3/5 ★ – Hill417's review of Batman: Arkham Knight.

All good things must come to an end and how they end will either be with a whimper or a bang. In Arkham Knights case it kind of ends with both and I did not think that could be. To me for every good thing I liked about Arkham Knight there was something I disliked that prevented it from becoming my personal favorite Arkham game. Let me start off with the pros: First these graphics are incredible and still hold up five years later. Which is even more impressive considering this was still in the early years of the PS4/XBOX ONE generation. Gotham City feels like it was taken straight from the comics and aesthetic wise its a weird, but cool combination of old and new. One section of the city is filled with classic architecture while another looks like it was plucked straight out of Time Square with its neon build boards and lighting. But that doesn’t mean there is time for leisure because with the city evacuated all that is left are thugs and the militia run by the new villain called Arkham Knight. I praise how easy it is to access side missions, just a spin of the wheel and you can select who to bring to justice next. You will have to reach a certain percentage of the story as a requirement and that was the right call. It allows you to take a break from the heavy story moments and believe me this is a heavy story. Every Arkham game IMO outdoes itself narrative wise. Last warning, spoilers incoming because there is no way to talk about this game without talking about it. It turns out Batman along with four other civilians have been infected with Jokers blood, it turns out it messes with a persons psyche and will eventually become the Joker without a cure. Add a dose of fear gas in Batman’s system and now he is hallucinating the Joker, voiced again by Mark Hamill. Some have noticed that Bruce never addresses or talks to Joker and that is because Joker’s dialogue is Bruce’s inner doubts and insecurities. Seriously go on YouTube and really listen to what he is saying you’ll notice it too. Sometimes he will just flat out say Bruce’s methods are just wrong. When you arrest Chief Underhill Joker explains how he will become another criminal. When you (finally) lock up the Riddler he says my favorite line: “Beat him up, lock him up. That’s the best medicine” be honest you know he’s right. There is also Barbra’s “suicide” which had me in shock and then there’s the mystery of who the Arkham Knight is, and it is pretty obvious. Kind of disappointing really. Wouldn’t it have been cooler if we never find out who the Knight is? Alfred tries so hard to uncover his identity only to end up short and not knowing is something Bruce can’t handle. As a long time reader as Batman comics trust me when I say that “not knowing” is one of the many things that he hates. When you need a break from the story there are side missions to seek out like stopping Two-Face from robbing the banks, stopping Hush from bankrupting Wayne Enterprises, liberate Gotham from Militia forces and several DLC missions that wrap up some loose ends with Ra’s Al Ghul and Mr. Freeze. My personal favorites were chasing Firefly and Man-Bat. Man-Bat came out of left field and while he doesn’t have a real boss fight, the thrill is in the chase. Firefly also doesn’t have a boss fight, you just have to keep up with him which does make sense. If I was facing Batman and had a jetpack I too would get the hell out of there. And since there is no avoiding it lets talk about the bosses. It’s pretty clear Origins had the best bosses in the franchises as in Arkham Knight they are underwhelming. I mean c’mon you don’t even fight Deathstroke hand to hand! Could you imagine the possibilities if Rocksteady went all out on a Deathstroke vs Batman rematch. I did enjoy Killer Croc because you’re teaming up with Nightwing and Scott Porter nails the charismatic/over confidant personality of Dick Grayson. Crispin Freeman is back as Lynns and he is an absolute delight. I don’t know what direction he was given, but I’m assuming he was told to chew up as much of the scenery as possible. I cannot share the same praise for some of the new casting choices. John Noble and Johnathan Banks are a fine Scarecrow and Jim Gordon respectively, but aren’t very memorable. Curiously Kimberly Brooks was replaced as Oracle. A tad disappointing because she would have nailed the material. And for my last complaint is Troy Baker as Arkham Knight/Red Hood. Normally I would be so down for it, but Troy was already Joker, Two-Face, and Robin. Did he really need to be a fourth character? In fact Robin is in the game and is voiced by Matthew Mercer? Why didn’t Troy repriseTim? Mercer would have made an excellent Red Hood. Anyway back to the positives: Combat has peaked with the inclusion of environmental takedowns, team takedowns, and multi fear takedowns. At this point you do feel just as overpowered as the Batman himself. The skins are great and are easier to access compared to Arkham City (still didn’t get that Red Sun skin though). We have even more playable characters than ever and all of them have their own skins… except for Batgirl who was done dirty. I mean no classic suit? Not even the Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown costumes. Everyone also has their style and at least one or two different gadgets. Except for Batgirl who does play pretty similar to Batman, but makes up for it with her ability to hack into certain hazards to provide stealth takedowns. And let me just say playing as Red Hood is essentially playing another game as one of his stealth takedowns is a neck snap and he straight up murders henchmen with his pistols… it’s a change of pace for sure. Each of the DLC characters have their own side story (excluding Azrael which is weird because it seems like they were setting him up for one) and Batgirls is easily the best as it has a more fleshed out campaign, collectibles to destroy, and a respectable map size. Everyone else’s is very disappointing as they are are about 15 minutes. Even faster if you are a season veteran of these games. To add in some extra difficulty you can’t upgrade any armor (and let me tell you these kids are made out of paper without it). At least you can still play them in the combat challenges. Ok I’ve avoided the elephant in the room for long enough. Let’s talk about the Batmobile. I know a lot of people have opinions on it and mine are rather mixed. The combat is simple and that’s ok, you aim for the drones weapons and press X to dodge. Remember this is the first time the Batmobile can be operated so combat was never going to be as polished so I had no problem with how simplified it is. The driving controls can be over sensitive at first, in my experience one slight movement of the joystick will send me into a U-Turn, but you will get use to steering and the boost functions. What I have a problem with are the stealth segments. Imagine you have the ultimate tank ready to tear down any foes that stand in your way head on. What if instead of doing that you have to slowly move around the map, sneak up behind another drone, wait till you have a lock on, then fire. These segments stops the pacing of the game dead on its tracks and you will wish that they will just end. Don’t even get me started on that fucking excavator boss fight. Is the Batmobile really as bad as the internet says it is? No I don’t think so, it’s fun in the beginning, it doesn’t feel like a drag until the third act of the game and it makes you forget about the fun you were having. The developers had good ideas on paper, but playing them out they weren’t fun, like I said this is the first time the Batmobile has been featured so prominently, maybe if there was another Arkham game we would have seen some improvements. Well there is only one thing to talk about and that’s the ending. Personally I liked how it ended, but what I don’t like are the requirements, well more like one specific requirement. You see in order to initiate the Knightfall protocol you have to complete every side mission and lock up every single criminal. Shut down Penguins gun smuggling operations? Got it. Rescue all of the Firefighters? Done and done. Takedown all of the watchtowers/drones/bombs deployed by the militia? Someone has to do it. What I hate is that in order to arrest Riddler you will have to solve every riddle and collect every trophy. It is even more tedious considering the fact that you had to pass nine trials to free Catwoman. Shouldn’t have that been enough to unlock the boss fight? If it had ended after said trials that would have been fine, but getting every trophy and riddle and disarming the bombs? What if you had to that for Arkham Asylum and Arkham City? Or even Origins? Would you have enjoyed them as much? So in the end was Arkham Knight my favorite game in the franchise? No, City will always be my personal favorite. Is it a bad game like the internet says it is. I certainly don’t think so. It’s a solid 8 out of 10, there are just a few problems I had that prevented it from being a 9 to me personally. Its story, combat, and playable characters makes it worth playing. It is a bittersweet feeling marathoning all of these games. I miss them. Their stories, the easter eggs, the gameplay, everything. Rocksteady crafted not just one, but three love letters to Batman and his mythos. These weren’t just developers, they were fans just like us. Whatever the future holds with Suicide Squad I know Rocksteady will deliver a memorable experience.