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Is the Batmobile the worst AAA gameplay mechanic in recent memory?

Alienous

Member
Two things:

1. TDKR has a tank, and that's one of the most influential Batman comics of all time. So it was probably an inspiration and it probably has roots (it was originally built as a riot suppressor, so it has more similarities to the game's version than you seem to think).

2. The entire point of Batman is that he's prepared for every single outcome, every eventuality. Ever read the story where he has to take down the Justice League? One of the first things he did when he joined was prepare a way to take them out if something required it.

The city is attacked by tanks. Batman will have something to use against them, that's the entire point of his character. He's a boyscout with a vengeance.

So yes, it fits the game and universe snugly.

It really doesn't. None of these things happened spontaneously. "The city being attacked by AI tanks" almost certainly came after the battle-mode. So, like I say, it's a contrivance.

My point is that the Batmobile operates separately from being a tank. It pretty much always has. In one instance, in DKR, it was a vehicle designed to suppress riots. In another instance, Batman Begins, it was an armoured vehicle with munitions intended to destroy barricades. In Batman: Arkham Knight it is a war machine.

I'm not saying you can't do it. It only feels slightly out of character for Batman to be driving a minigun equipped tank. My point is that you'd be more faithful to what the Batmobile is if you had a vehicle designed without it. So the tank-mobile happened for gameplay reasons, and ones that I think became tiresome after the first few instances and certainly shouldn't have taken the limelight from predator or even pursuit-mode sequences.
 

Krabboss

Member
There is a disgusting amount of "it's badass!" in this thread.

The Batmobile was a poor choice to be sure. Something needed to be done to add some variety to the game though, I guess. They probably should not have made this video game at all, but if they had to spice it up there was probably better ways to do it than add really awful car combat and platforming.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
So, like I say, it's a contrivance.

Well, you obviously haven't read many Batman comics if you think this is a contrivance...

You know, batman stories sometimes introduce new things. So regardless of the fact it does have a base in Batman's history, it's perfectly reasonable for them to introduce it here.

The clincher is the fact that Batman always has a way to deal with the situation. So maybe this world's batman simply has his Batmobile set up to always have the tank just in case he needs it. It fits the overall character of Batman perfectly, the fact he's always prepared and has so much amazing technology and so manyresources at his disposal leaves him open to this just fine.

There is a disgusting amount of "it's badass!" in this thread.

The Batmobile was a poor choice to be sure. Something needed to be done to add some variety to the game though, I guess. They probably should not have made this video game at all, but if they had to spice it up there was probably better ways to do it than add really awful car combat and platforming.

It's disgustingly badass.
 
I loved Asylum and City and the stupid batmibile is making me hate Knight. They add it into so many missions just cause they can, and those tank sessions....ugh.
 
Heck no it is awesome! I decided to park the Bat-tank in the middle of the road on Founders Island and go sit up on a building. A taxi came around the corner being chased by the police and the driver freaked and swerved into the nearby alley. I swooped down and did the vehicle takedown. One of the coolest moments I had in the game and really made me feel like Batman.
 

nortonff

Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
Worst than Ubi/Bioware fetch/unlock quests ?
Hell no.
 

Oppo

Member
yet another thread that proves:

if the title asks a Yes or No question with hyperbole, of course the answer is no. its just someone whos bad at driving the batmobile. ;)

i enjoyed it mostly, pursuit sections were great, tank stuff could get tediuous until you get the hack upgrade. there are lots and lots fr worse mechanics, just this year.
 

Alienous

Member
Well, you obviously haven't read many Batman comics if you think this is a contrivance...

You know, batman stories sometimes introduce new things. So regardless of the fact it does have a base in Batman's history, it's perfectly reasonable for them to introduce it here.

The clincher is the fact that Batman always has a way to deal with the situation. So maybe this world's batman simply has his Batmobile set up to always have the tank just in case he needs it. It fits the overall character of Batman perfectly, the fact he's always prepared and has so much amazing technology and so manyresources at his disposal leaves him open to this just fine.

You seem to think that the tanks came before the battle-mode.

In actual fact the tanks have a contrived, nonsensical reason for being there. Not only are they unmanned, making them easier for Batman to take down and more expensive, but
buying all of those drones costs an insubordinate amount of money, an amount in the billions, that the Arkham Knight really has no reason to have
. So it's more likely that "Let's make the Batmobile into a grenade launching, minigun equipped tank" came first.

These are stories written by writers. So when I say it's a contrivance I mean that there is no logical reasoning for the battle-mode in this story.It's there because of story elements twisted to make less sense so that it can be there. And I don't think its inclusion was worth doing that, as my experience was that it took away from the reliance the game would have to have on other gameplay mechanics, because designing a battle (or boss battle) on flat terrain, where the difficulty ramp is in more lines, would be easier and happens more and more frequently as the game progresses.
 
There is a disgusting amount of "it's badass!" in this thread.

The Batmobile was a poor choice to be sure. Something needed to be done to add some variety to the game though, I guess. They probably should not have made this video game at all, but if they had to spice it up there was probably better ways to do it than add really awful car combat and platforming.
The salty hyperbole. Delicious.

A lot of people like it. Deal with it.
 
Absolutely not, it's awesome for 75% of the time in Arkham Knight. The other 25% is tedious but nothing even remotely close to the worst AAA gameplay mechanic in recent memory.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
You seem to think that the tanks came before the battle-mode.

If you read my post, you'll see I reasoned why that doesn't really matter. This world's Batman could simply have decided to build his Batmobile that way, it perfectly fits with a man who has near infinite resources and a desire to always be prepared.

In actual fact the tanks have a contrived, nonsensical reason for being there. Not only are they unmanned, making them easier for Batman to take down and more expensive, but
buying all of those drones costs an insubordinate amount of money, an amount in the billions, that the Arkham Knight really has no reason to have
. So it's more likely that "Let's make the Batmobile into a grenade launching, minigun equipped tank" came first.

These are stories written by writers. So when I say it's a contrivance I mean that there is no logical reasoning for the battle-mode in this story.It's there because of story elements twisted to make less sense so that it can be there. And I don't think its inclusion was worth doing that, as my experience was that it took away from the reliance the game would have to have on other gameplay mechanics because designing a battle (or boss battle) on flat terrain, where the difficulty ramp is in more lines, would be easier.

This is a video game, the majority of stuff here is contrived to fit to the mechanics (perfectly placed groups of enemies for predator and combat sections, for example) because the Arkham Batman games are extremely videogamey. They're almost like celebration of the fact they're videogames with the city being a playpen built explicitly to exploit the mechanics.

So yes, in a way the tanks sections are contrived, but no more than every other gameplay event.

The salty hyperbole. Delicious.

A lot of people like it. Deal with it.

Exactly.
 

Krabboss

Member
It's disgustingly badass.
It's too simple to be badass. It's basically the definition of "push a button; something awesome has to happen." Nothing's awesome when it's so easy. It feels very AAA, very focus group tested, very carefully designed to ensure nothing mechanically intensive is required to execute it properly. The same can be said about the regular combat in the Batman games too, though.

The salty hyperbole. Delicious.

A lot of people like it. Deal with it.

Wait, what's hyperbolic about that sentence? There's a lot of people being apologetic for the car combat by saying it's badass. It's a statement of fact. You can disagree with me, but what I said isn't hyperbolic.
 

highrider

Banned
There is a disgusting amount of "it's badass!" in this thread.

The Batmobile was a poor choice to be sure. Something needed to be done to add some variety to the game though, I guess. They probably should not have made this video game at all, but if they had to spice it up there was probably better ways to do it than add really awful car combat and platforming.

Funny, if I'm designing something in a game that's exactly the response I want, particularly something like the batmobile.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
what I said isn't hyperbolic.

Yes it is because you called it "disgusting".

People saying it's badass aren't saying that without reason, it's incredibly badass to use, just as it's incredibly badass when you string a +100 combo consistently in game, or take out a predator section with extreme efficiency. They're not just saying it because "tanks are badass, yo!".
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
It's too simple to be badass. It's basically the definition of "push a button; something awesome has to happen." Nothing's awesome when it's so easy. It feels very AAA, very focus group tested, very carefully designed to ensure nothing mechanically intensive is required to execute it properly. The same can be said about the regular combat in the Batman games too, though.



Wait, what's hyperbolic about that sentence? There's a lot of people being apologetic for the car combat by saying it's badass. It's a statement of fact. You can disagree with me, but what I said isn't hyperbolic.

oh man, i love gaming forums sometimes
 
Personally, I don't like the batmobile being a heavy assault vehicle. Doesn't matter if it's bullets or missiles - it's not Batman's style. I would have preferred any combat sections involving the batmobile to focus on different ways of taking vehicles down. The game absolutely did not need the tank combat.

And it's silly to think that all Arkham Knight had to do was make those tanks manned and Batman would have had to come up with another solution. He should have the other solution anyway.

But to argue against the batmobile entirely would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I blast through the combat sections without giving them too much thought and focus on enjoying everything else the game has to offer.
 

Maggo007

Member
I think i saw the assasins creed revalations tower defense game mentioned twice here.
This has to be the worst one. I would intentionally lose a tower to not play this stupid minigame.
 

recursive

Member
The horse in Witcher 3 had some annoying moments.

I haven't played much of Batman so I can't really comment on that.

Although it wasnt required to complete thw game I would have to agree with the horse. That thing has a mind of its own.

Another annoying mechanic that became the game was that time slowing thing in Lightning Returns.
 

Rising_Hei

Member
I like all the individual elements of the Batmobile - it's fun to drive, it's neat in puzzles, and the tank combat works - but it's just used too much, the tank stuff especially. I wouldn't call it the worst addition, but it does feel overused.

I think the first few weeks of FFXIV's Hunt system are the worst addition to a big game I've experienced recently. Granted, not really an addition to a series so much as a patched-in new mechanic, but the early days of Hunts was a real lord of the flies situation.

These hunts will be a pain in the ass for ever since these new As and Ss die much much much faster than the old ones when everyone was 50

As for the batmobile, i only see it as a way to artificially increase the length of the game, fights takes a while...
 
There is a disgusting amount of "it's badass!" in this thread.

The Batmobile was a poor choice to be sure. Something needed to be done to add some variety to the game though, I guess. They probably should not have made this video game at all, but if they had to spice it up there was probably better ways to do it than add really awful car combat and platforming.

Ya....other people's opinions are disgusting...
 

Floody

Member
I liked it at first, but towards the end they just used it too much, and fighting the
big tanks, forgot the name
isn't fun at all.

A Boss Fight spoiler!!!!
The
Deathstroke
fight was even worse than the one in Origins, just awful and pretty much a repeat of a earlier boss fight.
 

Certinty

Member
The only thing I dislike about it is how the braking works. Its not responsive and makes the car harder to handle.
Yeah this is my biggest problem too.

Besides that though the rest is fantastic, even the tank battles.
 
Spoiler for people who have finished Batman: Arkham Knight

Why are people just casually dropping Deathstroke? Deathstroke has nothing to do with the freaking tanks. It's not difficult to put two-and-two together.
 
It's a sub-par addition to the series, for sure. Whereas hand-to-hand combat, stealth and traversal still feels great and seamless (and why shouldn't it? You're Batman), the Batmobile wasn't implemented with that same mindset. Even by the end of the game, it still felt like this was Batman's first night ever driving the thing. I never felt totally in control of my actions when controlling the Batmobile like I do with all other facets of the Arkham gameplay, and its very repetitive overuse in combat seems to be at the expense of more compelling gameplay scenarios.

It's not terrible or anything, it just feels forced into too much of the game, which wouldn't be a problem if it was as tight as the rest of the game. It's not.

But worst AAA gameplay mechanic in recent memory? I'm not sure. As an addition that ends up subtracting from the overall experience, it's pretty disappointing, but hardly game-crippling. It just means that I don't think Arkham Knight is as good as the other Arkham games, but it's still a good game nonetheless.
 
It's too simple to be badass. It's basically the definition of "push a button; something awesome has to happen." Nothing's awesome when it's so easy. It feels very AAA, very focus group tested, very carefully designed to ensure nothing mechanically intensive is required to execute it properly. The same can be said about the regular combat in the Batman games too, though.



Wait, what's hyperbolic about that sentence? There's a lot of people being apologetic for the car combat by saying it's badass. It's a statement of fact. You can disagree with me, but what I said isn't hyperbolic.

I agree with this. The batman games aren't exactly challenging or complex. They look cool I guess though.
 

Zakalwe

Banned
It's a sub-par addition to the series, for sure. Whereas hand-to-hand combat, stealth and traversal still feels great and seamless (and why shouldn't it? You're Batman), the Batmobile wasn't implemented with that same mindset. Even by the end of the game, it still felt like this was Batman's first night ever driving the thing. I never felt totally in control of my actions when controlling the Batmobile like I do with all other facets of the Arkham gameplay, and its very repetitive overuse in combat seems to be at the expense of more compelling gameplay scenarios.

I really don't get this at all....

It's seamlessly integrated and incredibly responsive to control, how does it feel like Batman's first time piloting it when he can tear around the city at top speeds and hit enemy targets with precision (if you're capable of pulling it off from a gameplay mechanic perspective, of course, but the potential is there just like predator and combat, so it's not the game's fault if you're not good at it).

I agree with this. The batman games aren't exactly challenging or complex. They look cool I guess though.

You get out what you put in. The hand combat, stealth, tank, driving, challenges... all easy to learn but tricky to master.
 
It's too simple to be badass. It's basically the definition of "push a button; something awesome has to happen." Nothing's awesome when it's so easy. It feels very AAA, very focus group tested, very carefully designed to ensure nothing mechanically intensive is required to execute it properly. The same can be said about the regular combat in the Batman games too, though.
You don't have a monopoly on what is "badass" to a person or not. The same person that thinks it's fun to use could say the complete opposite of you, that nothing's awesome when it's so complex. The batmobile has always looked fun, simple and a wrecking ball to use in the cartoons, films and any other media. It controls smoothly Arkham Knight, it destroys everything in its path as it should, and it makes everyone take notice when it shows up. Many people enjoy the batmobile. This isn't a point of factual contention, it's completely subjective. You don't think it is? Fine, all the power to you. Heck I don't even know why I'm arguing this.
Wait, what's hyperbolic about that sentence? There's a lot of people being apologetic for the car combat by saying it's badass. It's a statement of fact. You can disagree with me, but what I said isn't hyperbolic.
Calling other people's opinions about a video game mechanic "disgusting" is hyperbolic. It's not a statement of fact, there's nothing 'factual' about it. I can think my Toyota Celica is a badass car, there's no one to tell me I'm wrong.
 
It was neat, but they forced it's use too much.

Oh no I need to open this door or jump this gap, so I got to go through menus and switch to batmobile or whatever just to do something that really is nothing but a chore?

They also over did the combat, it made the game kinda feel like a shooter at times too much with dependence on tank mode segments.
 
Its not that the batmobile is bad, which, IMO, it is.

Its that the entire game is revolved around it now. Predator and combat seem secondary.
 
I finished this game on PC. Batmobile was very fun to control. It was perhaps the most responsive and agile vehicle I have played in a long while! Also, nobody forced you to complete vehicle side quests and travel by vehicle. Sure it was needed in many main quests, but it wasn't the main focus. I took all booster Wayne Techs and glided all over city.

Play the game like you want to play.
 

Spasm

Member
I am disliking everything Batmobile, but especially the Riddler challenges. Those are the worst things to make it into an AAA game in a long time.

Otherwise, I just grapnel launch and fly everywhere I need to go. Only summon the BM when I need to.
 
I really don't get this at all....

It's seamlessly integrated and incredibly responsive to control, how does it feel like Batman's first time piloting it when he can tear around the city at top speeds and hit enemy targets with precision (if you're capable of pulling it off from a gameplay mechanic perspective, of course, but the potential is there just like predator and combat, so it's not the game's fault if you're not good at it).



You get out what you put in. The hand combat, stealth, tank, driving, challenges... all easy to learn but tricky to master.
I don't think it's very seamlessly integrated. It feels forced in a lot of sections. It seems like in a lot of sections they just replaced what used to be batclaw sections with sections you need the Batmobile for for no other reason then they wanted to use it.

Also, it's super slippery. I mean, it's obviously designed to be that way, but I was still constantly plowing through buildings and pillars. It doesn't feel as tight as combat or flying. It's pretty obviously designed to be loose from the fact that the designers made pretty much all of the environments destructible. If it couldn't plow through most of the environment the Batmobile would be a nightmare to drive.
 
has anyone seen something like this happen before? In which a mechanic is introduced that ends up taking over a franchise that has a set gameplay system? Is there any mechanic worse than the one featured in Batmobile the video game?

The child system in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Social Links in Persona.

Not saying these are necessarily bad, just that they were introduced and immediately took over their respective series.
 
I am disliking everything Batmobile, but especially the Riddler challenges. Those are the worst things to make it into an AAA game in a long time.

Otherwise, I just grapnel launch and fly everywhere I need to go. Only summon the BM when I need to.

thats what i did, only to arrive at an area and batman say I NEED THE BATMOBILE.

I always liked batman cause things like the predator sections and the like give you so much options on how to attack a situation.

youre just forced to use the batmobile in so many sections
 

Zakalwe

Banned
Yeah, its not easy to control which is surprising considering how well they did the rest of the game.

It's very easy to control. Which parts are you having difficulty with exactly?

Making use of its full potential is key. Aside from basic driving stuff: Afterburner out of corners to "stick" to the road, the side dodge to help position in a pursuit, switching to batt and very quickly to reposition if required, first person mode for jumps and driving on walls and ceilings... It handles like a dream.

I don't think it's very seamlessly integrated. It feels forced in a lot of sections. It seems like in a lot of sections they just replaced what used to be batclaw sections with sections you need the Batmobile for for no other reason then they wanted to use it.

The way you transition into it when you call it, how the game initially introduces you to it, and how they integrated it into puzzles, all feel seamless to me.

Fair enough if you think it's overused in places, but integration not being seem less I can't understand.


Also, it's super slippery. I mean, it's obviously designed to be that way, but I was still constantly plowing through buildings and pillars. It doesn't feel as tight as combat or flying. It's pretty obviously designed to be loose from the fact that the designers made pretty much all of the environments destructible. If the tank couldn't plow through most of the environment the Batmobile would be a nightmare to drive.

It's not slippery at all, if you find it slippery you can learn to drive it better and it won't be. If it's possible for me to career around the city at top speed without bashing into stuff, it's possible for everyone.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
While I mostly enjoy the Batmobile, its definitely over used.

This is very obvious in over long tank battles and especially the Riddler courses.
 
Is the bat mobile the worst AAA gameplay mechanic in recent history? I cannot think of a single AAA franchise that has introduced a gameplay mechanic that essentially becomes the entire game.

It feels as if we are playing Batmobile the video game, featuring batman. The entire game is a fetch quest in which you go to X location, grab the bat mobile to either compete a race, wench something, jump over a gap, etc. I don't think i've ever seen anything like this before in gaming, in which a mechanic is introduced and instead of becoming a part of a video game, it becomes the game itself.

And the mechanic doesn't even work well, just type in "fuck the batmobile" in twitter and you will see tons of responses about how bad it is and people wishing that it wasn't in the game.

Not to go on a rant on this, I'm sure that a good chunk of those who have purchased the game understand the frustrations that come with the batmobile, but to go talk about other franchises, has anyone seen something like this happen before? In which a mechanic is introduced that ends up taking over a franchise that has a set gameplay system? Is there any mechanic worse than the one featured in Batmobile the video game?

Halo added a bunch of mechanics that skewed the gameplay to a point were it was a different beast fun: load outs, abilities etc - armour lock single handedly turned it into one of the slowest fps games imaginable

I quite like the batmobile - but I wish they got a better balance between batmobile and batman
 
It's very easy to control. Which parts are you having difficulty with exactly?

Making use of its full potential is key. Aside from basic driving stuff: Afterburner out of corners to "stick" to the road, the side dodge to help position in a pursuit, switching to batt and very quickly to reposition if required, first person mode for jumps and driving on walls and ceilings... It handles like a dream.

I dunno, im always woobling left and right smashing into everything. I found that letting go of the left thumbstick when going it straight lines helps a bit.

Game Options -> Battle Mode Toggle ON

It really makes easier to control.

Really? Jesus ill have to check that tonight. What does it do?
 
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