Now Playing: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight is a sadly disappointing conclusion to the Arkham series. But though it may not be as good as Asylum or City, Knight is still a pretty fun game, and certainly worth playing if you’re a fan.

That’s the real problem with Knight. Everything it does, Asylum and City simply did better. Be it story, missions, or side content, what’s here isn’t bad at all – it’s just not as good. The gameplay sees arguably a slight improvement, with several small tweaks and additions to combat – but it doesn’t play substantially differently to City.

And despite these additions, Knight has very few, if any, memorable fights or encounters. In fact, none of it is particularly memorable at all. Too much of the content in Knight is forgettable. Too much of it feels like unnecessary padding.

The main story, aside from a couple of notable moments, isn’t very engaging. Neither Scarecrow or the mysterious Arkham Knight make for particularly effective villains. You hardly see or encounter Scarecrow throughout the entire game, and the Knight spends the majority of his time having a tantrum over the radio like an angry toddler. There’s very little sense of menace.

The best aspect to the main story is something I can’t talk about without spoiling it. So I won’t. It involves the return of a familiar face. And without them, the narrative aspects would have fallen entirely flat.

Considering this was the final entry in the series, I expected more from its narrative, especially in terms of classic characters who either don’t feature in the game at all, or don’t feature nearly as much as they should. Catwoman, for example, was a great addition to City, but in Knight she barely features (she’s not a part of the core story at all) and simply f**ks off until the very end (and only if you bother collecting all of the Riddler trophies).

I expected Knight to bring together all of the heroes and villains we’ve fought with and against throughout the series. But even those who do feature are largely relegated to the disappointing side content. Penguin and Two-Face, for example, do return, but the missions involving their capture are short, repetitive and wholly unsatisfying. There’s a few extra narrative driven side missions, but nothing that stands out.

The bulk of the side content is focused on the fight against the Arkham Knight’s militia – taking down enemy watchtowers, road blocks and disabling bombs. Some of these provide a neat fight, but they still get pretty tedious and repetitive towards the end.

The concept of all of Batman’s villains teaming up to stop him makes for a (potentially) great final act, and a chance for an epic final showdown involving all the good and bad guys we know and love. Instead, many characters who you might expect to see don’t appear at all, and many who do are severely underused.

As with the previous Arkham games, the open world is host to many Riddler puzzles. But even these feel less enjoyable. With over 200 riddles to solve, there’s clearly a case of quantity over quality. I’d have preferred far less trophies but with more elaborate challenges to collect them.

And what’s really frustrating, is that in order to get the ‘true’ ending, you need to collect them all. I did, but honestly, the pay off really isn’t worth it. Even the full ‘true’ ending to Arkham Knight is a short, unsatisfying end to the series that’s met with more of a shrug than a cheer.

So much of the content in Knight feels uninspired and by the numbers. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of it. It’s just too bland and forgettable. But if I had to pick the ‘worst’ aspect of Arkham Knight, I’d have to go with the drone ‘tank battles’ which are far more tedious than challenging.

I suppose the question is, given that in just about every area, Knight is inferior to both Asylum and City, what does it offer that those games can’t? The answer – the Batmobile. I actually liked the way the Batmobile is integrated into the gameplay and open world of Arkham Knight. It serves not simply as a form of transport, but another gadget you will employ to advance through missions or solve puzzles.

Irritating tank battles aside, the Batmobile is a neat addition to the game, and tearing through Gotham in the vehicle is a lot of fun, even if you have to suspend your disbelief somewhat at the ‘non-lethal’ damage – I’m pretty sure smashing into someone at 90mph and electrocuting them isn’t just going to give them a nasty headache.

But the Batmobile isn’t as integrated as much as I would have liked. Aside from a main mission early on that involves some clever gameplay both in and out of the Batmobile (or by operating it remotely) very few missions really take advantage of the vehicle or its capabilities.

As in the previous Arkham games, Knight has an extensive selection of bonus content in the form of character and Batmobile skins, short extra missions and a range of challenge maps. There’s plenty here to keep you busy, and I actually quite enjoyed the ‘race’ challenges a lot.

I don’t really have much more to say about Arkham Knight. I could have probably just written ‘it’s like City, but not as good’ if I was feeling particularly lazy. Because that’s really all it is. It’s a solid and enjoyable game, but a game that’s unfortunately preceded by two far superior titles.

Knight doesn’t really build upon or combine the best of Asylum or City. It plays it too safe, treads old ground and doesn’t fully commit to new ideas or gameplay. Which wouldn’t be so bad if the story provided a satisfying conclusion to the series. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do this either, with a lacklustre plot, ineffective villains and extremely poor use of a great supporting cast.

Though an enjoyable title when judged on it own merits, Knight is a disappointing end to a fantastic series. But if you’re a fan of Asylum or City, I’d still recommend checking it out. The PC version seems to be pretty much fixed now (aside from the occasional framerate drop) so don’t be afraid to pick it up on sale.

6/10