Reviews

Batman Arkham Knight Xbox One review

Posted on: 2015-06-28

Batman Arkham Knight is a stunning conclusion to the series which I highly recommend playing, its dark themes in the story coupled with gameplay that really makes you feel like Batman makes this one of the best games of 2015 that I?ve played so far.

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Sam Coles, a.k.a. The Bristolian Gamer reviews Batman Arkham Knight for Xbox One. Here's what he had to say:

Rocksteady studios were the first game studio to successfully create a Batman game that makes you feel like the caped crusader, by taking elements from the dark themes from the Frank Miller comics and the Christopher Nolan films. Batman Arkham Knight is a stunning conclusion to the Dark Knight’s adventure with all the major villains making a return for one last final showdown.

The story takes place 9 months after the events of Arkham City where Gotham appears to be at peace until Scarecrow starts to threaten the city with his new fear toxin which makes people go crazy and unleash their greatest fears. The story takes a very dark tone although the last two were very dark this one kicks up a notch with some of scenes where it starts to questions Batman’s motives and comparing him to the criminals. John Noble voice’s Scarecrow and does an excellent job playing the psychotic and creepy villain. This story has twists and turns especially when it comes down the identity of the other villain The Arkham Knight who is like a militarised version of Batman but he does kill people and uses firearms instead of hand to hand combat. Throughout the story you slowly see Batman lose his mind and breakdown as Scarecrow gets to him through his friends and his greatest fears that and the death of the Joker (isn’t a spoiler it’s explained at the start of the game) with him being a hallucination.

Let’s talk about the graphics because it was the first thing that stood out to me because they are beautiful with the environments and the character models it’s almost bridging into the uncanny valley how realistic some of the characters look with the skin textures and expression the give you. No stone was left unturned with the detail down to the different blemishes on Batman’s suit when you take damage down to the rain effects when it trickles down the skin and you see the moisten texture take full effect in this game, it’s one of the best looking games I’ve seen so far in this generation of consoles beside The Order 1886.

The gameplay department it retains the excellent combat system which requires timing and recognising what type of enemies you are up against it has been tweaked and tighten so it’s the best version of the combat out of the entire series. The action is bone crunching when you get into a fight as you break enemies arms to disarm them or smash skulls with sheer force of your boot, it feels really satisfying although it can get overwhelming when there are loads of enemies with different skills and stipulations of taking them down.

You also get “Predator” sequences which require you to take down enemies in a stealthy way because in this mode the enemies have guns and will kill you very quickly if they see you so stealth and silently taking them down is essential. For the first time in the Arkham series we get to drive the Batmobile and it is amazing the car controls well and you really feel awesome as you speed through the streets of Gotham as you eject out and then dive kick a goon in the face, the Batmobile can also turn into a tank which is designed to takedown unmanned drones, tanks and no lethally taking down enemies with riot suppression.

Batman Arkham Knight is a stunning conclusion to the series which I highly recommend playing, its dark themes in the story coupled with gameplay that really makes you feel like Batman makes this one of the best games of 2015 that I’ve played so far.

5/5  

Reviewed by The Bristolian Gamer for 365Bristol - Bristol's leading events and entertainment website.

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