Reviews for Arkham Knight are starting to come out and it looks pretty good so far though most of them seem to agree that the Batmobile is the weakest part.
If Batman and the Avengers weren't the Gods of this internet generation I'd take those scores more seriously, because bias, so I have to experience the game first hand to see if it's actually this near-perfect. I'm sure it's great, but then again, it's the third Arkham game, and I don't see how much Rocksteady can take the series beyond what City achieved.
This game does look awesome, however i need a break from that combat system. After playing Mordor a couple months ago all all it's DLC i really don't care to play another game with that combat system again for a long time.
Christ this year has been INSANE thus far and we're only halfway done. So psyched for people with a good PC and current gen consoles and this certainly makes me look forward to getting one in 2016 (hopefully)
The Gamespot review rings true to how I generally see that whole franchise. Good games but ultimately they don't wow me. I've never been a big Batman fan (or comic book fan) to begin with so that without a doubt skews my opinion. I also never found the combat to be as engaging as other people as I felt it was just way to automated to the point where I felt like I was barely playing. Each time I've played them they've been GOTY sale games and I'm very glad that they were, this will probably be the same.
@jesus_phish: Although Kevins review is the outlier here I can relate to his criticisms. From the moment they started showing this game I thought the Batmobile looked completely out of place and unnecessary. Heck, I thought Arkham City was already unnecessarily too open. I don't think these games benefit from the faux-open-world setting in the slightest. Arkham Asylum was such a tight, well paced narrative experience and these later games seem to have lost a bit of that focus in favor of creating a largely needless sandbox in which all you do is beat up thugs.
Just a heads up, according to GameInformers reviewer there are some pretty big spoiler-y stuff happening fairly early in the game, so streams of even the early game might not be safe.
Given what VanOrd had to say about the Batmobile, I suspect Jeff won't be too hot on this game either. I'll reserve judgement until I actually get to play with the Batmobile. Though I got my copy free with that GTX offer, so no biggie either way.
Have you replayed Batman Arkham Asylum? Game was great when it came out but it definitely feels outdated and small after 6 years.
Haven't replayed it, but "small" seems like a feature to me, not a bug. I liked the Metroidvania feel of the first game, over the open-world approach of the second. Claustrophobia works well in the Batman universe.
I really want a alternate universe batman or some story where batman loses his shit. In Red Hood story lines he said that he never wanted to kill because he would be no different than a thug, and that he would never go back because he didnt think he would be able to stop. Then in Dark Knight Returns we saw him become so brutal that he just didnt give a shit about anyone or anything except dishing out punishment. Now I want just one story (canon or not) where someone, either joker but preferably someone else, just pushed him past the point of no return and he seriously just loses his mind completely and doesnt care if he killed someone or not.
Also, I hate how all the movies and video games undermine that his one and only official superpower is "world's greatest detective." people see him as a ninja, which he is to some extent, but he is also a genius who preplans everything and is 9/10 times overprepared for any situation unless unfamiliar with a new foe.
Kinda burned out on the Arkham games, but this might get me back in.
If the Batmobile doesn't completly ruin the game for GB (especially Jeff) this might be another goty contenter. Even though we're only half way through the year I already can't wait for the goty podcasts, it's gonna be a bloodbath (and I'll get mad when Bloodborne gets shafted).
Hmmm... didn't want to get this any time soon but this is turning my head.
Though Arkham City got amazing reviews too and I thought was just pretty good and not great at all. (Arkham City has a 96 on metacritic for those wondering, just to give perspective on reviews).
The story is the thing that would make it for me, but both the previous games had bad stories to me so they would have had to make a big leap to actually have a good story to me. The open world actually being interesting vs just a big hub full of static enemies would get me as well. Is that changed?
@terminatorz: The perfect Batman game was Arkham Asylum and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
Preach it, brother.
Have you replayed Batman Arkham Asylum? Game was great when it came out but it definitely feels outdated and small after 6 years.
I did around December. The only thing I can tell doesn't hold up is the boss fights, since they suck. I miss some of the depth of the combat, but I also appreciate the purity of it, since City threw in so many gadgets into a control scheme that couldn't handle them.
But in terms of pacing, structure and side quests? Blows City and Origins out of the water. It's still great, even almost 6 years later, especially since that game is much more focused and less bloated.
Don't get me wrong, they are still great games (Origins less so, mostly due to bugs and saminess with City, but it does have the best story and some awesome acting) - it's just that I don't think the game's formula really fits into the "bigger and better" iteration without more radical changes.
Have you replayed Batman Arkham Asylum? Game was great when it came out but it definitely feels outdated and small after 6 years.
Haven't replayed it, but "small" seems like a feature to me, not a bug. I liked the Metroidvania feel of the first game, over the open-world approach of the second. Claustrophobia works well in the Batman universe.
I love open world games but that "small" world in the first game is way better than the meaningless larger open worlds they did in the next games. 2 in particular was one of the worst open worlds in any game. Not dynamic, all the same looking, huge lake for some reason in the middle that ruins traversing it. I'd take the first games world over that any day.
Welp time to buy another one. Thus so far GOTY seems such a difficult task to choose. Witcher 3, Batman, MGS, Fallout 4, GTA(for pc), and more to come. Holy crap this year man.
VanOrd being a hater! Watched his video review... it looks like a lot more of the same. I'm having a bit of difficulty mustering up excitement after playing all 3 of the prior games. I'll probably change my tune when it releases but right now it leaves me a bit cold and his complaints about the vehicle stuff put me off a bit more. Sure looks pretty tho.
I have no beef with this game, just hard to believe I could still have fun with the Batman combat after so much of it. I'll get this on sale one day since I'm so broke.
Admittedly It probably has the bandwaggon effect since it's a Rocksteady Batman game so reviewers are going to mark it high however, I watched the Gamespot review, and it seemed pretty fishy to me. It just seemed like he gave it the 7 for some ulterior motives. Gamespot has a habit of doing these converstional reviews because they know its the only way they will get attention... no one cares about Gamespot anymore.
Admittedly It probably has the bandwaggon effect since it's a Rocksteady Batman game so reviewers are going to mark it high however, I watched the Gamespot review, and it seemed pretty fishy to me. It just seemed like he gave it the 7 for some ulterior motives. Gamespot has a habit of doing these converstional reviews because they know its the only way they will get attention... no one cares about Gamespot anymore.
Kind of seems like you have ulterior motives. Gamespot is doing just fine I'm sure.
Sorry but I get super annoyed when people won't let someone give a game a lower score than other places do. We want honest reviews but Van Ord's is wrong because it's not high enough?
@jesus_phish: Although Kevins review is the outlier here I can relate to his criticisms. From the moment they started showing this game I thought the Batmobile looked completely out of place and unnecessary. Heck, I thought Arkham City was already unnecessarily too open. I don't think these games benefit from the faux-open-world setting in the slightest. Arkham Asylum was such a tight, well paced narrative experience and these later games seem to have lost a bit of that focus in favor of creating a largely needless sandbox in which all you do is beat up thugs.
They are different that's true but I really enjoyed the open world in Arkham City. The movement in that game flowed really well and the ability to just swoop down on fools was a joy. I also think that they gave the open world enough personality that I could recognize places and areas after spending enough time in it and overall they did a fine job integrating the story even if it isn't as well paced as Asylum. You can't avoid that in the open world. I'd argue it was a good decision to do the open world and try something new instead of just making a Asylum 2.
I do agree with you about the Batmobile though. They had a great way of moving around that felt true to the character and the car just feels like an unwelcome addition. The tank shooty parts look incredibly dull, I don't come to a Batman game to shoot things. Even the havoc you can wreak using tha Batmobile feels out of place even though it looks awesome. It's just a solution to a problem that wasn't there in the first place.
I have to say that the challenge maps and the new characters you can play as are the thing I'm looking forward to the most at this time. I spend a lot of time doing that stuff in city and I avoided enough of the Arkham combat clones (like Shadow of Mordor, which didn't click with me at all) that I could go for a really good version of that system again (probably the best one actually since I can't think of a game that did it as well as the Arkham games).
Has it really been six years since Arkham Asylum? God damn. Anyways, I wasn't excited about a new Arkham game ever since finishing Arkham City but damn if the positive reviews aren't getting me hyped up.
Admittedly It probably has the bandwaggon effect since it's a Rocksteady Batman game so reviewers are going to mark it high however, I watched the Gamespot review, and it seemed pretty fishy to me. It just seemed like he gave it the 7 for some ulterior motives. Gamespot has a habit of doing these converstional reviews because they know its the only way they will get attention... no one cares about Gamespot anymore.
I haven't played the game, but I read Kevin's written review. His 7/10 seems entirely justified by his experience.
If that's his reason I can't say it's a bad one. Witcher 3 is the high watermark for the RPG genre going forward.
Perhaps the disappointment lies in expecting Arkham Knight to top it?
HOLY SHIT I'M SO EXCITED WHY ISN'T IT TUESDAY YET
Really? That's the worst reason to mark down any game! That's like giving The Witcher 3 a 6/10 claiming "It's not Baldur's Gate 2." The Witcher 3 was a great game, but I feel like most people are giving it too much of a pass on it's shortcomings and basic design issues. The movement and combat are pretty bad in W3, and travelling around the world on horseback is more of a pain than anything, being constantly caught on trees and fences when you're 10ft away from them, aspects which are quite key in a game like this! (at this point I'd like to say I really did love the witcher series, and really enjoyed W3, but these things are given too much of a pass in reviews and discussion about the game)
It just seemed like he gave it the 7 for some ulterior motives. Gamespot has a habit of doing these converstional reviews because they know its the only way they will get attention... no one cares about Gamespot anymore.
Kevin VanOrd's ulterior motive involves writing a good, but not gushing, review? How devious!
I can't fucking wait, though that's kind of not because of reviews - I was already really looking forward to its release. It's nice to see that it's being well received, though, even Kevin's review is quite positive for a "low" score.
These look excellent! I'm at work so I can't read them all but have any of them mentioned performance on ps4 or Xbox? i wish I could use the discounts and get it on PC but I just don't think mine can take this game at the moment without exploding.
@sackmanjones:Digital Foundry did a brief analysis of the PS4 build that got sent out for review and in the sections they tested it ran at a constant 30 outside of a couple of Batmobile segments.
I liked this series enough to play Origins. Which by all accounts was a pretty "average" game, it was still fun though. It had some good boss encounters tbf.
But Rocksteady I'm ready for you to wow me, Tuesday get here!
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