VideoGame How Batman himself would make a Batman game.
Simply put, the Arkham series takes the The Problem with Licensed Games and kicks it to the curb with the fury of a thousand fists, leaving behind a bruised, bloodied and broken (yet somehow, still alive) wreck, heaving on the sidewalk. Lovingly crafted, it just might be my favorite take on the Batman outside its original medium. Rocksteady are to be commended for not only making you feel like the character you're controlling, but for that character being Batman of all people, who has been horribly misused in earlier attempts.
Most commendably, the series perfectly balances the brute strength and intellectual cunning of the Dark Knight. For one, the surprisingly deep combat system is executed with such simplicity and grace that you'll be racking up combos north of 50 without ever getting hit in no time at all. And it never, ever gets boring. At least it hasn't over the course of the 3.5 games released thus far. It's no wonder Rocksteady's benchmark for third-person combat has inspired imitators in subsequent years.
Equally as rewarding and fun are the Metal Gear Solid-inspired "Predator" encounters, in which you must take out a number of armed guards in one area. Usually, going all Leeroy Jenkins on these guys is a one-way ticket to the morgue, so it's up to you to use gadgetry and cunning to take them down. There are so many ways to go about this (they even increase as the series goes on) that you really feel like you're the predator, merely toying with Gotham's "finest" henchmen on offer.
The series' big flaws relate to narrative and storytelling. Though ambitious in scope, the games' stories always come off as a little disappointing. In fact, I'm gonna have to give props to unfairly-maligned series blacksheep Origins (developed by another studio) for having the most cogent and effective narrative in the series. Anyway, the biggest problem is just the lack of character focus. There are just a few too many plot threads dangling around at once. To me, the strongest Batman stories tend to focus on a smaller, more intimate cast. That's a lesson well learned.
While the series reached an insurmountable peak with its very first outing, at least the sequels' flaws can be attributed due to experimenting with the formula a bit too much, and not through complacency.
VideoGame In Hindsight the Combat is Shit
I used to be a major fan of these games, but I’m more of a casual fan at this point, and really, this is a game for casual gamers at best. Now mind you I never played Origins, but I’ll make an educated critique at the end.
Gameplay Combat: It gets easier with each game, like seriously, it’s too simple, and other games copy this games style. It’s fun at first, but if you play a game with way better combat and then go back to this one, you’ll be like “wow, this is too easy, and it’s not fun anymore”. It’s basically the animation that makes the game look really cool, and only the Arkham games knew about this, because any game that copies it’s style of combat don’t look fun because of the animation. Stealth: Actually I think this is the series best strength, it’s predator style is pretty cool, and each game does add something new and have different characters to try new things out. Could be more complex, but still great
Story – All around these games go for a huge scope in their story, success varies in how it’s told. Asylum: Straightforward, nice and tight, ends with a whimper City: Harder to keep straight, a lot to track at once, still good, possibly better Knight: Shit. Dino had no involvement and it shows, plus it’s all around disappointing.
Characters – It’s the Batman cast, so you’ll already be interested, but Batman is such an unlikable dick in these games. Always with the “I work alone!” thing going on, he makes Shadow the Hedgehog look like a guy who’d hang out with you.
Graphics – While it does get better with each entry, there are issues, but the atmosphere stays solid all around. Asylum: Every dude has the same body type, save for Bane and Joker. And it’s showing some age City: Showing it’s age Knight: This is new, so give it a few years
VA – Great everywhere, save for Conroy, who only starts caring by Knight.
Replay value – First had challenge and stealth maps, 2nd had more characters (and DLC shit), last had only Batman, so it went backwards. Each game has other side missions/stuff to do/get, so there’s that.
Origins: Story seems it’s not as strong as 1 or 2, combat is the same, graphics aren’t that better than city, VA is great.
6/10 or something... whatever