Being a huge fan of both comics and video games, it shouldn't be surprising that I've always been a fan of the Arkham series. Since its debut in 2009 the series has almost always impressed me with it's titles, creating a unique blend of in depth combat and puzzle solving to give us a game that is as challenging as it is entertaining. With the series final entry, Arkham Knight, developer Rocksteady have again created a game that both plays on the strengths of its predecessors and learns from its mistakes, culminating in a massively entertaining send off for the dark knight.
The story follows our beloved protagonist Batman, AKA Bruce Wayne, as he attempts to thwart a deadly plot orchestrated by one of Gotham City's many super villains. Still reeling from the events of Arkham City, Batman must fight his way through various challenges in order to stop Scare Crow, as well as a new antagonist, the Arkham Knight, from releasing a deadly fear toxin throughout the city, which threatens to tear Gotham apart from the inside. The story is fairly basic as comic book stories and Batman adventures go, but that's not to say that it's wholly bad either. While it may not be wholly original, the plot does have many intense moments and is highly entertaining overall. Where the story of Arkham Knight ultimately fails, however, is in its ending. Being the last in the Arkham series, Arkham Knight obviously has to find a way to wrap up the series in a definitive way. Yet, despite obvious efforts to create a meaningful ending, both the game's regular story and extra "Knightfall" endings conclude in a way that will likely leave players with more qustions than answers. The ending of Arkham Knight feels less like a conclusion to a saga and more like the opening of a new chapter, unfortunately not what Rocksteady had in mind, and left me feeling a bit disappointed at how things turned out.
Despite a somewhat flawed story,however, Arkham Knight is, after all, a game, and shines brightest in its gameplay. The freeflow combat and stealthy predator sections of the Arkham series are back, and perhaps better than ever. Both systems keep the same near perfect formula of their predecessors while still managing to add enough new content to make these encounter feel fresh and revived. Various new systems, like environmental take downs, make combat more brutal and bone crushing than ever, while new enemy types, such as turrets, and advanced AI systems make stealth sequences even more demanding, forcing players to adapt and learn from their mistakes to disarm and remove their enemies. It's during these sequences that Arkham knight is at its most entertaining, and makes you feel invincible. The rush of pride that one feels when they've cleared a room of enemies without being seen can't be matched by many other games, and create's a great sense of accomplishment. Puzzle Solving also returns in Arkham Knight, creating new ways to traverse the map and solve issues. While still not as notably challenging as the puzzles of Asylum or City, Knight still brings the signature blend of gadget and movement skills to it's levels that challenge players to think before they simply run headfirst into a new area.
Where Arkham Knight's gameplay begins to dip, however, is when its newest addition rolls onto the scene, the Batmobile. As far as I can tell, the Batmobile is a bit of a double-edged sword. Chasing enemies through the streets of Gotham at high speeds an watching as their cars roll over and smash through walls in slow motion is immensely satisfying. Unfortunately, however, the game often defers to the Batmobile's "Tank Mode" a combat centered form that the Batmobile can enter into, during most encounters in both the story and open world. Unlike the game's hand to hand combat encounters, the Batmobile combat sequences are rather dry and boring, resorting to tedious back and forth shootouts that quickly become over-used. Despite this, Arkham Knight uses these sequences often, applying more pressure to an already fragile part of their game. I often found myself returning from an entertaining and intense battle, only to be thrown into another Batmobile sequence, and thinking to myself "Oh no, not this again". It's for these reasons that, despite its entertaining chase sequences, that the Batmobile does more harm than good, and holds a bit of a negative connotation in the game.
Side missions also make a return in Arkham Knight, each providing their own small story for the Dark Knight to unravel, and creating interesting problem's for the player to solve. From deciphering Riddler's complex puzzles, to fighting side by side with Nightwing to take down the Penguin, each mission has its own feel and style, and create interesting diversions form the open wold. These missions also throw in references to more devoted comic fans, with interesting characters from both the Batman series and DC as a whole making appearances. The open world itself also provides hours of entertainment as well, giving the player an near endless supply of criminals to take down n the streets and areas to explore. Another returning aspect of the game are the games challenge modes, which have come back in a somewhat different way. The much loved predator challenges are back, as well as various new Batmobile challenges, but fans of the arena style combat challenges may be disappointed. Combat challenges in Arkham Knight seem to have moved away from the series past tradition of lengthy combat challenges, and instead favors short challenges which force you to accomplish specifically outlined goal. This system creates an aggravating barrier between for those who enjoy testing their skills against large groups of foes, and has left many, myself included, somewhat disappointed.
Despite its flaws, however, Arkham Knight is still a fantastic game. The final entry in the Dark Knights asylum fueled adventure is a meaningful one and brings many new innovations to the table. Though it may not quite reach the heights of it's much loved predecessor, Arkham City, Knight still manages to play to the series' strengths and create an experience that is wildly entertaining. Arkham Knight may not be the best the series has to offer, but considering the shoes that it had to fill, has managed to create a meaningful experience.