Batman Arkham Asylum made history back in 2009 for being the best super hero game ever created. Rocksteady continued that trend in Arkham City by being an even better super hero game. I am happy to report that it hasn't stopped just yet. Arkham Knight is a satisfying end to the series, but leaves you wanting more.
Gotham city has been evacuated due to a threat from Scarecrow who wants to spill fear toxin all over the place, what a surprise! This dude named Arkham Knight is following Scarecrow around and commands an army that occupies Gotham. This guy must be a batman fanatic because he dresses like him and knows everything about him... what a creep! All jokes aside Arkham Knight is a pretty cool character and adds yet another mystery for the player to figure out. Its a little sad that his reveal wasn't as big as I was hoping (more on that with my spoiler filled post later). With everyone out of Gotham except for Batman, Oracle, Robin, Nightwing, Catwomen, Alfred, Comisoner Gordan, and a slurry of cops, the villians rise up. Villians such as Two Face, Penquinn, Riddler, and much more. These bad guys fill up the free roam aspect of the game. There is tons to do in Gotham and I love how the side missions are set up. It's based more on discovery then just going to a location on the map. That means you continue side missions by exploring and running into things. This system puts you in the world and is something more open world games should follow. Speaking of free roam the dumb riddler trophies are back. I say dumb to be funny, but they are actually kind a fun to collect. The bad thing is that you HAVE to collect all of them to see the true ending. That means Youtube will be busy lol. All this side quest stuff fits into a perfect world which seems small at first but turns out to be gigantic. It is utterly amazing how Rocksteady can make an abandoned city so filled with life. A city that showcases the true power of the new generation of hardware; making the best looking rain you have seen.
The three pillars of gameplay return: stealth, combat, and exploration. All of which are great. Every new addition to these gameplay elements fit perfectly well. Some notable improvements is the fear system which lets you take out up to five enemies at the same time, and dual play which lets you switch between two characters during combat. The new fourth pillar is the batmobile. This can be used for puzzles, stealth, racing, and combat. All of which work well, but can be over used. I found myself fighting drones with the batmobile two often, and missing the classic gameplay. Don't get my wrong I love the addition of the batmobile ,but they should have used it less often. It also doesn't help the whole Batman doesn't kill policy. It's hard to believe that when you hit a guy going 80 mph while electrocuting them that they don't die. I guess that's just one of those things you have to ignore.
The story is where Arkham Knight excels giving us twists and turns and missions that never seem like filler. Everything moves the plot along and everything has a deeper meaning. The story is about stopping Scarecrow, but the deeper meaning of Bruce Wayne's struggle is something of literary art that every author or story maker strives for. The story is also very freaky and scary and does many surprising things throughout its course. Everything about the main campaign is great but some of the side quests fall short. This is due to poorly designed boss fights if they are existent at all.
Batman Arkham Knight is a fitting ending that offers a deeply emotional story that you will never forget. Some side quest stuff falls short and the batmobile is a little overused, but the experience as a whole makes it worth the small imperfections. Batman Arkham Knight gets a 9.6
No comments:
Post a Comment