4/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Batman: Arkham Knight.

System: PlayStation 4 Started: June 25, 2015 Ended: July 17, 2015 Flashback Review I didn't get a PlayStation 4 until 2015, and the first games I got physically were Guilty Gear Xrd, Mortal Kombat X, and Batman: Arkham Knight. Both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City were two of my favorite games, and I was hyped for Arkham Knight. Even though I skipped Arkham Origins, there were so many other games I wanted to play at that time. Arkham Knight was the first game to take advantage of next-gen hardware, and playing it on the PlayStation 4 looked amazing. It's a much bigger sandbox for exploring Gotham City compared to its predecessor. You think this would also be another outstanding Arkham game, but it has some setbacks before making it the perfect Batman Arkham game. Arkham Asylum began as a setting within the infamous insane asylum. Arkham City’s setting expanded to an old district area of Gotham City. Now, in Arkham Knight: The entire Gotham City is your playground as you explore the city with the Batmobile, which is the same style as the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy, taking story elements based on Batman Comics Story Arcs like Death in the Family. Arkham Knight's combat system plays the same as ‘Asylum’ and ‘City’ with barely any improvement. if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. So, Rocksteady wants to try something new, like new gadgets, and bring in more characters from the comic books, like Man-Bat. And focus 95% on pushing the Batmobile mechanic. The graphics in this game at the time were showing the full power of the PlayStation 4, as you could explore Gotham City in an open-world sandbox, and it looked great for its eighth-gen graphics at the time. I would not even be surprised if the graphics still hold up today. Fans often criticize the high number of Batmobile missions, and I agree with them. Rocksteady is really obsessed with their main selling point in this game, using the Batmobile to progress, fight drones, and even obtain Riddler Trophies and Challenges. My excuse is that the previous Arkham games didn't have this, and this is the first time that Batman actually used a vehicle during his adventures. What’s funny is that they used the Batmobile as a very strong electrical force field since Batman doesn’t kill people. But in reality, it would’ve killed them, especially when using those "non-lethal" cannons on them. Speaking of Riddler Trophies, I always consider them to be a chore when going for the 100% completion. But at least getting the 100% completion will earn you a bonus mission, so at least the reward was kind of worth it. The story in this game is alright. If you've read any Batman comic story arcs, it was predictable who the Arkham Knight was. By this point, I was getting a little tired of the Joker in every Batman game. He was even brought back in this game regardless after what happened in Arkham City. It felt like the story writers' group for Arkham Knight just could not let the clown go, and I won't spoil the reason, but it's fair since it involves Scarecrow. Besides the story, I still remember how bad the PC port was. That was a long time ago with its poor graphics and bugs when it first launched. But since it's been almost 10 years now, I think the PC version is ok to play. Arkham Knight is a great Batman game, but not as great as Asylum and City. I would consider Knight to be a perfect end for the Batman Arkham games. It even has that Nolan's Dark Knight Rises-esque ending. Most of the games after this, like Arkham Knights and Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League, were deemed as unnecessary sequels. This game can be played, but I would say play the previous Arkham games before playing this.