Looking past the numerous bugs that I've encountered in my playthrough, including Deadshot running around in circles during his boss fight, numerous amounts of clipping through structures unintentionally, MULTIPLE enemies/thugs getting stuck in walls, barrels, etc. and the frame rate dipping at points despite maintaining a somewhat stable fps 90% of the time, and other shit where im pretty sure i press the counter or ground takedown buttons but never registers (i had to make sure i wasn't trippin' because of a higher framerate and lo and behold i can keep up with the other games combat just fine and even the combat challenges in this but not the main campaign, wasn't just me, even saw similar complaints on steam forums) and what's not the hardest or bullshit Riddler trophies/side mission (that comes far later in City/Knight) but definitely the most tedious despite being the easiest in the series, This definitely doesn't deserve to be the redheaded step child of the Arkham franchise given how solid everything else is.
Albeit, There's the aforementioned BIG asterisk () given that theres a big elephant in the room being that this is a "you gotta make some thing while people wait for "the big game" to drop" game (think of this as the "Borderlands The Pre-Sequel" to Gearbox's Borderlands 3), I'd say a cashgrab but really its little more effort put into to be precisely called that but for the lack of a better term, that's basically what this was to WB. Even straight up Copied & Pasted AC's map with new additions to make it feel 2x bigger or denser than City including:
- needing a bridge to connect the 2 "hub central cities"
- needing fast travel points via batwing
and while i didn't notice at first, I eventually started to recognize where the locations and only made me appreciate the art direction rocksteady went for to make these locations stand out. I guess I can call that a backhanded compliment to WBM given the circumstances. They were originally the ones who developed Arkham City: Armored Edition (a Wii U port of AC) and many features in that made it into here like the shock gloves which made combat far easier than City/Knight despite again, borrowing City's Combat or investigative mode via detective vision where you can look for evidence and rewind/FF the crime scene like its a recording that even rocksteady took and ran with that idea in Arkham Knight.
Then there's 3 different changes to gadgets that weren't just straight up copied and pasted, the line launcher turns into the "remote claw" which you can string enemies up to gargoyles for a remote takedown, pull em into smoke or explosive canisters, make a tightrope you can walk on and use it as a regular line launcher. Its very versatile and easily the best change and makes me wonder why the hell bruce disassembles it by the time asylum rolls around. The 2nd being the "glue grenade" which is a prototype of the eventual "ice grenade" for Arkham City, only difference between the 2 is that one can be placed as a mine but only covering the enemies feet and not their whole body which is basically a handicap at that rate. Then the final and most useless change of all is going from the Remote electric charge gun into a "stun grenade" which functions the same purpose but is way more useless during combat more than i realized as i progress throughout the game. What makes things more puzzling is the fact that its SLOWER with its quickshot mechanic during combat than literally firing an electric projectile and only has one purpose. I've used the sonic batarang more than the stun grenade and i've rarely use that during this game than i did in asylum or city.
Its very very hard not to judge it compared to its predecessors and successor because it's got its DNA through and through but on its own merits, its got the best bosses in the series (not hard given Asylums was pretty braindead, City's rocksteady's peak and Knights was just... no.), Gave a good explanation to certain things in the series on how bane ended up being a Titan addict in asylum, or show killer croc in his VERY brief period when he was half-man/half-lizard with his human skeleton structure still intact, recontextualize batman's history with oracle/barbara gordon and her father James, The joker, the GCPD, the riddler, alfred, etc. through out the mainline arkham trilogy even if very heavy-handed and as subtle as a brick to the noggin'. But also makes room for villains not seen before in this series like Shiva, Copperhead, Anarky, Firefly & Deathstroke (Both reappear in Knight), and I'd also say electrocutioner but he's a walking punch line in game with one of the funniest but anti-climatic "boss fights" in the game.
Despite this game's eye rolling "Plot Twist" is definitely a slap in the face with the infamous Black Mask/Joker fakeout, This is an interesting story to Arkham Batman. Even more interesting factoring the DLC's to account for with the fullest extent of Batman's First encounters/training but still, seeing a much more aggressive, temperamental Bats played not by Kevin Conroy (R.I.P.) but by Roger Craig Smith, gives it enough distinction to stand out on his own. Including taking the time to include an arc Bruce's got with Alfred that really makes you feel like he truly cares about him and helps establish their relationship later on in the series.
Despite having the limitations of it being on the same framework as arkham city, it also does little things to help it stand out on its own. Like having Snow everywhere to set up the festive atmosphere taking place on Christmas Eve, really makes the atmosphere stand out with PhysX turned on making it a whole immersive experience walking through the snow. Having Bruce get his own batcave where he can do AR training to test his gadgets/combat and even talk to alfred from time to time. Even starting and ending on blackgate prison during riots, the one event that was heavily mentioned back in asylum. Even some new enemies introduced like the martial artists who you have to look out for, preemptively pressing the counter button to actually counter them in a thorough animation, and TN-1 mini bosses where they function like the armored enemies requiring the stun + combo beatdown but they charge at you like Titan Venom Bane in Arkham asylum and you have to evade quickly. Then there's "crimes in progress" pop ups or "Most wanted" side-content list that often break the monotony of flow going from one place to the next, I can definitely say I wasn't bored throughout especially after beating the main story and finishing up those. Like taking out black masks drug stashes or penguins arms deals, or finishing up lady shivas, anarky's, deadshot's & mad hatters storylines.
Well, 90% of them, The fucking riddler "most wanted" side mission is the only exception being bored out of my mind. Instead of trophies, you collect "data packs" and destroy "control towers" which are the size of cameras. And while i do think its clever to instead of dishing out recordings, make them be "encrypted" dirty blackmail pieces and having to "unencrypt" them, and they're often very close together on the map, and most are very relatively straightforward to where they can be easily missed and some require clever solutions, there are a very select few that are definitely tedious bullshit having to comb through and look up guides for.
Keep in mind: I've played the FIXED version (on GoG though apparently there's even bugs in this that wasn't on steam) and can actually 100% the main game, others don't even have that type of luxury.
Regardless, This is definitely worth having to go through alongside the arkham trilogy but be very aware of that lack of polish and even predictable but well told (for the most part) story that'll probably make you shake your head in bewilderment. There's even some plot threads from the series that this game even explains like why the asylum has to be reopened after the events of this and its subsequent mini-sequel, Arkham Origins Blackgate, and the plot thread that would have to unravel itself for the rest of the franchise.
Albeit, There's the aforementioned BIG asterisk () given that theres a big elephant in the room being that this is a "you gotta make some thing while people wait for "the big game" to drop" game (think of this as the "Borderlands The Pre-Sequel" to Gearbox's Borderlands 3), I'd say a cashgrab but really its little more effort put into to be precisely called that but for the lack of a better term, that's basically what this was to WB. Even straight up Copied & Pasted AC's map with new additions to make it feel 2x bigger or denser than City including:
- needing a bridge to connect the 2 "hub central cities"
- needing fast travel points via batwing
and while i didn't notice at first, I eventually started to recognize where the locations and only made me appreciate the art direction rocksteady went for to make these locations stand out. I guess I can call that a backhanded compliment to WBM given the circumstances. They were originally the ones who developed Arkham City: Armored Edition (a Wii U port of AC) and many features in that made it into here like the shock gloves which made combat far easier than City/Knight despite again, borrowing City's Combat or investigative mode via detective vision where you can look for evidence and rewind/FF the crime scene like its a recording that even rocksteady took and ran with that idea in Arkham Knight.
Then there's 3 different changes to gadgets that weren't just straight up copied and pasted, the line launcher turns into the "remote claw" which you can string enemies up to gargoyles for a remote takedown, pull em into smoke or explosive canisters, make a tightrope you can walk on and use it as a regular line launcher. Its very versatile and easily the best change and makes me wonder why the hell bruce disassembles it by the time asylum rolls around. The 2nd being the "glue grenade" which is a prototype of the eventual "ice grenade" for Arkham City, only difference between the 2 is that one can be placed as a mine but only covering the enemies feet and not their whole body which is basically a handicap at that rate. Then the final and most useless change of all is going from the Remote electric charge gun into a "stun grenade" which functions the same purpose but is way more useless during combat more than i realized as i progress throughout the game. What makes things more puzzling is the fact that its SLOWER with its quickshot mechanic during combat than literally firing an electric projectile and only has one purpose. I've used the sonic batarang more than the stun grenade and i've rarely use that during this game than i did in asylum or city.
Its very very hard not to judge it compared to its predecessors and successor because it's got its DNA through and through but on its own merits, its got the best bosses in the series (not hard given Asylums was pretty braindead, City's rocksteady's peak and Knights was just... no.), Gave a good explanation to certain things in the series on how bane ended up being a Titan addict in asylum, or show killer croc in his VERY brief period when he was half-man/half-lizard with his human skeleton structure still intact, recontextualize batman's history with oracle/barbara gordon and her father James, The joker, the GCPD, the riddler, alfred, etc. through out the mainline arkham trilogy even if very heavy-handed and as subtle as a brick to the noggin'. But also makes room for villains not seen before in this series like Shiva, Copperhead, Anarky, Firefly & Deathstroke (Both reappear in Knight), and I'd also say electrocutioner but he's a walking punch line in game with one of the funniest but anti-climatic "boss fights" in the game.
Despite this game's eye rolling "Plot Twist" is definitely a slap in the face with the infamous Black Mask/Joker fakeout, This is an interesting story to Arkham Batman. Even more interesting factoring the DLC's to account for with the fullest extent of Batman's First encounters/training but still, seeing a much more aggressive, temperamental Bats played not by Kevin Conroy (R.I.P.) but by Roger Craig Smith, gives it enough distinction to stand out on his own. Including taking the time to include an arc Bruce's got with Alfred that really makes you feel like he truly cares about him and helps establish their relationship later on in the series.
Despite having the limitations of it being on the same framework as arkham city, it also does little things to help it stand out on its own. Like having Snow everywhere to set up the festive atmosphere taking place on Christmas Eve, really makes the atmosphere stand out with PhysX turned on making it a whole immersive experience walking through the snow. Having Bruce get his own batcave where he can do AR training to test his gadgets/combat and even talk to alfred from time to time. Even starting and ending on blackgate prison during riots, the one event that was heavily mentioned back in asylum. Even some new enemies introduced like the martial artists who you have to look out for, preemptively pressing the counter button to actually counter them in a thorough animation, and TN-1 mini bosses where they function like the armored enemies requiring the stun + combo beatdown but they charge at you like Titan Venom Bane in Arkham asylum and you have to evade quickly. Then there's "crimes in progress" pop ups or "Most wanted" side-content list that often break the monotony of flow going from one place to the next, I can definitely say I wasn't bored throughout especially after beating the main story and finishing up those. Like taking out black masks drug stashes or penguins arms deals, or finishing up lady shivas, anarky's, deadshot's & mad hatters storylines.
Well, 90% of them, The fucking riddler "most wanted" side mission is the only exception being bored out of my mind. Instead of trophies, you collect "data packs" and destroy "control towers" which are the size of cameras. And while i do think its clever to instead of dishing out recordings, make them be "encrypted" dirty blackmail pieces and having to "unencrypt" them, and they're often very close together on the map, and most are very relatively straightforward to where they can be easily missed and some require clever solutions, there are a very select few that are definitely tedious bullshit having to comb through and look up guides for.
Keep in mind: I've played the FIXED version (on GoG though apparently there's even bugs in this that wasn't on steam) and can actually 100% the main game, others don't even have that type of luxury.
Regardless, This is definitely worth having to go through alongside the arkham trilogy but be very aware of that lack of polish and even predictable but well told (for the most part) story that'll probably make you shake your head in bewilderment. There's even some plot threads from the series that this game even explains like why the asylum has to be reopened after the events of this and its subsequent mini-sequel, Arkham Origins Blackgate, and the plot thread that would have to unravel itself for the rest of the franchise.