The Batman: Arkham Series Is Great
The Batman Arkham Series have engaged gamers with its thrilling adventures, immersive gameplay, and a fresh portrayal of the Gotham City's superhero. Over the years the series has evolved, bringing both strengths and weaknesses in each new installment. In this post, I will delve into the key aspects of each game in the series, Including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Knight.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum, the first game in the series, set the standard for superhero games that still holds true to this day. The gameplay is masterful, easily blending stealth, combat, and detective elements. The Freeflow combat system, which lets players chain together attacks to seamlessly create combos, is well done. To the point where every other Arkham game uses it.
While the story is quite straightforward, it does the job of immersing players in the eerie atmosphere of Arkham Asylum. The story unfolds with a sense of urgency. Keeping players engaged in stopping Joker's sinister plans. Surprisingly, Even after nearly 14 years the graphics hold up exceptionally well, creating the eerie atmosphere of Arkham Asylum. The haunting visuals add to the overall dark and suspenseful ambiance, drawing players even further into Batman's world.
The only issue with the game is the boss fights. While Scarecrow and Killer Croc stand out for their psychological intensity and thrilling gameplay, respectively. The boss fights against Bane, Poison Ivy, Zsasz, and the Titan-fueled Joker were lackluster and lacked the depth I expected.
Despite being the first entry in the Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Asylum gives the most solid and well-crafted experience of them all. It's focused design ensures that players receive a tightly woven experience with only 1 true issue. Being the game that started the franchise, Batman: Arkham Asylum will hold a special place in the hearts of fans.
Batman: Arkham City
The highly anticipated sequel, Batman: Arkham City, improves upon its predecessor's gameplay in every single way. The combat system remains fluid and satisfying, while the new gadgets add depth and variety to Batman's arsenal. Exploring Arkham city, with its varied districts and interesting secrets is a delight.
Another thing it definitely has over its predecessor is boss fights. Every single one is great including Clayface, Ra's al ghul, Solomon Grundy, The Joker, and the best of them all Mr Freeze Which is the best Boss in all the Arkham Games.
Something new Arkham City introduced was side quests. Side quests were a worthy addition to the series allowing for game just to have self-contained stories. The Best Side quests include Bane's, The Riddler, Deadshot, and Azrael.
However one of the games the biggest weaknesses lies in the story. While it brings together a variety of iconic villains, including Hugo Strange, Joker, Penguin, Ra's al Ghul and Mr. Freeze, the story feels disjointed. The constant shifting between villains and plot lines leave players want a more cohesive story.
Despite being released two years after Arkham Asylum, Arkham City's graphics are a slight downgrade. While still atmospheric and haunting The Visuals don't quite match the original game's level of detail and eeriness.
Furthermore, the horseshoe design of the map is annoying to traverse, as it increases backtracking and makes the map intuitive to traverse. Additionally, the grapnel boost, introduced to make travel faster ends up being slow and clunky to use.
While Arkham City is widely considered to be the best in the series, And while the gameplay, side quests, and boss fights are great, the horseshoe design and disjointed story stop it from becoming the ultimate batman experience.
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins while offering a enticing experience, falls short in refining the gameplay of its predecessor, Arkham City. It's hard to tell if the graphics have improved because everything is covered in snow. Nonetheless, the map stands out as the best so far, featuring both unique locations, and recognizable areas from Arkham City.
The story of Arkham Origins suffers from being a prequel, as it's constrained by need to return to the status quo made by Arkham Asylum. Despite the compelling plot, the knowledge that Batman will eventually defeat all the villains without any true losses, diminishes the suspense. The game's story would have been better if it was the first Arkham game released, free from the constraints of being a prequel, allowing it to take more risks.
While I can't say that the story or gameplay were better than city, I can say this game has something that no other Arkham game has Character Development. In every other Arkham game, Batman is untouchable He always has a plan and a way out. But In this game Batman makes mistakes, he gets angry, and has to convince everyone that he's a good person. And while you know where everything is going to end up it's still interesting to see how it got there.
Despite an even worse grapnel boost and narrative constraints, Batman: Arkham Origins manages to shine with its immersive map and engaging story. While not surpassing Arkham City, the game's strengths outweigh the flaws, making it a compelling addition to the Arkham series and an enjoyable experience for Batman fans
Batman: Arkham Knight
Batman: Arkham Knight, the series grand finale, boasts the best gameplay of all the Arkham games, refining combat and stealth mechanics to perfection. The addition of the Bat-Mobile adds chase scenes and vehicular combat, enhancing the open-world environment of Gotham City. Graphically, Arkham Knight is the best in the series, immersing players in a dark and gritty version of the city.
Arkham Knight has the absolute best combat and stealth out of any Arkham game, it introduces the Fear-Multi takedown allowing you to takedown up to 5 enemies extremely quickly. Aside from that Batman can now pick up and throw weapons such as boxes, baseball bats, and metal pipes. You Can now play as multiple characters such as Nightwing, Robin, Red Hood, Harley Quinn, And Bat-Girl, And the game adds and refines upon the gadgets added by the previous games making them the best they've been.
Another great part of the game are the side quests. I felt like the side quests truly were one of the best parts of the game because as you completed them the Gotham City looked different, It goes from looking completely taken over by the Militia, to looking like a normal city.
Another great thing about this game is the Militia and Thug dialogue. Their dialogue was genuinely interesting to listen to, it truly made me feel like I was part of the world. To the point where I would just glide around the city and just listen to what the thugs were saying.
However, while the gameplay is amazing, the game's story falls between Arkham Asylum's story and Arkham City's disjointed plot. While not as convoluted as City it doesn't live up to Asylum's depth and coherence
Another big issue with the game is the Riddler trophies. There are 243 Riddler challenges, including races, destructible's, actual riddles, brain bombs, trophies, and challenges. That is far too many Riddler trophies and to see the true ending you have to collect and complete every single one which is insane.
Despite taking place just nine months after Arkham City, the game's world feels unrecognizable failing to create a seamless transition between the two. In better news the grapnel boost is finally good, leading to a smoother and more enjoyable experience.
Even with the overwhelming amount of Riddler Trophies and how disconnected the world feels from Arkham City, the incredible gameplay, the beautiful graphics, the great side quests, and inclusion of Thug and Militia dialogue make this what I consider to be the best Arkham game in the series
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Batman Arkham series takes players on an exciting journey through Arkham Island, Arkham City, And Gotham City. Offering strengths and weaknesses in each installment. From the haunting atmosphere of Arkham Asylum to the outstanding gameplay of Arkham Knight. Each game boasts unique elements to the series. Batman: Arkham Origins, explores the early years of batman, while Arkham City boasts improved combat. Despite some flaws such as the disjointed story of Arkham City and the overwhelming number of Riddler trophies in Arkham Knight, the series remains a testament to the enduring appeal of the Dark Knight, leaving a permanent mark on the world of superhero video games.