Batman: Arkham Knight is Rocksteady Games’ latest title and the fourth and final installment to the acclaimed Arkham Series. This single-player, character action title is slated for release for release on June 2, 2015 for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC and is anticipated to be one of 2015’s most beautiful displays of next-gen console graphics and gameplay. Since the game’s delay for further polishing in fall 2014, we’ve seen several videos boasting fluid gameplay mechanics, engaging characters, and an expansive Gotham City.
A New Face In the Cast
With Joker dead, Gotham City’s crime rate has bottomed out, fueling the urge of Gotham’s remaining villains – Penguin, Harley Quinn, Riddler, Firefly, Poison Ivy, and Scarecrow – to kill Batman. The game also introduces a new villain created by DC Comics specifically for Rocksteady Games titled The Arkham Knight. This primary antagonist resembles a heavily armored and weaponized version of Batman and even sports bat ears.
Navigating Gotham
Batman: Arkham Knight is set in an open-world Gotham City populated by criminals, police, and attack-drones. Players navigate horizontally and vertically, utilizing Batman’s glide ability to traverse rooftops and, for the first time ever, the Batmobile to streak across the streets at magnificent speeds. The Batmobile can be summoned within seconds via the push of a button and can be entered and exited seamlessly. In a gameplay preview, Batman calls in the Batmobile and within a moment we see the long black wagon wildly swing around a corner.
Later, we see Batman fling himself out of the vehicle into a glide that quickly transitions into an enemy takedown. Developers promise a smooth integration of gameplay mechanics and that switches between the Batmobile’s chase mode, tank-like battle mode, and close-quarters-combat will be fluid, responsive, and as simple as utilizing any of Batman’s other gadgets.
The Batmobile is an important part of gameplay
Arkham’s beautifully animated, free-flowing combat is back and bright with batarangs, grapple hooks, and the new “fear” takedown system for stealthily taking out multiple enemies. Along with many more gadgets, players can expect to encounter mission objectives with multiple solutions, non-restrictive gameplay, and space for player creativity.
Next-Gen Arkham
If you check out the trailer below, we see how the game’s impressive weather effects – crashing waves, rain, and haze – paired with dynamic lighting effects bring a feeling of authenticity to the city. This in-game engine footage also shows off the remarkable, atmospheric interiors and attention to detail we can expect from this next-gen-only, AAA title. It’s rumored that the game will run at 1080p and 30fps although developers claim that they cannot say for certain until the game has gone gold. However, the studio did announce its aim for console parity which could mean lower-than-optimal fidelity for certain versions of the game.
“Parting is such sweet sorrow, dearest.”
Rocksteady Games no doubt has plans to make Batman: The Arkham Knight a truly memorable finale to the Arkham Series. We’ll find out whether this highly anticipated title lives up to the quality of its successful predecessors this summer.
Written by Oscar Rodriguez