| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 | 9.50 |
| Overall | 9.50 |
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Completing a trilogy while maintaining a high quality and keeping things fresh is a tough proposition. Most of the time the third game in a trilogy doesn't stick the landing and is viewed worse than the previous sequel. Rocksteady studio manages to conclude its Arkham trilogy on a high, what I consider to be the best in the series. Batman Arkham Knight improves on all the gameplay systems that came and introduces the batmobile which is incorporated in nearly every aspect of the game keeping this last installment from feeling like a clone. The batmobile to me feels like the main new item of a new Zelda game. The core gameplay systems are still in place but the new item or in this case vehicle, is used throughout the game in unique ways. Even though it is a car, traversal is maybe the least useful function of the batmobile. It is a blast to rocket through the streets barreling through any object in your path, but flying through the city is still the best and fastest way to travel. The car is a bit loose in the controls, it bounces off walls like it's a beach ball and you can easily lose control when boosting and trying to drift. It feels like an ultra arcade racer when using it as a car but when you become accustomed to the quirks of its handling it becomes fun to master the race trails and car chases. It would be easy for most games to simply introduce a vehicle and use it only to travel but the biggest strength of Arkham Knight is how the batmobile is used in every facet of the game. The second biggest use of the batmobile is as a tank during vehicle combat sections. The Arkham Knight has an army of drone tanks which batman must take down using the batmobile's tank. In tank mode the batmobile can quickly boost in any direction, shoot guns, missiles,and like in the hand to hand combat it can build a meter to use special attacks like a virus that can turn enemies into allies. I found the vehicular combat to be fast paced and a unique twist to the normal combat. It still has a multiplier, there are ways to get critical shots which gives a higher score. Sure it's not as interesting as the man to man battles but when thrown into a battle with 40 vehicles and you need to be dodging constantly from blasts, homing missiles and more, it becomes hugely intense and rewarding to complete. The main problem is that there are too many of these segments and not as much variety as the main combat, better spacing and two or more tank types would have helped. I enjoyed when the batmobile was used in puzzles and when it works naturally as an extension of batman's arsenal. Driving through Gotham then ejecting into the air swooping right through a window into a takedown is exhilarating and makes the player feel like batman more than ever. The batmobile can be summoned with the press of a button and can be used during normal combat as a new kind of take down. Batman can remotely control the batmobile as well which opens up a load of puzzles where batman and the batmobile must work together to complete. The first half of the game is really heavy on the batmobile to ease the player into all the new ways the vehicle is used and to open your mind to unique ways the batmobile can be used. I remember being trapped in a hallway with armed gunmen waiting to take me out and I kept trying to think of ways to use my gadgets to get out, but the solution was to summon the batmobile and attack the guards from behind which is such a batman thing to do that was never possible before. Combat and predator maps have been improved on as well, everything feels faster, easier to control and there are more ways to take down enemies than ever before. Combat is mostly the same with the addition of a few more crowd control specials. The timing for counters is a bit more forgiving but this is offset by the toughest mix of enemies batman has ever faced. Right from the start batman will be battling ninjas, then medics who electrify enemies and of course some brutes. Many enemies have certain moves that need to be performed to get an opening to attack, these fights mixes those enemy types very well making fights more strategic and difficult than ever before. Every once in a while one of batman's partners joins in a battle and there are unique tag team takedowns which automatically switch you to the other character. Most of it is for show but man how awesome is it to have batman and robin finally fighting. I think the new wealth of moves has the opposite effect in the predator maps, I feel they are easier but more fun. There are new enemy types but they are not introduced in any kind of smart progression like past games. A lot of the predator maps are now outdoors and are part of side quests which doesn't allow for set progression of increasingly difficult predator maps, so I did feel the maps were sort of all over the place with difficulty. One building may have sentry drones, mines, healers, guys who knock out your bat vision and the next building just has normal grunts and a big chain gun wielding heavy. Now batman can hack into more environmental objects like escalators, can hack drones to turn on their controllers and can even use the recorded voice of villains to lure enemies into traps. The largest new addition is the fear takedown which when upgraded can be used to quickly takedown five enemies in a row. Once used a silent takedown is needed to refill the fear meter. Obviously this makes batman be more offensive in his predator sections which adds to the maps being faster and easier. The best maps are still in the indoor locations and are designed extremely well. Honestly though the more predator sections the better, even the simple ones are a total joy and this game has by far the most in the series. Arkham Knight is structured similarly to Arkham City with a larger city and more emphasis on the outdoor city having most of the content. The main storyline is longer than City and there are more side quests as well. The city is packed with things to do, there comes a point where you can't drive for like twenty seconds without seeing a new objective. Many times you can be driving and a chase begins with one of the many Arkham tanks, or you see a fortified tower that needs to be cleared or a tank battle can start with the discovery of a mine. Batman's rogue gallery is also causing some chaos with their own missions as well, the best being Two-Face and his bank robberies which lead to a creative new kind of predator map. What happens though is repetition within these various mission types; do we need three of the exact same firefly car chases, or the same penguin van trailing. So I would say excess is one of the biggest issues which is to me one of the least damaging negatives, it's not that they are bad missions, they just repeat too much. Less repetition and more variety would have been great, I believe the DLC will address a lot of these issues, still that said this game has more variety than most games dream to have. My favorite diversion in every batman game are the riddler trophies and segments. When puzzles and action comes together I am in gaming heaven and when the riddler trophies are at their best it is a perfect blend that only Zelda does better. Once again there are 240 trophies to get, rather than repeat the same puzzles from past games most of these trophies make use of your new arsenal, especially the batmobile. But Rocksteady maybe has reached the limit of how many unique puzzles they could make, a few too many trophies are simply sitting in a hard to reach spot which once you have it marked on the map is just a fetch quest. When there is a proper puzzle to unlock the trophy it's usually brilliant. Riddler also has a huge involving quest where batman has to save cat woman and he gets sent into all kinds of riddler quests. Some of these involve a deadly car race where you have to activate or deactivate panels and walls with the press of a button while avoiding all kinds of death traps. These are fantastic and are a great test of your gaming skills. This time Riddler has an army of robots so combat is now mixed with the puzzle solving. The entire riddler quest line is so good, the best it has ever been. The main quest is more exciting than any past Arkham game. It does a fantastic job of introducing the batmobile mechanics and constantly putting batman into different gameplay situations. This comes with a bit negative side as this game has fewer indoor "dungeons" than Arkham City and these are without a doubt the best sections of the games. There are three in Knight and they are phenomenal, specifically the second one which involves Robin. Each dungeon has its own theme and unique gameplay element used throughout with excellent puzzles. I was in gaming heaven, I don't want to describe them in detail because they should be experienced with no knowledge of what will occur. The only thing missing are boss battles at the end of the dungeons, all bosses except one have been turned into some kind of vehicle combat boss. It's a shame but the rest of the game is so strong it's not a crushing loss. Arkham Knight tells the story of Batman's worst night and for the first time I felt Batman was a bit overwhelmed which makes his triumphs all the more greater. The story works so well because it begins to break down Batman's relationship with his allies, relationships are tested like never before. The story touches on some of the most famous moments in comic history while crafting its own memorable finale to this unique batman universe. I have to spoil a certain aspect of the story, skip to the next paragraph if you want to know nothing else, yes the Joker is dead but this game has the best Joker role of any game. Batman gets hallucinations of the Joker for the entire game, this time he is inside his head so he knows all of his secrets and does his best to torture the dark knight. It is hilarious, it's disturbing, it is the best examination of what batman is and how he impacts those around him. This is the best Mark Hamill has ever been and having the Joker all over the place made exploring that much more enjoyable. Sure the identity of the Arkham Knight isn't that much of a twist, that doesn't matter, the strength of the story is how the Scarecrow has put batman in the toughest position of his career while he has the Joker inside his head the whole step of the way, I loved all of it. Surprisingly the weakest link in the story is Kevin Conroy who could have used more to work with, it's a shame that batman has very little to say through most of the story. The inclusion of the Gotham Police station was a great way to add backstory to the people living in Gotham. Within the station you can talk to every officer and see the world as they view it; dangerous, overwhelming, needing to rely on this scary batsuit wearing man to survive. As you capture the villains they get put into a cell where you can watch them interact with each other and batman, great stuff. Touches like those bring the batman universe to life in a way no other medium can match. Graphically Arkham Knight is a stunner with rain effects to die for. On the PS4 it runs amazingly smooth, looks phenomenal and is a true next gen showcase. The city comes alive with great enemy chatter as you glide or drive through the expansive detailed city. There is a ton of content easily 40 hours worth if you take time to master all the AR challenges. A big blow to this game is the removal of the traditional challenge maps with the multiple characters, this has been moved to DLC. There are still challenges but more than half are vehicle challenges and the few combat ones are simplified versions of them. This is a big blow for me, but I felt so satisfied with the campaign that I am willing to excuse it knowing that it's still coming and I will gladly pay extra for it. I guess gamers can over analyze at what point are publishers becoming greedy, removing content to make us pay for more, it's an interesting topic but for the sake of this review I can only judge what came with my game and I was more than satisfied. Perhaps the eventual GOTY version would score even higher for me , I know with Mass Effect 2 I played it the first time with all the DLC included in the game and that absolutely helped push that experience as one of my all time favorites. I guess what I am saying is right now as is, Arkham Knight is incredible and when all the DLC is out it could be even better. With this entry the Arkham series is over. Three masterpieces by Rocksteady and one decent attempt by WB Montreal. Each of the Rocksteady games upped the ante by introducing major gameplay changes. What I love most about this series is that it has always been gameplay first, everything serves as a way to give the player maximum gameplay variety, engage the player in unique ways and challenge them. After that everything else falls into place, the stories are great, it enhances the play by making you care about the characters and the situations they are in. It's the philosophy I believe in as a gamer, this is my favorite genre and my favorite kind of game. Rocksteady gets it, they are one of my favorite developers and they created another masterpiece to end their batman run. |
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Posted by Dvader Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:05:31
Recently Spotted:
*crickets*
Awesome review and I pretty much agree with what you said. I can't believe I put in over fifty hours into this game.