The Batman simulator we deserve, Batman Arkham Knight Review

Batman Arkham Knight (XboxOne, PC, PS4) (Rated Mature)

I have been a huge fan of the Arkham series since its inception. Arkham Asylum was a standard-setting action game; it had a great story and some the best combat of it's time. Asylum was followed up by the equally spectacular Arkahm City, City once again featured another great story, though it was not as good as the first's, it still had many awesome moments; tt also had some of the most refined and well-tuned combat that not only bested Asylum, but is among some of the best in any action game to date. City was followed by Arkham Origins, a prequel to Asylum, it had yet another superb story, which I enjoyed even more than City's; nevertheless, Origins did very little new, and was not as refined as the previous two entries, it is worth noting that the team responsible for the first two games, did not make Origins. Now the original development team is back, and closing out the Arkham story line; but, is it the conclusion to the series we deserve? 

I am incredibly happy to announce, that not only is it a fitting end to the series, it is the best in the series as well; and one of the year's best games so far. While the previous two game technically takes place in an open world. They were broken up by loading screens, they also felt rather small and more like a playground than a living breathing world. Now in Arkham Knight, not only is the entire world seamless, it is larger than ever before while also featuring the most detailed environments in the franchise's history. The world is also visually beautiful and features a great rendition of Gotham. I was skeptical of how the world would feel. As much as I loved Origins and City, I never truly enjoyed those worlds, as much as I did Asylum's. They were stunning and well designed; yet they did not have the same amazing atmosphere that Asylum did. While I was concerned how the world would feel, after playing for a few minutes all my concerns disappeared. The art style and atmosphere reminded me of BladeRunner; it feels like a very different kind of Gotham. It is a joy to explore, the game also has jaw-dropping visuals; it is also one of the best looking game's to date. Beyond even that, it features the first time you can drive the Batmobile.

I was hesitant though, seeing the footage of the new Batmobile the style was odd and seeing it turn into a tank, did not seem very Batman like. Thankfully, once I started playing, I instantly fell in love with the new version of my favorite car. While in car mode, the mobile drives like a bat out of hell; it corners and moves like a Ferrari, while being as destructive as a tank. It takes a little while to get used to the controls; but once you do, moving through the city and taking part in high-speed chases is incredibly tense and viscerally satisfying. The sheer jaw-dropping nature of driving the Batmobile, never wears thin; I never lost that feeling of oh my god, i'm driving the fucking Batmobile. This is as fun as any driving game, things change a bit when you toggle tank mode; moving the Bat-tank is a bit clumsy, to begin with, while it can move with more precision than the car mode, it lacks the car's agility. But what it lacks in speed, it makes up with sheer firepower. 

It packs a machine gun, cannon, and a less-lethal riot gun for human enemies. You will notice I said a less-lethal riot gun, this is because Batman does not kill people; and I am happy to see that they integrated the tank combat, while maintaining the sense of being Batman. You will use the riot gun to knock out human enemies, while using the other more destructive weapons on drones. Yes, you will be fighting drones; and a ton of them at that. All throughout Gotham unmanned drones roam the city, and you are free to obliterate them. These action scenes are tons of fun, and feature extremely satisfying cinematic styled gameplay. The game also features race tracks, vehicle puzzles and even some vehicle platforming sections; there are plenty of opportunities to pilot the Batmobile. These sections are for the most part skippable; but, they also give the game plenty of variety, something the previous game's lacked. Beyond driving around in your Batmobile or Bat-tank, you can also launch yourself out of the vehicle at extremely high speeds to reach greater heights and glide further; which is not only extremely useful, it is damn fun to do. The Batmobile is not simply tacked on, it is an essential part of the game, and it is extremely well refined and designed.

There is tons of content beyond the 10 to 12-hour story, the game packs another 10 to 15 hours of side content; which features plenty of high points that are as good as the stories best moments. The game's sense of exploration and puzzle solving reminded me of Zelda in a way. It has that sense of adventure, fun and atmosphere that makes Zelda such a classic.  Hand to hand combat features the same level of refinement and craftsmanship seen in the rest of the game. Having played the other Arkham game's, I always thought it can not get better than this; the series is known for it's extremely intuitive and satisfying combat; and Knight takes that fantastic combat system, and polishes it so well that it outshines the past games and then some. The mechanics feel very similar, but Batman is brutally powerful, in fact, he is vastly more powerful than he was in the past 3 games. You will face enemies in far greater numbers than ever before. While Batman is extremely powerful this time around, combat still has the same satisfying challenge found in the previous games.

Something new in this installment is that there are a few times you will team up with members of the Bat-family. You will switch control between Batman and his partner to take on huge waves of enemies, these moments are among the games many highlights. You and your partner can execute a team finisher attack, which is extremely riveting. It is also just tons of fun to play as Robin or Catwoman while fighting beside Batman. There is just so much in here for a Batman fanatic to sink our teeth into. The storyline this time revolves around Gotham being threatened by the Scarecrow. The threat of a massive fear toxin attack causes all the decent people to evacuate Gotham, leaving tons of criminals and only a few good people to hold back the chaos. Of course, there is more to the story than that, featuring a new enemy the Arkham Knight, along with many of Batman's mortal enemies. The story as I noted before, also has a far bigger part for the Bat-family. While many of Batman's allies were mentioned or featured in some form in the past game's, they were more or less just cameos, and not essential parts of the story. I was extremely happy to see them have a much bigger part this time around. The story is my favorite of the series, I enjoyed where they take Batman's character in this story, and I also really enjoyed the way the game used so many of Batman's famous characters. The writing is the best the series has seen, and features the same high-quality performances you have come to expect. Kevin Conroy who is regarded as the best Batman of all time, and my favorite Batman, gives one of his finest performances. But also the entire cast truly delivered some of the best performances I have seen all year.

It is also worth noting just how dark this game is. This is the first Mature rated Batman game, and the gloves definitely came off this time. While there is not a ton of cursing or even gory images, the tone is darker than any of the other game's. It is also far more brutal in its level of violence, while there is not a lot of gore; the viciousness of the violence is unmatched. The even darker take on Batman, is a great way to end the series. And it is an epic conclusion to one of the greatest superhero game franchises around. The story is incredibly dark, and had many moments that left me utterly stunned. But at this game's core, it is just an immensely fun experience. For fans this is the closest we will ever get to being The Batman. For everyone else, this will still be one of the funnest action game's you will play all year. But that is not to say it does not have a few flaws.

The game did crash on me a couple of times, the frame rate also dropped noticeably at times. The game does have it's technical issues, but I am glad to say they were all very rare and infrequent. There is no such thing as a perfect game, but this is as close to perfection as a game can get. And I finally feel like I am the goddamn Batman.