One of the games I’ve been looking forward to ever since it was announced was Batman: Arkham Knight. And now that it’s out and I’ve finally had a chance to play it, my feelings are kind of mixed.
I picked up the season pass pre-order version from the PlayStation Network. A decision I hope I won’t come to regret like I did when the season pass for Arkham Origins turned out to be a colossal disappointment.
Rocksteady, the developers responsible for Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, are now back in the world of Gotham after giving WB Montreal the chance to make Arkham Origins. And while this should be cause for celebration after how disappointing Origins was, this game still falls short of being truly excellent.
First off, what works. The game looks beautiful on the PS4. There are improvements to the combat and predator systems which make it a lot of fun. One of my favorite additions is the fear multi-takedown in predator scenarios when you can take out one enemy and then two others nearby (or more with upgrades). The system then has to be recharged with a silent takedown but it’s a cool new element. Regular combat is still mostly the same, but now with a combo bar that’s easier to pay attention to than with the previous games.
The Batmobile is a lot of fun. It can switch between pursuit mode and tank mode. In pursuit mode, you can speed through the streets of Gotham, use the afterburner to increase your speed, and you can also shoot Batman out of the cockpit into a glide. The Batmobile can also be summoned at the touch of a button whenever you’re outside and standing on or near a road. The Batmobile can also switch to tank mode, where you have access to guns and missiles as well as a winch that can be used to get past obstacles. If you get into a fight on the street near the Batmobile, you can also execute a Batmobile-assisted takedown where Batman uppercuts an opponent into the air and the Batmobile’s non-lethal guns finish him off.
The new Gotham is a treat to explore, although it doesn’t feel as big as was promised. The story takes place after Gotham has been evacuated due to the Scarecrow’s attack on the city, so it also suffers from a problem that’s plagued the series since Arkham City—this is a Gotham that doesn’t feel alive.
The story involves the Scarecrow with the help of the Arkham Knight trying to tear Gotham apart. The Arkham Knight is a villain who has a connection with Batman, is a very skilled fighter and strategist, and has a deadly militia backing him up. Batman also has help in the form of Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, and Oracle.
One of the aspects touted by Rocksteady was the dual-play mode where you could switch between Batman and his allies at the touch of a button. Unfortunately in practice, this isn’t as great as it seems. It only works in certain fights on missions. There’s no free-roam capability for these other characters, nor are there any challenge maps (more on that in a minute).
The story overall is actually pretty disappointing. The true identity of the Arkham Knight is so obvious from his very first appearance and Rocksteady apparently does everything as possible to beat you over the head with clues that by the time the big reveal comes, you’re left wondering how the World’s Greatest Detective could have been stumped by something that was so painfully obvious to you.
Now as for the Batmobile, as fun as it is, it quickly overstays its welcome. It’s fun at first to use the Batmobile, but Rocksteady was so in love with their creation that virtually the entire second half of the game is spent behind the wheel fighting off tanks. The worst aspect of the game is when you have to fight bosses in tanks. There are these Cobra tanks in certain fights that can only be destroyed from behind and when there’s several of them roaming around the streets, it’s almost impossible not to get spotted. But the worst is when you fight the Arkham Knight in his two tank battles. One dealing with a cloudburst tank, which requires you to sneak up on him (when he has a 360-degree rotating scanner), lock on to his weak spot (which takes forever), and then speed away and hide until you can attack again or be destroyed. Then once you’ve done that once, you have to do it three more times! It was a battle so frustrating it took me hours of trying to accomplish. The second time you fight the Arkham Knight in his excavator in the tunnels of Gotham is a little less frustrating, but still a pain in the ass.
But then to complete the side-quests, you have to battle another villain in a tank, surrounded by Cobras. I tried that once and then decided I didn’t need to get 100% completion.
By the time I reached the end of the game, I actively loathed every time I had to get into the Batmobile. Especially side-quests where it’s required, like the Riddler’s racetracks which are an exercise in aggravation. A better tagline for the game would probably have been, “Be The Batmobile.” Another side-quest requires you to track down Firefly and then chase after him in the Batmobile. Also becomes annoying by the third try.
But there are other side-quests that are a lot more fun. My personal favorite was dealing with Two-Face, whose gang is hitting as many banks as they can. When you first get into a bank where there’s a robbery in progress, it’s like a combination of a predator map and a combat challenge. The robbers all have guns and you have to sneak up on them, but because the alarm is so loud you don’t have to worry about making any noise. There are also a lot of traps you can trigger with your gadgets, which make these missions a lot of fun that’s over all too quickly.
There are some gadget upgrades, but overall nothing you haven’t seen before. Be sure to grab the freeze blast from the Panessa Movie Studios and the remote electrical charge from the evidence room at the GCPD the first chance you get, though.
One advantage of this game is Rocksteady decided to give you the ability to use skins right away in the main story. No need to wait for New Game+, you can use them immediately at any time. The problem is that so far, the skins available aren’t very great. The Batmobile skins in particular are very disappointing. Just a basic recoloring.
But the biggest disappointment with the game has been the extras. There are no challenge maps in this game. Instead, they’ve been replaced by AR training, which lets you replay some sections. Not even close to being the same thing. Especially since unlike Arkham City, where you could take on challenges as Nightwing, Robin, or Catwoman (or Arkham Origins where you could play challenges as Deathstroke), in these AR segments it’s only Batman unless you replay a combat challenge where you can switch between one of the other characters.
I’m hoping Rocksteady corrects some of these problems in the form of DLC and patches. And though the game is a lot of fun, it’s over far too quickly and the frustrating parts are so frustrating, they make you want to throw your controller at the TV.
Pick up Arkham Knight from Amazon.
