Batman: Arkam Knight marks the end of an era. An era of great Batman games thanks to the talented team of Rocksteady. The studio did things nobody expected in the past. By creating one of the best superhero franchises of gaming’s history, the studio was praised all around the world. In Arkham Knight they return to Arkham one last time and conclude the franchise with a bang. Discover why this is possibly the best Batman game ever created.
Gotham needs you
The game starts rather drastic with the cremation of the Joker. Now that Batman’s enemy is gone for good, peace returns to Gotham City but it didn’t last. Everybody was expecting to see an evil mastermind to take over Joker’s torch but nobody expected it to be Scarecrow. Using a very toxic poison, Scarecrow managed to take over Gotham in just one night. The people of Gotham abandoned to place to save their lives, leaving behind a small police force, a lot of enemies and Batman of course.
It’s up to you, Batman, to stop the evil plan of Scarecrow and take down the other remaining super villains while you’re trying to save Gotham once more. This is the biggest plot yet and everything about the game feels bigger. First of all the graphics are improved a lot, resulting in the best and biggest version of Gotham every created. The voice acting, visual effects and story are small pieces to create the best possible Batman atmosphere ever. It’s time to discover this new Gotham!
Gotham is open for exploration
As said before, this is without a doubt the biggest Gotham ever and the best thing about it; is that you’re free to go where you want to go. The city feels a little empty but since everybody evacuated, it makes sense. You won’t find a lot of people in the city but it offers a lot of iconic buildings like the GCPD-building instead. It’s fun to discover everything the city has to offer and you really can spend a lot of time in the big city without really ‘advancing’.
The best of the franchise
Rocksteady made sure the entire city is open from the start and there aren’t any invisible walls or gaps you can’t cross. Unlike other open world games, Gotham really is open for exploration. You can walk, cable grab and hover your way trough the city or you can use the Batmobile. Using the Batmobile allows you to go to places a lot faster and in tank mode it’s the perfect tool to take down local gangs. Those gangs are the only other humans you’ll face but they’re fun to take down thanks to the fast combat system that’s been worked out to perfection this time. Spending some time in the city is great but don’t forget to check out the story and side-missions.
A lot of missions to complete
The main story in Arkham Knight is without a doubt the best story so far. You need to take down Scarecrow but will face other villains such as Penguin, Harley Quinn and the mysterious Arkham Knight. This Arkham Knight makes his first appearance rather fast and from the start it’s clear that he’ll prove a challenge to defeat. Using Batman-like armor and skills he truly is a great opponent for our hero. Without spoiling who he actually is, it’s safe to say that his story is one of the more interesting ones the game has to offer.
Aside of the main quest there’re a lot of side-missions to complete. Worth mentioning are the Riddler missions where you have to hunt down this infamous enemy by solving his mysterious puzzles. Another interesting side-mission is the tracking of a mysterious killer who likes to hang the bodies of his victims in public places. Those side-missions (and other) along with the main quest will allow you to have fun with the game for more than 20 hours.
Same gameplay but improved with gadgets
Since you’re spending a lot of time in the game, it’s important that the actual gameplay is good. At first sight you’ll see that Arkham Knight plays the same as previous entries in the franchise but once you start playing, you’ll notice the difference. First of all, the combat is really tuned to perfection. Defeating multiple enemies by attacking, blocking and countering was never this easy. Combat feels very fluent and thanks to some new combo abilities it’s better and faster than ever.
Aside of the combat, the game still features a lot of stealth and detective work. The detective mode still highlights enemies and points of interest so that you’ll always know where to go or find the danger. Taking down enemies with stealth is more fun thanks to new gadgets. The Batarang and remote Batarang all got small tweaks to work even better. Also note that you can still use your environment in your favor to create new deadly traps. The biggest new innovation and gadget of Arkham Knight is the Batmobile however.
The Batmobile steals the show
The big new star of Arkham Knight is the Batmobile and it looks badass. The first moment you’ll see you new ride feature a lot of brutal slow-motion effect to really show how epic the ride actually is. It’s clearly inspired on the Batmobile found in the movies, meaning you’re driving a big war machine instead of a regular car. This is mainly thanks to the transformation to a tank in battle mode.
As a tank, the vehicle is more agile and dangerous as ever. You’ll need this extra firepower since the city is filled with tanks and turrets to take down. The agility is also needed when you need to carefully drive on rooftops. That’s right, the Batmobile is used to solve a lot of problems in the game, it can eve be summoned to take down a group of enemies if you like. Besides this cool feature, you’re car is also the perfect tool to launch you up high and reach higher grounds.
Although we’re really glad with the way this iconic vehicle got integrated in the game, we do feel like it’s overused. Too many problems can be solved using your Batmobile and the entire story leans a little too much on Batmobile action. It’s a shame that you’ll get the feeling you’ve seen it all at a certain point. Giving you access to the Batmobile a little less would make it even more kick-ass.
To make up for this, the car does have a kind of skill-tree which allows you to unlock new powers if you complete certain missions. These powers keep the variation going and may keep you’re interest a bit longer.
The future looks bright
As far as we could see, Arkham Knight is by far the best in the franchise and there’s more coming our way! The evidence room in the police station is filed with hints for other DC characters so we’re rather sure we’ll see some story DLC later on in the future. If you can’t get enough of the game it’s also worth checking out the gorgeous artwork you’ll find. We know this is the last game in the Arkham franchise but if you ask us, this story is far from over.
Conclusion
Batman: Arkham Knight offers everything you’ve hoped for and even more. Sure, the game leans a bit too much on the Batmobile but everything else is worked out to perfection. The story, combat and stealth all feel bigger and better than ever before. There isn’t really that much to say, this is the best game of the franchise and you all need to own or at least play to understand how it’s like to be the Batman!
9.5/10
NOTE: This game was tested on Xbox One. The PC version needs some patches and updates to deliver the same console experience.
