Batman: Arkham Knight Reviews
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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While changing a lot because of the Batmobile, Batman: Arkham Knight is the worthy conclusion of the Rocksteady trilogy.
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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.
As an open-world game,"Arkham Knight," on consoles at least, makes fabulous use of the Unreal 3 graphics engine, rendering Gotham in romantically grungy detail. This is the first Batman game that I've played that feels adequate to the comic book's legacy.
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.
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.
Developer Rocksteady reinvigorates its Arkham series formula with fresh gameplay features and an expansive open world in Batman: Arkham Knight.
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.
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.
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.
The thing to remember is that this will be Rocksteady Studios' last entry into the Batman Arkham universe, so if you have been playing the previous entries in the series, and enjoyed them, this is going to be a no-brainer, just go get it. Not only is this a testament to how far we have come as a medium in our ability to develop stories on existing IPs, it is one that shows that games are also able to deliver stories in a cinematic and logical way, without having to force a players hand to push the narrative in a straight line.
The frankly embarrassing state of the PC version pushes things over the edge, however, turning a passable action game into something that really should be avoided for the foreseeable future. While it's still playable, and even enjoyable in a fair few instances, its baseline problems combined with the PC's unique setbacks make Arkham Knight fit for the price drop list.
It leans a little too heavily on the (admittedly awesome) Batmobile, but Rocksteady's final Arkham game is one for the books
Rocksteady Studios leaves Batman behind at the top of their game in terms of visual presentation, gameplay, and storytelling. While Arkham Knight's innovations are few, they are impactful and smart, and all work towards the common goal of giving the player the ultimate power fantasy of being the Batman.
Batman Arkham Knight is a magnificent and fitting end to the Arkham series of games in every possible way. The city of Gotham is a huge, spectacular playground for you to explore, the story sucks you in despite it's inevitable outcome, and the combat and stealth elements that brought Arkham Asylum to everyone's attention have never been better.The game does have its faults; a couple of times it completely froze after navigating to the dashboard, framerate drops occur occasionally, and the Batmobile whilst brilliant for navigating the city is overused and repetitive in tank battles, but that can easily be forgiven when the rest of the experience is as good as it is. For anyone who likes Batman, the previous releases in the franchise, or open world games in general, Arkham Knight is an absolute must play, and offers a genuine reason for gamers who haven't yet made the jump to the new generation of consoles to seriously consider making the switch.
There it is again. The feeling. I'm Batman. This is what has made —and continues to make— Rocksteady's Arkham series so good. Knight, for all its foibles and frustrations, consistently gives you that injection of adrenaline. It is supposed to be Rocksteady's final Batman game and you get the impression this is a developer pushing the absolute limits of its series, perfecting it in some areas... breaking it in others.
Arkham Knight triumphs as a richly empowering comic book fantasy that sees its hero fail almost as much as he succeeds, making him the most believable, the most occasionally unlikeable, and ultimately the most heroic he's ever been.
Arkham Knight has some flaws, but they generally pale in comparison to the wondrous spectacle Rocksteady serves us up. A fine end to the Arkham trilogy.
In the end, how good is Arkham Knight? It's the best Batman game you'll play and by that measure, the best superhero game to date. . . If you're anything like me, you'll have dug a small child's Batsuit out of the basement and sit glued to the TV as you attempt to save Gotham all over again. A terrific sign off, Rocksteady.