Batman: Arkham Knight Review

Gush, gush, gush.

I loved it.

OXYBORB.COM Official Review Score for Batman – Arkham Knight: 9.6/10 

OK, that out of the way, what I want to talk about is the downloadable content plan for this series of Batman games:

Challenge Naps

 OK, listen up, devs. Sorry to tell you, but challenge maps are lame. We don’t want them. We don’t want to download them. I know there has been a lot of criticism against the downloadable content for this game, but people play these amazing Batman games for the STORY content. The developer needs to use DLC to expand the OPEN WORLD that Batman is in, not add minigames that are a pain to get through.

Skins aren’t wins

…new costumes pointless. Also, whenever I tried on a skin my characters glitched out (their head froze and the speaking animations stopped during cutscenes). Skins make me laugh for a second, but then I switch back to normal Batman. I won’t purchase these for a dumb laugh.

 

ONLY STORY

 The only DLC that I will actually purchase is story DLC. Batman AK is a marvel of a game because the story and the gameplay work together so well. Skins and challenge maps are a waste of development time. Make more story. 

SPOILERS GOING FORWARD – WARNING!

The review returns…

 Arkham Knight is one of the best games I’ve ever played. I loved the use of the Joker. I loved how it was set on Halloween. The best scene in the game was the clocktower flashback that, without any fade to black, becomes the normal clocktower. OMG. I was extremely impressed by this.

The first time Man-Bat jumped out at me I screamed, legit. I was also afraid when Joker points the gun at me after the first meeting with Scarecrow (also, the WTF new game plus Joker burning…). I hardly ever get scared during media of any type, but those moments were wins.

I liked the tank

 Some people complain that the Batmobile is overused and not fun, but I couldn’t disagree more. I feel like the new Bat-tank is the most well-controlled and playing vehicle in a game since Warhawk on PS3 (and Rocket League!). I loved the tank/car missions. I loved the Riddler challenge courses. I loved driving on walls and tunnel ceilings. 

Other stuff I liked:

Prof Pig was the weirdest. I loved the lead up to him more than anything. Finding the murders and solving the clues was a good break from the main missions.

Firefly was good, but I wished that it had had more “detective” work. There were only three missions and it was over. Adding the Firefighter story helped, but the two stories felt rather disconnected.

Taking down the military checkpoints, bombs, and drones was fun. I loved taking over the city.

Taking down the Riddler was a little tedious with all the trophies to collect, but it was more fun than in any of the previous Batman games. This is the first of the series I actually bothered to get them all. The tank puzzles were fun!

What I didn’t like:

Were the missions dealing with the hunter-tanks (whatever they’re called), where I had to sneak behind overpowered drones to kill them. I just hate the feeling of being the mouse in a room filled with cats.

The whole Cloudburst boss-battle was the least fun moment in the game, followed by the Arkham Knight tunneler boss battle. I don’t like being chased. That’s not what I want to feel in a Batman game. Weird how the only two boss battles in the game were the only two missions I did not enjoy.

The Cloudburst (also, Deathstroke’s tank)

I kept dying during this battle. I tried to be sneaky and hit it behind buildings and run away real quick….  Until I got frustrated and tried something that ridiculously worked.

How I finally beat the Cloudburst: I drove right up to it, touching bumper to bumper, and shot repeatedly. I wish I would have recorded it, but sharing was turned off. Really, though. I beat the thing by getting right next to it and shooting it until it died. No stealth. No hit-and-run.

I used this to defeat Deathstroke, too.

What I want next from the Arkham series:

  Move away from Arkham. It’s a great brand name, but you’ve done the Asylum, done an entire city, and have finally done a character (Arkham Knight).

I want Batman to move out of Arkham and do something completely different. Keep it open world.

I don’t want a Nightwing game.

No, I want Batman still. Maybe a non-criminal-controlled version of Gotham? Or maybe Batman is in a dream-version of Gotham, and his mission is to wake up. Then there could be delusional versions of his past enemies. 

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