Arkham Knight is an insanely good game. It's stunningly gorgeous that it stands up to current PS5 releases, half a decade later. The environment of actual Gotham city is much bigger than even Arkham City. While I lament how 'samey' much of the map feels, it's certainly plenty distinct from the previous two mainline entries.
Arkham Knight delivers the same satisfying quick-paced combat as its predecessors while managing a fantastic end to the sprawling three-game narrative. The Joker's presence in the game is WILDLY COOL as a storytelling device. It's actually shocking to me how few games utilize a character in this manner. The writing is amazing, with main storybeats, like the death of Barbara Gordon, causing gasps and disbelief. The game weaves together interesting conundrums and explorations like getting Poison Ivy's assistance with the neurotoxin gas and raiding the airships of an evil capitalist dickwad to cure the city. Disparate locales and characters that are woven neatly into the fabric of the game's narrative in a way that feels difficult to explain after-the-fact even though you never question it in the moment.
The amount of side content is bananas as well. Riddler Trophies make their, sometimes annoying, return and a litany of missions with Catwoman, Nightwing, Man-Bat, The Mad Hatter, Azrael and even more fill the game to the brim. A cavalcade of comic book content that scratches all the right itches from completionist to collectathon to time trials to combat skill and even more than that. The game knocks almost everything out of the park.
The biggest drawback is the amount of time you spend in the goddamn Batmobile. The Batmobile content is rarely fun, mostly annoying, and really removes the feeling of being Batman. The game relies on it too heavily and although at times it makes perfect narrative and thematic sense, it's often simply not engaging or interesting. I almost took off a half star for it alone, but I felt that'd be unfair for how good the rest of the game is. How pleasing the game truly is. How fantastic the story is.
The DLC is just as good. A complete game top to bottom and a perfect finish to one of gaming's absolute best trilogies. An absolute joy to replay as well.
Arkham Knight delivers the same satisfying quick-paced combat as its predecessors while managing a fantastic end to the sprawling three-game narrative. The Joker's presence in the game is WILDLY COOL as a storytelling device. It's actually shocking to me how few games utilize a character in this manner. The writing is amazing, with main storybeats, like the death of Barbara Gordon, causing gasps and disbelief. The game weaves together interesting conundrums and explorations like getting Poison Ivy's assistance with the neurotoxin gas and raiding the airships of an evil capitalist dickwad to cure the city. Disparate locales and characters that are woven neatly into the fabric of the game's narrative in a way that feels difficult to explain after-the-fact even though you never question it in the moment.
The amount of side content is bananas as well. Riddler Trophies make their, sometimes annoying, return and a litany of missions with Catwoman, Nightwing, Man-Bat, The Mad Hatter, Azrael and even more fill the game to the brim. A cavalcade of comic book content that scratches all the right itches from completionist to collectathon to time trials to combat skill and even more than that. The game knocks almost everything out of the park.
The biggest drawback is the amount of time you spend in the goddamn Batmobile. The Batmobile content is rarely fun, mostly annoying, and really removes the feeling of being Batman. The game relies on it too heavily and although at times it makes perfect narrative and thematic sense, it's often simply not engaging or interesting. I almost took off a half star for it alone, but I felt that'd be unfair for how good the rest of the game is. How pleasing the game truly is. How fantastic the story is.
The DLC is just as good. A complete game top to bottom and a perfect finish to one of gaming's absolute best trilogies. An absolute joy to replay as well.