Easily the best early access game ever made.

With (most) of the performance issues fixed, this game finally gets to show its grunt; And my god, is it a masterpiece.

This game is the sequel Arkham City deserved. Origins was great, but it did not bother to step up from City (it was a stop-gap release, after all). Arkham Knight, on the other hand, offers a very fresh take on the Arkham formula.


The Arkham series has been established for its state of the art combat system, offering an easy to learn, but harder to master freeflow combat that packs a very satisfying punch to it. Arkham Knight takes the "seamlessness" up a notch, whereby once you get into a flow, the combat feels nearly rhythmic (and in a very very delightful way). Your punches are more powerful than ever, and you never have to break your flow anymore (unlike the previous games, whereby stuff like combat takedown requires you to break from your combos in order to execute. This is definitely one of my favourite parts). Not to mention, enemy variety has been buffed, with the medic offering a new take on what weapons to use on who (and requires quick thinking in large enemy numbers). My favourite addition (or improvement from origins) has to be the dual team fights. If you thought combat couldn't get any better, this will prove you wrong soooo bad. I do not wish to spoil any one of the first time you get to fight with Catwoman. Overall, Knight pretty much perfects the formula, and I can't see them improving it any further, which is great, since it sends off the series in an unmatchable note.

While the mechanics of predator mode have been left relatively untouched (with the exception of a lot more booby trapping and hacking introduced through gadets), they environments in which these challenges take place have been revamped entirely. The maps have been dramatically improved, and are more fitting to the respective themes of the areas they're situated in. They feel much less formulaic, which means you need to work on your strategy each time, and that alone improves them so much.

Now, I understand there is a lot of hate towards the Batmobiles' implementation in this game, but I do not see why it is so profound, considering it is the best implementation that matches the style of gameplay in the Arkham series. Many of us wanted the Batmobile so bad, but only a few of us understand how difficult it would be to implement it in the context of the Arkham games. I feel that Rocksteady has done their best to include the Batmobile in the games, offering a very slick driving experience and a thrilling (albeit frustrating) combat mode. It was either they make a batmobile that made sense in the context of the Arkham games, or not implement it at all; And I am glad they chose to implement it, as it is very fun. Driving the mobile through the streets of Gotham was so satisfying, to the point that I prefer it to gliding around the City (even though that was one of my favorite parts of Arkham City).

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ are the graphics mind blowing!! That coupled with some unbeliveably breathtaking cinematography, the technical side of things are extremely impressive, and definitely put this game up as one of the most impressive titles I have ever had the privilege to play on my gaming PC. The character models are very detailed in comparison to the previous games (Catwoman and Scarecrow are two shining examples of improved character models) and the whole cast seems much more lifelike with the very well done animations and expressions. The map this time around is also very very well designed, with Gotham City feeling extremely satisfying to manuever around and explore. Whichever angle you see it, whether in the sky while gliding, or on the roads in your batmobile, you can abosrb the insanely dense feel this map provides, and I love it! Good to see this generation of gaming put to very good use. You are getting a very good treat just watching the main story events unfold, as the cinematography is just top notch. Even if the story doesn't live up to Arkham City, it definitely is an experience to sit through with the well designed cutscenes. With a good pair of headphones or a home theatre system, you are going to love the sounds and music sooo much.


My System Specs for reference

• i5 4670k 4.0GHz
  
• R9 290
  
• 16GB RAM
  
• Installed on SSD (840 EVO 500GB)
  
• Played on 1440p

This game was pretty much unplayable at launch, everyone knew that. Right now? It's much better to the point where I feel bad that many people are swayed away from this game because of the issues that plagued the launch. I run everything on high-ultra on my 1440p monitor, and generally get 50-60fps (I game on a 60hz monitor, so there is a cap).
One thing that I would note however is this game does hitch alot, specifically on the Batmobile sections. You can reduce this effect significantly by installing the game on an SSD, I find.

This game is a masterpiece, and ends the Arkham Series on the high note it truly deserves. This series will be remembered fondly in the future, and I see myself replaying this multiple times. If you have the system to experience this (including a very nice audio and monitor setup), you will love this game.

Definitely one of the best gaming experiences of its time.

This is the first game that made me go "woah" the first time I played it. The combat, the gliding, the characters, everything was so well put together. I never thought games could be this well narrated, especially an adaptation of a series from another medium. You really get the atmosphere you see in the comic books, the dark overtone, the creepiness of characters. The game makes use of the Teen rating given to it very well, as an M rated version of the game wouldn't make sense lore wise (specifically the series this game adapts), and respects the nature of batman very well. Play this game, you will not be disappointed in the slightest.

Very focused experience. A good example of a cinematic game (which people may not like regardless of whether it is good or not). I do think that this game is meant to be a very fast paced, action packed narrative, so don't expect to do much once the story is complete. Yamatai is a very mysterious place though, with lore packed all around it, so explorers may find it interesting to look around!