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

I wouldn't say the Batmobile is a bad mechanic as I quite enjoyed the sections with it, but I do think they misused it. They kinda over relied on the drone sections when they should have made more cinematic style chases. Think of the Jeep scene from Uncharted 4 where you are driving through streets away from an armoured truck. Now imagine that style chase in Gotham where you are in the Batmobile chasing a villain.

If you want an actual bad AAA gameplay mechanic look no further than the tower defence in AC Revelations:

ed4aee5ac00cded2da0d8ef5f2eb6f28-650-80.jpg
 

Alienous

Member
aK also lacked a lot of inside buildings parts that city had, and what made asylum what it was.

Because of the Batmobile. They can't split you from that gimmick for too long.

And all those DLC episodes are nothing but Indoors. And guess what they don't feature? The Batmobile.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Loved the puzzles, agreed the combat sections and races were over utilized.

Community was off base with its hate though, game would have felt too rote without it.
 

SomTervo

Member
Community was off base with its hate though, game would have felt too rote without it.

Exactly. In a parallel universe where they never included the Batmobile I bet you there are thousands of posts lamenting "this is the same shit as City and Origins, they fucked up".

I wouldn't say the Batmobile is a bad mechanic as I quite enjoyed the sections with it, but I do think they misused it. They kinda over relied on the drone sections when they should have made more cinematic style chases. Think of the Jeep scene from Uncharted 4 where you are driving through streets away from an armoured truck. Now imagine that style chase in Gotham where you are in the Batmobile chasing a villain.

Good point. The combat in the Batmobile was OK but the vehicle shone when you were actually using the city streets more. You're definitely right they should have added more chases.

Plus rare instances where you actually had to escape from something in the Batmobile (by fast driving/good control, not stealth) would have been really great.
 

Chuckie

Member
I enjoyed it. It was a nice alternative to gliding all over the city, chasing those other cars and shooting them was fun as hell. It did get used a bit too much, but in the end I'd say it was a fresh addition to the game.
 

Card Boy

Banned
I was given a free copy of this and i binged clocked it over 1.5 weeks and yeah i have to rant.

Batman: AK is a good game but it is the worst Arkham game in the series IMO. Never has a new mechanic being shoved in our faces so much as the Batmobile.

My peaves on the Batmobile

1) You are basically causing millions (billions?) of dollars of damage over the course of the game
2) Batman has no concern for safety for people of pretty much verges 100's of times on breaking his no killing rule
3) Poor boss fights as the Batmobile is used for most of them
4) No way as fast as getting around the city than grapple hooking
5) Most of the open world enemies are drones which was not exciting to me
6) Way too many puzzles/races involving the Batmobile, especially in the Riddler/Catwoman side quest-line

The Batmobile is a good addition but it used for way too much of the game, it should be used when you need it like another tool like the Remote Batarang NOT for most of the game.

My Batman Arkham ranking goes in release date surprisingly (AA>AC>AO>AK). Again not saying its a shit game, just the weakest one out of a amazing series. Just the Batmobile is a way overused mechanic.
 

Pilgrimzero

Member
Riddle me this, Batman! How do you turn a riddle into a racing timed obstacle course?

Answer: You don't because that's stupid.
 

JaseMath

Member
The Batmobile tunneling boss and the tank boss are two of the worst boss fights I've ever had to suffer through.
 
The driving itself was fun, in my opinion.

Tank combat was the part I found tedious. As far as being the worst, I don't know probably better examples from some game I didn't play. That damn tank combat hurt the game overall, could have been perfect without it.

Also, tank stealth was also stupid.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
If you want an actual bad AAA gameplay mechanic look no further than the tower defence in AC Revelations:

ed4aee5ac00cded2da0d8ef5f2eb6f28-650-80.jpg

While I agree that the tower defence missions are woefully out of place, at least they're not bothersome thanks to the almost complete lack of a challenge, plus, if memory serves, only the first one is mandatory.
 
I still haven't beaten AK. I never will. The Batmobile was a disaster of an idea, and locking Catwoman behind Riddler bullshit was more fuel on the fire.
 

Boss Mog

Member
Compared to other action games that had horrendous forced driving levels such as Enter The Matrix, Bayonetta and Resident evil 6, controlling the Batmobile feels godlike
even though it still mostly sucks.
 

bobawesome

Member
I actually liked the Batmobile and never felt like it overstayed its welcome. Even with its inclusion, I thought it was a way, way better game than City.
 

bunkitz

Member
Hell no. It was a great mechanic. It played well and was very fun to use, both for driving and battling. Its implementation was the problem, in my opinion. It felt to me like Rocksteady was too proud of it and wanted it nearly everywhere in the game. The result was us having to use it pretty much every 15 minutes or so. It made sense to have it and it flowed well into the puzzles and other gameplay elements, but it was just required a little too often.
 
Wow making waaaaay too big a deal over a solid feature like the bat mobile and not how horrible Roach is in the witcher.

Would it have been too hard to copy the horse behavior from Red Dead?

At least the bat mobile is fun to drive.
 

black_13

Banned
Damn people hated the Batmobile? I thought it was awesome and a great way for the series to differentiate itself from the previous games.

Hell I had been hoping to drive the Batmobile since it showed up in Arkham Asylum.
 

Jombie

Member
The gameplay is terrible - it feels like the Batmobile's wheels are coated with Crisco and feels like you're driving a matchbox car. The missions, combat and boss fights are insufferable and I was glad when it was over. Some of the stuff outside of the Batmobile is shit too; like having to use your detective skills to open fucking doors - because you're the Batman and can't knock down doors.
 

Malcolm9

Member
I liked it personally, though it was overused at times (ie tank combat). I preferred it to gliding around the city, which gets boring real quick.
 

gafneo

Banned
That Batmobile was a selling point for me. The tank parts are not so bad either. That is if you only upgrade it rather than your gear. My batsuit was already powerful so I just flew through the game without issues.
 

Devil

Member
I don't get how the batmobile seriously bothers people THAT much. Except for the the stealth boss at the end I think it was totally fine. The way you could call, enter and exit it so fluently was great. Steering felt good after some minutes, tank controls were very satisfying too. Tank battles could get really heated and the harder ones almost gave you the great feeling of accomplishment like in a bullethell shooter.

Yes, races being "riddles" is stupid, just as stupid as the Riddler himself in all the games. And still, those races were kinda fun.

I got the Platinum and don't regret. I think AK is better than City, close behind Asylum.
 
The gameplay was smooth as, there was just too much of it. Like nothing felt better than rocketing through lower Gotham, skidding into a bunch of goons then popping out the top to kick ass. So by that very feeling, it simply cannot be the worst.

Overused? Sure.
 

KingBroly

Banned
The hate for Arkham Knight and the Batmobile are so OTT. It's not that bad. The game is great.

It's pretty bad, especially because of how over-used it is. It replaces a lot of what made Arkham Asylum so good. It's just forced in there because of the shock value of simply having the Batmobile.

When you have Fox say 'it's one of a kind,' then it gets destroyed and you the player are happy it's gone (you're not supposed to, but are because it's gone) then brought down again when it's said that a spare was made. It's like WTF? It misses the mark so badly.
 
Definitely wish they never added the tank combat! I'm fine with it for getting from point A to B but once those tank combat starts. I want to just stop playing, I somehow manage to finish it. But I hope rocksteady learned from this and never make dumb vehicle combats in their next game.
 

PR_rambo

Banned
I hate the batmobile, it was so aggravating to use, that I consider AK the worst game in the series because of it. The dumb boss fights with it fucking suck, I can't believe Rocksteady wasted Deathstroke on that crap.
 
i really really enjoyed the batmobile sections until i got to the boss fights with it. Then it made me curse the sky

I imagine i would have quit the game if i didn't take the gaf advice of upgrading the Batmobile first
 
I will never replay Knight because of the Batmobile.

Yeah, me too. I recently upgraded to a 1070, and it sounds like the PC port is mostly fixed now, but every time I consider replaying it I just think about those tank fights and lose all motivation. I wouldn't even mind if it was just the Batmobile puzzles and the occasional car chase, because those were pretty fun, but I just have zero interest in ever blowing up another four dozen tanks again.
 

Retsudo

Member
I hated the fucking batmobile so much! I dropped the game at like 40% completion. Just redownloaded it this week to see if i can muster some good will and finally finish it.

Whoever decided to make it as big a part of the gameplay as it is should get their head checked.
 

rekameohs

Banned
If they would've just removed the tank mode and used the Batmobile solely as a means to move around the map in a pretty fun ride, I'd love it. But the overuse of the tank crap really sucked the life out of Arkham Knight.
 

AHA-Lambda

Member
Not even close!!

I'm not saying it's a great mechanic on the whole but it at least added some variety to familiar territory.

The hate it gets is so overblown, it's not that bad.
 
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