*MILD SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE ROCKSTEADY GAMES* (I avoid specific plot/character points though)
So having never played any of these games before and knowing little about them other than they were highly acclaimed, I saw Asylum GOTY on sale for $5 and decided to give it a shot. Arkham City GOTY also happened to be on sale for $5, and then Arkham Knight Premium Edition was $11. So once I realised I was really enjoying Asylum, I picked both of those up too, and just today finished playing through all three games back to back on PC (yes, I know the non-Rocksteady Arkham Origins exists, but it seems like more of a spin off, and apparently the weakest of the bunch, so I skipped it). Seriously, some of the best value gaming I've had. Please note, that I am a very casual Batman fan. I've never read any of the comics, just seen the movies and that's about it. Having said that, here are my thoughts on the games:
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (~12.5 hrs total playtime)
I completely understand why this was considered easily the best superhero game ever made at the time. Those types of games always had a bad rep, and for the most part deservedly so, as cheap cash grabs. Arkham Asylum is a legit great game on it's own. The combat is fluid and satisfying. The atmosphere of the Asylum is fantastic. The voice work is perfect (Mark Hamill being one of the consistently best things about the series the whole way through). The graphics are great for how old it is and have aged very well imo. In fact, the whole game holds up very well.
The game is mostly very linear. This suits the game well, almost feeling like a guided tour through a theme park haunted house or something. It's very focused as a result of this, with only the riddler trophies as a type of side quest. Speaking of which, I didn't care for them very much in this game. I didn't have much reason to collect them, so I mostly just ignored them. This game also feels most Comic Book-like to me, not taking itself quite as serious as later entries, plus the whole UI being very comic book inspired (which I loved). Also, the Scarecrow sections are really awesome.
For how much I enjoyed this game though, it feels like a practice run compared to what followed...
BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY (~17 hrs total playtime)
This takes everything great from Arkham Asylum, and builds on it massively. It turns the game into an open world setting, expands the scope of the story, adds in quite a bit more content than the first game, and overall just feels like a much more ambitious, polished game. The combat and gameplay are taken from Asylum, but expanded and refined. Almost all the gadgets from the first game are available straight away, with quite a lot more being added on top throughout the game. Being an open world game, side quests have been added, which is a nice thing to have, but I have to say that most of them weren't the most compelling to me. They were nice to have as a break from the main story every now and then, but they were pretty basic and I only ended up completing like 60% of them.
The story, while more involved than Asylum, and presented in a much more ambitious way, didn't quite satisfy me fully. There were a few key character moments that were great (like the very end), but overall the whole main quest felt like a bit of a wild goose chase, with a carrot being yanked from your reach at each step of the way. The characters, gameplay and settings through the journey were strong enough to not make me really care while playing, but looking back at the story as a whole, it was a little so-so.
Boss fights were greatly improved in this game, feeling much more unique and substantial. Traversal is also a lot better (almost by neccesity), with grappling and gliding around Arkham City being a lot of fun and giving a lot of freedom. Playing as catwoman every now and then was a nice change of pace too, and was just short enough to not overstay its welcome. The riddler quest felt a bit more interesting this time, as there seemed to be more interaction with riddler, and more variety in the challenges. I still didn't go out of my way very much to get them though.
Overall, a fantastic follow up. An even more complete game, and an even better 'Batman simulator', with the extra gadgets, expanded scope/world, and gliding around city streets. Really ratcheting everything up from the first game, and setting the bar even higher again for superhero games.
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (~35 hrs total playtime)
This game seems very controversial, receiving mixed reactions compared to Asylum and City (although looking at Metacritic, still very well received critically overall). The most common complaints seemed to be the story, the batmobile, and the awful PC port. Due to all this, I wasn't sure what to expect going into it. Thankfully, the PC version was much improved after release, as I didn't have issues personally. As for the rest of it?
This was absolutely, hands down my favourite game of them all. I reallly felt that the series improved with each game, with each one being a big leap up from the previous. Arkham Knight, yet again, takes everything the previous game did and ratchets it up even more. I know it's the most cliche thing to say about this franchise, but it felt even moreso like 'being the batman'. It felt like playing through a Nolan Batman film in video game form. By far the most cinematic in the series, this game is even more ambitious than City.
As far as specifics go, the voice acting is still top notch like the previous games. The music is still fantastic and atmospheric. The graphics are downright gorgeous even today, 6 years later (this is the game in the series that my wife would see when walking past and say "wow that looks amazing. Like a movie". The gameplay is the best in the franchise, having added and refined even further on Arkham City. Gliding is improved even further, to the point that Batman can basically fly (with upgrades). Occasional combat scenarios with side-kicks are cool, adding more variety. I also found the side quests much more interesting in this game. You could say that's just because I was enjoying the whole experience so much that any more content is welcome, but I also do feel like they were integrated into the game and story better this time with the whole Most Wanted concept, and having villians and their goons slowly fill up the GCPD lockup as you complete the quests, adding some interesting and often amusing conversations. And even the circular UI quest system was easier for me to use and keep track of things than previously. The riddler quest was also much more interesting to me in this game, as there's a lot more story and unique missions involved in it. However it ended up being the only quest I didn't 100%, just due to the sheer amount of trophies needed.
Then of course there's the batmobile. 95% of the time, I loved it. I thought it added to the experience, being a much more complete "Batman experience" because of it. Cruising around Gotham City, boosting down the street with that visceral noise it makes, and then super ejecting out into a glide onto a rooftop - awesome feeling. Even the tank sections, I really enjoyed. It was fairly simple, but enjoyable, and definitely felt pretty badass. I know many felt it was incredibly un-batman-like, and I get that, but being a casual fan it didn't bother me in the slightest. The only issues I had with the batmobile were 1) Tank boss battles weren't that great and occured multiple times, when regular boss battles were already lacking in this game, and 2) the handling in some of the riddler races was very confusing (until I figured out that it's just best not to boost in those races unless it's a clear straight section). Overall, I only had minor issues with it and it added to the game for me.
The story - again, me being a very casual batman fan has a big effect on how I view it. I know there was controversy over the Arkham Knight character, but not knowing the background at all, it didn't bother me. I also didn't see the twists that many batman fans saw coming a mile away. While the story isn't perfect, and has a few plot holes if you think about it, I still enjoyed the story more than the previous games, because it was more in depth, and presented in a much more cinematic way. There was more depth, more twists, and more immersion than Asylum or City. Also, John Noble - what a legend. Adding to the already great voice cast, is Walter Bishop himself! The character wasn't exactly the most fleshed out, but Noble's voice work elevates it so much.
FINAL THOUGHTS
What a great experience for ~$20! These games are highly regarded for a very good reason. For me, it's Arkham Knight > Arkham City > Arkham Asylum, with Rocksteady improving with each game. I'm unsure how well the upcoming Gotham Knights game from WB Montreal will compare to these games, and Suicide Squad, Rocksteady's next project, doesn't appeal to me in the same way as Batman does. But I do hope we get Batman games as great as these in the future.
So having never played any of these games before and knowing little about them other than they were highly acclaimed, I saw Asylum GOTY on sale for $5 and decided to give it a shot. Arkham City GOTY also happened to be on sale for $5, and then Arkham Knight Premium Edition was $11. So once I realised I was really enjoying Asylum, I picked both of those up too, and just today finished playing through all three games back to back on PC (yes, I know the non-Rocksteady Arkham Origins exists, but it seems like more of a spin off, and apparently the weakest of the bunch, so I skipped it). Seriously, some of the best value gaming I've had. Please note, that I am a very casual Batman fan. I've never read any of the comics, just seen the movies and that's about it. Having said that, here are my thoughts on the games:
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (~12.5 hrs total playtime)
I completely understand why this was considered easily the best superhero game ever made at the time. Those types of games always had a bad rep, and for the most part deservedly so, as cheap cash grabs. Arkham Asylum is a legit great game on it's own. The combat is fluid and satisfying. The atmosphere of the Asylum is fantastic. The voice work is perfect (Mark Hamill being one of the consistently best things about the series the whole way through). The graphics are great for how old it is and have aged very well imo. In fact, the whole game holds up very well.
The game is mostly very linear. This suits the game well, almost feeling like a guided tour through a theme park haunted house or something. It's very focused as a result of this, with only the riddler trophies as a type of side quest. Speaking of which, I didn't care for them very much in this game. I didn't have much reason to collect them, so I mostly just ignored them. This game also feels most Comic Book-like to me, not taking itself quite as serious as later entries, plus the whole UI being very comic book inspired (which I loved). Also, the Scarecrow sections are really awesome.
For how much I enjoyed this game though, it feels like a practice run compared to what followed...
BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY (~17 hrs total playtime)
This takes everything great from Arkham Asylum, and builds on it massively. It turns the game into an open world setting, expands the scope of the story, adds in quite a bit more content than the first game, and overall just feels like a much more ambitious, polished game. The combat and gameplay are taken from Asylum, but expanded and refined. Almost all the gadgets from the first game are available straight away, with quite a lot more being added on top throughout the game. Being an open world game, side quests have been added, which is a nice thing to have, but I have to say that most of them weren't the most compelling to me. They were nice to have as a break from the main story every now and then, but they were pretty basic and I only ended up completing like 60% of them.
The story, while more involved than Asylum, and presented in a much more ambitious way, didn't quite satisfy me fully. There were a few key character moments that were great (like the very end), but overall the whole main quest felt like a bit of a wild goose chase, with a carrot being yanked from your reach at each step of the way. The characters, gameplay and settings through the journey were strong enough to not make me really care while playing, but looking back at the story as a whole, it was a little so-so.
Boss fights were greatly improved in this game, feeling much more unique and substantial. Traversal is also a lot better (almost by neccesity), with grappling and gliding around Arkham City being a lot of fun and giving a lot of freedom. Playing as catwoman every now and then was a nice change of pace too, and was just short enough to not overstay its welcome. The riddler quest felt a bit more interesting this time, as there seemed to be more interaction with riddler, and more variety in the challenges. I still didn't go out of my way very much to get them though.
Overall, a fantastic follow up. An even more complete game, and an even better 'Batman simulator', with the extra gadgets, expanded scope/world, and gliding around city streets. Really ratcheting everything up from the first game, and setting the bar even higher again for superhero games.
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (~35 hrs total playtime)
This game seems very controversial, receiving mixed reactions compared to Asylum and City (although looking at Metacritic, still very well received critically overall). The most common complaints seemed to be the story, the batmobile, and the awful PC port. Due to all this, I wasn't sure what to expect going into it. Thankfully, the PC version was much improved after release, as I didn't have issues personally. As for the rest of it?
This was absolutely, hands down my favourite game of them all. I reallly felt that the series improved with each game, with each one being a big leap up from the previous. Arkham Knight, yet again, takes everything the previous game did and ratchets it up even more. I know it's the most cliche thing to say about this franchise, but it felt even moreso like 'being the batman'. It felt like playing through a Nolan Batman film in video game form. By far the most cinematic in the series, this game is even more ambitious than City.
As far as specifics go, the voice acting is still top notch like the previous games. The music is still fantastic and atmospheric. The graphics are downright gorgeous even today, 6 years later (this is the game in the series that my wife would see when walking past and say "wow that looks amazing. Like a movie". The gameplay is the best in the franchise, having added and refined even further on Arkham City. Gliding is improved even further, to the point that Batman can basically fly (with upgrades). Occasional combat scenarios with side-kicks are cool, adding more variety. I also found the side quests much more interesting in this game. You could say that's just because I was enjoying the whole experience so much that any more content is welcome, but I also do feel like they were integrated into the game and story better this time with the whole Most Wanted concept, and having villians and their goons slowly fill up the GCPD lockup as you complete the quests, adding some interesting and often amusing conversations. And even the circular UI quest system was easier for me to use and keep track of things than previously. The riddler quest was also much more interesting to me in this game, as there's a lot more story and unique missions involved in it. However it ended up being the only quest I didn't 100%, just due to the sheer amount of trophies needed.
Then of course there's the batmobile. 95% of the time, I loved it. I thought it added to the experience, being a much more complete "Batman experience" because of it. Cruising around Gotham City, boosting down the street with that visceral noise it makes, and then super ejecting out into a glide onto a rooftop - awesome feeling. Even the tank sections, I really enjoyed. It was fairly simple, but enjoyable, and definitely felt pretty badass. I know many felt it was incredibly un-batman-like, and I get that, but being a casual fan it didn't bother me in the slightest. The only issues I had with the batmobile were 1) Tank boss battles weren't that great and occured multiple times, when regular boss battles were already lacking in this game, and 2) the handling in some of the riddler races was very confusing (until I figured out that it's just best not to boost in those races unless it's a clear straight section). Overall, I only had minor issues with it and it added to the game for me.
The story - again, me being a very casual batman fan has a big effect on how I view it. I know there was controversy over the Arkham Knight character, but not knowing the background at all, it didn't bother me. I also didn't see the twists that many batman fans saw coming a mile away. While the story isn't perfect, and has a few plot holes if you think about it, I still enjoyed the story more than the previous games, because it was more in depth, and presented in a much more cinematic way. There was more depth, more twists, and more immersion than Asylum or City. Also, John Noble - what a legend. Adding to the already great voice cast, is Walter Bishop himself! The character wasn't exactly the most fleshed out, but Noble's voice work elevates it so much.
FINAL THOUGHTS
What a great experience for ~$20! These games are highly regarded for a very good reason. For me, it's Arkham Knight > Arkham City > Arkham Asylum, with Rocksteady improving with each game. I'm unsure how well the upcoming Gotham Knights game from WB Montreal will compare to these games, and Suicide Squad, Rocksteady's next project, doesn't appeal to me in the same way as Batman does. But I do hope we get Batman games as great as these in the future.
