--Scarecrow, Batman: Arkham Knight
"Without fear, life is meaningless."
--Scarecrow, Batman: Arkham Knight
The greatest works of entertainment are those which unite intellectual and emotional depth with grand stories and brilliant characterization. While many stories have at least one of these features, few possess them all. Batman: Arkham Knight is among them, offering an excellent presentation of the character of Batman and a story that features diverse objectives, a large amount of side content, and an array of unique gadgets. Scarecrow's plan to induce genocidal chaos in the world through mass dispersion of a fear toxin forms the backbone of the main narrative--alongside the titular Arkham Knight's vendetta against Batman, who seeks to retire by the night's end. Since the game falls at the end of a trilogy with a great deal of in-universe backstory, the script plays out like the Nolan films might have if Batman had an established relationship with numerous villains in them.
Production Values
Arkham Knight is several years old by now, but its visuals hold up well, a testament to the quality of the graphics at the time of release. I encountered almost no loading issues as I moved from one part of the city to another. From the grand visual details to the specifics of the environment, the destructible world of Gotham is exceptionally well-realized. The audio stands alongside the aesthetics in its high quality. Not only is the voice acting excellent, but things like the chatter of small-time criminals outside of the main story change to keep up with the rather significant events that occur throughout the narrative. As a result, Gotham seems like a city with actual people who react to important happenings instead of one full of lifeless NPCs who recycle limited dialogue.
Gameplay
Players can actually feel like Batman as they grapple, glide, brawl, and use an array of weapons to overpower criminals. Want to hide under floor panels and ambush enemies one by one, luring others with the bodies of their comrades? You can do that. Would you rather chase down APCs (armored personnel carriers) in the Batmobile or protect areas from legions of drone tanks? You can do that as well. Care to use the grapple gun to launch yourself into the air, letting you glide around and stumble upon new side missions? That is also doable. You can summon the Batmobile at almost any point in the game, given that you are outside, providing tremendous freedom to explore Batman's technology at will.
There are numerous opportunities to attain upgrade points that can unlock things like new uses for gadgets. Ranging from the classic batarang to other devices/objects used in the Arkham series (explosive gel, for instance), Batman's wide array proves very useful in the primary story and in the optional ones. After all, the many different abilities will be needed to apprehend classic Batman villains. Man-Bat, Two-Face, Scarecrow, the Penguin, the Riddler, Deathstroke, and Professor Pyg all appear in-game to different extents, with some of their appearances flirting with the line between the thriller/mystery and horror genres. The atmosphere is relentlessly consistent despite these genre blurs, as Gotham is almost always a land of bleakness and desperation.
With so much to do outside of completing the main objectives, players could be occupied with Arkham Knight for quite some time. Yet, up to the end, there would almost always be something new to unlock, discover, or try out. This is no small, simple game; it is one with a broad variety of activities and a plethora of upgrade points to earn.
Story
Spoilers!
Nine months after the cremation of the Joker, Gotham's crime has diminished. A serious chemical attack in a diner disrupts this peace. In a very sincere but malevolent statement, Scarecrow warns the inhabitants of Gotham to flee the city quickly, promising more attacks of a similar kind. And so a mass evacuation ensues, leaving Gotham with only the freed inmates of Arkham (and other criminals), Batman, and the police or public safety personnel who volunteered to stay or remained due to abductions/threats.
Batman apprehends Poison Ivy and brings her to the Gotham City Police Department, soon to find himself hunted by a skilled assailant called the Arkham Knight--someone with a major grudge against Batman. Amidst the chaos, Batman finds himself plagued by hallucinations of the Joker after exposure to some of Scarecrow's fear gas, which induces deep psychosis.
Batman prevents Scarecrow from spreading the toxin to other areas, but not in time to stop the gas from being unleashed on Gotham in an awe-inspiring display of Scarecrow's cruelty. However, he, backed by his closest friends, endures the night, learning that the Arkham Knight is a former Robin named Jason Todd, thought to have been killed by the Joker after brutal torture. Despite experiencing the emotional weight of such a discovery, Batman delivers Gotham's police force from utter annihilation, handing himself over to Scarecrow--though Scarecrow unmasks him on live television in order to destroy the hope he stands for to the public. He overcomes the demons of his trauma over the loss of his parents, as well as his hallucinations of the Joker, defeating Scarecrow. Batman, his identity exposed to the world, plans to clean the streets of crime one last time before activating the Knightfall Protocol and stepping back from his role as the anonymous guardian of the city.
Intellectual Content
While the game naturally pushes one to strategically plan attacks instead of blindly charging into skirmishes, the process of finding the many collectibles is by far the most intellectual aspect of the title: there are literally 243 Riddler trophies to either find by happenstance or obtain by solving puzzles of varying difficulty. Some of the puzzles are extraordinarily simple, while others require complex use of both the Batmobile and Batman's gadgets. Some trophies can even be acquired by simply walking up and grabbing them--but they are often well-concealed. Completionists might have to spend a long, frustrating time collecting all of the trophies!
Conclusion
Arkham Knight is a masterpiece on many levels, displaying a stellar gameplay system, a realistic world caught in a lethal plot following the Joker's death, and all of the core elements of the Batman character. Its series likely involves the best representation of Batman that will ever be seen in gaming, as well as one that easily surpasses many cinematic representations. Sophisticated and dark, Arkham Knight does the Batman universe justice. It is a far more stable conclusion to its respective trilogy than The Dark Knight Rises is to its own--and it deserves to be recognized as such.
Content:
1. Violence: There is no actual gore, but Batman and other playable characters like Nightwing and Robin toss opponents around, breaking bones and beating them into unconsciousness. The fighting itself can be somewhat brutal.
2. Profanity: There is a surprisingly small amount of profanity, with most of it having to do with background dialogue Batman hears via his suit.
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