Batman Arkham Knight Review

Rocksteady Studio’s final installment of the Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Knight has finally been released after a much anticipated year and a half. The studio finally decided to put an end to the series in a sizable fashion years after the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum, arguably the highest rated game featuring a superhero since Spiderman 2. Virtually everyone is coming back for one last shot at the bat after nine months without crime due to the finale of Batman: Arkham City. The game is nothing short of amazing visually and stays true to the darkness of Batman’s world. There will be moments that will shock you and moments that will leave you asking, “Did that really just happen?”

After a credible threat made by Scarecrow, Gotham is forced to evacuate which leaves the city wide open for the appearance of several notable villains. With Commissioner Gordon and his police force out manned and out gunned, Batman returns to find Scarecrow before he can carry out his threat. The fighting style is still the same so if you’ve played any of the previous games then you won’t have a problem. There are new functions that have forced Rocksteady to change the command codes such as using detective mode, establishing crime scenes, using gadgets and calling for the Batmobile. The first 20 minutes like every other game is pure tutorial so you’ll be taught along the way.

As far as the Batmobile goes, this provides an alternate means of traveling around Arkham City and parts of Gotham. While it looks cool and is arguably a fan favorite among Batman’s toys, the controlling systems is complicated due to different patterns when you’re switching between driving and battle mode. If you’re the gamer that wants to get somewhere quickly then just stick to gliding. Plus when you’re driving it’s hard to pick up on crimes in progress so that’s another reason why gliding is a better option. Don’t ignore it completely because there will be missions where you’ll be dependent on it to progress in the game.

Of course The Riddler’s riddles were coming back which everyone who has played an Arkham game knew was going to happen, the amount of riddles is about the same as Arkham City. Other missions will include legions of foot soldiers for the gamer to beat on using various new gadgets and techniques. The main mission will force Batman to call upon his most trusted allies in order to stop the city from tearing itself apart. The game is a vast open world full of events going on that will drain hours out of your life but the deeper you go into the story, the darker things will become that will lead to Batman’s ultimate fate.

In the end, nothing will ever be the same again for Gotham and it’s a tearful goodbye between Rocksteady and fans of their work with the dark knight. After the game is finished, the game comes with several online challenges and after story activities that keep the gamers playing. Strong DLCs include story packs featuring the lonely Harley Quinn and the anti-hero The Red Hood but my favorite part of these games is the various suits including Batman Beyond, The Dark Knight Returns, Adam West, and several others. This game is a 9.5 out of 10 simply due to complex control system but beyond that, everything is awesome. Congratulations to Rocksteady Studios for their incredible work and I anxiously look forward to their next project.