I am finally playing through Arkham Knight, the last Batman game from the folks at Rocksteady. I thought I’d hate it, given how the series has taken on the excesses of open world bloat. See, I’ve always favoured Arkham Asylum over the other games. It was a tighter, more focused experience than Arkham City. Rocksteady’s more open sequel stuffed too much in to it, killing the excellent pacing and atmosphere of the first game.
And yet, I’m really enjoying the hell out of Arkham Knight, in spite of itself. There’s still far too much bloat, and way too many members of the caped crusader’s rogues gallery in play, but it’s such a polished experience (on consoles, anyway) that’s it’s easy to forgive it all.
Still, I was keen on revisiting the first game to see if it was as good as my memory had me believe. I’d have that opportunity thanks to the impending remaster of Rocksteady’s Arkham games, coming as “Return to Arkham” to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That was meant to be coming in about a month.
It’s not any more. The collection has been delayed, with no word on when it’ll be along. Here’s what Warner staff had to say on the Warner Forums:
“After reviewing the progress of the project, the team at WB Games has decided to delay the release of Batman: Return to Arkham to give the team at Virtuous Games additional time to deliver a polished Batman Arkham game experience. We do not have a release date yet and will be sure to communicate that once we are sure the game will be ready. We know this is disappointing news, but we feel the extra time will allow the team to create the best gaming experience for our fans.“
That’s bad news for Batfans, but the remastered collection honestly looked a little drab when last we saw it, so the delay is a welcome one.
Last Updated: June 28, 2016
Jonah Cash
June 28, 2016 at 07:26
I am also finally playing Arkham Knight and I am also big enough to say that I was wrong. The game is far better than what I expected. Nothing feels forced with the open world, and the Bat moves quickly enough through the sky for it to feel like a smaller city down below. Bought it on the last sale, and almost feel guilty I only paid R229.00 for it!
Geoffrey Tim
June 28, 2016 at 07:30
It’s REALLY, REALLY good. Enjoying the heck out of it.
PoisonedBelial
June 28, 2016 at 08:08
I actually finished Arkham Knight this past weekend, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Every single Batman game has been fantastic!
But I do agree, there is just something about Arkham Asylum that makes it THE best in the series.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 07:44
Playing it in between Overwatch, it’s really good story wise and I like how they worked in that one villain (not naming because spoilers) The batmobile feels a little sluggish though. Turning around is more effortless with a bus. I normally go into assault mode to do a 180. But it’s still an excellent addition.
Jonah Cash
June 28, 2016 at 07:51
Also find that the batmobile drives like a bread truck! But it hasn’t even come close to putting me off of the game. It really is better than what I thought it would be. Oh I played some Destiny last night, the Iron Banner starts tonight, still getting my shooting fix from Destiny and Titanfall.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 07:52
Me, @ir0nseraph:disqus and a few other might join you for Titanfall 2
Ir0nseraph
June 28, 2016 at 08:08
It is looking promising, and not much else releasing around that that time I am interested in, just waiting for EA to screw it up, if they keep it up with free DLC and stuff I will grab it.
Ir0nseraph
June 28, 2016 at 08:05
The idea is to drive a bat tank not a ferrari, I enjoyed the driving over things 😛
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 08:26
True, but the last time a tank chased down a car was in Goldeneye
Ir0nseraph
June 28, 2016 at 08:40
Ok so Fast and Furious 6 doesn’t count as a movie ?
miaau
June 28, 2016 at 08:41
for me, any sequel past 2 is looking very dodgy.
Transformers. Watched 1 and 2 last week. And half of 3.
Ir0nseraph
June 28, 2016 at 08:47
yeah some movies should quit while they are still good, but Bayspolision is all about bigger action less story.
miaau
June 28, 2016 at 09:19
Even so, I could not finish 3. Maybe later this week.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 09:04
I think they were only trying to steal the tank and the the cars chased the tanks if memory serves, can’t quite remeber how it all went down
Ir0nseraph
June 28, 2016 at 09:09
Hope this helps.
https://youtu.be/Xwmmt5aWVyY
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 09:35
Which F&F one was this? 14? There’s so many
Ir0nseraph
June 28, 2016 at 09:55
Lol Goldeneye was the 17th bond.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 10:25
At least they can replace Bond, unlike Paul Walker…
Still too soon?
Greylingad[He Charges!]
June 28, 2016 at 08:20
I also enjoyed it very much so on the PS4, Yes it’s a tank simulator, but hell, those bits were a lot of fun!
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
June 28, 2016 at 07:47
I’ll buy the remaster one day, go back to the roots of the franchise. Even at their lowest point with Origins they still made a damn fine Batman game. Too bad WB has it’s DLC claws firmly imbedded. I’m sure I’m not the only one who buys their GOTY games these days and not the day one single scoop vanilla edition
miaau
June 28, 2016 at 09:18
Does remastered have to have vastly superior graphics or just a bit better? I would be cool to replay Asylum with more or less the same graphics as I played it on the Xbox 360, really. Maybe just a bit higher res or something.
It was game-play that rocked, the tightness, the story. And I hate scarecrow. Could not fall asleep until he was defeated, the bastard.
Francois Knoetze
June 28, 2016 at 10:12
Rats! I was so ready for this at the end of the month! oh well. Back to my shooters again. Titanfall, Wolfenstein and Destiny.