Since Christmas, and apart from Dying Light, It’s been a relatively quiet couple of months for games, which makes me wonder what game is next gonna make my card screech through the swipe machine.
Now I know it’s quite a while off, and there are fresh AAA’s that have either recently released or are close to release (like Evolve and the upcoming Battlefield Hardline), but honestly the interest I have for them couldn’t be any lower if I wanted it to be – the next game I am beyond excited for is Batman Arkham Knight.
I have found myself enjoying single player games a lot more, as the online aspects often shoehorned into pretty much every single game has begun to wear thin. I first noticed this on Shadow of Mordor, where there is no multiplayer whatsoever (whilst still retaining some fun social features, like the avenging of fallen players from your friends list).
I have been a fan of Batman since I was a kid, and when I first played Arkham Asylum I was hooked almost immediately. Arkham City solidified my appreciation for Rocksteady Games’ take on the universe. The game is truly the best way one can explore the Batman mythos, giving you the chance to experience the fantasy of taking down petty criminals all the way up to pretty much every single major Batman villain there is.
Arkham Knight has impressed with everything it has shown so far, with it’s larger world, and upgraded graphics – showcasing the power of new gen hardware. Arkham Knight is also the most pre-ordered game, beating the likes of Dying Light, The Witcher 3 and Ubisoft’s much hyped MMO shooter “The Division”. Getting ahead of these three hugely anticipated games has to mean something right?
Part of the excitement is for the new character the game is based on, the Arkham Knight. MANY rumours have been circulating the internet speculating on just who the Arkham Knight may be – my thoughts are that they wouldn’t cover his face if he was a completely new character (so professes Rocksteady Games), so I could bet there’s some serious fan service going on behind the mask.
Noted Marvel and DC comic book author Marv Wolfman is onboard as the game’s writer. Only recently has he been allowed to talk about the game and is over the moon that he can finally tell his dog all about it. “Well, I can finally tell folk what I’ve been working on these past months in total secrecy, even from my dog.” Marv Wolfman is also working on a tie-in novel for Batman Arkham Knight, and DC are releasing a digital-first prequel comic book series titled eponymously with the game. Never before has Rocksteady’s Arkham series been so definitively entrenched in the Batman mythology, and with Nolan’s blockbuster film series out of the way – a Batman video game has the potential for the first time to be the spearhead in a wide arsenal of Batman media.
As excited as I am for this game, I am no stranger to disappointment, as this generation of gaming hasn’t shied away from letting people down. Rocksteady’s Arkham Knight will need to do certain things to ensure it doesn’t fuck the whole thing up. From what I have seen, the way you traverse the city of Arkham looks like a crazy amount of fun. You have access to Batman’s array of grappling equipment just like in the past games, or, for the first time, you can use the iconic Batmobile – which gives me the feels just thinking about it.
In the first two games traversal was done pretty well, but Arkham Origins changed the open world landscape to the point where it was choring just to get around. This was partly because the map was bigger, but Origins is also flatter than Arkham City, which dampened the fantasy of utilizing Batman’s extensive kit. And that stupid bridge took FOREVER!
The combat in Arkham Knight looks like it’s pretty similar to what we are used to, which is fantastic, as the combat has always been one of the best things about this franchise. We all know that half of the goons died as a result of the Arkham games reactive bone shattering combat, but just don’t tell Batman, it’s his only rule.
The most important thing that they need to do with the game, is to induce emotion. When I’m playing I want to feel like I’m in the batman universe, and from what they have shown, they are heading in the right direction.
So humble readers, what game are YOU most looking forward to in 2015 and beyond? Hit the comments below with your favourite screens, videos, trailers, memes, whatever. And we’ll have no pictures of George Clooney’s Batcrotch thankyouverymuch.
Bezz contributed 14 articles to ICXM in 2015, covering game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news with a focus on hands-on impressions and verified-source reporting. Their bylines on the site span the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @BezzJunior.