Batman Arkham Knight review

Rrright well just for a change I thought I would do a game review as I recently purchased a PS4 and what a difference it makes in terms of not just gaming but also in streaming media too! (Take that Xbox 360 you were getting auld!).

Anyway so the game I'm going to review is Batman Arkham Knight, which is the latest installment in the adult Batman video game series.  So how does it stack up????  Well let's gear up the bat suit, get that grapple hook and do some diving in to find out.......

And yep I will mention a bit of the plot but not too much but I will issue a SPOILER WARNING just in case! 

STORY

So the story begins with Gotham city being evacuated after the game main's villain, Scarecrow (voiced by John Noble) intends to launch his new fear toxin on Gotham.  Batman in an effort to stop Scarecrow rescues Poison Ivy from a secret Scarecrow hideout as she refused to join in on the villain's plan.  Batman also recruits the help of his technical aide, the wheelchair bound Oracle (Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon) who identifies Ace chemicals as the source of Scarecrow's toxin, which Batman infiltrates and he confronts Scarecrow.  However Scarecrow reveals that he has captured Oracle and he then turns the whole building into a toxin bomb which overwhelms Batman with the toxin.  As a result of exposure to the toxin, Batman sees a projection of the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill) which taunts Batman throughout the game.

Batman then meets with Gordon and tells him that Barbara has been captured and she had been working with Batman, which leaves Gordon outraged and he storms off to try and find Scarecrow.  Batman then soon learns that Scarecrow had recruited businessman, Simon Stagg to build a massive dispersal device called the cloudburst, which Scarecrow intends to use to spread the toxin throughout the city.  Batman interrogates Stagg and then confronts Scarecrow onboard Stagg's airship but Scarecrow again escapes by temporarily using the toxin to take control of the Joker's persona over Batman.  Batman soon recovers and then locates Scarecrow's hideout where Oracle is being held trapped inside an enclosed room, he disperses toxin into the room which torments Oracle and forces her to commit suicide, leaving Batman devastated.  Batman then vows to find and stop Scarecrow once and for all in carrying out his evil plan......

THOUGHTS

As a continuation of the series, Batman Arkham Knight is a very enjoyable and solid game which has plenty going for it and it makes up for the somewhat uneven Arkham Origins, which was more to do with Batman in his early days when he was known morely as a vigilante wanted by the police.  But here we get back to the essentials of the series where Batman is established as the dark knight and it features a good mix of its familiar foes and plenty of good action aswell as a intriguing plot, which features one or two twists.

GAMEPLAY 

As for the gameplay itself, well it follows pretty much the same formula as the previous games with Batman being able to travel freely throughout the vast environments of Gotham city. 

And this time around however there is a new inclusion in Batman's method of travel as you know get to ride in the Batmobile, which is pretty cool in itself and it appears a pretty armoured tank-esque car, which kind also transform itself into a battle mode where Batman can fire canon guns and missiles at its targets as you will frequently up again remotely controlled enemy tank drones.  The Batmobile also can be used to fire a line launcher to grapple with hooks of structures to creates ramps or open doors.  The Batmobile also has an overdrive feature which gives the mobile a speed boost to jump over bigger distances and is handy in certain moments.    

The gameplay also features many of the previous elements that appeared in the former games that include the grapnel gun, line launcher, remote hacking device, explosive gel, batarangs, aswell the disruptor.  Batman also has his usual detective vision which he uses to scan areas for clues or to detect how many enemies maybe in an area and their condition and whether they are armed or not.  A new device however is the voice synthesizer which Batman can use to imitate the voice of other characters and is used in the game's story when Batman uses it to imitate Harley Quinn's voice.  And regarding some new moves, Batman can also in addition to his ability to dive bomb while flying through the air he can when equipped with his lighter batsuit fire his grapnel grun and use a speedboost so he can travel fast through the air and quicker over larger distances, which is pretty handy in itself. 

As for the combat system the game again is pretty much similar as before but there are also some new enhanced features that include the FEAR takedown in which Batman can take down multiple enemies at once but target them one after another but is only effective if he remains undetected.  Batman can also perform the usual combo moves and critical strikes aswell perform silent takedowns on single enemies or even inverted takedowns where Batman can take out an enemy by hanging from above.  Also as usual as Batman fights he gains more experience points (XP) which gains him access to various upgrades that could for be weapons, combat or even the Batmobile.   

The game also features not just the story mode it also incorporates a series of side missions aswell as Batman is fed news by Alfred or other sources of other crimes happening in Gotham that are known as "Most wanted" and feature a variety of Batman's most notable enemies particularly the Riddler and Two-Face. 

GRAPHICS, MUSIC AND VOICE ACTING

As for the game's graphics....well frankly they are absolutely stunning, especially on the PS4 where you see just how rich and detailed the game's environments are.  The character models are also excellent and even though they might not be quite as advanced as some of the ones seen in other games they are still pretty damn impressive.  But Gotham city is what stands out most and it looks superb and its expansive environment remains one of the game's most impressive aspects especially as Batman travels through the skies over the rooftops. 

So in short the game is a stunner visually although it is of course well worth noting that the Windows PC version had a series of technical issues that saw the game being pulled from sales on its original release before it was released again in late October last year however there were still more issues found with the game.  So if you want to play this game at its best get it for the PS4 or Xbox One.

As for the game's music it features another fine score by Nick Arundel, who had previously worked on Arkham Asylum and Arkham City and this time he is aided by Ron Fish and David Buckley.  The score however does not stand out as well as Arundel's score for Arkham city, which for me remains one of the very best video game scores out there but its still worth a listen although I wouldn't really want to listen to it as a stand alone soundtrack it works better within the game itself.

And lastly regarding the voice acting well its excellent as you would expect and it sees the welcome return of Kevin Conroy in the role of Batman and for me vocally he is the best man for the job as Troy Baker who did the voice in Arkahm Origins didn't quite fit the bill.  It also sees the return of Mark Hamill in his role as the Joker and the two of them could almost be said to work together as a team as Conroy was even said to have not wanted to return to do Arkham City but got onboard when he heard Hamill was cast and together these two are the standouts in the cast.

But the voice acting cast features some other fine performances particularly Jonathan Banks (most well known as Mike from Breaking Bad) as Comissioner Gordon and John Noble who provides a chilling vocal performance as Scarecrow.  Troy Baker also provides some good voice work in various roles such as The Riddler, Two-Face and the Arkham Knight and Ashley Greene (who is well hot!) as Oracle/Barbara Gordon.

FLAWS

As for the Arkham Knight's flaws.....well yeah OK it has some and for starters I think one of the game's biggest problems is to do with the batmobile and its not so much the batmobile itself but the near endless tank drone battles Batman get's drawn into throughout the game.  And to be fair to start I didn't really mind them but its not long before they start to become really tedious particularly when the Arkham knight unleashes the Cobra tanks which can destroy the Batmobile easily with a few hits and you have to target them from behind to destroy them. 

In fact further to that point it seems pretty daft that such big powerful tanks would still have one major weakness such as a vulnerable port in its rear side (best I could word that without it being rude!).  And to top that off its funny how Batman can destroy them with one clean hit from the Batmobile's canon which makes it quite convenient in that respect although its a pain in the arse trying to target them accurately as they turn corners it can be easy to lose track of the target.  So basically I think tanks and Batman are not a good mix and I don't really see the point of these tanks being in the game.

Another issue I have with the game is that while the main story campaign is very good it also feels just a bit overlong and drawn out as Batman really is sent one big wild goose chase after another to try and locate and finally take down Scarecrow.  And the game does that usual thing of setting things up like you can take out the game's main villain quite early on when in fact its all just a deception and you have to go through a whole series of missions, side-missions, fights, battles and traps before you get to finally end it all!  So personally I think the game could have benefited from having trimmed the length of the campaign a little to keep it tighter but at the end of the day the game from that point of view still does offer good value for money.

I also think that perhaps the game also overwhelms the player with such a vast variety of different moves, new features and upgrades that you are most likely not to going to use most of them especially as I usually find myself tapping the usual buttons for combat and takedowns! ;-)  These new features are bound to be of some use but in the end the game seems to bombard you with so many options you are surely never going to use them all!  In the end its a game that packs in so much and in fact maybe just a bit too much. 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up Batman Arkham Knight is very enjoyable and solid entry in the Batman video game franchise, it features plenty of great combat action and getting to use the Batmobile at last is pretty cool it has to be said.  The graphics are also superb and its features a fine score aswell as some excellent voice acting from its cast particularly Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and the Joker respectively.  The game does have some faults that are mainly to do with its tedious tank battles and also maybe that the game's main campaign is just a bit too long winded.  However if you are willing to forgive all that then this is still one game that is certainly worth checking out.

And I will leave you's just there and will be back another time with yet another post.

Till then bye fer now!