Is Batman Arkham City Worth Playing Again
Let's rank the Arkham games from worst to best
This article was originally published in late 2016. Enjoy.
Batman: Arkham Origins
Andy: Origins isn't a terrible game, but it's clear throughout that information technology wasn't developed by Rocksteady. The new sections of the city are pretty uninspiring, particularly the industrial district and that tediously long bridge you accept to travel back and forth across. And in that location's no feeling of flow as yous navigate the world either. I constantly detect myself with nothing to grapple or land on, halting my momentum, which never happens in the other games.
Samuel: The city suffered from feeling anonymous. It may be my imagination, as well, only I swear in that location was something off nigh the timing of counters compared to Rocksteady'south Batman games—the same muscle memory felt similar it didn't serve me well in Origins' combat. Having said that, I loved the law-breaking scene investigations they added to Origins, which I (think) Arkham Knight ended up borrowing when you had to rail downwardly Oracle after she'd been kidnapped. They were probably the best bits of detective work in the series, and I did enjoy the one in Black Mask's penthouse.
Andy: I noticed the weird timing of the combat as well when I reviewed it for PC Gamer. I looked into information technology at the time, and apparently WB Montreal had to recreate the combat arrangement from scratch for some reason. Which may explain why it feels a scrap similar a bad cover version of a groovy vocal.
I loved the crime scene investigations. They were probably the all-time detective work in the serial.
Samuel
Samuel: It's definitely a thing. I rinsed the challenge rooms in Arkham Metropolis and can still get a high score in every single one when I pick them up now—they feel irritatingly different. One thing I did like about Origins was the manner the Cold, Cold Heart DLC adapted the archetype Batman Animated Serial episode 'Middle of Ice'. While WB Montreal's game generally lacked the big hitter villains, I still felt like it was a worthy contribution to the games' ain Batman canon. Troy Bakery was an impressive Joker, and I enjoyed the peppery young version of Bruce Wayne, too, who knocks out an early villain in one punch instead of the whole thing turning into a boss battle.
Andy: I exercise similar the younger, angrier Batman we get to play as in Origins. Kevin Conroy's version of the character always sounds totally in control of his emotions. A mature, level-headed veteran of the crime-fightin' business. Merely in this game he's shouty and short-tempered, frequently arguing with Alfred, which is a overnice way of making a familiar character experience different.
Tom S: At that place are some decent isolated $.25 of Origins, probably enough to make it worth playing for Batman fans—the tower converted into the Joker'south theme park, for case. Notwithstanding there is a sense that Origins is scraping effectually for new ideas. They expanded Gotham city and added… a warehouse commune. The glue grenades and the non-lethal lightning fists feel like the sort of upgrades you might run into on a cheap Batman toy rather than anything the Nighttime Knight would actually utilize. If you've completed every sidequest in Arkham Knight, crave more Bats, and don't listen putting up with slightly-wrong combat so play this I guess?
Phil: I haven't played Origins however, merely, based on your recommendation there, Tom, I'one thousand… well, still non certain if I'll carp.
Samuel: Information technology shows you can accept the basic elements of a groovy game and make a comparably weaker product out of it, which is largely how I felt about what I played of Wolfenstein: The New Order'south Old Blood expansion.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Andy: The batmobile really is a piece of shit. Those sections where y'all're forced to fight dozens of identical drones with overly-telegraphed attacks is utterly heed-numbing. But when you're doing what Batman does best, namely skulking around in the shadows and terrifying goons, Knight is a really, actually skilful Arkham game, if a piffling too familiar at times.
Phil: The Batmobile churn really hurts Knight. In that location are some cool ideas here, like the military outposts—the best of which are mini-puzzles, challenging you to work out which of Batman's ever-growing toolset is key to immigration away the specific configuration of guards. That stuff is not bad, as are about half of the sidequests, the main mission pattern and so much of the writing. All-time of all is the dual combat encounters, which turn the fluid dance of Batman's combat into a cruel duet. But and then you're dorsum in the Batmobile, side-dodging away from predictable fire patterns, or circling round a tiny bit of the urban center, trying to suffer the incredibly dumb stealth sections.
Samuel: I didn't like the tank combat sections, particularly the stealth parts—but driving that affair around the metropolis feels great. It's a gorgeously blithe, hefty slice of mechanism. It completes the Batman fantasy, in my stance. In the post-game, with the city cleared of robot tanks, just bombing around and taking out clumps of criminals feels like the commencement of a Batman comic in motility. I've softened to Knight over time. The titular villain isn't particularly good, and they recast the Scarecrow in a way that made him sound mode besides like to Hugo Strange in Arkham City, meaning the main narrative lacked a bit of City's menace and direction.
Knight has some of the all-time individual moments of the whole serial—including the spectacular Robin co-op level.
Tom Due south
Andy: Yeah, the Arkham Knight himself is an incredibly lame villain. Troy Bakery does his best with the script, merely he isn't intimidating at all. He sounds like a Californian surfer. Whenever he showed up, taunting me from his big impaired tank, I just felt bellyaching. "Not this asshole once again." But I did love the section where Batman and Robin team up, even though it was criminally brusk-lived. The double-takedowns were really well animated and fun to pull off, and I think they tossed that idea out far besides quickly.
Samuel: Totally with you lot on the Robin bits—astounding, especially The Joker singing to Batman while Robin sneaks around the stage in the background. I recollect Telltale'south Batman game shows you can miss the mark with adapting the Dark Knight for a game and miss the well-nigh heady parts of his universe and lore. The interactions between Batman and Robin, Oracle or Nightwing demonstrate a full understanding of why all the individual pieces of his world are then exciting. Those co-op moves with his allies are the perfect extension of those character relationships. The sidequests are more of a mixed handbag. Chasing after Firefly in the Batmobile was merely poor filler, simply Man-Bat offered quite a spectacle, while Two-Face up's heists were a dainty remix of the game's existing stealth elements.
Phil: I don't know Batlore, but I liked the freaky pig-dude. He was messed upwards.
Samuel: By far my favourite sidequest in the game. The way they used the music and lights to indicate you towards where another body had been found. Doing those autopsies was disturbing, and even as someone who's read a bunch of comics featuring Professor Pyg, his reveal was a total surprise. Rocksteady isn't agape of deep cuts in Batman lore. While it was only a momentary flake of narrative, the Hush sidequest had a neat and clever resolution, also.
Tom South: Arkham Knight has some of the all-time individual moments of the whole series—including the spectacular Robin co-op level and the levels that allow y'all seamlessly infiltrate a couple of blimps in mid-air. Sadly it is a more than inconsistent game overall. Everyone rightly hates the interminable tank sections (which get ridiculous towards the terminate of the game), and the PC version's terrible launch didn't help matters. Information technology'due south definitely worth playing if yous enjoyed City, but information technology's not the best Arkham game.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Andy: The later games refined the brutal, rhythmic combat to something approaching perfection, and improved on almost everything else in some way, simply I'll always prefer Aviary'southward focus on a single, wonderfully fleshed-out location over the sprawling open-world bloat of the sequels.
Samuel: I get that this focus (and the brilliant, memorable Scarecrow sequences) makes Asylum a popular option, but it'south a flawed game compared to the others in my opinion. This becomes apparent in the final third of the story where information technology feels like you're fighting versions of the Bane boss fight over and over again with those giant titan guys. The final fight with The Joker is kind of bad. The Killer Croc section drags on well past its welcome, too. There are no skillful dominate battles in Asylum—nothing remotely shut to the clever, Metal Gear-ish bit with Mister Freeze in City.
Metropolis'southward paced so it keeps building in free energy to its final act, and constantly showing yous new parts of the world. Cut out repetition and throwing in new ideas was essential for the series to grow, in my stance, and while bigger doesn't ever equal meliorate, the escalation in ambition between the games is staggering. Few knew who Rocksteady were when Asylum was released. Now they're world beaters. To go from making the BioShock-y corridors of Arkham Asylum to building the Blade Runner-esque night sprawl of Knight in just six years is absurdly impressive.
I'll ever prefer Asylum's focus on a single, wonderfully fleshed-out location over the sprawling open-world bloat of the sequels.
Andy
Phil: I think I might adopt City, but that'southward largely considering I've never liked Metroidvania design. This is a very, very good version of it, only ultimately it's however a lot of back-and-forth between the same few areas. (You could argue the same for open-globe Arkham, albeit on a bigger calibration, only I call back the way you traverse the larger infinite makes all the difference.) At that place are some incredibly accomplished setpieces here, and I love the simplicity of the gainsay before the extra gadgets of the later games. Merely Samuel's right about its pacing problems. Fifty-fifty some of its best sections—the weird, fourth-wall breaking Scarecrow vignettes—are lessened by the rubbish searchlight-based stealth puzzles that follow.
Samuel: For the time, information technology was a existent surprise that someone had made a Batman game that practiced—the concluding decent effort dates back to the SNES. Its counter-focused melee combat system was deservedly influential, on the surface lacking the frantic speed and necessary button presses of something like Devil May Cry, but gradually growing in complexity equally they weave more than of the Dark Knight's tools into your arsenal. I've made this observation before on PCG, so apologies, simply I remember feeling like Rocksteady had almost used this sequence from Batman Begins as their starting point for Batman's melee and stealth abilities in the Arkham games.
Andy: I've e'er been a fan of fiction that takes place in ane location, so that'south why I think Asylum is still my favourite. Rocksteady admittedly stuffed that identify with history and detail, and I like that the more than time you spend there, the more familiar it becomes. I finished Urban center and Knight and by the end of both I didn't feel like I connected with the setting as much. I besides like how lean Asylum is compared to the sequels, with simpler combat and fewer sidequests. It feels more elegant and streamlined than the busy open-world games. And in that location aren't every bit many distractions being constantly thrown at y'all, which makes for a better-paced, more focused story overall.
Tom S: I liked the chip when you hit Blight with the Batmobile. That was some excellent Batman.
Batman: Arkham City
Andy: For me, Urban center is when the Arkham series actually started to experience similar a Batman simulator. Being able to freely run, glide, and grapple around the rooftops of Gotham is brilliantly empowering, although I do detect the constant chatter of bad guys in your ear massively annoying.
Samuel: When City was released, I remember thinking, 'this is all I've ever wanted from a Batman game'. Like y'all say, Andy, being able to glide effectually and grapple felt fantastic, both of which were elements of limited usage in Asylum. I loved the upgrades and momentum tweaks they made to the gliding—getting around that urban center felt phenomenal. It'south too a very complete-feeling vision of Batman's universe, which I appreciate. Everyone from Mister Freeze to Calendar Human to Hush makes an appearance, complete with a non-embarrassing version of Robin. The Mad Hatter sidequest is brilliantly trippy. Rocksteady just get why Batman is so cool. Hugo Strange is a tremendous and very specific choice of (the apparent) primary villain, too, offer a menacing tonal contrast to the Joker in Asylum.
It makes for a stronger core Batman fantasy than in Asylum—now yous're hunting loftier above the thugs, free to engage or ignore them.
Phil
Phil: I love any open-world game with good traversal. I even beloved Epitome, which I know is a flake rubbish. Arkham City isn't rubbish, and, as Andy and Sam accept already mentioned, its grappling hook/glide combo is top notch. It makes for a stronger cadre Batman fantasy than in Asylum—now you lot're hunting high higher up the thugs, costless to engage or ignore them. In some means it's a baggier game—that's inevitable given the structure—simply it still holds true to everything that made Aviary bully, and offers, to my mind, a better roster of villains and a more interesting story.
Tom S: The Mr. Freeze fight is ace, and an example of how Arkham City evolved across the ideas introduced in Arkham Asylum. The open world and the traversal take since get an integral part of the Batman fantasy for me—I tin't go back to Aviary—but City also has ameliorate storytelling (when information technology's not simply shouting exposition at you through loudspeakers). It'southward the nearly complete and well-paced game of the series, with a brave and interesting ending. Some of the boss fights are absolute pants, though.
Samuel: Whereas I felt like the Riddles were a lilliputian exhausting in Knight, in City they were spot-on as neat visual or logic puzzles I could solve while travelling between parts of the story. The combat was significantly improved over Aviary, too, and mastering Batman's sets of tools in the challenge rooms—like Mr Freeze's ice bomb—meant that I ended up playing the post-game content for a lot longer than the story.
Shoutout to Rocksteady's artists, also, who created the nearly gorgeous, fan service-y alternating costumes for the Arkham games. I'grand certain The Batman Incorporated skin in Metropolis was included merely for me. While I think City is the nigh consistent of the four games, they've all got individually interesting elements, and Origins aside, I consider them all wonderful in their own way.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-batman-arkham-games-ranked-from-worst-to-best/
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