E3: Batman Arkham Knight Preview
Batman uses his grapnel to infiltrate the chemical plant on his own. He’s in contact with with Oracle, aka Barbara Gordon, using his amped up cryptographic sequencer. The sequencer now provides a holographic video interface, so we can see Oracle’s image conversing with Batman for their chats. The Arkham Knight appears to be assembling an army, complete with military choppers, drone tanks, and weapons. Batman wants information on this figure, but all Oracle can find is that he goes by the Arkham Knight. Batman takes a stealth approach after getting into the plant’s outer courtyard. Batman uses his new Bat-scanner batarang to scan the entire plant area. We can see from the gameplay that Batman can now vertically slide down vents. After going under a grate, we get a look at one of the new combat techniques, the Fear Takedown. The Fear Takedown is a fun visual that allows the player, as Batman, to chain multiple takedowns on enemies.
Batman is unable to get inside the plant, so he needs an equalizer for this fight. That equalizer comes in the form of the Batmobile! The Batmobile is able to break open steel walls using a grapple winch, and it can use the winch and booster rocket to jump over a gap made in a bridge by the Arkham Knight. It’s reminiscent of the Tumbler Batmobile from Christopher Nolan’s Batman films. Batman controls the Batmobile remotely and puts it into battle against some unmanned tank drones. The Batmobile looks like it will make for some ridiculous fun in the game. Batman finally makes it inside the plant. One plant worker has been killed and another has been taken hostage. Batman takes out the other thugs, and we get a look at new Environmental Takedowns. This feature allows Batman to use objects in the surrounding environment to knock out the guards. The chemical worker, Mark Cheung, reveals that the toxin bomb is worse than we all originally thought. According to Cheung, the fear toxin bomb that Scarecrow possesses is actually strong enough to envelope the entire East Coast. Before the two can leave though, they are trapped in the plant by Arkham Knight and his minions. Batman warns the guards not to be fooled by the bat-symbol on Batman’s chest, “That’s where his armor is strongest,” and advises them to aim for the weak points of his armor. Again, this dialogue makes me think Arkham Knight is Jason Todd. Arkham Knight taunts Batman about wanting revenge against him and how Batman must be dying to know the identity of the Arkham Knight. Batman responds that he’s only trying to figure out which one he’s going to take out first. In an awesome sequence, the Batmobile comes up from behind the group and takes them all out with its assault cannon, using rubber bullets of course. Arkham Knight gets the hell out of dodge before Batman takes out the rest of the thugs.
Cheung is loaded up in the Batmobile’s armored passenger trunk area. According to developers, supervillains and thugs can also be captured here at certain points in the game. I assume when you go after supervillains for side missions, you will have to load them in the trunk before returning them to Gordon or other police officers. Batman takes the Batmobile back to the bridge where Gordon and the police await, and he transfers Dr. Cheung over to them. Batman informs Jim that the bomb is worse than they ever imagined and advises his old friend to leave Gotham City. Gordon refuses to abandon the city. Batman then goes back into the plant in the Batmobile to further investigate the scene and rescue the other workers who are still held hostage inside the plant. The developers show how Batman can launch out of the Batmobile and straight into combat. One new villain type was shown in the game, the Combat Expert. The Combat Expert enemy type carries a sword and appears to be a mash of the League of Shadows assassins from Arkham City and the Martial Artist from Arkham Origins. Another new attack technique is Batman doing a counter on the Combat Expert in midair.
The new graphics and dynamic weather for the game look outstanding. The new map for Gotham City looks massive. The city looks to be in recovery and repair after the events of Arkham City; that is before this latest calamity with the Scarecrow started. You can see in some of the images there are cranes for construction work being done in the background with the message of “A New Future for Gotham.” Per Rocksteady, the entirety of Gotham City is your sandbox for this title, so the whole city can be explored throughout the game. Rocksteady Games looks like it has pulled out all the stops for the final installment of Batman: Arkham trilogy.
My concern is that Scarecrow, as the mastermind, is merely a fake out and the real villain will be someone else. I know director Sefton Hill said Joker is “dead, dead, dead, dead, dead.” But developers have misled the public before. I am concerned the identity of Arkham Knight will be a convoluted or contrived explanation, and somehow a resurrected or not dead Joker is at the heart of all this.
Still, the gameplay experience here looks incredible. The side missions will be back, and you will still be able to go after individual villains or pursue the main narrative path. There are no longer breaks between cut scenes and actual gameplay. The transitions are seamless. Of course, it would have been much better if we could play the game, but this demo will likely be available at Comic-Con. Batman: Arkham Knight will be available in 2015 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.