Before 2009, the gaming world had suffered the lack of a decent batman video game – yes, they were earlier titles but they were of a bygone era, either that or they were atrocities like the ‘Batman Begins’ game. Truly there was a thirst for a batman game that could quench this appetite to don the cowl and take to the night, and then along came Rocksteady studios. This was a little known studio with only a single game under their belt – Urban Chaos: Riot Response – but unbeknownst to the gaming community, this studio was going to sweep the rug from underneath all of us through the release of their second video game – Arkham Asylum. The game was received with heavy praise and loved by critics everywhere, and thus began the legacy of the Arkham series.
“The games gave the players a real sense of being the caped crusader, and each villain was drawn out in such a way that their actions were representative of their character; every showdown felt unique.”
In 2011 the successor to ‘Arkham Asylum’ was released and it was aptly titled ‘Arkham City’ in which players saw them take on the role of batman but this time he had to fight in the harsh streets of Arkham city (not to be confused with Gotham City), and the finale to the trilogy came about recently with the release of ‘Arkham Knight’ which saw players finally battle it out with villains and criminals in the hollows of Gotham. Of course, there was ‘Arkham Origins’ which was released in 2013 by Warner Brother studios and was meant to act as a prequel telling the origin story of batman and his rogue gallery, however in gaming circles it’s not really considered to be a part of the Rocksteady trilogy and for the two obvious reasons – it was made by Warner Bros. Studios and it was considered a subpar video game.
The Arkham series revitalized a lot of old gaming concepts, such as the detective mode which is considered to be an improved version of assassin’s creed’s eagle vision, and even added in new concepts like it’s combat system which relied on multipliers to use special moves was something the gaming world hadn’t truly experience before – it felt fluid, strong, and every punch and counter was felt by the player. The games gave the players a real sense of being the caped crusader, and each villain was drawn out in such a way that their actions were representative of their character; every showdown felt unique. All of these features were even further accentuated in Arkham knight as even the story that takes place in the Arkham Knight tells a more harrowing tale of Batman; it focuses more on batman’s duality and by doing so it breaks away from its two predecessors and gives the gamers even more of a reason to be attached to the tale of the dark knight.
The first two Arkham games left a mark on the gaming world, it showcased that it is very possible to build a video game that stays true to the lore of batman. Many believe that the the Arkham series popularized ‘detective mode’ and in turn influenced many other games to use similar concepts such as the infamous ‘instinct mode’ that was used in Hitman: Absolution. Even the combat system was heavily praised and with such futility was it replicated in other video games; it is a rarity to see a video game that can make the players plan each punch or gadget attack decisively for that is what the game demanded of you – precision.
Even the predator rooms were memorable as they truly personified being the batman – striking from the shadows, using fear as your weapon and all the while doing so by being perched on a gargoyle. Arkham City took the leap by putting players into the open world and many feared it would be the game’s greatest downfall but in reality it was its greatest improvement. As one soared and glided through the night sky, high above the city, you could hear various criminals partaking in vicious crimes and just then you would swoop down and subsequently give them the beating of a lifetime. Arkham City felt new but not so new that it alienated players that had stuck around from Arkham Asylum.
“Yet, Arkham Knight followed the same pattern as Icarus, it flew too close to the sun. The game on the day of release saw itself plagued with bugs and glitches – primarily for PC users – along with glitches in the leaderboards for PS4 users and Warner Bros. were aware of the problems the whole time.”
‘Very few people can pull of the neck brace look’
Yet, the game follows the same pattern as Icarus, it flew too close to the sun. The game on the day of release saw itself plagued with bugs and glitches – primarily for PC users – along with glitches in the leaderboards for PS4 users. Even though I speak highly of the story, it feels as if Arkham Knight is trying to be completely independent from its predecessors with the story telling and in doing so it breaks the flow of narration between the three games. More of, many of the plot-twists were just abruptly dropped in with no actual lead up, this type of narration can make some gamers feel uncomfortable especially if you’re like me and got heavily indulged into the plot.
“What could have been…”
The Batmobile was a delight even though it holds a large learning curve when it comes to getting a grip of precisely cutting through the streets of Gotham without veering of the side of a bridge, yet at times I saw myself break away from being engrossed in the character of batman as the game has a massive glaring flaw – you can somewhat runs criminals over and blow up vehicles driven by criminals. The game justifies the hit-and-run part by showcasing that they actually get electrocuted and flung away when they come into contact with the car – you got to love Batman physics. Also, there are a handful of side quests that end very abruptly, almost to the point that they feel like filler quests – this is problematic as it doesn’t help the overall story maintain its cohesiveness.
You see the Arkham Knight in many ways is remarkable swansong but also at the same time it does not live up the threshold set by the games that came before it. These pros and cons leave it in this purgatory where its faults aren’t so glaring that it should be discarded but neither are they very forgivable. At the end of the day it can be seen that Rocksteady did go guns-blazing with Arkham City and to an extent it is subjective as to whether it lives up to the legacy of the Arkham series but nonetheless the Arkham series as a whole is an experience that needs to be felt by those of you who have not played it before.
“This series has left its print on gamers and gaming studios alike, and hopefully one day we might see the return of it – bigger and better, fingers crossed – but till then the night is still young and streets of Gotham still need some cleaning, so go forth and fly high dark knight.”
