Very recently I decided to replay Rocksteady's third Batman Arkham game, Batman: Arkham Knight, respectively. I played the game first on PS4 the first time and got it for free on Xbox, so I thought I'd play through it again a second time on that console. See, I never played through a second time. I wondered why, before I started the game up. Then, a couple of hours into it, I remembered. 

Now don't get me wrong, this is still a great game. It's as amazing as the other Arkham games are to play, you're made to feel like Batman and at these points there are no other better experiences you can have. And it is BEAUTIFUL. The game is gorgeous looking, every single little detail is just to die for, Batman looks great, Scarecrow looks great, Gotham looks fantastic... but it's severely missing something. What the two other Arkham games got right was the amazing story, the well written characters and world. Here however, the game's narrative is just, well how to put it, not that good whatsoever.

Gameplay wise, this game is a lot of fun. We have the Batmobile (Or Tank, really) to thank for a different experience for the series, being able to drive around the iconic car is a breath of fresh air for the series. Although it does get very repetitive throughout the game, it barely feels like a car really, more like a movable turret... but then again you're not here for a review, you're here to read what I have to say about the game's story. Well, comparing this one to the first two games in terms of story is insanely difficult. Arkham Asylum had a simple yet exciting story that never did anything that would try too hard to blow your mind. Arkham City felt more complex in terms of story but they definitely upped the ante in that. But Arkham Knight tells a story that just seems so disappointing compared to the other two. Scarecrow returns to Gotham and threatens it's citizens out of the city, leaving him and his militia army led by the Arkham Knight to take over - a war between the police and the criminals of the city ensues, leaving Batman to clean up the mess. However along the way, it is revealed that Batman is keeping a group of citizens locked away, who are slowly becoming like Joker after in the last game, he gave his blood out to poison people. We find out that this is the same for Batman, who is seeing Joker everywhere, falling into insanity himself. 

On paper, it sounds like what could be a thrilling conclusion to the series. The problem is however that this game lost the original writers it had for it's last two games. There's some strange continuity to it too. How come Batman has Joker blood in him still, even though he took the antidote in the last game? That's only the start of what is a really lacklustre subplot, with the Joker subjects apparently having a 'disease' that makes them like the clown prince of crime in terms of personality and how they act which is just so stupid. They start doing Joker-ish type things as you hunt them down when Harley lets them out, and the cringe is real. I'm not sure why this plot even was a thing in the first place, considering all of the subjects are killed later one (and we don't get to find out why the old man was so resistant to it at first.) It felt like a convoluted excuse to have a reason for Joker to be there, and I'm all for that - but it could have been executed better or made more simple.

Then of course there is the Arkham Knight. Oh god. Rocksteady promised us a new character, but fans were unconvinced. Who was the Arkham Knight? Joker? Ras Ahl Ghul? Jason Todd? Or was it someone totally different? Nah, turns out it was actually just Jason Todd, the second Robin. I mean it's fairly the obvious, the writers couldn't have made it more obvious. Not even Batman could work it out at all? Some 'World's Greatest Detective' huh? It's kind of an insult when Todd is just thrown at you in this game. I felt it would have paid off more if they had introduced the idea of Todd in the first couple of games, but here he just feels like the added a character out of nowhere and we're supposed to care. Well, we don't. And even when the reveal comes, Jason's anger throughout the game in wanting to kill Batman for replacing him just becomes obsolete when at the end of the game he comes out of nowhere and saves your skin, never to be seen again. I thought you wanted him dead Jason?!

Also, the cop out death of Barbara Gordon was... predictable. We've already seen Scarecrow's fear toxin have an effect on Batman where he believes he see's one of his allies die in Arkham Asylum. Speaking of, Scarecrow really feels underused in this game. He's supposed to be the big bad and he is, but Todd takes that away from this game immensely. It feels like he's only there as an excuse to use the fear toxin, and that's a shame because Scarecrow is one of the best villains in Gotham's Rogue gallery.

Anyhow, rant over. This is still a great game and a joy to play but it's just a shame that the conclusion to this amazing series was written so poorly. Well, it could be worse. WB Montreal could have made this game. I'm looking at you Arkham Origins.