If you’re like me, then while playing the Batman Arkham series, you’ve been asking yourself the question “Why can’t I be Batgirl”. Well, your wish has been answered.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have both announced today that they will release Batman:Arkham Knight’s first story driven add-on “Batman™: Arkham Asylum,Batgirl: A Matter of Family” which will feature Batgirl before the events of Arkham Asylum. I’m stoked for this addition because Batgirl is awesome, and I was always curious to see how the game makers would handle her fighting technique and moves. You will be able to do combo takedowns with Robin as well as solve new puzzles and find more secrets.
You can purchase the content for 6.99 on Playstation Network or XBox Live on the 21st. Folks who bought the Arkham Knight Season Pass will be able to purchase the add-on as early as the 14th. No news on when it’s available for the PC Version.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for this game to come out since it was first released.
This game continues as the latest installment to the Arkham series and seems to be the grittiest one of them all. Why you ask? Well Batman is killing errr -non lethally shooting them with a Bat-Tank. Easily my favorite addition to the Arkahm world, the new Batmobile looks sooo sick. Besides the Bat-Jet, this is the vehicle I most wanted to drive in since Rocksteady has been creating these Arkham games and now we have that chance.
As usual, we’ll get to play as some of our favorite heroes, and the ever popular scarecrow is back with his hallucinogens. However, this is apparently the last Arkham installment and the new TV Spot mentions something about “this is how the Batman dies.” I doubt he actually dies at the end as I’ll be pretty upset, but it does peak my interest about this particular story. see below for some new gameplay screens.
July 20th is the big day for Batman fans everywhere. The next and final installment of Christopher Nolan’s version of the Batman Universe will be unveiled in theaters all across North America. Somehow Nolan has managed to captivate audiences for three straight films with his breathtaking scenes, gritty story lines, and keen attention to realism. I think that fans of Batman, myself included, appreciate the gadgets and the fact that they play a larger role than normal in my opinion. In many other Batman movies, Batman’s gadgets just seem to work – but they rarely have any background story to them. Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, sort of provides an added dynamic on screen for Batman’s wonderful toys. They have a beginning, a functionality in Nolan’s Movies that I absolutely enjoy.
Now you can read up on all the secrets of Bruce Wayne’s gadgetry in the new book The Dark Knight Manual. In it you will find all of the Bat Suit upgrades, gadgets, weapons and the like with original concept art. All this for a cool $40 bucks doesn’t sound to bad for the true die-hard fan.
I think you will be hard-pressed to find a better Batman game, and dare I say, a better superhero game anywhere. I’m trying to think and I’m honestly drawing a blank. Superman, Spiderman, Wolverine…they all fail to come up to the lofty standards that the Rocksteady crew has put forth in this game. There are tons of walk-throughs and tidbits you can find around the web so I won’t waste too much time there. I’ll just break it down into pros and cons and let you do the math.
Likes:
Gadgets
Winning
Side Missions
Combat
Voice Acting
Catwoman
The gadgets are just as great this time around as they were for Arkham Asylum. In fact, you start off with most of the gadgets in tact. You’ve got the cryptographic sequencer, explosive gel, the batclaw, smoke pellets, and of course batarang. You get more as the game progresses and most of the items are actually upgradeable.
All of those gadgets make for an awesome experience playing the Dark Knight. The gadgets with the fight system really make you feel great when beating up the baddies.
Completing side missions also offer perks by giving you access to better weapons. You can play straight through the game without them, but you have a better time with a couple of extra goodies.
The Voice acting is top notch and reminds me of the good ole Batman Cartoon days. This is because many of the voice actors from then are present in this game as well. Kevin Conroy is back as Batman and Mark Hamill is doing the Joker.
Lastly, Catwoman is hot.
Dislikes:
Detective Mode
Riddler Trophies
It was hard to find anything to complain about with this game since there were so many things that were spot on. However, I did get weary of Detective Mode. It was annoying having to use it as often as we did. This was mostly because I’m convinced it was tearing up my eye site. The colors are all crazy and its cool for the first hour or so, then gets really annoying the rest of the time. I just wish it didn’t change the color of the world. It would be great if Detective Mode just helped you find clues and highlighted weapons. Or it may have been better to toggle different Modes in Detective Mode so that you weren’t stuck with the weird colors all the time.
The Riddler Trophies, while fun, are annoying. Most of the city is painted with question marks. It can be a little overwhelming and quite frankly is the only thing that doesn’t feel right in this universe. I could see the Riddler hacking in from time to time or as more subplots, but really just hiding gems all around the city? I felt like the Rocksteady crew could have changed the direction a little bit there rather than just adding more trophies.
Overall:
Overall, this game is stunning. They completely nailed the sequel which is really hard to do with movies and, in my opinion, even harder to do with games. Batman is even cooler, the enemies are cooler, the stage is bigger, the fighting is better, and the story line is top notch. Other than the annoying Riddler Trophies and needing Detective Mode on all the time this game is definitely worth springing for if you like super hero games.
Have you played Batman Arkham Asylum? No? Stop reading and play it now. Once your done, this game should be out and you can buy it too. Ok, it may be too early to tell, but Asylum was so good I have high hopes for Arkahm City. Judging from the trailer, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed either.
Captain America: Super Soldier
To be honest, I was afraid of this. Captain America wasn’t my favorite character, but he wasn’t my least favorite either. Never really liked how he was the embodiment of everything “good” which really meant blond, blue eyed, and American. However, after reading the Ultimates Comics with good ole Steve Rogers re-imagined I began to gather more interest. I saw this trailer back at comic-con.to be honest, it’s not half bad. Strangely enough, the combat system sort of reminds me of Batman Arkham Asylum a bit. Very curious and can’t wait to give it a try.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon
I love flight syms…especially really arcade-like ones. When it gets too real, it kinda takes the fun out in my opinion, but not to worry with the new Ace Combat game. It looks so much more gritty, and the flight combat system with “Steel Carnage” as they call it looks darn right awesome. You really feel like you are doing cool moves with the different camera angles and the machine gun is finally worth switching to. Judging from the trailer – this will probably be the best flight game of the year.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Metal Gear anyone? Ok, my bad, but the stealth and the heavy emphasis on tech begs the comparison. However, the stories are completely different and I am quite intrigued. The game looks like a thinking man’s game, however, thankfully, the weapons look great so you won’t be bored to death by rambling story line. I’ve never played the original, but count me on this go-round.
Mortal Kombat
Remember when you were either a Street-Fighter guy or a Mortal Combat guy? Then it seemed like Street-Fighter took the crown for a while. Well, it looks like the folks over at Warner Bros. have something to say about that. they have revamped the characters and even added new surprises. Will definitely be a great alternative to the other fighting games out there.
