Logically speaking these make no sense whatsoever, but they’re probably the most interesting thing you get to do with Batman’s ride.Īrkham Knight is frustrating because it features some of the best moments from the franchise, with the combat and stealth refined to perfection and one of the best open worlds in all gaming. There’s a near endless supply of other things to do, from defusing hidden bombs to the new Batmobile-themed Ridder puzzles and races. Exploring Gotham and delving into its various secondary plots feels a lot more organic than most open world games, with Rocksteady introducing a steady stream of new opportunities at regular intervals.Īnd that’s just the story-based side quests. And if there’s one thing the game definitely gets right it’s how it mixes story missions with side quests. The combat and puzzle elements may not seem as fresh as they once did (and they’re generally a lot easier than the previous two games) but they’re still a lot of fun. There are a lot of complaints here, but for the majority of the time Arkham Knight is a very enjoyable game. Especially given the game’s bizarre introduction of stealth Batmobile sections, where you have to sneak up on larger tank models to shoot them from behind.īatman: Arkham Knight (PS4) – the best rogue’s gallery in comics That’s something we’d like to have seen much more of, rather than yet another tedious battle with robot tanks. The stealth ‘Predator’ sections remain a highlight of the game, and they too have a few new tools to play with, such as imitating bad guy’s voices to distract them or, in one memorable sequence, teaming up with Robin.
There are other minor additions too, such as being able to throw batarangs while gliding, which are equally welcome but don’t make any substantial difference. The latter now allows you to incorporate allies such as Robin and Nightwing into your attacks, but only when the game decides it’s appropriate and even then it’s nothing more than adding an extra button press to your combo. In terms of the rest of the gameplay there’s very little here that won’t be familiar from the other games, from the puzzles to the combat. Apart from anything it’s still usually much faster and easier to get around Gotham by gliding and grappling the old-fashioned way. Fighting legions of robot tanks just isn’t very interesting and some of the encounters seem to go on for hours. The handling of the Batmobile is excellent, but the way it’s shoehorned into every encounter, and even many of the puzzles, becomes increasingly contrived and irritating.
That seems a logical enough idea on paper but here the Batmobile is a transforming hovercraft that is constantly blowing up drone tanks and appearing to mow down felons by the dozen (‘Rubber bullets.
You certainly get the sense that Rocksteady are beginning to feel restricted by Batman’s world, since they long ago perfected the movement and combat and have nowhere else to go but to focus on the Batmobile.