Batman Arkham Knight; First Impressions

Hi guys,
Batman Arkham Asylum caught everyone's attention by creating arguably the best hand to hand combat in any game before it, and made the most believable portrayal of Batman we had ever seen in a game. Arkham City built on this framework and created a massive open world, filled with things to do, places to visit, and villains to take down. Combine this with a new playable character, Catwoman, and a plot line that you will not forget, and you have a sequel that was even better than the original. Was Rocksteady able to make it a hat trick, and finish their world famous series off with a bang, or is it closer to a fizzle? Let's find out!

Arkham Knight starts off on a very sombre tone, with the whole of Gotham being evacuated following a threat of a terrorist strike from the famed villain, Scarecrow. All citizens leave the city, leaving only the low and high level villains to reek havoc on Gotham. Only the Batman and GCPD stand in their way, but Batman has a new tool of crime suppression at his disposal. The Batmobile has made its inaugural debut into the series, and it does so with a bang. With Batman being let loose in an even bigger section of Gotham than ever before, the Batmobile is an incredibly fun way of getting around Gotham. If you have been paying attention to this game, and specifically it's reviews, then you will know that most people don't particularly like the "Tank Mode" of the Batmobile. I am currently torn on the issue, part of me likes the principle of it, though there are a few things getting in the way of my enjoyment. Firstly I don't feel like a proper Batman when I'm effectively in a tank destroying other heavily armoured vehicles. I know the other tanks are remote controlled, but it still jars with me somewhat. The other thing is there is no aim assistance for the main weapon. I have found it rather hard to actually hit the enemy tanks as my cross hairs glide over them like there is nothing there, just a slight stick would be quite nice.

One of the things I love with the Batmobile are the puzzle sections using both the Batman and the Batmobile, I feel these puzzles make more use of a second party from Batman, and they are rather enjoyable! The other thing that the Batmobile does which so far, is one of my favourite things to do, and they are the Riddler tracks. I have only finished a few as of writing these impressions, but they are incredibly fun. With the Riddler putting obstacles in your path that will need both quick reflexes and good control of the car.

During the time I have currently spent with the game, I have progressed about 30% through the main campaign(which appears to be shorter than I would like). I have also picked up a fairly large number of side quests, all of which revolve around villains of Gotham! I mentioned the Riddler race tracks a moment ago, but there are also scores(over 200) actual Riddler Trophies to collect! These are both incredibly fun to collect, but also unlock extra content to play! Though I am yet to unlock many of these!

The graphics shown off in this game are stunning, with no cap on the render distance you can see the whole of Gotham, assuming you can get high enough to see it all! There are some amazing environmental affects occurring in the sky box of the game, with rain constantly pattering down on Batmans head, and also occasional lightning seen in the distance!

All in all this game is amazing, and one that I can't wait to complete to it's fullest! Don't forget that  haven't touched much today on the actual story of the game, which has had both surprises that I am loving, but the whole thing has me encapsulated! The only thing that doesn't make me sad that this is the last Batman game from Rocksteady, is that they are creative geniuses and will doubtlessly produce amazing games in the future(hopefully still based on DC characters!)

Thanks for reading,
Ed