Be careful, this article may contain revelations about history, especially Arkham City
Nine months have passed since the events of Arkham City, a harsh night for the Dark Knight, who had to face many enemies, starting with his evil alter-ego, his greatest adversary, I named the Joker. A badly developed Joker, who suffers the consequences of his overdose of Titan, the poison supposed to transform him into a superman, and which will ultimately be the cause of his loss.
Nine months have passed after the death of the Joker and Gotham City is barely recovering from its emotions. The Dark Knight is always there, loyal to the post, to watch over his town and hunt down the villains.
Despite declining crime, the Joker's vacant spot leaves the field open to other villains, and it's the Scarecrow who takes advantage of one night to drop a new toxin, driving people crazy with fear, and causing them inciting to kill each other. Not much respite for the bat! It is during his investigation that Batman discovers that the Scarecrow does not work alone, and that a mysterious character, a sort of even more high-tech counterpart of the Dark Knight, is pulling the strings in the shadows. And the least we can say is that he does not carry Batman in his heart! And as in the previous sections, the gallery of supervillains extends over the course of the game, finding loose Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn or the Penguin.
Harley
Poison Ivy
The Penguin
Joker
Arkham Knight
But luckily, Batman can always count on his loyal allies, Alfred in the lead, who will always be there to support and advise his protege. Oracle will also be there once again to guide our bat, as well as his two disciples: Robin and Nightwing (which I personally adore!).
Robin
Nightwing
Azrael
Alfred
After a Batman Arkham Origins less acclaimed by the public (even if it's still a very good game), the Rocksteady studio is back in charge of the franchise, and it shows! Arkham Origins had been strongly criticized for its lack of originality and innovation, we can say that this new component risks reconciling the angry with the series.
Vroum, vroum !
The great innovation in this Arkham Knight is of course the Batmobile! Far from being just a gadget, the Batmobile is indeed at the heart of the action. And not just for chases! The studio has deployed treasures of the imagination to find other uses for the machine, some quite incongruous.
The Batmobile is thus provided with two modes of use:
- Car mode, allowing you to navigate the streets of Gotham at high speed. The machine is even equipped with a turbo and missiles making it possible to immobilize the pursued vehicles.
- Combat mode, the Batmobile transforms into a real small tank, with a Vulcan cannon and devastating missiles.
Accessible with just one touch, switching between the two modes is extremely well thought out and intuitive. But a question arises: Batman never kills and he has extraordinary firepower there. Well, despite everything, the Dark Knight thinks of everything, and he has designed (well especially Lucius Fox!) An intelligent car, which knows how to adapt its ammunition according to the enemy. So when it shoots humans, the car throws harmless (well, non-lethal!) Ammunition. In the same way if it ever happens, by mistake, that he rushes at full speed on a bandit, the Batmobile is equipped with a function allowing to electrocute and to push back any individual who would be on the road. So no remorse, we can press the accelerator without worries!
The Batmobile will also be very useful for solving puzzles. Controlled remotely, Batman can thus use it to unlock passages. A pretty telling example: Batman has to take an out of service elevator. All he has to do is take control of the Batmobile, blow up the exterior wall of the elevator, and throw the machine's winch backwards, which will cause the elevator to rise up to Batman. Once inside, all you have to do is move forward (slowly, and especially not let go of the winch!) To lower the cabin. The Mystery Man has also planned some very twisted puzzles of the ciboulot, which will require the use of the Batmobile!
Pan and Boom!
The Arkham series is still an action game, and it will be. Batman has kept his panoply of gadgets and even allowed himself a few fairly welcome novelties. We of course find the batarang and its remote-controlled version, the explosive gel, the zip line, the bat-claw and whatnot that the veterans of the series will find without too much difficulty. Note that these gadgets are not necessarily found in their basic versions, as in other games. If we take the grapple for example, it already benefits from the speed boost, allowing you to propel yourself high in the air (but which can be improved three more times).
As in the previous opus, a sort of talent tree is present, allowing you to spend the improvement points acquired while playing (XP, RA challenges, etc.), to upgrade gadgets, armor, and Batmobile.
One of the novelties in the combat system is the possibility in certain situations to fight with one of Batman's allies (Catwoman, Nightwing, ...) and to perform spectacular duo eliminations. A welcome freshness in the fights, which can become monotonous at times.
But another character a little more incongruous will be able to come to lend a hand to the Black Knight during the fights: the Batmobile! Yes, when I told you that she was at the heart of the action! At times, Batman will be able to use the non-lethal weapons of the Batmobile for an impressive and stylish elimination.
Pouf!
Of course, discretion will also be required in certain particularly tense situations, with Predator mode, where Batman must eliminate his enemies as stealthily as possible. A mode that ultimately will have undergone few changes. We can however note a certain evolution of the level-design, the Predator levels being much more sinuous and complex than in the previous opus, with many more hiding places, but also many more places in cover where the enemies are not necessarily easy. to dislodge.
We will also note some additions of traps, triggered with the hacking system, such as the floor which is charged with electricity and knocks the fool passing over at that time.
Opinion and conclusion
After an "interlude" episode (which I liked very much too), I was impatiently waiting to be able to rediscover the adventures of Batman, especially after having had a small preview at Gamescom 2014. We could blame Arkham Origins for its lack of originality. It can be said that Arkham Knight more than makes up for both at this level. Even if ultimately, the novelties that can be found there often still revolve around the Batmobile, which becomes almost a little too present at certain times.
But what a pleasure to dive back into these adventures, where we explore even more the dark side of the Dark Knight, having to face not only a bunch of angry villains, but also his own inner demons, who risk being killed. 'take him down a very slippery slope.
