Released in 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Batman: Arkham Knight is the final title of Batman: Arkham series. In a nutshell, I would say that everything the series has, Arkham Knight turns up to eleven, and rightfully so.

Story

Nine months have passed after Arkham City's shutdown and the Joker's death. Surprisingly, there has been no increase in crime or a major power struggle despite expectations. The illusion of peace is shattered when Scarecrow fills a small diner with fear gas, causing the people inside to literally start tearing each other apart under the gas' influence. Immediately afterwards he announces to the entire city his plan of creating a gas cloud big enough to cover the entire city. The result is over 6 million people fleeing the city in panic. Unfortunately, the entire criminal population of Gotham stayed behind and the police department is completely overwhelmed. The cherry on the top is that Scarecrow is supported by a mysterious figure wearing a suit of armor in a clear mockery of Batman, known only as 'Arkham Knight'. Although nobody seems to know him, he appears to have a detailed knowledge of Batman and his tactics, and has brought a small army to the city. This is no routine night of crime-fighting, the Dark Knight is literally fighting a war.

Gameplay

Playing as Batman remains mostly the same, but there are three major changes worth noting. First, you are able to perform a new type of takedown called 'fear takedown'. Once fully upgraded, you can incapacitate up to five enemies in an eyeblink if you manage to get close enough undetected. This is especially useful either for starting or finishing a predator encounter. Second, some of the gadgets have been greatly expanded since their previous appearances. For instance, the disruptor can not only disable firearms, but also sabotage various other pieces of equipment, often knocking the enemies attempting to use them out. Likewise, the remote hacking device not only unlocks doors, but can also activate various forms of machinery and even turn the drones of the enemy against them.

Finally, there are various new types of enemies. For example, medics can recuscitate unconscious goons, camouflaged soldiers can't be spotted with detective vision, trackers can reveal your location, if you rely on detective vision too much and minigunners are tough foes who can't be taken down silently, making them difficult to handle. As one would expect, the game also features the largest cast of Batman's rogues in the series, consisting of old and new foes alike. Completing the various sidequests is actually encouraged, as it's the fastest way to gain waynetech points, which are required to buy upgrades.

The biggest addition is that, at long last, you can take the wheel and drive the legendary Batmobile. The car can also be driven via short-distance remote control, if necessary. While the Batmobile is a fast way to travel between locations, it's real purpose is to serve as a mobile weapon against the remote-controlled tanks of the Arkham Knight. In battle mode, the car uses a rapidfire machine gun and a 60 mm armor-piercing gun as it's primary weapons. Destroying enemy drones charges up the car's special weapons. Once charged, Batmobile can either hack the drones to fire at each other, disable their weapons with an EMP or unload a barrage of homing missiles to destroy multiple drones at once. However, you will nevertheless be outnumbered in every single battle, which means you have to move tactically and with correct timing to avoid incoming fire. Also, some tanks are too powerful to be faced head-on, so you'll have to learn to be stealthy both as Batman and as the Batmobile.

Verdict

In my personal opinion, Batman: Arkham Knight has just about everything one could ask from a game about the caped crusader. A large number of gadgets, the biggest map in the series and the largest number of Batman's rogues gallery members in a game. Minor warning, though: The game is easily the most grimdark title of the series, to the point it might occasionally feel like an outright horror game. There's more on-screen violence and several villains are at their most unsettling, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone faint of heart. Then again, it's one of the elements that makes the game memorable. I couldn't imagine a better grand finale for the Dark Knight.