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Is the Batmobile the worst AAA gameplay mechanic in recent memory?
- Thread starter FirmBizBws
- Start date
As I said in my edit, I can burn around the city at too speed without bashing into stuff if I want to. I bash into stuff because it's incredibly fun and often helps with shortcuts and efficient racing lines.
If it's possible for one person to control it well it's possible for you.
Makes tank mode a toggle so you don't have to hold it.
Moves break and Vulcan gun to R2.
Should have been default, imo.
SocksAndShoes
Banned
This needs to be quoted at the beginning of every thread about the Batmobile.
It should also be noted that the toggle battle mode option doesn't appear until you complete the first Riddler challenge.
keltickennedy
Member
Wow. The ENTIRE game is a batmobile fetch quest.....funny how IGN gets called out for hyperbole all the time from GAF. Some people here are just as bad.
Which is really dumb. They should have had the game tell you the control options, maybe even Alfred saying "Master Bruce, make sure you check the revised control schemes that Lucius has added to the Batmobile's systems, you may find them more to your liking".
Not as funny as when people refer to Gaf like it's a single person.
ForsakenLotus
Member
Batman has a Hulkbuster-type mech suit he hid away for fighting the Justice League. I don't think a Batmobile/Tank hybrid equipped with nonlethal weaponry is THAT outrageous.
Precisely.
VincentMatts
Member
As I said in my edit, I can burn around the city at too speed without bashing into stuff if I want to. I bash into stuff because it's incredibly fun and often helps with shortcuts and efficient racing lines.
If it's possible for one person to control it well it's possible for you.
Makes tank mode a toggle so you don't have to hold it.
Moves break and Vulcan gun to R2.
Should have been default, imo.
Cool, ill check that out. Thx.
Yeah. I don't think it's bad - a bit annoying at times? Sure. But overall I like what they do with it. It just invokes that idea that with how critical it is for him - especially navigating the environment - how the heck did he ever do it before without it?
Still, I enjoy it, and parts when your just riding through the city are fantastic.
Didnt really have any trouble with the controls. Just need to set the battle mode toggle to ON. My issue is I just didnt really care for the segments. It was fine at first but then it felt like every other mission was shooting drones. I also avoided using the vehicle for travel whenever possible. Would have been nice if you had access to other weapons and could take the drones out on foot.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
It's pretty obviously intentionally slippery. Just because you can learn to control it doesn't mean it's not supposed to slide. I'm not saying it's hard to control, I'm saying it's intentionally loose. You just adjust to how loosely the car drives.
The transition in getting in and out is fine, but like I said, there are multiple parts where you have to use the Batmobile where other gadgets would have been used in other games and could have been used in this one.
SocksAndShoes
Banned
I agree completely. I kept seeing screenshots with the option available and I thought my game was bugged or something.
The option should really be there from the start instead of forcing you to play the first Riddler Batmobile challenge with the (IMO) annoying default control scheme.
Also I think I've been playing too much, I read the bolded in Alfred's voice and could picture him on the hologram projector screen, lol
I'm excited for the DLC. Batgirl has no reason to be driving a Batmobile (maybe a Batcycle), and the 'Season of Infamy' Batman DLC might not have the tankmobile.
That wouldn't be outrageous, no.
That's only part of what his Batmobile has in Arkham Knight, though.
A vulcan minigun is only 'non-lethal' in the most contrived of circumstances.
That wouldn't be outrageous, no.
That's only part of what his Batmobile has in Arkham Knight, though.
A vulcan minigun is only 'non-lethal' in the most contrived of circumstances.
SamuelSupreme
Banned
The Batmobile is a HUGE part of the Batman mythos. Im not surprised that since Rocksteady were only able to implement it in their last Batman game that it got such a huge chunk of screentime.
Besides I find it absolutely exhilarating.
Besides I find it absolutely exhilarating.
Barry Burton
Member
I don't really like the way that the weight of the Batmobile feels; it handles like one of the bulkier vehicles in a Rockstar game. I never got the responsiveness that I would want out of it, particularly when braking or reversing course. It felt particularly clumsy when using the Batmobile to traverse environments. Nothing in a Batman game should feel clumsy, but the Batmobile is the one real exception. The imprecision of it just never felt right to me. A lot of people seem to like it, and that's fine.
It's not about "getting good" at it. It's not hard; the tank combat in particular is dirt easy. It's just not compelling gameplay to me, which is why it's unfortunate that there's so much of it.
I did like the use of the Batmobile to remotely get Batman out of tough spots. I also liked it's use in some environmental puzzles using winches, some of those were really creative. That's the sorta stuff I would have liked to have seen more of. If I needed to count on the Batmobile for anything that required precision, I found it to be pretty unreliable.
MegaSackman
Member
ForsakenLotus
Member
There is precedent in both the comics and the movies for Batman using weapons that are conventionally used for killing. Hell, Batman has actually killed before.
I don't know why you are so hung up on the Bat-Tank.
NickatNite
Member
Driving around and the chase scenes are awesome.
But the tank battles are boring.
But the tank battles are boring.
I don't mean to be rude, but if you're finding it clumsy then it is about getting good. I don't find it clumsy at all, neither do others, so if it's possible for one person to drive it with precise control that potential exists for everyone.
The mechanic itself is sound.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
no, the animus is the worst shit ever (if it's considered a gameplay mechanic)
i actually liked the batmobile in the couple of hours i played batman
i actually liked the batmobile in the couple of hours i played batman
VincentMatts
Member
I think the problem i have with it now that i think about it is that i expect it to control like a Halo warthog, left thumb gas; right thumb controls. Damn this muscle memory.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
I don't know what you've been reading. But one of the biggest complaints about the Batmobile has been that it's felt loose.
Again, just because you adjust yourself to the way it drives, doesn't mean the way it drives is great. There are plenty of bad mechanics that people get good with.
I feel like the Batmobile takes away from what could've been a lot better moments in the game. Instead, it's just 'destroy a lot of tanks' or 'destroy all these Special Tanks.' It's kinda disheartening to see what could've been much more memorable moments in other Batman games simply because the Batmobile wasn't there.
The Batmobile may not be the worst thing, but it's a heavily-relied on crutch that overstays its welcome time and again.
The Batmobile may not be the worst thing, but it's a heavily-relied on crutch that overstays its welcome time and again.
You really have gotten to the core of the character, haven't you? Haha.
Batman has also been confined to a wheelchair, but that doesn't make crawling around with a broken spine compelling gameplay.
Look, my issue with the Bat-Tank is that I felt that it was a reductive element of the game. The combat itself wasn't all that interesting, and the increase in difficulty was pretty much "more lines". It takes precedence over things like the pursuit mode chases, which are really cool and dynamic and are a part of the Batmobile that doesn't require the Bat-Tank element.
As the game progressed it seemed more and more like a crutch to put before or after other parts of gameplay, or in lieu of on-foot boss battles, without much thought. "Sir, you just arrived, the drone forces are incoming". "Sir, before you leave, the drone forces are incoming". Not once did I think to myself "Fuck yes, another one of these sections", but I certainly did that with the Predator areas, the Dual-Play areas, the Pursuit chases and a good number of the Freeflow areas.
I don't think it's terrible. I just think Batman: Arkham Knight would have been better off without the Bat-Tank, and I hope the DLC doesn't have it.
captainraincoat
Banned
i understand the need to have a battlemode but after playing every driving game known to man that has it bound to the Left trigger....LT should of been brake by default dammit
Oh well....have completed it now
Oh well....have completed it now
I didn't need to adjust to the way it drives, I found it precise from the beginning as have many others as it's a well made mechanic.
If that potential exists for me it exists for everyone.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
That makes no sense. By your logic, since I and others don't find it very responsive and find it loose, then since it exists for us, it exists for everyone.
There have been just as many, if not more people who say the Batmobile isn't a great mechanic. If it weren't a frequent opinion, we wouldn't even have a thread asking if it's one of the worst mechanics in recent memory (I don't think it is, but a thread like this doesn't get made unless there are widespread complaints about the mechanic at hand). You can't just come in and tell all of those people that they're wrong because you like it and liked it from the start.
Of course, the potential to drive it badly exists for everyone.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
Again, just because there is potential to adjust myself to a mechanic and do well with it, it doesn't mean I have to think the mechanic is well done when I get to that point. I have no problem driving the Batmobile around the city, it's literally been the easiest part of the game for me, I just think the way I have to do it isn't particularly well done.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
The Batmobile sections make me feel like I'm playing a PS2-era game, which always included a randomly wonky portion of an otherwise great and polished experience.
There's parts that are great (pursuit mode, chasing down bad guys, and popping out to beat them up) but there should have been less of it.
There's parts that are great (pursuit mode, chasing down bad guys, and popping out to beat them up) but there should have been less of it.
Every new mechanic needs to be learnt, and every driving mechanic is slightly different. It didn't take any longer than usual for me to apply general driving game rules to the BM, I certainly didn't have to learn how to compensate for it handling poorly.
I'm not even particularly good at driving games...
The BM will spin out or drift slightly if you over do it with the afterburner or don't lock your drift in well - for example, but these are not faults with the mechanic itself.
SamuelSupreme
Banned
He's using Rubber Bullets......Honest
Barry Burton
Member
It's not, though. Zen_Arcade pretty much summed up my thoughts, so I won't rehash those points.
He doesn't use the vulcan mini-gun against people...
Yes, he is.
It is for me and many others, sorry you guys are having difficulty with it.
old manatee
Banned
The batmobile is a game ruiner for sure. It is so clumsy that it makes the original Arkham Asylum feel like a more seemless experience, despite not being an open world.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
Again, you're assuming I haven't learned how to drive it. I have, very quickly. My complaint isn't that it's hard to control, my complaint is that even when controlling it well, the Batmobile feels intentionally loose. I just think driving it isn't very fun. I'm not the only one who feels this way, and it's fine that you don't. But it's pretty condescending that anyone saying that the Batmobile doesn't feel particularly fun to drive is met with you saying that they just need to get better at the game. It's possible to be good at the game and still think the Batmobile is unfun and badly designed. No matter how much you want to claim otherwise. Me thinking the controls are loose doesn't mean I'm doing badly while driving.
I've done 96% of what there is to do in the game, including all of the driving and tank missions. Driving and tank missions are the easiest part of the game for me, they're also the most boring and uninteresting parts.
OriginalJonty
Member
It's not the worst but it is overused. Too many instances rely on the Batmobile to progress. Useful for hunting down Riddler's trophies though.
I didn't say he did. I'm saying that using one would have been lethal in pretty much any circumstance other than the very specific one Batman: Arkham Knight presents.
Look, I don't have a problem with contrivances, it's just that the game distorts logic for what I think is an inclusion that doesn't have much grounding in the Batman mythos.
Here's an example. Batman can 'hit' people with the Batmobile, and they will never die. That's contrived, but I understand the reason, because Batman killing people would go against the essence of the character. My point with the Tank-Mode that it isn't contrived to get to any core essence of Batman, but rather to suit the purposes of a specific type of gameplay, one that at no point of the game I was excited for (unlike pretty much all of the other types of gameplay).
I'd groan instead of smiling knowing that another Bat-Tank section was incoming, more and more in the latter parts of the game. But Predator, Dual-Play, Pursuit chases and most Freeflow sections would garner the opposite reaction. That's the reason for my dislike of the Bat-Tank.
Bat tank is fine. I'll totally agree that it DID get overused a bit.. But had they scaled it back by maybe 1/3, it would have IMHO been a completely positive addition to the game. As it is, it makes the game a little better, just was overused.
Talking only about the tank stuff.. If you mean the proper driving stuff, you are fucking crazy. Only a plus to the game.
I think a HUGE part of this comes down to it being a totally new mechanic in a game/series that people didn't want a totally new mechanic. Ever since AA, people really just wanted MORE AA. Every step Rocksteady has veered away from the 3D metroidvania that was AA, people have complained about. That is the batmobile in a nutshell.
Talking only about the tank stuff.. If you mean the proper driving stuff, you are fucking crazy. Only a plus to the game.
I think a HUGE part of this comes down to it being a totally new mechanic in a game/series that people didn't want a totally new mechanic. Ever since AA, people really just wanted MORE AA. Every step Rocksteady has veered away from the 3D metroidvania that was AA, people have complained about. That is the batmobile in a nutshell.
Barry Burton
Member
No problem, it's not really difficulty, it's more of a feel thing. I have the same issue with Grand Theft Auto games, something about the character movement just feels "off" in those games, and it's just something I have to deal with. I think everything else about the Arkham games feels incredibly tight, and I wish I got that same satisfaction from driving around in the Batmobile.
This has pretty much been my exact takeaway from the game. I'm pretty much down to only Riddler trophies at this point, and I wouldn't still be playing the game if I didn't largely enjoy it. I just wish I had gotten more fun out of the Batmobile than I did.