game, that's not one of them though

In some ways that's true. People are entitled to hate what they feel is right and yes the complaints can seem bigger than what they should be. I can usually enjoy most things if not all bat-related products and because of that I usually put the complaints or people's problems with something as petty. I like to think I'm right and why should I have to find something wrong (as I'm told I have to) just to please other people when things like what most complain about don't bother me or aren't true to what I believe. My things are about it should of been longer or I would of liked this or this added but my "wishes" aren't ball breaking they are just wishes which don't diminish my enjoyment of said product. Most complaints come across as I wanted this and that and I didn't get it so its now the product is wrong or crap or it has lazy writing is a good one or its too hard so it now becomes tedious.

 

[Snow Queen]

I've been trying to get back into the game but I just can't, It doesn't do it for me even as a batman fix because it makes me want more or am reminded on how much potential the game had in direction but Rocksteady ****ed up more stuff than good!

Characterization for the most part and the overall story was bad to me but the biggest problem I have is the major involvement of a huge militia that forces the need of a battle mode on the batmobile constantly and the ruining mistake of batman's identity reveal. Free roam isn't all that great here either!

I loved the game at first, I tried to remain positive when I started feeling negative and batman is my favorite comic hero but now it just feels so meh to me. I have the digital game version but I think I may delete it after the holidays and just keep the space as extra spare for now.. A shame but oh well,hopefully the next batman game is not too many years away!

The only thing I'm coming back to at the moment are challenge maps and that mostly comes down to the character options in combat and soon predator. The maps themselves in predator are solid (I've never cared much for maps in combat in any of the games), but they feel less interesting than the previous games at the same time. I think a major reason for this is that everything is Arkham Knight and the militia. Arkham Knight's dull to listen to and the militia are pretty uninteresting visually. One of the best things about predator maps in City was Riddler taunting you and then in Origins with the various villains getting their maps. But Arkham Knight has boring dialogue.

 

[batfreakforever]

Ok then. What is the most universally raved about aspect of Arkham knight?

 

[Havok83]

Duo Play but that also is one that gets the most criticism bc it wasnt used enough. Seriously if they had less batmobile segments, and more duo-play, the response would be different. Its puzzling how they introduce two game changing features and spend so much time with one and the other comes across as an afterthought in terms of its implementation. It was only used what, once in the story and then in 2 sidequests. Again, it comes down to balance

 

[batfreakforever]

Due play is cool and yes I wish they used more of it.

 

[v.waltzer]

Even though AC Riddler's presence during predator is my hands-down favourite, I prefer the consistency, better quality of sound (there are lots of cases of muffled vocals in Origins' predator sections) and seriousness and anger of the Arkham Knight as opposed to the various random villains taunting/chiming in in Origins.


This month's predator update has the potential to put many things right with this game, but if I'm honest it makes me a little nervous. Is a couple of months all that's really needed to come up with good predator challenges for six characters? And, if five* of these have no new gadgets, won't their game-play be a little dumbed down, tedious and lack variety? Alternatively, if these characters do receive new gadgets or features, will the assumed short space of development time be enough to come up with interesting, fun and balanced predator challenges?



**Azrael is a reskinned Batman so I won't include him.

 

[The Infernal]

Does anyone else boot up the game once per update, play for 10 mins and switch it off not to be touched until next update?

 

[The Shape]

Does anyone else boot up the game once per update, play for 10 mins and switch it off not to be touched until next update?

Me.

 

[LEVITIKUZ]

Duo Play but that also is one that gets the most criticism bc it wasnt used enough. Seriously if they had less batmobile segments, and more duo-play, the response would be different. Its puzzling how they introduce two game changing features and spend so much time with one and the other comes across as an afterthought in terms of its implementation. It was only used what, once in the story and then in 2 sidequests. Again, it comes down to balance

This.

I honestly feel that this game is just disappointing as put. Like the more I think about it, the more disappointed I am.

I mean Dual Play wasn't announced until a few months before Knight released. I feel like that should have been a clue like why aren't they marketing the awesome looking Dual Play?

I feel like if there was a balance in the story between Dual Play and Batmobile and solo work. Like an equal 33% for each thing then the game would have been much better. You literally wouldn't complain at anything because you got enough of everything.

I don't feel like Batmobile itself is an issue. How much it's used and how often it's used is the issue with it.

It's really frustrating with me. I have hundreds of ideas on what should be done different but my biggest problem is I loved how Arkham Knight had Scarecrow as the villain and how he was used. How Scarecrow fooled Batman at times like the dual Scarecrows and Oracle's death. How Scarecrow used Gordon to get to Batman. How Scarecrow captured Robin while at the same time destroying the GCPD building. The beacon of hope in a city of chaos. I just really loved how he was used as the main villain. Even without fear gas, he had Gordon give in to do his bidding or Gordon's worst fear would happen. That would be an interesting Scarecrow story. Seeing him do things against certain people that would be their biggest fear like a loved one dying, a file from their company they don't want people to see, an affair they are hiding. Him bending people to do as he asks or their worst fears will happen. I just loved how Scarecrow was a far more sinister mutha****er in this game haha. It's like how he was described in Arkham Asylum. "I believe he is quite sane. Just evil." I know what I would change about Knight but I don't know how I could have it so that the Scarecrow stuff remains.

 

[jokesonm3]

Anyone know the ETA till the BvS skins are released?

 

[Galactus123]

This game so good. It has been some times since I last played. The photo mode is one of my favorite features in the game. I wish every game had that.

Here are some screenshots: