Batman: Arkham Knight – An Epic Conclusion to a Bat-tastic Franchise

Developer Rocksteady’s most successful franchise has come to an end, albeit with a thunderous bang. Batman: Arkham Knight is the final chapter to the epic Batman: Arkham franchise. We’re here to find out if Rocksteady gave the dark knight a worthy send off.

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S
NOTE: The PC version of the game has been pulled out from sale due to major technical issues which still has yet to be fixed at the time of writing.

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required)
Processor: Intel Core i5-750, 2.67 GHz | AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 GHz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Graphics Memory: 2 GB
DirectX®: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection Required
Hard Drive Space: 45 GB
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz | AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
Graphics Memory: 3 GB
DirectX®: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection Required
Hard Drive Space: 55 GB
ULTRA System Requirements
OS: Win 7 SP1, Win 8.1 (64-bit Operating System Required)
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.4 GHz | AMD FX-8350, 4.0 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980
Graphics Memory: 4 GB
DirectX®: 11
Network: Broadband Internet Connection Required
Hard Drive Space: 55 GB

S T O R Y

WARNING: The game begins with a major spoiler from Batman: Arkham City, so If you haven’t played it yet, shame on you. Just kidding, do try and experience this epic trilogy in its entirety.

In the wake of the clown prince of crime’s death, Gotham experiences a crime rate so low, it puts sagging pants to shame. Later we learn that Gotham’s worst, led by Scarecrow, have banded together to take down the dark knight once and for all, pooling together their assets to employ highly-trained, super shady mercenaries. Led by the mysterious Arkham Knight, these mercenaries lockdown the city preventing outside intervention, effectively hosting a cage match against the bat.

The overall delivery of the main story is quite enjoyable, showcasing top-notch, cinematic, in-engine cutscenes and having the city and it’s denizens recognize the current state of Gotham and each plot progression. Although the default ending was well done, it is linked towards a lackluster, anti-climactic ‘true’ ending which really didn’t seem worth all the riddles you had to solve to unlock it. The true ending seemed to raise more questions than it answered, which is ironic given that it is the final game in the series. The developers did, however, do a remarkable job with the sidequests. These sidequests don’t feel tacked-on at all. You can also tell that these sidequests had as much quality as the main missions.

G A M E P L A Y

The core combat mechanics on-foot are relatively the same, save for a couple new moves for you to use on hapless thugs. Perhaps the most notable addition in ground combat is the new ‘fear takedown’ move. This lets you takedown multiple targets in quick succession when undetected. Most of the gadgets from the previews games are back and better than before. The problem is, there actually aren’t any new gadgets for batman to toy around with on foot. That’s because ground combat is already solid and it has been since Asylum. You know what they say, if it ain’t broke, introduce the Batmobile.

For the first time in Arkham history, players are now able to drive around the entire city in the Batmobile. Other than cruise around, it can also seamlessly switch to combat mode to fight tank drones spread throughout the downtrodden city. Battlemode allows the batmobile to strafe and dodge incoming fire while shooting back with it’s massive cannon to blow up conveniently unmanned drones, which is tons of fun. There’s also the occasional batmobile puzzle sequences and although they’re not as fun as they sound, these sequences are, thankfully, few and far in-between.

V I S U A L S  &  P E R F O R M A N C E

Gotham City is huge, and every inch of it is exceptionally detailed and highly destructible. Though I don’t doubt your driving skills, if you’re ever about to hit a food cart , the side of a building, or a tree ( which are usually indestructible as far as videogames are concerened), don’t worry because the Batmobile doesn’t give damn. It literally plows through anything in it’s path. And while spectacularly mowing down the streets of Gotham, take the time to admire the lighting and weather effects because they are absolutely stunning. The heavy rain effect in Arkham Knight is probably the best I’ve seen among recent games. The puddles of water forming on virtually any surface makes me wish there was a dive button.

The optimization on consoles are solid, for both PS4 and Xbox One. Though Sony’s version is smoother overall, both games keep a stable frame rate. Unfortunately, the PC version suffered major technical issues, resulting in the game being pulled out of retail. If you absolutely must play on PC, sit tight for a few more months. There are plans to re-release the game on PC, but this will most likely coincide with the release of the inevitable Game of the Year release.

V E R D I C T

Rocksteady Studios shows they know just how to properly end a franchise. Giving us more of what we loved, adding something entirely new, and starting on a high note whilst ending even higher. Though the story could have had a bit more work, the whole package is nevertheless an enthralling experience. Batman: Arkham Kngith will surely appease even the slightest of batman fans.