And Deeper into the Darkness We Tread....
Fans have been looking forward to this new installment of the Dark Knight Series for quite some time. One thing you can count on with the Arkham story series: the ending will be dark and brooding... my favorite type of storytelling. Even scrolling through the media, one thing is very clear: the story will play out on a very dark and detailed game world.
The stage for this masterpiece of destruction has been set and it seems everyone, say for the dead, all have a part to play.
All of the previous men who have been "Robin" will reappear at some point or another. And pretty much every single villian you can name will also be on the list including Poison Ivy, but sadly she won't be appearing as the Uma Thurman version.
Flying Fists!!
The DLC for Arkham Knight will finally allow you to play more as villains Red Hood and Harley Quinn, but will also include back story and more story archs for the Dark Knights Allies.
This sits quite nice with me because I am not the sort of person that always wants to wake up and save the world. Your dark side can now be fed a bit: time to wake up like a grizzly bear, all teeth, roll out of bed pissed off and go be a complete raging psychopath, unloading pure havoc on Gotham City to your hearts content.
In a world where good guys are only as deep and compelling as their baddie counterpart, hasn't the industry missed a mark as far as comic book games are concerned? Where are the pure baddie video games? Why not have a Joker game, or any other purely baddie character video game? The “bad” characters are good enough to standalone, instead of the smaller parts they are often alloted, and truth be told I do crave the ability to roam around a sandbox being a total nut case for a few hours.
So get ready, Dark Knight fans to explore your darker side.
Heads or Tails?
Just like you, I am right now just sitting impatiently at my computer itching like an addict for a diamond game to hit the shelves, and the release of Batman Arkham Knight on June 23, 2015 is almost certain to satisfy that craving.
So without further ado let us jump into the article and find out about the things you guys are sure to love about Arkham Knight!
1. Finish the Story!
Just a small town guy
Once again we get to play as Batman in what is said to be the conclusion of the Batman Arkham series, and the story follows our main protagonist as war comes to Gotham City.
The town map has been expanded from the Arkham City game and the six million people of Gotham City have been evacuated as the town stands on the brink of war.
It is time for an empty city with no innocent bystanders to get in the way of Batman's fists of fury. This will be the climatic ending we have all been expecting which is why I suspect you will love it!
*MEOW* Heeeeeellllo kitty....!
The Scarecrow was the brains behind the fear gas attacks and is now the one calling all the shots. But the list of baddies is bigger than that, including: Arkham Knight, The Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face, Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Red Hood, and even Firefly...it looks like the entire evil gang is all here!!!
I am a huge fan of the 90's Batman movies and this game is about to bring all of my favorite baddies together - except maybe Mr Freeze! If there was ever a chance to actually kill the Dark Knight I would have to imagine this is it....so prepare to fight for your life as the Bat.
As for the "good" guys, Batman is allied with Catwoman, Robin, Azrael, and Nightwing who was a previous "Robin" by the name of Dick Grayson. Dick later chose to go out on his own so he didn’t have to be just the sidekick anymore, which is totally understandable. Why be second fiddle when you can be your own band? This list of characters is long and there are many ways for the story to play out- get ready to see how the developers weave all the story archs together.
Arkham Knight could end up being one of the more complex story games of our time simply due to the volume of characters in it!
2. Expanded Game World
Just look at that sexxxxy city of darkness! <3 Kind of reminds me of Seattle...
The game world is going to be more open map and less linear than previous Arkham installments. Here in the expanded map version of Gotham City the player will have a bit more freedom to go around hacking and slashing at the baddies. Fans are going to see every gritty, grimy corner of this great city, and around every corner is going to be another awesome encounter.
The exploration of the newly expanded city is undoubtably going to be given a shot of adrenaline by the new Batmobile which can speed up the walls like that car from Men in Black. This new breed of Batmobile will have it’s own separate skill tree that we will expand on later. Just check out the vid its sooo bad-a**:
3. New Characters
A new Man of Mystery!!!
Possibly the best part of this Batman Arkham Knight game is the All Star cast! We see the addition of a new mysterious character called Arkham Knight, who is said to be one of the villains aiding Scarecrow to bring terror to the city of Gotham.
For those of you that don’t know, the Arkham Knight is sort of like Reverse Flash as far as his role seems to go. As good and heroic our favorite fighting Bat is, Arkham Knight is his evil twin: the fun little psychopath. And if that tickles your fancy, your not alone: it sure does mine. Thank goodness: this series is going have a huge void in it without the Joker - no happy psycho with some twisted morals and social understanding. This guy is going to be a big deal in the game, and a huge challenge for our beloved Batman.
What a treat for the players.
Someone quick please make a comment about all the robins and early birds getting the worm....
Another new addition is Nightwing. Fans of Batman will already know who this is, but if you don't, guess what? Dick Grayson, the old Robin, is all grown up. Imagine what this guy can do in our group of heroes: think of a male Tomb Raider with a more acrobatic combat style than the old school brawler of Batman.
4. Returning Faces
Smoke and Death Cake?
Batman is not just the coolest superhero: he has the coolest enemies. One thing we know is the Joker won’t be returning; if you haven’t played Arkham City I would suggest you -play it to find out why! But the Joker is not the be all and end all, and Arkham Knight is going to go to town, bringing in the heaviest list of baddies in an Arkham game yet.
"Thugs"
All of the best baddies all rolled into one game! Obviously, the Joker was on his own list but that’s just because no one will ever be as seriously cranked as he was until his dying breath. The man just oozed psycho and lunacy that few other characters will ever achieve. But his protege Harley Quinn will be back. Two-Face has his own blend of sanity and insanity that is going to challenge Batman to his core. And even previous characters like Poison Ivy: be sure that they are going to be even tougher this time around.
5. A New Set of DLC
So far there are 4 DLC’s for this game ready, as part of a season pass, and the pre-order bonus. One of the pre order DLC’s allows you to play as Harley Quinn. Sadly it is only sold in that format for now, so hurry and order while you still can!! The other pre-order DLC allows you to play as Red Hood. This one time good got resurrected, absorbed the Joker's personality, and guess how that turned out. Get ready for some good old fashioned naughty times!
RWAR....wait is that blood on the bat? Oh, who cares...*swoon*
The season pass can be scooped up once the Arkham Knight release date of June 23, 2015 has passed. Among the extensive list included is a Batgirl prequel exposing the truth of how she eventually became the Oracle. And Gotham City Stories is going to expand the story even further.
This may be the last Arkham game, but the developers seem set on giving us as much of a fill as possible before they finally leave us.
The last bit of fun comes from the addition of even more things to do with that sweet Batmobile you spent the entire game upgrading giving you new maps and challengers! Every kid wanted a Batmobile - don't lie! - but did you ever think that it could be this armored, this fast, and this gravity defying?
6. Combat
Strong arming the law....and then it all goes tits up.
The combat in the Arkham games is one of its best parts: crunching skulls and spattering teeth across the wall. Clearly, that is going to stay, but some of the Batman Arkham Knight combat elements as well. One thing people keep talking about is the importance of the ranged weapons for this game because of the way the storyline works. See, in previous installments the up close and personal battles were enough to cater for the story: but the scale of Arkham Knight is going to definitely see a shoot first, ask questions later aspect as well.
Uhhhhh...which way is up??
But Batman at his core is still a 'knock you out with my fists' kind of guy. Nothing feels as rewarding as knocking a guy out or those awesome cut-scene killings. So don't worry: there will still be plenty of 'KAPOW' and 'BASH! SMASH! POW!'.
The other cool thing about this game will be the addition of the new DLC and all the baddie combat scenes. Check out the Harley Quinn trailer that hit the web within the last 72 hours to see how the DLC’s might not be something to sneeze at!
7. New Weapons
During the DLC play there will be new weapons and old weapons for the different characters. Each playable ally or baddie will have their own set of specialized weapons! No one at this point is one hundred percent sure on what exactly those will be but one can guess Harley will have a bat.
Hehehe....
As far as Batman is concerned of course we are all hoping to see new batterangs, explosives, and other gameplay tools! Personally, I want to seen an improved grappling hook and perhaps a good segue into a cut-scene. So far that has been one of the strengths of this series is the transition from gameplay into a visual storyline: you grab a thug with the hook, yank him to the ceiling and go to town on him like a bloody pinata.
I also loved the various gels previous installments, blowing rubble into an unsuspecting guard. What about you? Which weapons are you looking forward to for this game?
8. Suiting up...Batman style
Well this armor doesn't look like tissue paper....!
The final culminating fight to end all fights for Batman against his greatest foes needs the greatest threads: he is a multibillionare after all. Batman has always been the sharpest looking superhero: who doesn’t look good in black? The shapely abs and rubber suit also speak to us with more how shall we say.....alternative lifestyles?
This new suit is highly anticipated and is going to be armor plated, giving extra protection from whatever Scarecrow and the hordes of thugs filling Gotham can throw at Bruce. And this time, it won't carry the same mistake of previous games where the armor looked sweet, but really it was just like wearing a cardboard box and called its level of protection "good enough". Hey, game developers, we were kids once that played with such cheap (and fun) items but we can get past that now... this game is all grown up.
Some of the theatrics have been lost, but the cape will at last look like it might actually – with a little help from the twisting of the laws of physics – work, armored as well. The level of detail in the articulation of the full suit will make this the most realistic look in an Arkham game yet.
Pffft...Do you even lift? Or is that just "padding"....
9. The New Batmobile
The car that doubles as a tank....Gotham and baddies beware!
That’s right….*grins from ear to ear* a car we can upgrade! While I am not always a fan of driving mechanics for PC games, but there is no doubt that cool stunts and crazy driving will be within the realm of everyones "to-do" list, even for those of us without steering wheel controllers. The other thing about this Batmobile is it will have many skins which you can download or earn: even the Wal-Mart edition of the games comes with a prototype car.
"You'll never take me alive coppers!!!!!"
The skill tree for the Batmobile allows you to hone certain aspects of the vehicle! Sort of like Need For Speed and other similar games: imagine a Batman Pimp My Ride. New threads, new ride, so much new rubber, how is this game not going to be awesome!
Look at those big sexy guns! I want to get my hands on that...
The Batman Arkham Knight website has an up and running preview and explorer for the Batmobile if you haven’t seen it yet I would highly recommend you check it out to get those pre-game juices flowing!
10. Graphics Update
You can almost count the hairs in his mustache...
Sometimes it is great to be a PC gamer - occasionally you might need a new graphics card (and you probably will for Arkham Knight) - so the next-gen only release for PS4 and Xbox One will not affect us. The graphics of this game are out of this world! Many game reviewers and reports say the environments and the details of the city were a large investment for this particular installment.
Items in the distance are super clear...too bad I can't play this on my HDTV!! So considering console for this...grr..
Most large sandbox games have to sacrifice graphics, but not this one. So not only is Gotham huge, but it is beautiful too. Yeah, I'm excited too! I love detailed environments, and this is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Look at the way the light hits her face...it even has a realistic glow to it...so cool
There is so much you are going to love in Arkham Knight. It will be sad to see this great franchise go, but it is sure to go out with the biggest bang possible.
Are there any items or things you are looking forward to with Batman: Arkham Knight? Leave a comment in the section below! Thanks!
