Batman: Arkham Knight

Welcome back folks, it’s that time of the week again, time for your weekly game review fix.

I honestly can not believe that in the two years of writing for this blog, I have never reviewed one of my most loved game franchises, and probably my most favorite superhero, Batman. The Batman Arkham series was one of this first games that truly did justice to the character and story, and the players ability to actually be the Batman. To give you an example, the fist ever Star Wars game I played was the 1987, Namco Star Wars game on the Famicom platform, which was similar to the Nintendo Entertainment System. This was all 8-bit gaming and you little pixelated character barely resembled Luke Skywalker, and all you could do was move from left to right bashing things. Fast forward about 25 years to where we are today in gaming, where it's almost impossible to distinguish games from live action or film. This Batman series has bridged that gap spectacularly, you are the Batman, and everything the character was ever capable of doing you as a gamer are now able to do.

I don't think fans of the character could wish for a more enthralling experience, well maybe Virtual Reality, but for now I'm happy as can be. This game has truly inspired game developers as to what is possible, but what is most special about the entire series is that you know true fans of the franchise created it, the details, research and staying true to what the story is all about is all there. The only reason I am writing this post is because this specific game popped up as the free PlayStation Plus game for this month, and I will definitely be re-playing it, starting this weekend.

Our story begins on Halloween, Scarecrow forces the civilian evacuation of Gotham City after threatening to unleash his potent new fear toxin.

Our hero Batman tracks down Scarecrow to his hideout where he rescues the imprisoned Poison Ivy, who had refused to join Scarecrow in whatever he might be plotting. Batman then meets with Oracle also known as Barbara Gordon who was the first Batgirl, she informs him that Ace Chemicals as the source of Scarecrow's toxin. Batman investigates the facility but encounters the a mysterious unknown foe, the Arkham Knight and his heavily armed militia. Batman barley overcomes the forces and just escapes, abut does locate Scarecrow, who has transformed the entire building into a toxin bomb. That's when Scarecrow reveals that he has kidnapped Oracle, and exposes the already weak Batman to the toxin before escaping. Luckily Batman is able inhibit the bomb's blast radius, but as he reaches safety something strange happens, he is confronted by his nemesis the Joker, who to Batman knowledge is dead.

A flashback reveals that just before the Joker died, his infected blood was used in blood transfusions, infecting five people including Batman. Concealing his infection from others, imprisoned the four other recipients who were physically and mentally transforming into the Joker. The Joker, now existing only as a mental projection produced by the infected blood and Scarecrow's fear toxin, frequently appears to taunt Batman, and manipulates his perception of the world around him, constantly question his ethics.

"With respect Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that you don't fully understand, either. A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So, we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anybody who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away. Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth

First things first, the total size of the game is pretty big, with three islands of the dark and intermittently stormy Gotham City to freely explore.

Gotham encompasses almost everything we have ever seen in the comics and films when is comes to landmarks, like Wayne Tower, Chinatown district, and you can even see Metropolis far off in the distance. One of the main elements that set this game apart from the rest in the series is the Batmobile, which is very much a crucial part in Batman's arsenal. This was very much more based on the Dark Knight film series tank style Batmobile that can easily plow though walls, and even can be controlled remotely, very handy when you're in a tight spot and need some back up. Obviously gear and gadgets and being the world's greatest detective is what makes Batman, well Batman, and there is ample amounts of that with loads of puzzle-solving and crime scenes to investigate. You can seriously get very much lost for days in the amazing side quests which reveals a multitude of other villains taking advantage of Gotham in it's current state.

When it comes to combat Arkham Knight is just amazing, but it will take practice to master the free flow of hand to hand combat against the never ending groups henchmen all over the city. You also get to team up with your side-kick's, Robin and Nightwing and even the very sexy love interest Catwomen to execute some awesome dual-takedown moves that look epic. I have literally nothing bad to say about this game, apart from I wish it was longer, and not that it is in any way a short game, and it was worth every penny when I first bought it. Arkham Knight is the biggest Batman game yet, not just the map size, but in the wide range of different gameplay styles and also its collection of well known characters. This is truly one of the best games out there.

Batman: Arkham Knight is a 2015 action-adventure video game developed by the goof folks at Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.

If you have never heard of Rocksteady Studios, then you have never played any of the games in the Batman series, because they have done both the 2009 Batman Arkham Asylum and the 2011 Batman Arkham City, which all have been absolutely spectacular games. Think of these games like the gaming version or equivalent of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, and I really hope there is more, of the game that is. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the successor to the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, and the fourth main installment in the Batman: Arkham series. Written by Sefton Hill, Ian Ball and Martin Lancaster, Arkham Knight is inspired by the long-running comic book series. Set one year after the events of Arkham City, the game's main story line follows Batman as he confronts Scarecrow, who has launched an attack on Gotham City with the help of the mysterious Arkham Knight , causing a citywide evacuation. Arkham Knight was released worldwide on June 23, 2015 for all the usual suspects, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. Due to this being a few years old, you'll definitely be able to get a deal on this any where, or free if you are a PlayStation Plus subscriber this month.

I'm giving Batman: Arkham Knight a rating of 9.5/10

In case you missed it, be sure to check out the previous game review

Thanks for popping in, hope you liked the post. Please leave me your thoughts and or opinions in the comments below, have a beautiful day.

Game review for ADSactly by MorkRock

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