Batman: Arkham Knight Review (PC)

Rocksteady's Arkham series has shown over the years that video games based on comic books can work effortlessly, as long as the developer has respect for the source material and manages to innovate through things like the now-iconic FreeFlow combat.

With Arkham Knight, Rocksteady is putting an end to its Arkham storyline, introducing an all-new villain, the biggest challenges ever faced by the Caped Crusader, but also the Batmobile, which now allows him to easily travel through the new open world of Gotham City.

Does Arkham Knight manage to deliver a solid end to the series or should we turn off the bat signal? Let's find out.

Story

Batman Arkham games have delivered some pretty solid stories over the years, and Arkham Knight is no exception. The Caped Crusader returns, this time to help defeat Scarecrow, who's just threatened to unleash his deadly fear toxin in Gotham City. After evacuating the civilians, the streets are now home not only to thugs but also to the army of an all-new villain called the Arkham Knight.

The main plot explores quite a few interesting things, focusing particularly on Batman's current state of mind, thanks to a pretty controversial side effect of the fear toxin. While some fans may love the twist, which I won't spoil here, others may not exactly be delighted.

Unfortunately, while the story's first half unfolds rather well, the second half brings some telegraphed twists, such as the Arkham Knight's actual identity, and tension is elevated in some rather clunky ways.

However, while a lot of urgency is placed on the threats posed by Scarecrow and Arkham Knight, you should find time to explore the secondary missions, as some are quite good and explore plenty of villains from Batman's gallery of rogues.

A big emphasis is placed on Batman's classic "no killing" prerogative, so much so that the story constantly repeats itself in order to make sure that players haven't forgotten that the Caped Crusader doesn't want to murder anyone, no matter what terrible deeds they've done.

Fly around Gotham in Batman: Arkham Knight

Gameplay

Batman: Arkham Knight performs pretty admirably in terms of regular gameplay mechanics. The FreeFlow combat reigns supreme once more, as it's always great to jump into the middle of a group of thugs and systematically defeat every last one of them by unleashing attacks and parrying blows.

Quite a few new elements have been added to the mechanic, from a quick use of various gadgets, like batarangs, explosive gel, or the bat claw, to fresh moves that can be unlocked through the leveling system.

Special mention goes to the new Fear Takedown maneuver that allows Batman to take out up to five enemies in rapid succession before they have a chance to fire their guns. This move emphasizes just how powerful the Caped Crusader can be, but it also requires careful sneaking around.

By far, the most intriguing mechanic is the Dual Play one. During certain parts of the story, Batman goes into battle alongside allies such as Robin, Nightwing, or Catwoman. You can freely swap between the characters, while keeping your combo, and perform special takedowns that are a joy to behold.

Of course, the Invisible Predator sequences also return, as Batman will have to stick to the shadows and systematically eliminate gun-wielding bad guys throughout different zones of the game. Most of them are open-ended in terms of how you can tackle them and their enemies.

From spending vantage points to using grates, air vents, and other such things, you can decide how you want to tackle things. The game soon throws at you special thugs that can detect your detective vision, operate drones, or plant mines on your vantage points, so there are plenty of incentives to keep changing your style.

However, the biggest system in Arkham Knight - the Batmobile - is also its weakest. After spending three games in which players could only glide around the world, the new title finally lets players take control of the iconic vehicle.

Unfortunately, in order to justify its inclusion, it's shoehorned into all sorts of situations. You have to drive around the streets of Gotham to chase after bad guys, you have to use the Battle mode to fight remote-controlled tanks, or, quite surprisingly, you now have to engage in race courses designed by the Riddler. While most of his challenges reward careful thinking and planning, his race courses are just to force you to use the vehicle.

Gliding around Gotham is even better than before, so the Batmobile isn't even the fastest way of getting around its streets. As such, especially towards the end of the main plot, you'll certainly have your fill of the vehicle.

As mentioned in the Story sequence, the side missions promote a variety of other mechanics, such as the returning Bat-vision, which highlights that the Crusader is also known as the world's greatest detective.

Upon completing the game, you can also indulge in the New Game+ mode, but also in different Augmented Reality challenges, not to mention DLC adventures, like the Harley's Revenge one offered to those who pre-ordered.

The mouse and keyboard control system is decent but requires a lot of practice before you can really master it. As such, it's recommended that you use a controller to enjoy the game.

Drive the Batmobile in Batman: Arkham Knight

Graphics and Sound

While Batman: Arkham Knight seems to look and handle pretty well on PS4 or Xbox One, on the PC platform it's borderline unplayable due to massive performance issues. The game is locked at 30fps, and no matter your computer's configuration, it can only sustain a stable framerate if you set everything to the lowest settings or turn things off altogether.

Even on an Nvidia GeForce GTX 770, the game struggles to maintain a stable framerate, as you can see in the gameplay video below. Don't even try to turn on the special Nvidia GameWorks features, as they flat out destroy any hope of a stable and smoothexperience. Errors are also common, even when exiting the game.

While the game is playable, more or less, it's pretty much not worth trying to play it right now.

The soundtrack is pretty good and, as always, the voice acting is top notch. Starting with Kevin Conroy as Batman, to the rest of his allies and villains, you're in for one well-acted experience. Even the common thugs are voiced rather well and some of their lines are downright hilarious.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion