Flameyboy928
2016
A great twist on the normal 3rd person shooter format which continues to propel remedy up as one of my favourite developers.
This games gameplay is so fun and really carries the narrative in this case. The story is very interesting mind you and I think the idea of paring it with a live action series was very unique. I was surprised to see a lot of faces that i recognised most notably Aiden Gillen, Dominic Monaghan and the late great Lance Reddick who all give very good performances.
In terms of a protagonist Jack Joyce is your stereotypical action hero who unfortunately falls under that "Never used a gun before but has no problem gunning his way through hundreds of people" schtick.
The gameplay though is where it's at. The time manipulating abilities make combat sections so fun to play through and make this game so much more enjoyable. The gun combat is pretty good but the enemies are total bullet sponges with unarmoured enemies taking 20 AR bullets to the chest before going down.
The story is very short only consisting of 5 acts with 3 parts each, very easy to blast through and does have some replay value with the different choices which can be made at the end of each act. The overall narrative about time collapsing is very interesting but one complaint I have is that it pushes too much of the narrative onto finable emails/audio logs, and these are normally very long and can completely kill the pacing if you were to stop and read them all. Also i found that characters would appear and disappear throughout the story but im not sure if that was just down to the path i took with the choices. I think they push too much of the story onto optional content and that can leave it very confusing at times. I would recommend for the gameplay alone with the decent story as a nice bonus
This games gameplay is so fun and really carries the narrative in this case. The story is very interesting mind you and I think the idea of paring it with a live action series was very unique. I was surprised to see a lot of faces that i recognised most notably Aiden Gillen, Dominic Monaghan and the late great Lance Reddick who all give very good performances.
In terms of a protagonist Jack Joyce is your stereotypical action hero who unfortunately falls under that "Never used a gun before but has no problem gunning his way through hundreds of people" schtick.
The gameplay though is where it's at. The time manipulating abilities make combat sections so fun to play through and make this game so much more enjoyable. The gun combat is pretty good but the enemies are total bullet sponges with unarmoured enemies taking 20 AR bullets to the chest before going down.
The story is very short only consisting of 5 acts with 3 parts each, very easy to blast through and does have some replay value with the different choices which can be made at the end of each act. The overall narrative about time collapsing is very interesting but one complaint I have is that it pushes too much of the narrative onto finable emails/audio logs, and these are normally very long and can completely kill the pacing if you were to stop and read them all. Also i found that characters would appear and disappear throughout the story but im not sure if that was just down to the path i took with the choices. I think they push too much of the story onto optional content and that can leave it very confusing at times. I would recommend for the gameplay alone with the decent story as a nice bonus
2012
Minor story spoilers
For a basic 3rd person shooter this has one of the most brutal stories I have ever played through.
The fact that this game has multiple areas in which a choice has to be made however each and every one of them has the same outcome may seem like bad storytelling but in this case it is the absolute opposite, none of you choices matter, that's the whole point. Nolan North gives a very underrated performance as Captain Walker, through his performance you can see Walker slowly loose his mind. Ill try and stay away from major spoilers but some of the scenes throughout this game are brutal and unfortunately mirror real tragedy's of war, something in which most military games don't do anymore, the white phosphorus scene in particular. An eye opening experience about how even if you think you are a hero, you cant always be one
Gameplay wise its your standard 3rd person shooter. Gun combat is simple but fun and the small bits of directing your squad members around is a nice way to immerse yourself more. Visually it holds up very well for a 2012 game, soundtrack is also very good.
A fun 3rd person shooter with a fantastic story that really delivers. Highly recommend.
For a basic 3rd person shooter this has one of the most brutal stories I have ever played through.
The fact that this game has multiple areas in which a choice has to be made however each and every one of them has the same outcome may seem like bad storytelling but in this case it is the absolute opposite, none of you choices matter, that's the whole point. Nolan North gives a very underrated performance as Captain Walker, through his performance you can see Walker slowly loose his mind. Ill try and stay away from major spoilers but some of the scenes throughout this game are brutal and unfortunately mirror real tragedy's of war, something in which most military games don't do anymore, the white phosphorus scene in particular. An eye opening experience about how even if you think you are a hero, you cant always be one
Gameplay wise its your standard 3rd person shooter. Gun combat is simple but fun and the small bits of directing your squad members around is a nice way to immerse yourself more. Visually it holds up very well for a 2012 game, soundtrack is also very good.
A fun 3rd person shooter with a fantastic story that really delivers. Highly recommend.
Review contains spoilers
When i first played this years ago I remember not liking it as much as COD 4 and the other modern warfare games, but having replayed it today I can confidently say that this has shot up into my top 5 campaigns. Without a doubt the best WW2 era COD.
The campaign is split into two with the Pacific campaign where you play as Pvt Miller fighting through Japan and the Soviet campaign where you play as Pvt Dmitri Petrenko fighting during the soviet invasion of Germany at the tail end of WW2. Whilst I think that the pacific campaign is amazing with some great missions and serviceable characters the soviet campaign one ups it in almost every way. It has far better set piece missions, introduces Viktor Reznov who is one of the best characters in COD history and has a way better score.
The gunplay is really fun with the WW2 era weapons making gun fights feel way more stressful with the slower rifles compared to blasting through areas with full auto machine guns. Also has two vehicle missions with a tank mission and a plane mission which are a nice change of pace. Great performances as well in particular from Gary Oldman as Reznov. You can really see the blueprint for what they did with Reznov in Black Ops which is a cool thing to keep an eye out for if you have played BO1.
Couple small complaints, one of which will contain spoilers for the pacific campaign. First off I found grenades to be stupid OP in the fact that no matter how far away i was from them i would either take massive damage or die. Small nit pick but it can get annoying as gauntlets of enemies rush you time after time. One other complaint is that the end to the pacific campaign falls a little flat. For those who dont know you are given a choice to save either Sgt Roebuck or Pvt Polonsky. My problem with this is that Pvt Polonsky is literally just a NPC who doesnt have any form of character that is shown through either cutscenes or even in game. Since letting Roebuck die makes a lot more sense for the narrative it leaves you saving a character who isnt much of a character at all. It isnt too much of a problem as this is the last mission in the pacific campaign but i feel like they should of given more character to Polonsky to make that final choice a bit more difficult.
Anyway World at war is an extremely underrated COD with one of the most brutal and dark campaigns and of course introduced zombies mode which has become a staple of COD. Defo worth a revisit it has aged like wine
When i first played this years ago I remember not liking it as much as COD 4 and the other modern warfare games, but having replayed it today I can confidently say that this has shot up into my top 5 campaigns. Without a doubt the best WW2 era COD.
The campaign is split into two with the Pacific campaign where you play as Pvt Miller fighting through Japan and the Soviet campaign where you play as Pvt Dmitri Petrenko fighting during the soviet invasion of Germany at the tail end of WW2. Whilst I think that the pacific campaign is amazing with some great missions and serviceable characters the soviet campaign one ups it in almost every way. It has far better set piece missions, introduces Viktor Reznov who is one of the best characters in COD history and has a way better score.
The gunplay is really fun with the WW2 era weapons making gun fights feel way more stressful with the slower rifles compared to blasting through areas with full auto machine guns. Also has two vehicle missions with a tank mission and a plane mission which are a nice change of pace. Great performances as well in particular from Gary Oldman as Reznov. You can really see the blueprint for what they did with Reznov in Black Ops which is a cool thing to keep an eye out for if you have played BO1.
Couple small complaints, one of which will contain spoilers for the pacific campaign. First off I found grenades to be stupid OP in the fact that no matter how far away i was from them i would either take massive damage or die. Small nit pick but it can get annoying as gauntlets of enemies rush you time after time. One other complaint is that the end to the pacific campaign falls a little flat. For those who dont know you are given a choice to save either Sgt Roebuck or Pvt Polonsky. My problem with this is that Pvt Polonsky is literally just a NPC who doesnt have any form of character that is shown through either cutscenes or even in game. Since letting Roebuck die makes a lot more sense for the narrative it leaves you saving a character who isnt much of a character at all. It isnt too much of a problem as this is the last mission in the pacific campaign but i feel like they should of given more character to Polonsky to make that final choice a bit more difficult.
Anyway World at war is an extremely underrated COD with one of the most brutal and dark campaigns and of course introduced zombies mode which has become a staple of COD. Defo worth a revisit it has aged like wine
1998
Ill prefix before I start that i played this through the new master collection on PS5 however I want to talk about each game individually so ill review each one as I complete them and then ill talk about the master collection later.
Similarly to Max Payne I do not have any nostalgic attachment to this franchise as this is the first time that I have played a metal gear game so I was sceptical going in as I was aware of how highly this game is regarded and I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy this nearly as much. However I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this game.
To again draw a comparison to Max Payne this was one of the first games to really prioritize narrative alongside gameplay and you can tell as this game has a gripping and interesting story paired with enjoyable and really unique boss battles. David Hayter gives an iconic performance as Solid Snake, not to discredit the rest of the cast who also give really good performances. I love how meta all the dialogue is and the parts where the characters comment on your playstyle is a really nice touch. Also have to mention the iconic score which has aged like wine.
The boss battles are where the gameplay shines the most, especially with the level of innovation put into them. The best example is Psycho Mantis in which you have to switch controller ports in order to hit him. The rest of the gameplay shows its age majorly but that is to be expected and I cant really knock a 26 year old game for having janky controls, mainly with the shooting combat.
Couple small issues, I think that the cutscenes can drag on a lot, especially the long codec segments, at least you can skip through them quickly if you need to retry from a save spot. I previously mentioned the janky controls which make this game a bit of a pain to play in the current day but considering its age I dont think its fair to use that as criticism. These next issues are more for the master collection than the game itself. These issues involve two things, Finding Meryl's frequency and switching controller ports during the psycho mantis fight. Since both of these things involved you doing something in the real world, they aren't properly translated to this port. I think that something should of been done to make both of these more organic in the way you access them.
Very surprised by how much i enjoyed this, looking forward to playing 2 & 3.
Similarly to Max Payne I do not have any nostalgic attachment to this franchise as this is the first time that I have played a metal gear game so I was sceptical going in as I was aware of how highly this game is regarded and I was worried that I wouldn't enjoy this nearly as much. However I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this game.
To again draw a comparison to Max Payne this was one of the first games to really prioritize narrative alongside gameplay and you can tell as this game has a gripping and interesting story paired with enjoyable and really unique boss battles. David Hayter gives an iconic performance as Solid Snake, not to discredit the rest of the cast who also give really good performances. I love how meta all the dialogue is and the parts where the characters comment on your playstyle is a really nice touch. Also have to mention the iconic score which has aged like wine.
The boss battles are where the gameplay shines the most, especially with the level of innovation put into them. The best example is Psycho Mantis in which you have to switch controller ports in order to hit him. The rest of the gameplay shows its age majorly but that is to be expected and I cant really knock a 26 year old game for having janky controls, mainly with the shooting combat.
Couple small issues, I think that the cutscenes can drag on a lot, especially the long codec segments, at least you can skip through them quickly if you need to retry from a save spot. I previously mentioned the janky controls which make this game a bit of a pain to play in the current day but considering its age I dont think its fair to use that as criticism. These next issues are more for the master collection than the game itself. These issues involve two things, Finding Meryl's frequency and switching controller ports during the psycho mantis fight. Since both of these things involved you doing something in the real world, they aren't properly translated to this port. I think that something should of been done to make both of these more organic in the way you access them.
Very surprised by how much i enjoyed this, looking forward to playing 2 & 3.
This has got to be around the 5th time I have played this game and I have the same amount of fun with it each time. Batman Arkham Asylum is my favourite of the Arkham franchise and I doubt that it will ever be dethroned.
I think without a doubt it has one of the best atmospheres in gaming. Walking through the empty halls of Arkham Asylum just has this eerie feel to it which makes each segment feel tense and exciting. Being stuck on Arkham island with a great selection of Batman's greatest rogues taunting him just makes for an amazing experience.
Taking a look at the characters, this game of course features the best batman of all time Kevin Conroy(RIP), who will always be the definitive version of batman for me, and pairing him with my favourite Joker of all time Mark Hamill makes these characters amazing off the bat. Of course there are a great cast of side characters most notably Arleen Sorkin(RIP) who played Harley Quinn. As someone who grew up watching the animated series, all these returning actors made me like this game even more. I also really like these renditions of Ivy, Killer Croc and Scarecrow (Even though i much prefer the Knight version).
Gameplay wise it lays out the foundations that each game built upon. I played through the game this time on hard difficulty and I actually found it quite challenging, all it does is increase the damage you take and remove the counter prompt which really makes boss fights more difficult. It of course introduced the free flow combat system and while it definitely is the weakest showing of it, it was ground breaking and lays perfect framework to be improved upon in the next games. Traversal wise, due to the smaller scale of the map there isnt as much focus on it which works in this case luckily. The boss fights/segments in this game are the real standouts of the gameplay loop. The iconic Scarecrow nightmare segments are my personal favourite followed closely by the Killer Croc lair segment, whilst these aren't technically "Boss Fights" they really effectively use the characters without adding a needless beat em up segment. Out of the other boss fights the only real standout is Poison Ivy who has a great fight in this game. The Bane fight is just a tutorial for fighting Titan henchmen and the Titan Joker fight is well known for being disliked as it isn't really a boss fight just a gauntlet of henchmen.
Score and Visual wise this game excels. Obviously this is the Return to Arkham addition which adds a bit more of a polished look to the character models. Whilst i do think the original game looks better, outside of the janky character models this game looks fantastic. The score is perfect mix of creepy and heroic, which is a staple of the games going forward.
Side content wise Asylum lacks any beside the Riddler trophies. Strangely enough in this game only, I actually enjoy the Riddler trophy hunting. Particularly the riddles because they unlock the cool character bios for a wide host of characters that arent in the game. Im definitely glad they decided to go for the more open world feel in later installments so that they could do more with side content because Asylum has no reason to keep playing after beating the main story.
I am going to replay the whole series to see if my ranking has changed since the last time I played them years ago. As of right now Asylum will remain at the top and I dont see it going anywhere. One of my favourite games of all time.
I think without a doubt it has one of the best atmospheres in gaming. Walking through the empty halls of Arkham Asylum just has this eerie feel to it which makes each segment feel tense and exciting. Being stuck on Arkham island with a great selection of Batman's greatest rogues taunting him just makes for an amazing experience.
Taking a look at the characters, this game of course features the best batman of all time Kevin Conroy(RIP), who will always be the definitive version of batman for me, and pairing him with my favourite Joker of all time Mark Hamill makes these characters amazing off the bat. Of course there are a great cast of side characters most notably Arleen Sorkin(RIP) who played Harley Quinn. As someone who grew up watching the animated series, all these returning actors made me like this game even more. I also really like these renditions of Ivy, Killer Croc and Scarecrow (Even though i much prefer the Knight version).
Gameplay wise it lays out the foundations that each game built upon. I played through the game this time on hard difficulty and I actually found it quite challenging, all it does is increase the damage you take and remove the counter prompt which really makes boss fights more difficult. It of course introduced the free flow combat system and while it definitely is the weakest showing of it, it was ground breaking and lays perfect framework to be improved upon in the next games. Traversal wise, due to the smaller scale of the map there isnt as much focus on it which works in this case luckily. The boss fights/segments in this game are the real standouts of the gameplay loop. The iconic Scarecrow nightmare segments are my personal favourite followed closely by the Killer Croc lair segment, whilst these aren't technically "Boss Fights" they really effectively use the characters without adding a needless beat em up segment. Out of the other boss fights the only real standout is Poison Ivy who has a great fight in this game. The Bane fight is just a tutorial for fighting Titan henchmen and the Titan Joker fight is well known for being disliked as it isn't really a boss fight just a gauntlet of henchmen.
Score and Visual wise this game excels. Obviously this is the Return to Arkham addition which adds a bit more of a polished look to the character models. Whilst i do think the original game looks better, outside of the janky character models this game looks fantastic. The score is perfect mix of creepy and heroic, which is a staple of the games going forward.
Side content wise Asylum lacks any beside the Riddler trophies. Strangely enough in this game only, I actually enjoy the Riddler trophy hunting. Particularly the riddles because they unlock the cool character bios for a wide host of characters that arent in the game. Im definitely glad they decided to go for the more open world feel in later installments so that they could do more with side content because Asylum has no reason to keep playing after beating the main story.
I am going to replay the whole series to see if my ranking has changed since the last time I played them years ago. As of right now Asylum will remain at the top and I dont see it going anywhere. One of my favourite games of all time.
This review contains spoilers
This review will contain spoilers.
Same as my Return to Arkham Asylum review, I will review the game as normal and comment on the remaster at the end.
There is a reason that this game is considered the best superhero game of all time. Over a decade old and it still holds up sensationally, so much so that it buts current gen releases to shame.
First off I think that the general story is a massive improvement from Asylum, Hugo Strange is a really menacing villain who works as a mysterious main antagonist while Batman is flying around beating up his usual rogues gallery. Speaking of said rogues gallery, pretty much everyone of importance is in this game. Every villain from Asylum (Except Scarecrow) makes an appearance along side other franchise main stays like Penguin, Two-Face, Ras Al Ghul, Catwoman, Clayface and Mad Hatter. Each villain is performed excellently and given a decent amount of screentime despite being mostly side characters.
I found the story to be very short on this playthrough. Considering the main story takes place across the 10 hours before protocol 10, I actually never noticed how quickly the game progressed from part to part. I much prefer the opening part of this game to its later half as I think it rushes a bit near the end. I noticed this majorly after the Ras Al Ghul boss fight and before i knew it I was fighting Mr Freeze then Clayface and then the game was over. I also like the mystery that is prevalent in the beginning half of the game, surrounding the Joker's health and what Protocol 10 is. That being said I love this games ending and the Jokers death is done really well and the twist with the clayface doppelganger is really obvious on replay but still great for first time players. Performances were on point as always the the two goats Conroy and Hamill doing their best work as Batman and Joker.
The boss fights in this game are a massive step up from Asylum. Despite there only being 4 main boss fights it has two of the best in the whole franchise. Mr Freeze and my personal favourite Clayface. The Grundy boss fight is really good aswell but I think the Ras Al Ghul boss is a bit weak compared to the others but I actually liked it a lot more on this playthrough.
Gameplay wise lots of amazing QOL additions to improve upon the groundwork Asylum set out. Great new gadgets like smoke bombs and the electrical gun thing. New enemy types like the body armoured, shield and bladed enemies. Great improvements to the combat to make it more fluid. Along side improved traversal and a much more explorable map.
Im in two minds about the map. On one hand I love the atmosphere and the idea of part of a city being sectioned off to house dangerous prisoners is really dystopian. On the other hand I really dont like traversing around this map. I think that having a big area that you cant fly across bang in the middle of the map really annoying especially when you have to travel from somewhere like the museum all the way to the steel mill which mean you have to zip across the whole map.
Side content wise it actually has some unlike Asylum. However quite controversially I dont care for City's side content at all. I really like the hush and mad hatter missions but apart from that none stand out to me at all. The riddler content in this game is ridiculous and I still havent even came close to completing it and ive played this game like 4 times in my life.
Score and visual wise both have aged amazingly. This games score is heavenly especially that main theme. Visuals looks great both on the old and new versions. I didnt really notice the weird character designs of the remaster outside of the game over screens. So apart from that I dont really have any complaints about the remaster. It provides a way for people to play these games on new consoles and it adds all the DLC for free. I was lucky enough to have no performance issues so I cant comment on the technical side.
Speaking of DLC I will talk about the Harley Quinn one separately but the Catwoman one is a nice change to the pace and also gives screen time to more villains like Ivy and Two-Face. Also being able to play as Catwoman is pretty cool.
Overall, despite all the amazing features this game adds I still prefer Asylum slightly. Both are 9/10's in my book but I give the edge to Asylum for the Atmosphere and Scarecrow/Croc segments. Batman Arkham City is a modern classic and should 100% be played by everyone at some point in their lives.
Same as my Return to Arkham Asylum review, I will review the game as normal and comment on the remaster at the end.
There is a reason that this game is considered the best superhero game of all time. Over a decade old and it still holds up sensationally, so much so that it buts current gen releases to shame.
First off I think that the general story is a massive improvement from Asylum, Hugo Strange is a really menacing villain who works as a mysterious main antagonist while Batman is flying around beating up his usual rogues gallery. Speaking of said rogues gallery, pretty much everyone of importance is in this game. Every villain from Asylum (Except Scarecrow) makes an appearance along side other franchise main stays like Penguin, Two-Face, Ras Al Ghul, Catwoman, Clayface and Mad Hatter. Each villain is performed excellently and given a decent amount of screentime despite being mostly side characters.
I found the story to be very short on this playthrough. Considering the main story takes place across the 10 hours before protocol 10, I actually never noticed how quickly the game progressed from part to part. I much prefer the opening part of this game to its later half as I think it rushes a bit near the end. I noticed this majorly after the Ras Al Ghul boss fight and before i knew it I was fighting Mr Freeze then Clayface and then the game was over. I also like the mystery that is prevalent in the beginning half of the game, surrounding the Joker's health and what Protocol 10 is. That being said I love this games ending and the Jokers death is done really well and the twist with the clayface doppelganger is really obvious on replay but still great for first time players. Performances were on point as always the the two goats Conroy and Hamill doing their best work as Batman and Joker.
The boss fights in this game are a massive step up from Asylum. Despite there only being 4 main boss fights it has two of the best in the whole franchise. Mr Freeze and my personal favourite Clayface. The Grundy boss fight is really good aswell but I think the Ras Al Ghul boss is a bit weak compared to the others but I actually liked it a lot more on this playthrough.
Gameplay wise lots of amazing QOL additions to improve upon the groundwork Asylum set out. Great new gadgets like smoke bombs and the electrical gun thing. New enemy types like the body armoured, shield and bladed enemies. Great improvements to the combat to make it more fluid. Along side improved traversal and a much more explorable map.
Im in two minds about the map. On one hand I love the atmosphere and the idea of part of a city being sectioned off to house dangerous prisoners is really dystopian. On the other hand I really dont like traversing around this map. I think that having a big area that you cant fly across bang in the middle of the map really annoying especially when you have to travel from somewhere like the museum all the way to the steel mill which mean you have to zip across the whole map.
Side content wise it actually has some unlike Asylum. However quite controversially I dont care for City's side content at all. I really like the hush and mad hatter missions but apart from that none stand out to me at all. The riddler content in this game is ridiculous and I still havent even came close to completing it and ive played this game like 4 times in my life.
Score and visual wise both have aged amazingly. This games score is heavenly especially that main theme. Visuals looks great both on the old and new versions. I didnt really notice the weird character designs of the remaster outside of the game over screens. So apart from that I dont really have any complaints about the remaster. It provides a way for people to play these games on new consoles and it adds all the DLC for free. I was lucky enough to have no performance issues so I cant comment on the technical side.
Speaking of DLC I will talk about the Harley Quinn one separately but the Catwoman one is a nice change to the pace and also gives screen time to more villains like Ivy and Two-Face. Also being able to play as Catwoman is pretty cool.
Overall, despite all the amazing features this game adds I still prefer Asylum slightly. Both are 9/10's in my book but I give the edge to Asylum for the Atmosphere and Scarecrow/Croc segments. Batman Arkham City is a modern classic and should 100% be played by everyone at some point in their lives.
A decently fun DLC add on which expands briefly on Harley after the events of Arkham City. Playing as Robin was pretty cool, I wish that you got to play as him the whole time rather than switching to Batman. I like the new look of the Joker goons and Harley's new design is cool.
One major issue I have with this, this can also go for City and Knight. I hate the way that the Arkham Batman treats Robin. Every time Tim Drake is on screen Batman just dismisses his every word, this ironically is the only time it is excusable as its mentioned that Batman is struggling after the ending of Arkham City but still its a pet peeve of this franchise that i Have.
Pretty decent DLC, glad its included in the Return to Arkham remaster.
One major issue I have with this, this can also go for City and Knight. I hate the way that the Arkham Batman treats Robin. Every time Tim Drake is on screen Batman just dismisses his every word, this ironically is the only time it is excusable as its mentioned that Batman is struggling after the ending of Arkham City but still its a pet peeve of this franchise that i Have.
Pretty decent DLC, glad its included in the Return to Arkham remaster.
This review contains spoilers
This review will contain spoilers
The forgotten entry of the Arkham series. Arkham Origins has been kept separate from the rest of the franchise, being left out of all the remasters and ports to new consoles, which is unfair as this game is a worthy entrance into this franchise which should not be lost to time.
As most people will know, Arkham Origins was made by WB Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady as they were full steam ahead on Arkham Knight which would of left the Arkham series without an entry for a considerable amount of time. This also meant that a lot of the main cast was changed up, which didn't go down amazingly with fans
Despite all this, Arkham Origins is still very solid. The game takes place during Batman's second year in Gotham, where "Black Mask" puts out a $50 million bounty on Batman's head and Batman has to rappel attacks from 8 deadly assassins which include a variety of well known and more obscure Batman rogues. Then of course it is revealed that it was The Joker behind everything and Batman must stop him. Pretty clean cut basic story which has all the tropes of an early year batman story. With the GCPD fighting against him and Batman being believed as a myth.
As previously mentioned, the cast was switched up, for this entry we didn't have the iconic duo of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill but what we got instead wasn't a terrible substitute. Roger Craig Smith plays a much younger, more brutal and serious Batman as apposed to Conroy's more relaxed and level headed portrayal, I really do think that he does a great job with this version of Batman, that scene with Alfred in the Batcave is a great example, 100% shouldn't be overshadowed like it is. On the other hand Troy Baker plays a very similar Joker to Mark Hamill, clearly taking a lot of inspiration from the later. Outside of Nolan North as Penguin and Tara Strong as Harleen Quinzell in a brief cameo, I dont believe that there was any other continuity with voice actors. Side note, cool to see Robert Costanzo playing Harvey Bullock like in the animated series.
The thing that Origins is praised for the most is its boss fights, with big shoes to fill from City which gave two of the best boss battles in the franchise, Origins really does deliver here. As everyone is aware, the Deathstroke and Firefly fights are major standouts. However I would also like to mention that the 1st and TN1 Bane fight are also big standouts for me. I do think that due to how good those fights are, they overshadow some of the more middle of the road boss battles. The Killer Croc fight has nothing on the Asylum segment, the Copperhead fight is interesting but nothing ground breaking, Shiva and Deadshot aren't even part of the main story and both aren't very good at that but i do think the good out weights the bad.
Gameplay wise Origins plays it very similar to City but does add its fair share. Traversal is pretty much the same as City except you get the grapple boost off the bat. Combat plays similarly but with the addition of the shock gloves, getting massive combos is way easier. It adds Martial Arts and Brute enemies, which surprised me as I remembered Brutes being involved throughout the games. Martial arts enemies are really cool, I wish they made the jump to knight. The map is alright, I really like the Christmas theme and the snow makes it look really nice, I found no real reason to explore the map though unlike in City and Asylum. Also half of the map is just Arkham City without any of the damaged buildings.
Visually, the game holds up quite well for a 360 era game. The contrast between the CG cutscenes and the gameplay can be quite jarring at times. As the cutscenes are a lot higher res and darker, and the gameplay is bright. I really like this games Batsuit, it is much more military style and instead of getting ripped throughout as the other suits do it gets scratches and cracks which is a cool detail. As for other character designs, I really like Joker's design, feels a lot more animated series inspired than the other games which always gets points in my book.
Score wise, it has one of my favourite motives throughout the series, "Carol of the bells" which is the Joker's theme in this game is an amazing piece of music. Adds perfectly to the Christmas theme.
As for the characters themselves, the characters introduced in this game shine, where some that are present in the other games falter a bit. Standouts are Black Mask and Deathstroke personally. My favourite character present in this game is Bane, I love this rendition, Origins does him better than both Arkham games he is in. I love it when Bane is displayed as an intellectual equal to Batman as well as physically, which is how he is supposed to be but making him a big dumb monster is easier to write i guess. I think that with some tweaks, Bane could of been the main villain of Origins and I honestly would of preferred that. Speaking of main villain, Joker in this game plays into the argument that people are scared to make a Batman story without the Joker in it. I do agree with that statement but I think that in this case, you cant do "Arkham Origins" without the Joker. The Black Mask plot twist is a bit much as you could of just as easily introduced Joker without it but the scene where it is revealed it a really cool cutscene.
To quickly speak on some issues I have with this game. Excluding Asylum I think that Origins has the worst side content in the series. The only standout side quest is the Mad Hatter one which funnily enough I think its the best Mad Hatter side quest, its a really trippy and fun experience. All the other side content is boring and repetitive. Plus, having two of the main assassins be boring side missions is a waste, especially Deadshot. Tech wise this game is quite buggy, i experienced multiple crashes and a couple instances of having to restart at checkpoint because an enemy had fell through the floor. Nothing too major thankfully.
The whole Arkham series holds a special place in my heart as probably my favourite series of games OAT. Whilst at this point in time I consider Origins to be the weakest, It is not due to its faults, but because it is unfortunately the least of an amazing bunch. I really hope this game isnt forgotten to time and will receive even just a port to current gen consoles as it doesn't deserve to be ignored.
The forgotten entry of the Arkham series. Arkham Origins has been kept separate from the rest of the franchise, being left out of all the remasters and ports to new consoles, which is unfair as this game is a worthy entrance into this franchise which should not be lost to time.
As most people will know, Arkham Origins was made by WB Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady as they were full steam ahead on Arkham Knight which would of left the Arkham series without an entry for a considerable amount of time. This also meant that a lot of the main cast was changed up, which didn't go down amazingly with fans
Despite all this, Arkham Origins is still very solid. The game takes place during Batman's second year in Gotham, where "Black Mask" puts out a $50 million bounty on Batman's head and Batman has to rappel attacks from 8 deadly assassins which include a variety of well known and more obscure Batman rogues. Then of course it is revealed that it was The Joker behind everything and Batman must stop him. Pretty clean cut basic story which has all the tropes of an early year batman story. With the GCPD fighting against him and Batman being believed as a myth.
As previously mentioned, the cast was switched up, for this entry we didn't have the iconic duo of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill but what we got instead wasn't a terrible substitute. Roger Craig Smith plays a much younger, more brutal and serious Batman as apposed to Conroy's more relaxed and level headed portrayal, I really do think that he does a great job with this version of Batman, that scene with Alfred in the Batcave is a great example, 100% shouldn't be overshadowed like it is. On the other hand Troy Baker plays a very similar Joker to Mark Hamill, clearly taking a lot of inspiration from the later. Outside of Nolan North as Penguin and Tara Strong as Harleen Quinzell in a brief cameo, I dont believe that there was any other continuity with voice actors. Side note, cool to see Robert Costanzo playing Harvey Bullock like in the animated series.
The thing that Origins is praised for the most is its boss fights, with big shoes to fill from City which gave two of the best boss battles in the franchise, Origins really does deliver here. As everyone is aware, the Deathstroke and Firefly fights are major standouts. However I would also like to mention that the 1st and TN1 Bane fight are also big standouts for me. I do think that due to how good those fights are, they overshadow some of the more middle of the road boss battles. The Killer Croc fight has nothing on the Asylum segment, the Copperhead fight is interesting but nothing ground breaking, Shiva and Deadshot aren't even part of the main story and both aren't very good at that but i do think the good out weights the bad.
Gameplay wise Origins plays it very similar to City but does add its fair share. Traversal is pretty much the same as City except you get the grapple boost off the bat. Combat plays similarly but with the addition of the shock gloves, getting massive combos is way easier. It adds Martial Arts and Brute enemies, which surprised me as I remembered Brutes being involved throughout the games. Martial arts enemies are really cool, I wish they made the jump to knight. The map is alright, I really like the Christmas theme and the snow makes it look really nice, I found no real reason to explore the map though unlike in City and Asylum. Also half of the map is just Arkham City without any of the damaged buildings.
Visually, the game holds up quite well for a 360 era game. The contrast between the CG cutscenes and the gameplay can be quite jarring at times. As the cutscenes are a lot higher res and darker, and the gameplay is bright. I really like this games Batsuit, it is much more military style and instead of getting ripped throughout as the other suits do it gets scratches and cracks which is a cool detail. As for other character designs, I really like Joker's design, feels a lot more animated series inspired than the other games which always gets points in my book.
Score wise, it has one of my favourite motives throughout the series, "Carol of the bells" which is the Joker's theme in this game is an amazing piece of music. Adds perfectly to the Christmas theme.
As for the characters themselves, the characters introduced in this game shine, where some that are present in the other games falter a bit. Standouts are Black Mask and Deathstroke personally. My favourite character present in this game is Bane, I love this rendition, Origins does him better than both Arkham games he is in. I love it when Bane is displayed as an intellectual equal to Batman as well as physically, which is how he is supposed to be but making him a big dumb monster is easier to write i guess. I think that with some tweaks, Bane could of been the main villain of Origins and I honestly would of preferred that. Speaking of main villain, Joker in this game plays into the argument that people are scared to make a Batman story without the Joker in it. I do agree with that statement but I think that in this case, you cant do "Arkham Origins" without the Joker. The Black Mask plot twist is a bit much as you could of just as easily introduced Joker without it but the scene where it is revealed it a really cool cutscene.
To quickly speak on some issues I have with this game. Excluding Asylum I think that Origins has the worst side content in the series. The only standout side quest is the Mad Hatter one which funnily enough I think its the best Mad Hatter side quest, its a really trippy and fun experience. All the other side content is boring and repetitive. Plus, having two of the main assassins be boring side missions is a waste, especially Deadshot. Tech wise this game is quite buggy, i experienced multiple crashes and a couple instances of having to restart at checkpoint because an enemy had fell through the floor. Nothing too major thankfully.
The whole Arkham series holds a special place in my heart as probably my favourite series of games OAT. Whilst at this point in time I consider Origins to be the weakest, It is not due to its faults, but because it is unfortunately the least of an amazing bunch. I really hope this game isnt forgotten to time and will receive even just a port to current gen consoles as it doesn't deserve to be ignored.
Had to switch over to PC to play this as you cant get it on Xbox
I enjoyed this DLC a lot, I'd go as far to say its one of two arkham DLC's that were actually worth the money. It adds a new suit, new side quests (But they are origins side quests so they aren't very good), A new gadget and is a decent length for a DLC.
Mr Freeze is amazing in this. One of my favourite Batman villains, also one of my favourite origin stories so that bumps this up a few points. Basically a one for one with his animated series origin which totally revamped the character. Also this is my favourite design of his in the Arkham series, I love the bulkiness of the suit. The actual boss fight i found really tough but enjoyable. Takes what was amazing about the City boss fight and makes it a bit tougher.
Very good DLC, worth the money.
I enjoyed this DLC a lot, I'd go as far to say its one of two arkham DLC's that were actually worth the money. It adds a new suit, new side quests (But they are origins side quests so they aren't very good), A new gadget and is a decent length for a DLC.
Mr Freeze is amazing in this. One of my favourite Batman villains, also one of my favourite origin stories so that bumps this up a few points. Basically a one for one with his animated series origin which totally revamped the character. Also this is my favourite design of his in the Arkham series, I love the bulkiness of the suit. The actual boss fight i found really tough but enjoyable. Takes what was amazing about the City boss fight and makes it a bit tougher.
Very good DLC, worth the money.
This review will contain spoilers
Arkham DLC ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/list/batman-arkham-dlc-ranked-/
The final entry in the best superhero gaming franchise of all time and probably the most divisive one at that. I think that Arkham Knight features some of the best and the worst that this franchise has to offer. That being said I think that this is still a fantastic end to this franchise.
To start off with the story, I think that this is on the weaker side compared to the other games, the story feels very disconnected from itself and due to the constant breaks throughout it, It can stall quite a bit. To broaden it out, I think the game starts great, dips drastically in the middle, picks up with the Harley segment at the movie studio, dips again for a bit but come back to end strongly. There is a lot I like about the story, first off I love Scarecrow as the main villain. One of my favourite Batman villains so im glad to see him at the helm. So much better than the Asylum version. Batman's battle against the Joker's virus is a good B plot which ties in well with the end of the game. I really like what they do with Ivy's character turning her into a bit of an anti-hero at the end. I like the inclusion and more focus on the bat family, particularly Oracle and Nightwing. Now onto a couple issues I have. I think the Arkham Knight could of been done a lot better, ill talk more specifically about this in a minute but I think that him popping up every now and then only to leave as soon as batman starts to fight back gets very repetitive after the 3rd time. I think that the detonation of the cloud of fear gas comes completely out of the blue and 100% could of been handled better and given a bit of tension. I also think that the story's pace grinds to a halt during the middle section specifically the airship part. Probably 3rd ranked in terms of story as I think it has a better overall narrative than Asylum.
Now looking at the characters, once again I have to mention the amazing work done by the two goats, Kevin Conroy (RIP) and Mark Hamill. They put so much life into these two characters and it is devastating that we will never see the two of them on screen again. I will also commend John Noble for his terrifying performance as Scarecrow, also Jonathan Banks gives the best Jim Gordon performance in the series. Great work as always by the series mainstays like Nolan North as Penguin, Tara Strong as Harley, Tasia Valenza as Ivy and Troy Baker as Two-Face and the Arkham Knight. Speaking of the Arkham Knight, I think it is a safe bet to say that the vast majority who played this game guessed the twist a mile off. Jason Todd being the Arkham Knight is a really interesting idea but it was just done so poorly. The constant hints being fed while constantly feeding into the mystery is really counter intuitive. Im sure most people guessed it from the first time Jason Todd is mentioned as he hasnt been brought up at all during the whole series. I think it would of been better if Batman knowingly had to fight Jason and having to grapple with that. I think that would of been way better than the constant "Not yet Dark Knight" every time he was on screen. Side characters are pretty good, most villains are kept to side quests but we do get proper uses of the bat family which is great. Nightwing, Robin, Alfred and Oracle are prominent throughout the story which is great to have. To quickly touch on the designs. Knight has some of my favourites. What i have noticed is that Knight makes a lot of the characters look messy or unkempt, big examples are Penguin, Riddler and Firefly all looking very sweaty and very dressed down considering what they normally look like. I absolutely love Scarecrows design, with the mangled face and the noose around his neck. I really like that they didnt ignore the fact he got deathrolled by killer croc in Asylum, I actually noticed this time through that he has a leg brace which is a cool detail. Other designs like Harley, Azrael, Two-face and Ivy are nice upgrades from their city counterparts.
Moving onto the gameplay. Arkham Knight perfects everything that the other games had been building towards. The free flow system peaked here, it is so fluid and this game adds lots of little features like the fear multi takedown, environmental takedowns and duel takedowns when fighting with a partner. A lot of enemy variety with the Arkham Knight's militia, now you have medics, drone operators, brutes with knives, sword wielding guys and now thugs will randomly charge you as well. The traversal is perfect also, flying around the city is so quick it is awesome. However there is of course that other means of traversal...
The batmobile in this game was controversial to say the least. Now I fully used to be in the "They overused the batmobile" camp, in fact it I said it in my old review of this game. I still do agree to an extent but during the main story I didnt find much of an issue outside a couple of things, side content however is a different debate, i will touch on that later. My main complaints with the batmobile are that it seems like whenever rocksteady didnt know what to put in an area, they would throw a drone fighting segment in, so there are some parts of the story that really dont seem like they need it. Also I hate the cobra tank battles, vehicle stealth sections should not exits, period. Also the cloud burst battle sucks and leads into my next point.
WHY DOES THIS GAME HAVE NO BOSS BATTLES! Every other game in the series is praised on its boss battles, but in Arkham Knight you are gonna get one of two things, a tank battle or a room full of goons that you have to clear before you can deal damage to the boss. This is my biggest complaint about this game, it truly shocks me why they abandoned literally the best part of all the other games.
Now this is gonna take a bit because this is my favourite part of Arkham Knight. The side content. This game has sensational side content, almost every major villain from the series is featured in Knight's side content. I love gradually filling up the GCPD with the villains and I also like how the game pushes you onto the side content. So I am briefly going to go over most side quests and ill group a few together to save time.
First off the militia side quests are boring, all 4 of them. Dont get me started on the fucking deathstroke fight which is literally the fucking Arkham Knight cloudburst battle again expect without the fear toxin. A bastardisation of the Origins fight. These quests really add to the overused batmobile argument as two of them require it.
The Riddler side quest also sucks, Ive done this twice to 240% the game and I will never do it again. The trophies are one thing but the shit challenges are boring and i will never do these every again.
The two small sidequests involving Hush and Deacon Blackfire are decent but could of been longer. Deacon Blackfire i think could of been replaced with a character like Bane, Clayface, Black Mask or even a popular character we hadn't seen yet like Ventriloquist and Scarface. Hush one is a bit of a let down but I have no clue what else they could of done.
Two-Face and Penguin both have decent side quests, I like the Two-face one more because of the way it switches up the normal predator sections by giving you the chance to go loud. Penguins is alright, having Nightwing in it is cool.
The Firefly quest is a chase segment but it is pretty cool, Nothing on the origins segment but still alright. Finding the fire fighters is just a gauntlet of enemies so nothing special there.
Now for my Top 3 favourites. The Azrael quest is fun, getting to play as him is nice and the choice at the end is a cool way to end it off. The man bat quest is awesome, with that iconic jumpscare and examining the lab, an unusually sad side quest. Then the Professor Pyg quest which is my favourite, its a better version of the Hush quest from city. The creepy Opera music, examining the bodies and that final fight is pretty fun.
Quickly looking at the visuals. This game looks fantastic. Hard to believe that is nearly 10 years old. I would really like to see a ps5 upgrade, just to see this in 60 fps would be brilliant. Also the score is great, probably the weakest of the series but by no means bad.
Arkham Knight is still pretty divisive, but to me it is a fantastic book end to one of the best franchises of all time. Also Arkham Knight has 7 DLC's to look at so prepare for the bombardment of those reviews. 100% recommend this game and this series, Absolutely fantastic.
Arkham DLC ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/list/batman-arkham-dlc-ranked-/
The final entry in the best superhero gaming franchise of all time and probably the most divisive one at that. I think that Arkham Knight features some of the best and the worst that this franchise has to offer. That being said I think that this is still a fantastic end to this franchise.
To start off with the story, I think that this is on the weaker side compared to the other games, the story feels very disconnected from itself and due to the constant breaks throughout it, It can stall quite a bit. To broaden it out, I think the game starts great, dips drastically in the middle, picks up with the Harley segment at the movie studio, dips again for a bit but come back to end strongly. There is a lot I like about the story, first off I love Scarecrow as the main villain. One of my favourite Batman villains so im glad to see him at the helm. So much better than the Asylum version. Batman's battle against the Joker's virus is a good B plot which ties in well with the end of the game. I really like what they do with Ivy's character turning her into a bit of an anti-hero at the end. I like the inclusion and more focus on the bat family, particularly Oracle and Nightwing. Now onto a couple issues I have. I think the Arkham Knight could of been done a lot better, ill talk more specifically about this in a minute but I think that him popping up every now and then only to leave as soon as batman starts to fight back gets very repetitive after the 3rd time. I think that the detonation of the cloud of fear gas comes completely out of the blue and 100% could of been handled better and given a bit of tension. I also think that the story's pace grinds to a halt during the middle section specifically the airship part. Probably 3rd ranked in terms of story as I think it has a better overall narrative than Asylum.
Now looking at the characters, once again I have to mention the amazing work done by the two goats, Kevin Conroy (RIP) and Mark Hamill. They put so much life into these two characters and it is devastating that we will never see the two of them on screen again. I will also commend John Noble for his terrifying performance as Scarecrow, also Jonathan Banks gives the best Jim Gordon performance in the series. Great work as always by the series mainstays like Nolan North as Penguin, Tara Strong as Harley, Tasia Valenza as Ivy and Troy Baker as Two-Face and the Arkham Knight. Speaking of the Arkham Knight, I think it is a safe bet to say that the vast majority who played this game guessed the twist a mile off. Jason Todd being the Arkham Knight is a really interesting idea but it was just done so poorly. The constant hints being fed while constantly feeding into the mystery is really counter intuitive. Im sure most people guessed it from the first time Jason Todd is mentioned as he hasnt been brought up at all during the whole series. I think it would of been better if Batman knowingly had to fight Jason and having to grapple with that. I think that would of been way better than the constant "Not yet Dark Knight" every time he was on screen. Side characters are pretty good, most villains are kept to side quests but we do get proper uses of the bat family which is great. Nightwing, Robin, Alfred and Oracle are prominent throughout the story which is great to have. To quickly touch on the designs. Knight has some of my favourites. What i have noticed is that Knight makes a lot of the characters look messy or unkempt, big examples are Penguin, Riddler and Firefly all looking very sweaty and very dressed down considering what they normally look like. I absolutely love Scarecrows design, with the mangled face and the noose around his neck. I really like that they didnt ignore the fact he got deathrolled by killer croc in Asylum, I actually noticed this time through that he has a leg brace which is a cool detail. Other designs like Harley, Azrael, Two-face and Ivy are nice upgrades from their city counterparts.
Moving onto the gameplay. Arkham Knight perfects everything that the other games had been building towards. The free flow system peaked here, it is so fluid and this game adds lots of little features like the fear multi takedown, environmental takedowns and duel takedowns when fighting with a partner. A lot of enemy variety with the Arkham Knight's militia, now you have medics, drone operators, brutes with knives, sword wielding guys and now thugs will randomly charge you as well. The traversal is perfect also, flying around the city is so quick it is awesome. However there is of course that other means of traversal...
The batmobile in this game was controversial to say the least. Now I fully used to be in the "They overused the batmobile" camp, in fact it I said it in my old review of this game. I still do agree to an extent but during the main story I didnt find much of an issue outside a couple of things, side content however is a different debate, i will touch on that later. My main complaints with the batmobile are that it seems like whenever rocksteady didnt know what to put in an area, they would throw a drone fighting segment in, so there are some parts of the story that really dont seem like they need it. Also I hate the cobra tank battles, vehicle stealth sections should not exits, period. Also the cloud burst battle sucks and leads into my next point.
WHY DOES THIS GAME HAVE NO BOSS BATTLES! Every other game in the series is praised on its boss battles, but in Arkham Knight you are gonna get one of two things, a tank battle or a room full of goons that you have to clear before you can deal damage to the boss. This is my biggest complaint about this game, it truly shocks me why they abandoned literally the best part of all the other games.
Now this is gonna take a bit because this is my favourite part of Arkham Knight. The side content. This game has sensational side content, almost every major villain from the series is featured in Knight's side content. I love gradually filling up the GCPD with the villains and I also like how the game pushes you onto the side content. So I am briefly going to go over most side quests and ill group a few together to save time.
First off the militia side quests are boring, all 4 of them. Dont get me started on the fucking deathstroke fight which is literally the fucking Arkham Knight cloudburst battle again expect without the fear toxin. A bastardisation of the Origins fight. These quests really add to the overused batmobile argument as two of them require it.
The Riddler side quest also sucks, Ive done this twice to 240% the game and I will never do it again. The trophies are one thing but the shit challenges are boring and i will never do these every again.
The two small sidequests involving Hush and Deacon Blackfire are decent but could of been longer. Deacon Blackfire i think could of been replaced with a character like Bane, Clayface, Black Mask or even a popular character we hadn't seen yet like Ventriloquist and Scarface. Hush one is a bit of a let down but I have no clue what else they could of done.
Two-Face and Penguin both have decent side quests, I like the Two-face one more because of the way it switches up the normal predator sections by giving you the chance to go loud. Penguins is alright, having Nightwing in it is cool.
The Firefly quest is a chase segment but it is pretty cool, Nothing on the origins segment but still alright. Finding the fire fighters is just a gauntlet of enemies so nothing special there.
Now for my Top 3 favourites. The Azrael quest is fun, getting to play as him is nice and the choice at the end is a cool way to end it off. The man bat quest is awesome, with that iconic jumpscare and examining the lab, an unusually sad side quest. Then the Professor Pyg quest which is my favourite, its a better version of the Hush quest from city. The creepy Opera music, examining the bodies and that final fight is pretty fun.
Quickly looking at the visuals. This game looks fantastic. Hard to believe that is nearly 10 years old. I would really like to see a ps5 upgrade, just to see this in 60 fps would be brilliant. Also the score is great, probably the weakest of the series but by no means bad.
Arkham Knight is still pretty divisive, but to me it is a fantastic book end to one of the best franchises of all time. Also Arkham Knight has 7 DLC's to look at so prepare for the bombardment of those reviews. 100% recommend this game and this series, Absolutely fantastic.
Link to my Arkham Knight review: https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/review/1419456/
I think this is the best DLC in the franchise. It adds 4 of the biggest villains omitted from Arkham Knight's main game. It also gives 4 really solid side quests 3 of which are set in completely new areas so they aren't all just crammed into already existing buildings. Ill talk about each quest briefly in order from my least favourite to favourite.
4. Mad Hatter - I think this is the weakest of the quests as it is very repetitive and doesn't have that good of a pay off. Basic premise is Mad Hatter has kidnapped 3 cops and hid them in bomb rigged cop cars. Batman has to diffuse the bombs to save them. Problem with this is i found the controls to be really janky and diffusing the bombs especially the harder ones became quite difficult. But the final wonderland fight is pretty cool but has nothing on the Origins or City one.
3. Mr Freeze - My favourite character out of these 4 but the side quest itself is nothing special. A lot of Militia stuff for some reason, adds an unnecessary tank fight but it has a fantastic ending with Mr Freeze and Nora sailing off together after finally being able to free her from the cryogen.
2. Ras Al Ghul - My least favourite character of the group but damn this side quest is good. Premise is that the League of Assassins are in a civil war, where half want Ras dead and the other dont. It introduces Nyssa Al Ghul as the leader of the rebel faction. The choice at the end is a tough one where you choose to either let Ras die or revive him, its a tough one on Batman's moral code. Love the hidden base being under the hospital thats really cool.
1. Killer Croc - Probably my 2nd favourite side quest in Knight. I love traversing through the destroyed Prison and seeing all the carnage. Croc's design is monstrous where he has no resemblance of a man anymore. It has a pretty cool twist of Croc being experimented on by the warden and thats why he is attacking them.
I love this DLC as it adds 4 fun side missions and a whole new wing to the GCPD building which is great. It is pretty weird that a DLC is required to get the max completion of the game but regardless I would 100% recommend to anyone who hasn't played.
I think this is the best DLC in the franchise. It adds 4 of the biggest villains omitted from Arkham Knight's main game. It also gives 4 really solid side quests 3 of which are set in completely new areas so they aren't all just crammed into already existing buildings. Ill talk about each quest briefly in order from my least favourite to favourite.
4. Mad Hatter - I think this is the weakest of the quests as it is very repetitive and doesn't have that good of a pay off. Basic premise is Mad Hatter has kidnapped 3 cops and hid them in bomb rigged cop cars. Batman has to diffuse the bombs to save them. Problem with this is i found the controls to be really janky and diffusing the bombs especially the harder ones became quite difficult. But the final wonderland fight is pretty cool but has nothing on the Origins or City one.
3. Mr Freeze - My favourite character out of these 4 but the side quest itself is nothing special. A lot of Militia stuff for some reason, adds an unnecessary tank fight but it has a fantastic ending with Mr Freeze and Nora sailing off together after finally being able to free her from the cryogen.
2. Ras Al Ghul - My least favourite character of the group but damn this side quest is good. Premise is that the League of Assassins are in a civil war, where half want Ras dead and the other dont. It introduces Nyssa Al Ghul as the leader of the rebel faction. The choice at the end is a tough one where you choose to either let Ras die or revive him, its a tough one on Batman's moral code. Love the hidden base being under the hospital thats really cool.
1. Killer Croc - Probably my 2nd favourite side quest in Knight. I love traversing through the destroyed Prison and seeing all the carnage. Croc's design is monstrous where he has no resemblance of a man anymore. It has a pretty cool twist of Croc being experimented on by the warden and thats why he is attacking them.
I love this DLC as it adds 4 fun side missions and a whole new wing to the GCPD building which is great. It is pretty weird that a DLC is required to get the max completion of the game but regardless I would 100% recommend to anyone who hasn't played.
Link to my Arkham Knight review - https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/review/1419456/
The best of the Arkham Knight add on DLC packs. Adds a whole new area and playable character. Batgirl plays very similar to Batman but moves a bit quicker but still cool to play as Batgirl. Basic premise has Batgirl and Robin trying to save Commissioner Gordon from the Joker and Harley Quinn. Its pretty quick, takes no more than an hour but that is almost double the length of all the other ones.
Love seeing Harley in the animated series costume, im a sucker for anything referencing that show so thats plus a few points. I wish Robin had an updated costume as this is meant to be set years prior to Arkham Asylum and Tim Drake looks exactly the same.
The only one of these Episodic DLC's that is worth the money.
The best of the Arkham Knight add on DLC packs. Adds a whole new area and playable character. Batgirl plays very similar to Batman but moves a bit quicker but still cool to play as Batgirl. Basic premise has Batgirl and Robin trying to save Commissioner Gordon from the Joker and Harley Quinn. Its pretty quick, takes no more than an hour but that is almost double the length of all the other ones.
Love seeing Harley in the animated series costume, im a sucker for anything referencing that show so thats plus a few points. I wish Robin had an updated costume as this is meant to be set years prior to Arkham Asylum and Tim Drake looks exactly the same.
The only one of these Episodic DLC's that is worth the money.
Link to my Arkham Knight review - https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/review/1419456/
My second favourite of these episodic DLC's. Basic premise sees Red Hood trying to run Black Mask out of Gotham. Neat to see Black Mask back for all of 5 minutes. Red Hoods design is pretty cool and running around gunning people down is fun. I think what really drags these down is the fact they are all like 10 minutes long. I would still recommend this one as it is different enough to warrant the price but you could watch it on YouTube and save yourself the cash.
My second favourite of these episodic DLC's. Basic premise sees Red Hood trying to run Black Mask out of Gotham. Neat to see Black Mask back for all of 5 minutes. Red Hoods design is pretty cool and running around gunning people down is fun. I think what really drags these down is the fact they are all like 10 minutes long. I would still recommend this one as it is different enough to warrant the price but you could watch it on YouTube and save yourself the cash.
Link to my Arkham Knight review - https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/review/1419456/
I enjoy this one a lot compared to the other ones probably because you can play as a new character. Harley is enjoyable to play as and her playstyle is probably the most different out of all the characters basically having no stealth options at all. Premise has Harley breaking Poison Ivy out of jail in Bludhaven before the events of Arkham Knight. Fighting Nightwing is literally the same as a regular enemy with a stun stick bit of a let down there.
The strange combination of Harley and The Penguin works surprisingly well and has a few good comedic moments. I also like Harley's version of detective vision which looks really crazy. Its pretty fun for what it is, I would recommend this one but only on sale.
I enjoy this one a lot compared to the other ones probably because you can play as a new character. Harley is enjoyable to play as and her playstyle is probably the most different out of all the characters basically having no stealth options at all. Premise has Harley breaking Poison Ivy out of jail in Bludhaven before the events of Arkham Knight. Fighting Nightwing is literally the same as a regular enemy with a stun stick bit of a let down there.
The strange combination of Harley and The Penguin works surprisingly well and has a few good comedic moments. I also like Harley's version of detective vision which looks really crazy. Its pretty fun for what it is, I would recommend this one but only on sale.
Link to my Arkham Knight review - https://www.backloggd.com/u/Flameyboy928/review/1419456/
I really didnt care for this one at all. While I like playing as Catwoman, the way this one plays is horrible. Basic premise is Catwoman wants to steal money from Riddler after the events of Arkham Knight. Basically a couple stealth sections and a brawl at the end. The final bit is a pisstake for how hard it is, due to it I will probably never play this again. The only thing that saves this is getting to fuck with The Riddler after 4 games of torment. Also listening to the Riddler try and pretend he is on the phone to his lawyer while Catwoman is stealing all his shit is hilarious. Would not recommend, just watch it online.
I really didnt care for this one at all. While I like playing as Catwoman, the way this one plays is horrible. Basic premise is Catwoman wants to steal money from Riddler after the events of Arkham Knight. Basically a couple stealth sections and a brawl at the end. The final bit is a pisstake for how hard it is, due to it I will probably never play this again. The only thing that saves this is getting to fuck with The Riddler after 4 games of torment. Also listening to the Riddler try and pretend he is on the phone to his lawyer while Catwoman is stealing all his shit is hilarious. Would not recommend, just watch it online.