Batman - Arkham Knight

[DIrishB]

I'm not talking about graphics. As I understand it, the difference isn't that great. I'm more talking about the PS4 being a hundred bucks cheaper, their online service coming with free monthly high quality games (many of which are triple A titles that are only a few months old), an aggressive push to court and actively support indie publishers, and the promise in the near future to be able to stream any game from the past three generations of Sony systems. Microsoft is in the same position Sony was when the last generation launched. They've proven themselves to be pretty short sighted and uninterested in pursuing the sort of strategies that interest their consumer base. And while they might eventually play catch-up, I don't see it happening any time soon. I wouldn't be surprised if the PS4's popularity scores them more new exclusives and encourages them to incorporate more features to keep their lead on MS.

I don't disagree, but the free games don't interest me much as I don't have much time to play the games I am interested in (I still need to beat Arkham Origins, for instance).

As for more exclusives, that's a possibility but I doubt it due to companies realizing that releasing games only for one system severely limits their potential customer base. Not saying it won't happen in some regards, but in most big name AAA titles I think it's safe to assume they'll be released for both systems.

That said, MS has really dropped the ball in competing with Sony in regards to the new gen consoles, and I think they will indeed implement new features to make it more competitive with PS4.

 

[Zombipanda]

I don't disagree, but the free games don't interest me much as I don't have much time to play the games I am interested in (I still need to beat Arkham Origins, for instance).

Fair enough! If the controller's worth a hundred bucks to you, more power to ya!

As for more exclusives, that's a possibility but I doubt it due to companies realizing that releasing games only for one system severely limits their potential customer base. Not saying it won't happen in some regards, but in most big name AAA titles I think it's safe to assume they'll be released for both systems.

Well, I think the age of third party exclusives is over. From now on, exclusives are going to come from first party developers and from the indie market, the latter of which is more exciting to me, and which Sony seems to have a corner on.

That said, MS has really dropped the ball in competing with Sony in regards to the new gen consoles, and I think they will indeed implement new features to make it more competitive with PS4.

We'll see. In recent years, even their attempts to catch up with Sony's steam have been wrong-headed, but they certainly have a lot more money to throw behind the problem than Sony. I guess it will come down to how much a worthwhile investment MS decides the notoriously slim-margined console market it.

 

[ProjectX2]

I hope the Joker's actually behind it all.

 

[Zombipanda]

I hope the Joker's actually behind it all.

The Joker is actually the secret identity of Arkham Knight. He's also the Penguin, Harley, Batman, and Bob Kane.

 

[DIrishB]

Fair enough! If the controller's worth a hundred bucks to you, more power to ya!

Way to trivialize it. As I said I am also just more interested in the few exclusive games on Xbox One versus PS4. That's the main motivating factor for me. Besides, I'd be surprised if MS doesn't drop the price of the Xbox One by next holiday season, which is when I'll probably pick one up.

Well, I think the age of third party exclusives is over. From now on, exclusives are going to come from first party developers and from the indie market, the latter of which is more exciting to me, and which Sony seems to have a corner on. We'll see. In recent years, even their attempts to catch up with Sony's steam have been wrong-headed, but they certainly have a lot more money to throw behind the problem than Sony. I guess it will come down to how much a worthwhile investment MS decides the notoriously slim-margined console market it.

Eh, I haven't encountered any Indy titles that've really interested me. I'm open to suggestions/recommendations, though.

I hope the Joker's actually behind it all.

He is. Harley is in fact an accelerated growth clone of Joker... which adds a whole new dimension to the term "self-love".

 

[thee great one]

The story was more solid in Arkham Asylum but the ending and Bane-Joker was just the worst.

Arkham City was more ambiguous but Hugo Strange wasn't even a huge part of it and they never did anything worthwhile with his knowledge that he is Bruce Wayne. I was annoyed that the Joker was behind it again and the whole sickness-cure-clayface thing was way too convoluted. Also if the big reveal that Ra Al Gul was behind Strange and Arkham City would have been a lot more dramatic if you just didn't fight him in wonderland/wonder city thing.

Origin was a really good story. That's about the best thing I can say about it besides the cheap knockoff voice actors and how it just felt like a huge Arkham City DLC.

But I do love the games. They captured the spirit and mood of Batman well. And have some amazing sequences and ideas.

 

[DIrishB]

The story was more solid in Arkham Asylum but the ending and Bane-Joker was just the worst. Arkham City was more ambiguous but Hugo Strange wasn't even a huge part of it and they never did anything worthwhile with his knowledge that he is Bruce Wayne. I was annoyed that the Joker was behind it again and the whole sickness-cure-clayface thing was way too convoluted. Also if the big reveal that Ra Al Gul was behind Strange and Arkham City would have been a lot more dramatic if you just didn't fight him in wonderland/wonder city thing. Origin was a really good story. That's about the best thing I can say about it besides the cheap knockoff voice actors and how it just felt like a huge Arkham City DLC. But I do love the games. They captured the spirit and mood of Batman well. And have some amazing sequences and ideas.

That's a pretty fair summation. I disagree with calling Origins voice actors cheap knock-offs, I thought they did a great job of echoing Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill while still giving them their own identities.

I liked the Clayface/Joker twist, thought it was a cool way of keeping the player guessing (though a bit obvious after seeing the real Joker sick).

 

[Zombipanda]

Way to trivialize it. As I said I am also just more interested in the few exclusive games on Xbox One versus PS4. That's the main motivating factor for me. Besides, I'd be surprised if MS doesn't drop the price of the Xbox One by next holiday season, which is when I'll probably pick one up.

I mean it. If you're going to drop a few hundred bucks on a console, and if that's what you're going to be paying for the next few years, you might as well use a controller that feels comfortable in your hands.

Eh, I haven't encountered any Indy titles that've really interested me. I'm open to suggestions/recommendations, though.

There's a lot of great stuff out there. It all depends on what you like.

The story was more solid in Arkham Asylum but the ending and Bane-Joker was just the worst.

Arkham City was more ambiguous but Hugo Strange wasn't even a huge part of it and they never did anything worthwhile with his knowledge that he is Bruce Wayne. I was annoyed that the Joker was behind it again and the whole sickness-cure-clayface thing was way too convoluted. Also if the big reveal that Ra Al Gul was behind Strange and Arkham City would have been a lot more dramatic if you just didn't fight him in wonderland/wonder city thing.

Origin was a really good story. That's about the best thing I can say about it besides the cheap knockoff voice actors and how it just felt like a huge Arkham City DLC.

But I do love the games. They captured the spirit and mood of Batman well. And have some amazing sequences and ideas.

That's a pretty fair summation. I disagree with calling Origins voice actors cheap knock-offs, I thought they did a great job of echoing Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill while still giving them their own identities.

I liked the Clayface/Joker twist, thought it was a cool way of keeping the player guessing (though a bit obvious after seeing the real Joker sick).

I actually really liked the voice actors in Origins.

As for the plots... Well, City and Asylum both suffered from feeling like a theme park tour of Batman characters. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it doesn't exactly make for gripping characterization. And both reveals struck me as sloppy storytelling. Ra's for the reason tog pointed out, and Clayface because it came out of left field. A good narrative twist depends on striking a balance in the story, where all the clues as to what's going on are evident in the story, but the story is told in such a way that the audience doesn't put together the pieces. The Ra's mastermind reveal failed to impress because the pieces were so obvious. The Clayface reveal failed because there was nothing earlier in the story to indicate who Clayface was or what his motive might be. It could just as easily have been revealed that the second Joker was really the Joker from an alternate dimension here planning an interdimensional invasion or an alien mercenary shapeshifter aligned with Joker, and it would have made just as much sense.

Origins was the best story of the bunch but suffered from feeling derivative. After two games about Joker being the mastermind behind devious criminal schemes, I was pretty sick of it. It told the best Joker scheming story of the bunch, but I was just disappointed because I was expecting a story that featured Black Mask and badass international assassins more prominently. It also suffered from the whole edict of taking place over the course of one night. Again, Harley got the short end of the stick, as the whole "she becomes a willing accomplice after thirty minutes of being charmed" seems pretty damn improbable. I think the last bit of the story would have worked perfectly well as a post-script taking place sometime in the new year.

 

[Ice]

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT REVEALS MORE DETAIL ON GOTHAM, VILLAINS, AND THE BATMOBILE!

• Arkham Knight isn't just the name of the game, it's also the name of a brand new villain. Rocksteady is working with DC's Geoff Johns to create the character from scratch.
• Takes place one year after Arkham City.
• With The Joker dead, Gotham's villains come together to try to take down Batman.
• Scarecrow, Two-Face, Penguin, and Harley Quinn are all confirmed.
• Kevin Conroy is back as Batman. Troy Baker is Two-Face, Nolan North is Penguin, Tara Strong is Harley Quinn, and Wally Wingert is Ridder.
• Batman visits with Oracle in the game, she's not just a voice in his earpiece anymore.
• This is Rocksteady's last Batman game. There will be a clear ending to their Arkham trilogy. It's possible that WB Games Montreal may still make Batman games set in the Arkham Origins time period.

 

[thee great one]

I did like the expanded crime scene solving and the Firefly fight in Origins. I felt like the assassin's were not handled very well. I imagined Deathstroke would play a bigger part. The first Bane fight was amazing.

Also I have never been a fan of Harley Quinn's origins. The Batman cartoon probably did the best origin of her character I have ever seen. That she was a television personality like Dr Phil but who was already shady and slightly crazy.

 

[DIrishB]

I mean it. If you're going to drop a few hundred bucks on a console, and if that's what you're going to be paying for the next few years, you might as well use a controller that feels comfortable in your hands.

Ah, ok then. Seriously, I've played on my friends' PS3s and I just really don't like the way the controllers fit my hands. I owned a PS2 and even didn't like it then.

There's a lot of great stuff out there. It all depends on what you like. I actually really liked the voice actors in Origins. As for the plots... Well, City and Asylum both suffered from feeling like a theme park tour of Batman characters. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it doesn't exactly make for gripping characterization. And both reveals struck me as sloppy storytelling. Ra's for the reason tog pointed out, and Clayface because it came out of left field. A good narrative twist depends on striking a balance in the story, where all the clues as to what's going on are evident in the story, but the story is told in such a way that the audience doesn't put together the pieces. The Ra's mastermind reveal failed to impress because the pieces were so obvious. The Clayface reveal failed because there was nothing earlier in the story to indicate who Clayface was or what his motive might be.

There was, actually. We saw a visibly sick Joker and a healthy, normal looking Joker. That definitely hinted there were two of them. Even the voices were slightly different (Clayface Joker sounded normal, Regular Sick Joker sounded all raspy and was coughing, etc). It definitely laid the ground work that something was going on. And really, it should have been obvious for any Batman fans aware of Clayface and his abilities, which I was, but I still didn't put it together until just before the end, right before they actually revealed it. I thought it was a good twist and they handled it well. If they'd dropped any more hints it would've ruined the surprise.

It could just as easily have been revealed that the second Joker was really the Joker from an alternate dimension here planning an interdimensional invasion or an alien mercenary shapeshifter aligned with Joker, and it would have made just as much sense.

Eh, it wouldn't have made more sense given the more grounded approach they're aiming for with the Arkham series. Alternate dimensions and alien shapeshifter a don't really fit the gothic tone of the series.

Origins was the best story of the bunch but suffered from feeling derivative. After two games about Joker being the mastermind behind devious criminal schemes, I was pretty sick of it. It told the best Joker scheming story of the bunch, but I was just disappointed because I was expecting a story that featured Black Mask and badass international assassins more prominently. It also suffered from the whole edict of taking place over the course of one night. Again, Harley got the short end of the stick, as the whole "she becomes a willing accomplice after thirty minutes of being charmed" seems pretty damn improbable. I think the last bit of the story would have worked perfectly well as a post-script taking place sometime in the new year.

Which last bit? I only beat it last week and all I remember after the game's final battle with Bane and Batman beating the crap out of Joker in the Blackgate chapel was Gordon's voice-over (speaking to Barbara) and the various criminals being led back to their cells, and Joker strapped to the gurney with a bunch of guards and Harleen Quinzel walking behind him while he jabbered on. Then there was the post credit thing with Waller recruiting Deadshot.

I did like the expanded crime scene solving and the Firefly fight in Origins. I felt like the assassin's were not handled very well. I imagined Deathstroke would play a bigger part. The first Bane fight was amazing. Also I have never been a fan of Harley Quinn's origins. The Batman cartoon probably did the best origin of her character I have ever seen. That she was a television personality like Dr Phil but who was already shady and slightly crazy.

She was a TV personality? I just watched all the Batman cartoon including the Mad Love episode (and the comic adaptation) and all I remembered was that she was a psychiatrist who wanted to make a name for herself by studying Joker, don't remember anything about her being a TV show host.

 

[thee great one]

She was a TV personality? I just watched all the Batman cartoon including the Mad Love episode (and the comic adaptation) and all I remembered was that she was a psychiatrist who wanted to make a name for herself by studying Joker, don't remember anything about her being a TV show host.

Not Batman TAS but The Batman. The second cartoon.

 

[DIrishB]

Not Batman TAS but The Batman. The second cartoon.

Ah, ok. I've never seen it.

 

[the watcher]

Check out this awesome gameplay video from E3 involving the batmobile ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO2_iUkojCY

sorry my ipad would only post the results. here's the right link.

 

[DIrishB]

Check out this awesome gameplay video from E3 involving the batmobile ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO2_iUkojCY sorry my ipad would only post the results. here's the right link.

Looks great. The size and scope of the city is much bigger, including much taller buildings. The graphics are amazing, and the fighting/combat has been refined and added to. Plus, the Batmobile...

 

[Zombipanda]

I'd like to see more multiplayer introduced in this series. Not in terms of competitive or even co-op, but in terms of asynchronous content.

Rocksteady has stated in the past that open world Batman doesn't really work. i.e. they need the story to take place over a compressed period of a few hours, but I don't really think that's the case. Nor are the designs for the stealth and combat challenges all that complicated. I'd like to see a level creator where people can customize predator and combat scenarios and upload them. On the simplest end, RS could integrate these into their own version of Gotham to populate their Gotham with crimes that amount to more than just "these thugs are standing around and you need to punch them". On the more complex end, you could have what amounts to a long-lasting open world game with content sustained by crowd sourcing player-generated modules and financially sustained with the release of content like characters, environments, and skins.

 

[Ice]

Batman: Arkham Knight Will Be Rated "M"

 

[Ice]

[video=youtube;-WX2IKxxA_A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WX2IKxxA_A&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[SSJmole]

The season pass is almost as much as the game ......... that's ridicules why should we by the game TWICE ...... greedy times I guess

 

[DIrishB]

The season pass is almost as much as the game ......... that's ridicules why should we by the game TWICE ...... greedy times I guess

I agree, but they do seem to be offering a lot of content for the Season Pass:

Batgirl: A Matter of Family
An all new prequel story expansion in an entirely new location where you play as Batgirl for the very first time in the Arkham series - check out the first render of Batgirl.

The Season of Infamy
Play as Batman in all new story missions featuring legendary super-villains invading Gotham City, with new story arcs, missions and gameplay features.

Gotham City Stories
Play as Batman's key allies in narrative missions extending their storylines, from both before and after the events in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Legendary Batmobiles with Themed Tracks
Drive the most iconic Batmobiles from Batman's 75-year history, on custom-built race tracks, each themed to that Batmobile's specific era. Every Batmobile will be drivable across every race track.

Crimefighter Challenge Maps
Engage in a series of new challenge maps utilizing the unique play styles of Batman and his allies.

Character Skins
A variety of skins from across the eras for Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Catwoman.

Whether that content is worth the price remains to be seen (I doubt it). I'll just wait and pick up the stuff I want (the new single player missions, the Batmobile tracks, some of the costumes and challenge maps) and ignore the stuff I don't want (some of the costumes and challenge maps).