Post by Steve Farrelly @ 11:16am 02/07/15 | 35 Comments
From Joab's video (which we've accompanied with the complete transcript):
So yeah, you might not like the Batmobile because functionally it's not as good as it could be. But what if it's more than just that? What if the Batmobile not only failed to add anything to the game, what if it detracted from the experience as well? What if the Batmobile's existence in Batman: Arkham Knight makes the game worse?Click here for his full video feature.
It adds very little. Batman is a capable superhero with just the cape on his back and the cowl on his noggin, and the half racecar/tank machine doesn't bring anything to the table to change that. I did some tests, and travel between the islands of Gotham as Batman on foot (so to speak) is just as quick as in vehicle. That's because Batman gets to take the path 'as the Bat flies', ignoring bridges and flying in a straight path.
What it adds the most is in the game's puzzle elements, where Batman is forced to use his new toy to solve simplistic puzzles or remote control destroy some obstacles. But this is, again, a scenario where the Batmobile is used to solve problems which wouldn't exist if the Batmobile didn't exist. It's almost poetic, if you think about it. One of the common criticisms/meta commentaries regarding the Caped Crusader is the idea that the costumed villains of Gotham wouldn't exist if Batman himself didn't. The idea is that Bruce Wayne donning the cowl escalated the crime scenario, and so to keep the natural order of things, to preserve the city's criminal ecosystem, the villains needed to raise the stakes as well. Essentially, the supervillains Batman fights wouldn't exist if Batman himself didn't.
But that's all a bit existential for a piece about a car with bat decals.
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Posted 01:44pm 02/7/15
So far though I'm finding that Batmobile to definitely be the weakest part of the game. Arkham City very rarely, if ever, annoyed or frustrated me but even only a few hours into Arkham Knight and I've been consistently frustrated by the stupid car s***. It also sucks cos one of the hands-down coolest parts of Arkham City was flying your way accross the city and grapple boosting and all that, now its like "Here, have a car instead, we decided instead of focusing on really unique methods of traversal we'll just do what every other open world game does".
Posted 01:57pm 02/7/15
The problem in Arkham Knight is that I REALLY like playing as Batman. Pretty much all of the main and side missions I've done as him so far have been incredibly fun, but when they funnel me into the Batmobile missions the game stops feeling great and just becomes ok.
I'm not sure that the game would be better if they removed the batmobile, I have a feeling that breaking up the pacing of the game like this is making me enjoy the batman sequences that much more. Arkham Knight is a great game, and despite finding the batmobile sequences a little tedious, it doesn't really spoil my overall appreciation of the game.
PS - yeah, the square/X for brake thing is quite bizarre, and I think they knew that, hence the option to change the controls. I really don't understand why they didn't just map it to left trigger and be done. Is there any point in controlling the game where the trigger becomes a problem?
Posted 02:24pm 02/7/15
It's not so much 'remapping' as switching to toggle mode. The game is so weird about a whole lot of things, I loved it to pieces by the time I finished it but there's definitely a feeling that it might have been released a little undercooked. Anyway, you won't find it in "controls", you'll find the toggle in "Game Options" alongside a bunch of other controller focused options.
I think ultimately it just seemed like the Batmobile introduced more issues than it solved. You're definitely right that it broke up sequences as Batman, but I wonder if they could have done that via Robin and Nightwing instead, having you flit around doing their side stuff maybe?
Posted 03:25pm 02/7/15
Posted 11:15am 03/7/15
I'm less worried about the handling (on a PC it'll be mouse and keyboard anyway) but don't want to get stuck doing a bunch of dumb races or something just to get to the next stage.
Posted 02:28pm 03/7/15
Posted 02:57pm 03/7/15
The tank battles though, they're so generic, and theres none of those epic moments that look badass or make you feel like a badass like you get in the hand-to-hand combat. Which is a real shame, because that for me was always the biggest strength of the Arkham games, they just made you feel like the ultimate badass. No matter how many times I had got into a fight, it always felt satisfying. Sometimes even if I had no reason to I'd just jump down into a big group of guys purely to beat them up because beating them up was fun.
Posted 07:06pm 03/7/15
the races and chases are only available in side missions which are entirely optional. however, there are many, many annoying tank battles throughout the main story.
Posted 07:24pm 03/7/15
Posted 12:16am 04/7/15
Posted 09:06pm 04/7/15
the joker. story was so-so. hated the batmobile especially the 3 (1 was a side mission) damn batmobile boss fights. argh! as for the identity of the arkham knight, Spoiler:
everyone called it when the game was first announced. rocksteady are big fat liars!
i wouldn't bother to 100% the game unless you're a completionist. i suggest watching the knightfall ending on yt.
how i would rank the series:
asylum > origins > city = knight
last edited by ravn0s at 21:06:18 04/Jul/15
Posted 10:54am 05/7/15
City is one of my favourite games of all time lol
Posted 07:42pm 05/7/15
Posted 08:40pm 05/7/15
Posted 07:36am 08/7/15
winged bat creature jumped at me when I came over the ledge and then I laughed my pants of when the Joker did the same thing
Posted 10:20am 08/7/15
I changed that battle mode to toggle, that made a pretty big difference. Actually get to use triggers as accelerator and brake now, and triggers as the two weapons in battle mode. F*** knows why that isn't the default though, makes so much more sense.
Posted 03:27pm 08/7/15
Every time i enter battle mode, holding right mouse button, it forces me to reverse. only happens in battle mode, and theres no binding conflicts. urghh
Posted 04:03pm 08/7/15
Posted 04:50pm 08/7/15
Posted 11:24pm 08/7/15
Posted 11:28pm 08/7/15
Posted 05:58pm 09/7/15
Posted 10:17pm 09/7/15
Posted 10:21pm 09/7/15
controls are fine for me on PC too. great game.
Posted 10:11am 10/7/15
chasing Firefly but I still wish they hadn't tried to shoehorn it into everything everywhere.
Posted 11:50am 10/7/15
i was so pissed after the deathstroke battle especially since the battle in origins was so bad ass.
Posted 11:58am 10/7/15
Posted 08:22pm 11/7/15
Poison Ivy I threw my controller down more times than I can count they were frustrating and almost a button mashing event, towards the end the Batmobile was just used too much I love driving it around and don't mind chasing villains but the tank battles were so frustrating.
Posted 11:13pm 11/7/15
Posted 01:34pm 12/7/15
Posted 01:39pm 12/7/15
Posted 04:19pm 12/7/15
Pasted it first time, only be about a second though.
Posted 11:39pm 24/7/15
Posted 09:51am 25/7/15
Posted 12:04pm 25/7/15