Batman: Arkham Knight review

The mind does not resist beyond a certain point

The title opens unexpectedly, in the niche of a morgue where the Joker is about to be cremated. Six months have passed since the events narrated in Arkham City and Talia's killing of the Joker has deprived Batman of his historical nemesis, without which many believe there is no longer a need for the Dark Knight.

However, a new, ancient enemy is at the gates of the city, and this time his threat is the greatest the bat has ever faced. The Scarecrow in fact he managed to synthesize a new and very powerful killer toxin capable of disturbing the psyche of the unfortunate victims to the point of pushing them into a vortex of homicidal madness. The Scarecrow threatens to strike the entire city thanks to the support of an army and a mysterious new character, the Arkham knight. There is no doubt that the threat feared by Crane clearly traces the one that in Batman Begins (initial chapter of Nolan's trilogy) Raz Al Gul addressed to the city of Gotham with the help of the Scarecrow. However, if in the aforementioned cinematographic work the impression is that of witnessing the birth of a hero, in Arkham Knight the atmosphere appears almost one of resignation, of tacit acceptance of that ultimate sacrifice that is required of every hero.

Batman: Arkham Knight, if we exclude a first phase in which the narrative appears a little too slow and fragmented, perhaps also due to the many new elements of the gameplay introduced in this chapter and which Rocksteady wanted to show off right away , transports us in a profound and masterly way into the fears and insecurities of the man Bruce Wayne and his masked counterpart. These fears are personified in the figure of the Joker, who after exposure to the fearsome toxin of the Scarecrow will manifest itself in the mind of our hero, becoming his dark side, an aspect that has been hidden and imprisoned for too long and now eager to take the part that it is up to. Our Batman entangled in his fears, in a vain attempt to defend everyone, like this as in Dark Knight Rises it seems to yearn for death, understood as the last act of liberation and necessary sacrifice.

Can you have it black?

To a plot that between twists and changes of points of view could initially disorient the gamer, is added a gameplay that has now reached such a vastness that it can only be enclosed with enormous difficulty in the stylistic features of the classic action game. Sure, there is the Flow Combat System, now the trademark of many titles of the publisher Warner Bros., here made even more effective by those who created it; there is stealth combat, a gadget upgrade system that touches the mechanics of Western-style action RPGs, but above all there is a huge open world, a city that, although abandoned following the threat of the Scarecrow, is still full of Things to do.

Thinking you can move in this huge open world, five times larger than that of Arkham City, simply using the grapple was ridiculous, and that's why the Batmobile it is not only a pleasant novelty, but a real necessity. But it's not just a question of travel. The traditional gameplay mechanics studied by Rocksteady seem to bend before the cumbersome presence of the Batmobile, not only a means to move from point A to point B, but an essential element to overcome obstacles or enemies, solve environmental puzzles and get Batman out of solutions apparently with no way out. The Batmobile, in fact, can be controlled remotely to get around enemies and provide assistance during the combat phases. Furthermore, it can be used to open inaccessible passages or supply electricity to electronic devices thanks to a special electrified grapple. Finally, the grapple itself can be used to lift objects, destroy pipes and allow the passage of our hero. All this gives an enormous variety to the possibilities of action of the bat man.