The Real Villain of Arkham Knight is the Batmobile

[Shamus Young]

The Real Villain of Arkham Knight is the Batmobile

The Batmobile in Batman: Arkham Knight is a mess. It's a bad feature trapped in a good game. It was a bad idea, badly implemented, and then over-hyped before release.

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[SlumlordThanatos]

Honestly, I think we should blame Christopher Nolan and The Dark Knight for this one. While the Batmobile in the movies wasn't a tank, it did have guns and certainly didn't mesh very well with how Batman was supposed to avoid causing collateral damage. Rocksteady just took the next logical step.

I think the Batmobile in the game is pretty bad-ass, but you're right in that it controls poorly and is overused in game mechanics. It was a great idea, but was poorly executed. It's far too complicated for as much use as it gets.

 

[Ralancian]

The Batmobile sections are fun....just as noted it doesn't feel like Batman.

Actually blame Burton for the guns and collateral damage he started the whole Batmobile has guns and blowing up ACE Chemicals thing. Not to mention in Returns he quite clearly blows a guy up...and smiles after doing it!

Nolan only brought us the bat tank concept to film(it existed comic wise before then) in trying to make thr vehicle more realistic.


It's a shame because Rock steady in every other aspect of the game show they really understand what it means to play as Batman. Sure the plot is predictable at times but it feels Batman y.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

A Bat Bike probably would have been funnier and made more sense. Fast, mobile, able to fit in tight spaces. Giving it some way to get up to the roofs and fly off them could be fun and entertaining. Some light gadgets and light fire power for some basic combat and make enemy tanks rare and basically boss fights.

 

[P-89 Scorpion]

Honestly, I think we should blame Christopher Nolan and The Dark Knight for this one. While the Batmobile in the movies wasn't a tank, it did have guns and certainly didn't mesh very well with how Batman was supposed to avoid causing collateral damage. Rocksteady just took the next logical step.

I think the Batmobile in the game is pretty bad-ass, but you're right in that it controls poorly and is overused in game mechanics. It was a great idea, but was poorly executed. It's far too complicated for as much use as it gets.

Batman 1989 the second Batman thing I ever encountered after the old Adam West show and I'm sure it's the same for a lot of people.

 

[Bad Jim]

Also, how many tanks do there have to be rampaging through the city before the army comes out and deals with it? The US accounts for half the worlds military spending. Where are they?

 

[Bobic]

Also, how many tanks do there have to be rampaging through the city before the army comes out and deals with it? The US accounts for half the worlds military spending. Where are they?

Yeah, that is another thing that makes it feel out of place. Sure, in reality, the FBI or whatever would probably be investigating a serial killer like the joker, but it doesn't push past suspension of disbelief for it to fall under the jurisdiction of the police and a masked vigilante, so far, so batman. But this number of tanks genuinely feels more like an invasion force, than well organised criminals. A foreign army is occupying American Soil, this isn't down to the police force and a well equipped private citizen, this is down to G.I.Joe.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'm only a few hours into the game, and as much as I hate to say this: a lot of this I blame on fans. For some reason a lot of people have been clamoring for the Batmobile since "Asylum", and for the life of me I don't understand why. Batman can easily navigate through the city flying around, gliding, dive-bombing and using his grapnel gun, and it's FUN! I really don't understand why everyone was so infatuated with him having a car to drive.

I think Rocksteady was sort of in a tough situation here for this particular game. Not put the Batmobile in: people would ***** that they still don't get the Batmobile. Put it in but make it completely unnecessary in the game itself: people would complain that it's just a gimmick and serves no purpose. Put it in and make it so you have to use it: people complain that it's 'shoehorned' in.

I think Rocksteady could have done a better job with it overall, but I don't lay the blame squarely at their feet.

 

[Kingjackl]

I'd say the *real* villain of the game is the developer who designed that last Riddler race. Holy shit, that is a painful experience.

The fact that there are Riddler race tracks speaks volumes of the problems with the Batmobile. I actually found it fun traversing the city with it, and some of the side-mission stuff is okay. But I agree with Shamus in that it feels too forced. I haven't beaten the game yet, though I'm close (I just got finished an awful, dragging boss encounter with the Arkham Knight and about six of the heavy tanks you have to stealth- eurgh) and I'd estimate around a third to half of the missions required use of the Batmobile. That's far too much. If they'd kept it as a means of traversing the open world, and toned back the amount of tank fights, I would have been happier with it.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

A good article, and all points that i agree with. In fact, I didn't even realize most of these points until I read this, but they are all right.

The reason I didn't realize these points, of course, is because of the point that I'm surprised isn't mentioned in this article. The Batmobile handles like a nightmare, and I have been cursing it and hating it so much because of this that I failed to notice anything else. Chasing some of these cars--and a certain villain--through the streets often requires you to make ninety-degree turns. The game tells you to power slide, but the problem is that the slide turns into a near 180 if you hold the button down for more than a second. There's no weight to this car at all. Twitch your thumb just a little, and you go sweeping across the road and into a building. I don't even want to think about the later Riddler tracks, or beating times for the challenges. It has gotten so bad that I actually slow down now, taking my finger off of the gas (and is some cases, switching to tank mode quickly) in order to just turn the freaking thing. And when I am driving it, I never go to full speed because it handles so poorly.

I'd say the *real* villain of the game is the developer who designed that last Riddler race. Holy shit, that is a painful experience.

Great. Just freaking great. The first race was a damn horror experience for me, and the second one involved those stupid crushing blocks that I was barely able to dodge most of the time. Your statement is not filling me with excitement in the slightest.

 

[Dreadman75]

I'd say the *real* villain of the game is the developer who designed that last Riddler race. Holy shit, that is a painful experience.

The fact that there are Riddler race tracks speaks volumes of the problems with the Batmobile. I actually found it fun traversing the city with it, and some of the side-mission stuff is okay. But I agree with Shamus in that it feels too forced. I haven't beaten the game yet, though I'm close (I just got finished an awful, dragging boss encounter with the Arkham Knight and about six of the heavy tanks you have to stealth- eurgh) and I'd estimate around a third to half of the missions required use of the Batmobile. That's far too much. If they'd kept it as a means of traversing the open world, and toned back the amount of tank fights, I would have been happier with it.

Oh, god I remember that one. The worst part was failing a lap and then listening to Nigma harp on and on about how you're a failure. Made it that much more satisfying to shut him up though. The AR challenge at the end was an even bigger nightmare, complete 1 lap on the hardest setting in under 1 minute for an upgrade point. *shudders* I know one challenge for sure that I won't be repeating on New Game +.

 

[Dreadman75]

A good article, and all points that i agree with. In fact, I didn't even realize most of these points until I read this, but they are all right.

The reason I didn't realize these points, of course, is because of the point that I'm surprised isn't mentioned in this article. The Batmobile handles like a nightmare, and I have been cursing it and hating it so much because of this that I failed to notice anything else. Chasing some of these cars--and a certain villain--through the streets often requires you to make ninety-degree turns. The game tells you to power slide, but the problem is that the slide turns into a near 180 if you hold the button down for more than a second. There's no weight to this car at all. Twitch your thumb just a little, and you go sweeping across the road and into a building. I don't even want to think about the later Riddler tracks, or beating times for the challenges. It has gotten so bad that I actually slow down now, taking my finger off of the gas (and is some cases, switching to tank mode quickly) in order to just turn the freaking thing. And when I am driving it, I never go to full speed because it handles so poorly.

I'd say the *real* villain of the game is the developer who designed that last Riddler race. Holy shit, that is a painful experience.

Great. Just freaking great. The first race was a damn horror experience for me, and the second one involved those stupid crushing blocks that I was barely able to dodge most of the time. Your statement is not filling me with excitement in the slightest.

Fair warning: Prepare to growl/scream/pull your hair out in frustration at the final Riddler race. On the final lap, Nigma is the one controlling the the columns and walls. It's really goddamn frustrating, and the AR challenge is about 10x worse, since you only have one minute to complete a lap on it's hardest setting. You barely have enough leeway to make a single mistake, so if you mess up near the beginning you might as well start over.

 

[Kingjackl]

A good article, and all points that i agree with. In fact, I didn't even realize most of these points until I read this, but they are all right.

The reason I didn't realize these points, of course, is because of the point that I'm surprised isn't mentioned in this article. The Batmobile handles like a nightmare, and I have been cursing it and hating it so much because of this that I failed to notice anything else. Chasing some of these cars--and a certain villain--through the streets often requires you to make ninety-degree turns. The game tells you to power slide, but the problem is that the slide turns into a near 180 if you hold the button down for more than a second. There's no weight to this car at all. Twitch your thumb just a little, and you go sweeping across the road and into a building. I don't even want to think about the later Riddler tracks, or beating times for the challenges. It has gotten so bad that I actually slow down now, taking my finger off of the gas (and is some cases, switching to tank mode quickly) in order to just turn the freaking thing. And when I am driving it, I never go to full speed because it handles so poorly.

I'd say the *real* villain of the game is the developer who designed that last Riddler race. Holy shit, that is a painful experience.

Great. Just freaking great. The first race was a damn horror experience for me, and the second one involved those stupid crushing blocks that I was barely able to dodge most of the time. Your statement is not filling me with excitement in the slightest.

I will say, right after posting this, I learned that the races become much easier if you do them in first-person (down on the d-pad). The problem with the final race is there's a lot of hard turns while gripping to the sides of walls, and the third lap is worst of all because you don't control the barricades. First person makes it easier to navigate when you're driving upside down.

Once I figured that out, the final race actually became quite fun. Still doesn't excuse how overbearing the Batmobile sections are.

 

[Ralancian]

The track I actually found worst was the first one (trying to do the AR challenge never had an issue with the race part). I find the final jump hard to get the timing right.

What controller input are people using? I have a 360 controller on the PC and the controls make massive use of the analogue stick and trigger. Pressing them fully can lead to issues....those with keyboard/mouse might have bigger issues controlling the beast.



Another note despite massive exhaust pipes does the tank sound too electric to you? I know it's a similar sound to that made by Nolans but it just doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Rack]

The other point about the last race is you actually have a decent amount of time to spare, a big mistake will probably (but not certainly) kill you but as long as your car is on the ground you can afford to slow down a fair bit in order to avoid the various traps.

 

[marioandsonic]

No, the real villain is Warner Brothers.

Hype the DLC with the game's first trailer, a $40 season pass, outsourcing the PC port to a company that's only previous work was on consoles...need I go on?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I completed all the Riddler challenges in Asylum and City, just from these, I will not be completing Knights. If they ever fix the PC version that is (I bet the "fix" will be them re-doing the entire PC version).

 

[Ugicywapih]

A Bat Bike probably would have been funnier and made more sense. Fast, mobile, able to fit in tight spaces. Giving it some way to get up to the roofs and fly off them could be fun and entertaining. Some light gadgets and light fire power for some basic combat and make enemy tanks rare and basically boss fights.

He is vengeance, he is the night!

Edit: Adding a direct link [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3emn6_bathman-dal-pianeta-eros-klito-bell_shortfilms] because embed doesn't love me.

Edit2: Vid link fix'd

 

[Coreless]

Love the Batmobile in Arkham Knight, easily one of the best uses of a vehicle I have seen in a while. Amazing how much the Batmobile has divided the fans because I can't get enough of it.

 

[K12]

I've gone from considering this game opening week to holding off for the patch to waiting for a discounted GOTY edition to now probably never buying it at all.

Oh well I've still got Asylum and City to replay if I want.