Batman: Arkham Knight Reviews
An entertaining superhero power fantasy, let down by awful Batmobile combat, a laughable villain, and serious performance issues.
Batman: Arkham Knight is a fitting end to Rocksteady Studios' trilogy with a mature story and gorgeous visuals, but one flaw holds it back from being perfect
Batman: Arkham Knight is an impressive game on almost every level, with non-stop variety and great action.
The gameplay is good, and very often great, but we knew that already. It's a known quantity. As a Batman story, this is something else. It dares to tackle not just the surface details of the character, but explores his psyche. It portrays him as, frankly, kind of a dick and also as a man of unflinching honour. The Batman of Arkham Knight is a complex, contradictory figure, a hero with real depth and dimension, and we get to wear the iconic cowl for one last mind-boggling night of mayhem. Miss out on that? You must be joking.
Less consistent than the previous games, and the Batmobile is a surprisingly unwelcome addition, but even as the worst of the Arkham titles this is still a superior superhero adventure.
An ambitious and successful end to Rocksteady's trilogy, with a standard-setting open world you must experience. A superior main story and less Batmobile combat would've made a huge difference.
Outside of a couple of irritations, this is one of the most enjoyable Batman stories I've experienced
Arkham Knight is another slick and enjoyable Batman adventure, though what it brings to the series' table is not always for the best.
Arkham Knight is Batman perfected
Arkham Knight almost certainly won't be the last great Batman video game, nor must it be. But after watching Bruce Wayne and his clown-faced nemesis wink out of existence one last time, I feel I've seen what I came to see. I can crinkle up my ticket stub and shrug into my winter coat, exiting the theater without a look back for whatever secrets or teases may await after the credits. It's over. This was the story of Batman, and it was good.
Rocksteady's gorgeous-looking third Arkham game refines its open-world format a bit and lets you drive a whole hell of a lot of Batmobile.
A great Batman story that keeps everything that has made this series great, while adding something less great.
Rocksteady brings the story of its version of Batman to a satisfying conclusion. There's some moments of tedium to be found, but if you want to be the Batman, this is one of the best experiences available.
Arkham Knight is a solid, if uneven send-off for Rocksteady's trilogy. Combat and predation are still satisfying. The narrative mixes unsurprising, but well done segments with unsurprising and uninteresting elements. It's full of nods, winks, nudges for batfans, even if certain super villain side missions feel needlessly tossed in. It makes me worried about what will happen with Batman in a new developer's less comfortable hands, and excited for what Rocksteady might do, itself free of the Batman myth.
Unfortunately, Arkham Knight doesn't deliver the Batmobile in small doses, and it turns out to be the most intrusive part of the experience. At least the rest of the game makes up for the Batmobile and the occasional narrative misstep.
Rocksteady has achieved it again and signs an unforgettable story and reinvents its own style of play with the perfect integration of the Batmobile in the development. And, as if that were not enough, all adorned with heart attack graphics.
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We can't tell you if Arkham Knight is indeed the end of this Batman's career, but if it is the last time Rocksteady works on the franchise, they've ended their era with a bang. Arkham Knight tells a mature story that cares about its characters. The missions are a little over-committed to showing how much the Batmobile can do, but it also feels like the car completes Rocksteady's vision of a living, breathing Gotham City; a war zone with lots of problems to solve and lots of fun ways to solve them.
Batman: Arkham Knight isn't the crown jewel in the Arkham series, that remains in Asylum's honour, but it is still a good game in its own right.
For my part, I'm glad to have played it and had quite a fun time doing so, though I think I would be happier if I'd purchased at a discounted rate. I give the game a Hold on my Buy/Sell/Hold rating scale. Even though I do believe the strong story and slick graphics make up for many of the game's problems, the disappointing Batmobile is very nearly a deal-breaker. Certainly it means I will likely not be playing the game a second time.
However, every positive–the twisting storyline, the iconic villains, and the superb combat–are undermined by other factors. Mediocre acting, rough dialogue, and overuse of the Batmobile, leave Batman: Arkham Knight that much less cohesive than its predecessors.