“…one of the most exciting games that you will have had the pleasure of experiencing in recent years.”
“This is how the Batman died”. If you are going to try and sell the end of a massive franchise in one line, this was an ingenious choice for the marketing team behind the finale of the Arkham series to choose to go with. Batman: Arkham Knight marks the end of the epic trilogy from Rocksteady Games, and everyone has been excited for it. From demos showing off Batmobile gameplay to trailers putting questions in the minds of fans from the moment the game was announced, there have been a lot of gamers watching this one for a very long time. And after the surprising end to Batman: Arkham City on top of all of this, who can blame them?! Well, like myself, many of you will now have been thrilled to get your hands on the game and spend a solid 24 hours (or more) of your life being The Batman one last time. For those who are still waiting to play or trying to decide, let me tell you what this epic finale truly has to offer!
I am going to start with a pretty clear analysis of the game, because my introduction there probably gave it away anyway. This game is awesome. Seriously, its really good, and that is even taking into account a questionable launch for the PC version which, in all honestly, was a tiny bit of an over-reaction from PC gamers… But that isn’t what we are here to debate – you want to hear more about Batman! The game follows directly on from the events which took place at the end of Batman: Arkham City. Fair warning, this is your official SPOILER ALERT. If you haven’t played that game and want to, DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ THIS REVIEW! Go and play it first and then come back. I am not going to give out any spoilers for Arkham Knight, but sadly to get into the details of this new game, it is impossible to keep quiet about the details of the last one. If that is all cool with you, then read on!
The opening of the game then is a clever one to say the least. The Joker lays on a table, motionless. There are no instructions or indications of the nature of what is going on or what you have to do. Then, after you wait to see if something happens and start pushing buttons, you realise that you are controlling the cremation of the former antagonist. As if the death of the Crime Prince of Gotham hadn’t come as enough of a shock to you before, you are now forced to burn his body in order to begin the game! Dark, nostalgic, clever and shiver-provoking, this is quite a scenario to start on! And realistically, that part of the game is a 30 second gimmick – the real excitement is still very much left to come! But if I had to review the best opening to a series finale in a game series, this would be way up the list.
Then you get onto the serious stuff. In short, the scenario is as follows. The Scarecrow, aggravated by his defeats at your hands in the past, seeks to invoke his newly refined fear toxin upon the people of Gotham, as part of a grand scheme to show them their once awe-inspiring hero fail before their tainted eyes. You foil his initial plans early on in the game, but in doing so must expose yourself to the toxin instead. And that is when you start to see The Joker. Infected with his assimilating blood, he is already in your head, but Scarecrow’s toxin slowly wears down your willpower to supress him. He torments you throughout the game, attempting to take over your mind completely and return to his insane crusade over Gotham through your body. As if all of this isn’t enough for the Caped Crusader to deal with, there is also an unknown, well-trained and vengeful character named The Arkham Knight attempting to terrorise Batman, as well as several other notorious foes causing chaos throughout the city. Fortunately, Batman has a little help on-side too, and lots of fancy new toys as well!
Obviously, the big selling points of this game were sold from the start as an open-world Gotham (which is almost true but we will come back to that point) and of course a fully-useable Batmobile for the first time! If you weren’t excited by the idea of this, then you need to go and take a good long look in the mirror. And the first time you call on your automobile-turned-high-tech-tank it is just as awesome as you were expecting! The excitement factor of the Batmobile is high for a good couple of hours, but after this the novelty begins to wear off as you realise the amount of time you are going to be FORCED to spend in it. The previous Batman games have succeeded with you purely navigating around as the Dark Knight himself, without any need for his fancy pant car. Whilst this is something we all wanted however, we wanted the choice to use it, not to be made to do so in numerous missions and at other times find that we are in fact not allowed because bridges are closed! And that’s the problem with the open world claim right there too. For large portions of the game, you can’t genuinely navigate freely around Gotham, and throughout the whole game there are some areas which you are not allowed to go to. Its probably more realistic to say it is a large world than an open one, if we are being fully honest.
On the up side of things, playing as Batman himself is as awesome as ever, if not more so! A new suit, some new and more flowing moves, and some fancy new combos make combat exciting and exhilarating. The use of many of his gadgets from the offset make getting around and planning your attacks easy and very open, and the new gadgets which come into play as you go along only expand upon this. The dual-play combat with Batman’s allies is also extremely well done in this game, allowing you to seamlessly fight as the two characters and promote all of their unique abilities to win these battles. The skill tree system has also seen an upgrade, with a multitude of different options which allow you to shape play to your strengths and promote the skills you need and want, when you want to. New Game Plus also allows you to see what it might have been like to have all of this at the ready when this new story began, and allows you to up the ante of Arkham Knight on your second go round. The Batmobile also has its own skill tree and upgrades which you will quite throughout the game, making a combination of Batman and the Batmobile a formidable protagonist in this story. All of this together makes this one of the most exciting games that you will have had the pleasure of experiencing in recent years.
The story of the game itself progresses at pace, keeping the action going constantly and throwing out some massive twists along the way to catch you out and keep you on your toes. The side missions of the game are all linked to the mainstream action too, and don’t simply take you away from the overarching situation which Batman should be focussed on. Everything has a purpose and importance to the plot, and interactions with different characters play out differently depending on which stage of the story you are at when you meet them, which is an incredibly clever feature. In terms of answering questions and closing the book, the game does very well indeed, and the importance of completing the side missions is given greater purpose than just filler when you reach the end of the game. Perhaps most commendably, this is a game that will actually keep you wanting to play past its conclusion, and rewards you with different scenarios once again if you do so.
Of course, I couldn’t close this one out without making mention of the look of the game. It is dark and almost gothic in style; exactly as you would expect Gotham to look. Everything is drawn with great attention and detail though, and the weather conditions which you will encounter, in particular the rain, look absolutely stunning on top of the expansive cityscape which is now our playground. The design of characters too is impeccable. The new Batsuit looks awesome, as do the additional DLC options (Flashpoint is my personal favourite). Every villain looks exactly as you would expect them too, and even the grunts look as though some thought has gone into their design. The Batmobile of course is amazing as well, and a certain version of it which you see late in the game looks particularly cool (no spoilers here!). What really makes the world complete however is of course its audio. From the sounds of the city to the sounds of the Batmobile to the sounds of your various gadgets, it is all pretty perfect, but none of it tops the top quality voice acting of this game. Every character sounds spot on, and of course Mr Hamill gets a well-earned special mention for his ever-amazing rendition of The Joker. Arkham Knight looks and sounds perfect and compliments the gameplay through this amazingly.
Without throwing out any spoilers then, that is really all I can say, but in reading that I am sure that you can now tell just how good this game really is. It has a couple of hitches in its forced Batmobile gameplay and not-so-open world, but otherwise there is very, very little to grumble about. After these points you are left with a game which is a great experience to play, from its mechanics to its story to the way that it looks, sounds and feels. Every time one of these games was released it boasted that you could “Be The Batman”, but it had never been truer than this. It is a shame to see the series end, but if it had to, then I am glad that it ended like this.
The Good:
- Honed gameplay shows that the previous games’ working mechanics have been recognised and improved upon by the developers.
- In depth skill trees for both Batman and the Batmobile allow you to focus on your strongest abilities.
- Fighting both solo as Batman and alongside allies is remarkably well constructed.
- A very strong storyline carried the finale of this series to a commendable and fulfilling close, with numerous twists along the way.
- Side missions are given purpose and related to the main storyline, with interactions with characters progressing alongside the plot.
- The game looks, sounds and feels amazing to play – you really can “Be The Batman”.
The Bad:
- Forced playtime in the Batmobile is excessive and quickly causes the novelty of the vehicle to wear off.
- Gotham is not a genuinely open world, with some areas inaccessible either for periods of the game or exclusively, with Batman gliding away if you try to reach them.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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