I am very underwhelmed.
This is a difficult game for me to rate cause I have to ask myself, what did I really get from it? No doubt this game has the most polished combat and stealth mechanics in the series, not to mention superb visuals (kinda, there's problems) but so many things get in the way of the good parts.
1. The Batmobile: Not a bad idea in concept, but it doesn't control all that resposively which would be fine if this was a racing sim but it's not that kind of game. Turning this thing is a complete bitch and maintaining speed is nearly impossible without upgrades, upgrades that I would prefer to spend on the fun aspects like combat and gadgets instead. I could never have too much fun while playing through the game cause soon after some nice combat or stealth it'd force me on the batmobile for a few minutes. Batmobile combat also kinda sucks, you simply dodge heavily delayed projectiles as your guns nearly instantly take down the enemy drones and I would always play these sections mindlessly bored, not giving it much thought, and still win.
2. The visual design: On a technical level this game is graphically amazing, definitely too much for the hardware of the time but it has aged well. At first I was put off by the typical cliche of making things wet to make them shinier but that's not actually the whole game. Some problems still remain like Bruce Wayne looking horrendously out of placed compared to other characters for some reason (Origins had a good Bruce, what gives?). But I found some bigger issues in the visual departmet: character design in general is really hit and miss. Most of it is fine, but what's up with Batman's new suit and Batmobile being really noisy? What's up with Robin looking so stupid? What's up with returning characters sporting their look from Arkham Origins despite it making no sense timeline wise? That last thing simply reminded me that I had way more fun playing Origins. Also the character skins for Batman mostly suck, even the decent ones like the Origins suit have problems like the colors or general design being off for some reason, and then there's abominations like the Beyond suit.
3. The story and game structure: This game has no focus and the main story is just... so strangely melodramatic except when it isn't. The whole deal with the Arkham Knight being an original character is a lie, it centers around a character that never had presence on this series but they assume you know cause he's part of the Batman mythos, and his introduction is handled so poorly, as well as him being little more than an angsty teen in writing which I'm not sure they really intended? Batman generally acts without care for his allies despite him being in the process of dying or losing his mind, choosing to be mean to them knowing he won't be able to keep seeing them soon. Returning villains have really underwhelming captures and there's only like 1 or 2 new ones (I am unsure wether to count 2 or not). The worst thing though is how it all is structured, the situation of the city is extremely urgent but Batman also has like 50 hours to do side tasks in a single night, most of that being busywork of fighting militia underlings and riddler challenges that make no sense (Did anyone tell him that driving fast is not a riddle?).
This is a really ranty review but the game itself felt ranty, I felt like I was looking at people trying to write a desperate Batman and accidentally just writing the most annoying one possible. Combined with the good parts of the gameplay constantly being interrupted, I just can't fathom wanting to replay this and I'm also left really unsatisfied. I wish I could like this more, but those problems are really felt throughout despite the good parts being the best in the series.
This is a difficult game for me to rate cause I have to ask myself, what did I really get from it? No doubt this game has the most polished combat and stealth mechanics in the series, not to mention superb visuals (kinda, there's problems) but so many things get in the way of the good parts.
1. The Batmobile: Not a bad idea in concept, but it doesn't control all that resposively which would be fine if this was a racing sim but it's not that kind of game. Turning this thing is a complete bitch and maintaining speed is nearly impossible without upgrades, upgrades that I would prefer to spend on the fun aspects like combat and gadgets instead. I could never have too much fun while playing through the game cause soon after some nice combat or stealth it'd force me on the batmobile for a few minutes. Batmobile combat also kinda sucks, you simply dodge heavily delayed projectiles as your guns nearly instantly take down the enemy drones and I would always play these sections mindlessly bored, not giving it much thought, and still win.
2. The visual design: On a technical level this game is graphically amazing, definitely too much for the hardware of the time but it has aged well. At first I was put off by the typical cliche of making things wet to make them shinier but that's not actually the whole game. Some problems still remain like Bruce Wayne looking horrendously out of placed compared to other characters for some reason (Origins had a good Bruce, what gives?). But I found some bigger issues in the visual departmet: character design in general is really hit and miss. Most of it is fine, but what's up with Batman's new suit and Batmobile being really noisy? What's up with Robin looking so stupid? What's up with returning characters sporting their look from Arkham Origins despite it making no sense timeline wise? That last thing simply reminded me that I had way more fun playing Origins. Also the character skins for Batman mostly suck, even the decent ones like the Origins suit have problems like the colors or general design being off for some reason, and then there's abominations like the Beyond suit.
3. The story and game structure: This game has no focus and the main story is just... so strangely melodramatic except when it isn't. The whole deal with the Arkham Knight being an original character is a lie, it centers around a character that never had presence on this series but they assume you know cause he's part of the Batman mythos, and his introduction is handled so poorly, as well as him being little more than an angsty teen in writing which I'm not sure they really intended? Batman generally acts without care for his allies despite him being in the process of dying or losing his mind, choosing to be mean to them knowing he won't be able to keep seeing them soon. Returning villains have really underwhelming captures and there's only like 1 or 2 new ones (I am unsure wether to count 2 or not). The worst thing though is how it all is structured, the situation of the city is extremely urgent but Batman also has like 50 hours to do side tasks in a single night, most of that being busywork of fighting militia underlings and riddler challenges that make no sense (Did anyone tell him that driving fast is not a riddle?).
This is a really ranty review but the game itself felt ranty, I felt like I was looking at people trying to write a desperate Batman and accidentally just writing the most annoying one possible. Combined with the good parts of the gameplay constantly being interrupted, I just can't fathom wanting to replay this and I'm also left really unsatisfied. I wish I could like this more, but those problems are really felt throughout despite the good parts being the best in the series.