tryagainlater
Member
I recently bought Arkham Knight for pretty cheap during the PSN sale. I had been waiting for a sale even though the previous 2 games were some of my favourites of last gen. There was a lot of negativity surrounding this game and I was distracted by The Witcher 3 when it came out that I kind of forgot about it. So my verdict:
This game is amazing. It's not flawless by any stretch but I was expecting very little after all the negativity. Looking back on some reviews, I think I remembered the reaction to the game being worse than it was. Other that some overuse of the Batmobile, people were pretty positive about it. Except, of course, for the PC version. I'm a console gamer so it doesn't really affect me but I think the bad PC port clouded the reaction to the game which is perfectly fair. A bad PC port these days is inexcusable but I waited on this game because I thought the game underneath the shitty PC version was apparently not all that great.
First off, I'll address the Batmobile since it's the main thing people bring up about this game. Overall, I actually like it. Way more than I expected. In terms of getting around Gotham, I really liked using it and the controls and feel were pretty good. I know you can glide which is also great but sometimes it was just nice to go for a drive. I liked the platforming and puzzle sections with it in the main story. It was a neat way to freshen up the Arkham gameplay experience from its predecessors. It makes you feel like a real badass. I initially didn't like these parts but once I got used to using it remotely instead of running back to the car to jump back in which was tedious, it became fun. The fighting sections with the tank aren't so great. They're ok and can even be quite fun once you get in a rhythm but I don't think the game would be worse off without it. The poor use of the Batmobile comes with the stealth sections when you have to get up behind the Cobra tanks. That is just boring. I don't know why the felt the need to include those.
Hand to hand combat is still great. A number of games have copied Batman's combat since Asylum but Knight showed me that Batman is still the best execution of this style. Not a huge surprise there. They added a few new additions to the predator sections which are nice but ultimately, I feel they needed to do more with the stealth. I'll get into this stuff more with my RTTPs but I don't think the predator stuff has aged all that well so I think it needed more of an overhaul. It's certainly still fun and I don't consider those sections a chore but if Rocksteady were to make another one of these games which they probably won't, they really need to change it up.
The story is...fine. I already knew who the Arkham Knight was and it wouldn't have been a shocking reveal if I didn't. Instead of making a big deal about "Who is the Arkham Knight" as some crazy twist, they should have revealed it earlier and dive in deeper to their relationship. He kinda just disappears after his reveal and they do basically nothing with it. It doesn't help that his voice acting isn't great either. Scarecrow was a decent villain and he had a few good scenes. It's hard to get away from the Joker but it was ok. The side stories were fun and I loved seeing the various villains fill up the prison throughout the game. Fire guy and his missions were lame and I preferred Zsaz to that pig guy but I still generally missed some of villains from the previous games that didn't make an appearance like Croc and Deadshot. Maybe they were in DLC, I haven't bought any of it.Also, Slade Wilson was lame as hell in this game. His boss fight was just the Arkham Knight tank fight again. It did a decent job of ending a trilogy and Batman had some nice moments with his allies. He feels like a Batman that has seen a lot of shit. The ending after you complete the game 100% is a bit sudden and felt unnecessary but it was better than Nolan's ending. There was probably too many Riddler trophies for how big the world was and the pixel hunting riddles were only good in Asylum but the Riddler voice actor is so good at making him such a dipshit loser that you just want to put him in place.
Overall, a fantastic game that I probably could have gotten sooner. I think Rocksteady are an incredibly talented studio and I can't wait to see what they're working on next. I haven't been playing the billions of games coming out recently because I'm cheap so I decided to replay the previous 2 games again to 100% on hard difficulty because why not?
Arkham Asylum
This is still a hell of game. Even with the combat system being gradually improved over the years, its still fun as hell here. As I mentioned above, I don't think the predator sections have aged all that well. When I played City back when it came out and while I was playing Knight, I thought Asylum had the best predator sections due to the tighter and more focused design of the levels but really, this stuff just isn't that good anymore. It's not terrible but I remember really loving it when the game came out and now it just feels really plain.
There is something to be said about the tighter focus of the Asylum. I know a lot of people prefer this one because of it. I do really like the feel of Batman hunting down villains in a city that it's two sequels offered but Asylum's "metroidvania" aspects do make exploring the map satisfying. It was also the only time hunting down those Riddler trophies didn't feel tedious. The story is fun and they weave in the villains well. I didn't really like how easy it is to just keep the detective mode on which they toned down in the sequels but it's not a massive issue.
The Scarecrow sections stand out the most here. Well, the parts where he's fucking with you. The lame bossfights where you're hiding from a giant Scarecrow are lame. For such a good cast of villains, there is a large amount of disappointing boss fights in this series. Also, what's up with the Scarecrow's voice acting in this? The change in Arkham Knight is better even if it's a bit generic scary sounding.
Arkham City
I always thought this was a big step up from Asylum but after replaying it, I'm not so sure. I still really enjoyed it but I think the world comes off a bit blander after Knight and the weird horseshoe design is a bit off putting. There's also way too many Riddler trophies to hunt down...even if I've done them all like 3 times at this point. There are certainly improvements in the combat and the gliding does work really well. I remember being pretty skeptical of that before release.
The plot doesn't work as well as it did in Asylum but this is probably my favourite cast of villains in the series. Joker, Strange, Ras, Freeze, Penguin, Two Face, Clayface (I know he wasn't used much but I liked the twist) and Catwoman (well, not really a villain). I know a lot of these were in Knight as well but I enoyed how they were used here more. I liked the villains in the side stuff too even if they were returning from Asylum like Bane and Zsaz. Deadshot was cool too. Hush and Azrael were a bit of a cock tease that ultimately weren't used that much in Knight but I liked their additions.
Speaking of Freeze, that is a hell of a boss battle. I thought I was going to end up thinking I had remembered it more fondly than it probably deserved but no, that is still awesome. Fantastic use of the mechanics. It's weird that I don't think the predator gameplay holds up but limiting what you're able to do with it actually makes it work better. Surprised they didn't do something like this again in Knight. I wouldn't have even minding a straight copy and paste. City definitely has the best bossfights in the series for that one alone. Solomon Grundy was alright even if it was another hulking mass bossfight which the series has plenty of. Clayface was....yea, that one wasn't great.
It may be an unpopular opinion but I kinda missed the Batmobile when I was flying around.
TL;DR: Arkham Knight is a fantastic game that I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did after hearing all the negativity around it. Overall, it's an amazing trilogy that having replayed it, I'm surprised that I'm not really able to rank them as they are all pretty close in quality in my opinion. I can't wait to see what Rocksteady are working on now.
I'm still in a Batman mood after all that so I have a few questions for any experts out there:
1) Is the Arkham Knight DLC any good? I probably won't get it but I'm wondering if there's even one of the million bits of add-ons I should keep an eye on for sales.
2) Is Arkham Origins worth getting? It's pretty cheap now. Without Rocksteady, is it a bit of a dud?
3) How is the tv show Gotham? I would love a deep dive into the villains and their backgrounds. I've watched a few episodes and so far, it seems like a pretty standard procedural that's interrupted by the incredibly boring adventures of Will Smith's wife. Some of the Penguin stuff is good though.
4) Any graphic novels you would recommend? I'd find it difficult to go tracking down individual issues of stuff but I'd like to read a self-contained Batman graphic novel. Something that has a bunch of villains interweaving into the story like the game series.
This game is amazing. It's not flawless by any stretch but I was expecting very little after all the negativity. Looking back on some reviews, I think I remembered the reaction to the game being worse than it was. Other that some overuse of the Batmobile, people were pretty positive about it. Except, of course, for the PC version. I'm a console gamer so it doesn't really affect me but I think the bad PC port clouded the reaction to the game which is perfectly fair. A bad PC port these days is inexcusable but I waited on this game because I thought the game underneath the shitty PC version was apparently not all that great.
First off, I'll address the Batmobile since it's the main thing people bring up about this game. Overall, I actually like it. Way more than I expected. In terms of getting around Gotham, I really liked using it and the controls and feel were pretty good. I know you can glide which is also great but sometimes it was just nice to go for a drive. I liked the platforming and puzzle sections with it in the main story. It was a neat way to freshen up the Arkham gameplay experience from its predecessors. It makes you feel like a real badass. I initially didn't like these parts but once I got used to using it remotely instead of running back to the car to jump back in which was tedious, it became fun. The fighting sections with the tank aren't so great. They're ok and can even be quite fun once you get in a rhythm but I don't think the game would be worse off without it. The poor use of the Batmobile comes with the stealth sections when you have to get up behind the Cobra tanks. That is just boring. I don't know why the felt the need to include those.
Hand to hand combat is still great. A number of games have copied Batman's combat since Asylum but Knight showed me that Batman is still the best execution of this style. Not a huge surprise there. They added a few new additions to the predator sections which are nice but ultimately, I feel they needed to do more with the stealth. I'll get into this stuff more with my RTTPs but I don't think the predator stuff has aged all that well so I think it needed more of an overhaul. It's certainly still fun and I don't consider those sections a chore but if Rocksteady were to make another one of these games which they probably won't, they really need to change it up.
The story is...fine. I already knew who the Arkham Knight was and it wouldn't have been a shocking reveal if I didn't. Instead of making a big deal about "Who is the Arkham Knight" as some crazy twist, they should have revealed it earlier and dive in deeper to their relationship. He kinda just disappears after his reveal and they do basically nothing with it. It doesn't help that his voice acting isn't great either. Scarecrow was a decent villain and he had a few good scenes. It's hard to get away from the Joker but it was ok. The side stories were fun and I loved seeing the various villains fill up the prison throughout the game. Fire guy and his missions were lame and I preferred Zsaz to that pig guy but I still generally missed some of villains from the previous games that didn't make an appearance like Croc and Deadshot. Maybe they were in DLC, I haven't bought any of it.Also, Slade Wilson was lame as hell in this game. His boss fight was just the Arkham Knight tank fight again. It did a decent job of ending a trilogy and Batman had some nice moments with his allies. He feels like a Batman that has seen a lot of shit. The ending after you complete the game 100% is a bit sudden and felt unnecessary but it was better than Nolan's ending. There was probably too many Riddler trophies for how big the world was and the pixel hunting riddles were only good in Asylum but the Riddler voice actor is so good at making him such a dipshit loser that you just want to put him in place.
Overall, a fantastic game that I probably could have gotten sooner. I think Rocksteady are an incredibly talented studio and I can't wait to see what they're working on next. I haven't been playing the billions of games coming out recently because I'm cheap so I decided to replay the previous 2 games again to 100% on hard difficulty because why not?
Arkham Asylum
This is still a hell of game. Even with the combat system being gradually improved over the years, its still fun as hell here. As I mentioned above, I don't think the predator sections have aged all that well. When I played City back when it came out and while I was playing Knight, I thought Asylum had the best predator sections due to the tighter and more focused design of the levels but really, this stuff just isn't that good anymore. It's not terrible but I remember really loving it when the game came out and now it just feels really plain.
There is something to be said about the tighter focus of the Asylum. I know a lot of people prefer this one because of it. I do really like the feel of Batman hunting down villains in a city that it's two sequels offered but Asylum's "metroidvania" aspects do make exploring the map satisfying. It was also the only time hunting down those Riddler trophies didn't feel tedious. The story is fun and they weave in the villains well. I didn't really like how easy it is to just keep the detective mode on which they toned down in the sequels but it's not a massive issue.
The Scarecrow sections stand out the most here. Well, the parts where he's fucking with you. The lame bossfights where you're hiding from a giant Scarecrow are lame. For such a good cast of villains, there is a large amount of disappointing boss fights in this series. Also, what's up with the Scarecrow's voice acting in this? The change in Arkham Knight is better even if it's a bit generic scary sounding.
Arkham City
I always thought this was a big step up from Asylum but after replaying it, I'm not so sure. I still really enjoyed it but I think the world comes off a bit blander after Knight and the weird horseshoe design is a bit off putting. There's also way too many Riddler trophies to hunt down...even if I've done them all like 3 times at this point. There are certainly improvements in the combat and the gliding does work really well. I remember being pretty skeptical of that before release.
The plot doesn't work as well as it did in Asylum but this is probably my favourite cast of villains in the series. Joker, Strange, Ras, Freeze, Penguin, Two Face, Clayface (I know he wasn't used much but I liked the twist) and Catwoman (well, not really a villain). I know a lot of these were in Knight as well but I enoyed how they were used here more. I liked the villains in the side stuff too even if they were returning from Asylum like Bane and Zsaz. Deadshot was cool too. Hush and Azrael were a bit of a cock tease that ultimately weren't used that much in Knight but I liked their additions.
Speaking of Freeze, that is a hell of a boss battle. I thought I was going to end up thinking I had remembered it more fondly than it probably deserved but no, that is still awesome. Fantastic use of the mechanics. It's weird that I don't think the predator gameplay holds up but limiting what you're able to do with it actually makes it work better. Surprised they didn't do something like this again in Knight. I wouldn't have even minding a straight copy and paste. City definitely has the best bossfights in the series for that one alone. Solomon Grundy was alright even if it was another hulking mass bossfight which the series has plenty of. Clayface was....yea, that one wasn't great.
It may be an unpopular opinion but I kinda missed the Batmobile when I was flying around.
TL;DR: Arkham Knight is a fantastic game that I wasn't expecting to like as much as I did after hearing all the negativity around it. Overall, it's an amazing trilogy that having replayed it, I'm surprised that I'm not really able to rank them as they are all pretty close in quality in my opinion. I can't wait to see what Rocksteady are working on now.
I'm still in a Batman mood after all that so I have a few questions for any experts out there:
1) Is the Arkham Knight DLC any good? I probably won't get it but I'm wondering if there's even one of the million bits of add-ons I should keep an eye on for sales.
2) Is Arkham Origins worth getting? It's pretty cheap now. Without Rocksteady, is it a bit of a dud?
3) How is the tv show Gotham? I would love a deep dive into the villains and their backgrounds. I've watched a few episodes and so far, it seems like a pretty standard procedural that's interrupted by the incredibly boring adventures of Will Smith's wife. Some of the Penguin stuff is good though.
4) Any graphic novels you would recommend? I'd find it difficult to go tracking down individual issues of stuff but I'd like to read a self-contained Batman graphic novel. Something that has a bunch of villains interweaving into the story like the game series.