Batman: Arkham Knight Review

Gotham City is moribund. Gotham City has been hurt by fear. The Scarecrow has created a toxin that can transform people’s minds in a crossroads of nightmares, so powerful and terrifying as to bring the man to madness, to push him to commit unspeakable acts, or worse, to force him to find relief through suicide . The population was evacuated, and the streets are around the few lawmen remain on duty, and a veritable army of criminals. All it seems lost, when the bat signal is activated a last time to ask a sacrifice to the Dark Knight. Because to save Gotham and perhaps the whole world, Batman must die.

Maturity
The third installment of the trilogy by Arkham of Rocksteady is the consecration of the saga that has forever changed the world of tie-ins, capable in a single shot to sweep away the stereotype that sees associate video games from films, books and comics of poor quality products. Arkham has presented the best Batman seen in the history of video games, setting a new standard with regard to the production of this type.
So, with the advent of the final chapter of this very important saga, things got really serious and Rocksteady had the difficult task of finishing the adventure in the best way. The choice fell on the production of a chapter extraordinarily mature, darker, serious and complex predecessors. A game that, from a narrative point of view, takes the player to punch him in the stomach, offering continuous twists and issues that go often on the border between reality and illusion. The theme of madness, embodied by Joker in previous installments of the series, in Arkham Knight is reinterpreted and absorbed by Batman, whose journey is inexorably on a path of no return, where the world begins to crumble and the mind of Bruce Wayne starts waver under the influence of toxins of the Scarecrow and the presence of moments that strike at the heart man under the mask of the bat. And, why not, the man or woman on the other side of the screen.
We do not spoil the surprise, but suffice it to say that the death of the Joker has become something terrible for Batman, while also providing a sort of green light to one of the most evil plans of the Scarecrow and his allies, who see the presence of a new anti-hero called Knight of Arkham, whose identity remains a mystery. New alliances and new wars are born constantly, with events that are often intertwined with the feelings of the people involved, giving rise to improbable reversals of perspective that we never expected in a game that takes place in a single night.
From this point of view, therefore, Batman: Arkham Knight is the game with the story more interesting and layered in the trilogy, that will make you flinch before its twists and slowly drag you into a nightmare with no return.

A new companion
One of the most discussed Batman: Arkham Knight regards the arrival of the Batmobile, for the first time in this series as a vehicle usable by the player. The Batmobile with which we deal, however, is not the same car entry batmaniano imagination. This is not the usual self elongated spitting flames from an afterburner, but a tactical and armored vehicle, capable of moving through the streets of Gotham and become a weapon of heavy artillery at the touch of a button.
On the road, the Batmobile is not the vehicle supersonic we’re used to. His movements are heavy, and its maneuverability is comparable to that of a shopping cart. From this point of view, the developers have shown some weakness in implementing a credible driving model, and the maximum speed of the car is not enough to justify the use of the Batmobile for long journeys inside the huge Gotham. Thus, the player will soon prefer flying with cape and grappling hook to scorrazzate drive, which nevertheless find their space in some sections of the main campaign and numerous secondary missions, including the famous Riddler challenges that rely solely on ‘Use of the Batmobile in fun trails replete with traps.
The situation is different in opposite ways when using the Batmobile as tactical vehicle. In these cases, the car changes its control system, turning into a sort of hovercraft capable of moving in any direction on the asphalt. The two weapons available, consisting of a heavy gun and a gun, let the long and intense battles with numerous armored vehicles present in Gotham City, which are enhanced by a system of guided missile that is activated by accumulating a killstreak long enough. The player is then called to pull out the artillery several times and, in some cases, the use of the Batmobile is critical to fight their way through vehicles that otherwise crivellerebbero Batman like a sieve.
At the same time, the car can be used to solve some simple environmental puzzles to break through walls and, of course, to help Batman also remotely through the remote control car seen countless times in films and comics of the Dark Knight.
In some cases the Batmobile seems to have become a sort of alter ego of Batman, and the player is required to use it to overcome some very original sections that require stealth to circumvent the armored enemies and put them out of action without being identified.
Finally, if you were wondering, the Batmobile does not violate the vow of Batman not to kill the bad guys: the vehicle is in fact equipped with a device that repels invested and stuns enemies, and weapons pass setting non-lethal when aimed at a vehicle driven by criminals or to the bad guys that wander on foot through the streets of Gotham. Do not worry, though: since almost all vehicles in the game armed unmanned drones are unmanned, there are several things to blow up.

As before, more than before
After a slow start, and focused almost exclusively on the use of the Batmobile, Batman: Arkham Knight returns to show all the aspects that have made famous the gameplay of this saga. If you have the patience of your thoughts during the first three hours of play, you’ll discover that Batman has to offer the usual free flow system, which for this occasion was made even more fluid and satisfying. Soon you will find yourself dealing with paddles enemies rather numerous, often gathered in groups varied including thugs common enemies with guns, stun enemies and bad with knives. The fighting flowing fluid and semi-driven free-flow system which, however, requires a certain timing to complete the combo high. Batman is significantly stronger than the enemies surrounding it, and in general we can say that the clashes in Arkham Knight are not particularly complex when faced with a little ‘policy.
What makes fascinating combat in Arkham Knight, therefore, it is found in the wide variety of approaches possible in each fight. Engage the enemy with bare hands is useful in situations not too lively, but in almost all cases, the player is asked to plan their clashes. Thanks to the presence of many gadgets, in fact, the player can prepare for battle by turning off up to a maximum of three enemy weapons, placing traps, a stunning group of enemies with the Batarang or letting the Batmobile remote-controlled fulfilled part of our work. To this, of course, you add the component stealth, always present in this saga and that in Arkham Knight is real usage peaks in the second half of the game, when the armed enemies are becoming more numerous and surveillance is enhanced with the arrival of some pesky flying drones.
Finally, the battle has been further enriched by the arrival of some elements not seen in the saga. First, it added a mode called “terror” that allows you to knock up to a maximum of three enemies through action done in a bullet time lasting a few seconds. This particular system, charged through a bar that fills facing enemies in the traditional way, it can jump with surprise in the heat of battle, immediately putting out of action three enemies and sparking panic among others. The player must be quick and precise in exploiting the bullet time when activated mode “terror”, and must have the intelligence to know how to choose with care the three enemies to knock before the other.
Second, in Batman: Arkham Knight peeps dual play mode, which allows a second person to step in and fight alongside Bat Man. The system is simple: at the touch of a button you can switch to the command of a second character (such as Robin) and continue fighting smoothly, without interrupting the counter combos. In some cases you can call a move to two, which brings into play the second character to make a knockout coordinated and almost instantaneous, that it becomes necessary against some bosses. The dual play is of course not always present, and is limited to certain times of the main campaign and missions. In any case, when active works quite well and makes battles even more lively and boisterous.

Gigantic and impressive
The aspect, however, has impressed most in Batman: Arkham Knight is found in the enormous scope of this game. We speak not only of greater size of the map of Gotham, which triples what we saw in Arkham City, but an open world structure, which more than doubled the life of the security. We speak of a primary campaign that exceeds fifteen hours of play, and that is just one third of the contents of Arkham Knight.
Missions are often long quest more than decent, divided into sub-chapters and able to tell stories intriguing. As in a good RPG, Batman: Arkham Knight manages to put in place some really interesting narrative moments even in unexpected side quests, which lead us to investigate unsolved murders, missing persons to save or to take care of a cat with sexy a bomb around his neck. There are good reasons to make some deviation from the main plot, and in general Arkham Knight is a title that offers a surprising variety of content.
We must not forget also that the open world structure has allowed to introduce several minor missions, often triggered by radio picked up by Batman during his patrols, they have more than once had fun with the dialogue well-designed.
The missions often require you to make use of the detective mode, here ulteriano improved thanks to sections that require you to analyze evidence through complex scans, or through computerized reconstructions of the events that transformed the game into a real adventure game based on the collection of evidence. At times we were amazed by the presence of some inserts nothing short of genius, who pressed down our brains, leaving a strong sense of complacency when riddle.
Finally, the vastness of Batman: Arkham Knight is also noticeable in the complex skill tree of Batman, this time adding the power-ups of the Batmobile. The ability to customize their own alter egos are huge, and the amount of skill points required to maximize all skills is so great that you’ll have to spend tens of hours in the game before you can start to breathe a sense of omnipotence.

Technically impressive
The game we tested on PS4 because of a unique agreed between the manufacturer and Sony, but we can say that – even on consoles – Arkham Knight is a real gem technician. Although locked at 30 fps, the sight is impressive and all the adventure proceeds without a single load and with a fluidity nearly flawless, except for a few moments aboard the Batmobile. The developers have found ways commendable to mask any of their loading new parts of the level, and the end result is seamless experience that surprised us more than once. At times, for example, we went from a close-up of Batman in a top view of the entire city of Gotham through a sequence shot, then return to Batman without notice even a single popup texture and terrain. Developers have been able to solve many of the problems of Unreal Engine 3, which for the occasion has been squeezed in like never before.
As in previous chapters, even dubbing Italian Arkham Knight is of excellent quality. We find Marco Balzarotti, perfect in the role of Batman and capable of facing dramatically the most intense moments of the adventure. To top it all there is a high quality soundtrack, composed by Nick Arundel and musically related to the topics of the other two chapters.

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