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Introduction
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Basically, the Game of the Year Edition includes the base game disc, which includes the Game of the Year Edition box sleeve and a code that allows you to redeem the Season Pass code. This in turn, allows you to download every DLC from the Season Pass separately. However, not every DLC is included in the Season Pass, so you must download them separately from the PlayStation Store or from the game's menu.
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Story
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This game takes place after the events of Batman: Arkham City. Gotham City is now under attack by a group of supervillains under Scarecrow's leadership, and Scarecrow planned to use the fear toxin in order to terrorise Gotham City's residents. Batman has to work together with usual allies to combat this new threat, as well as capturing other supervillains.
The story is pretty good. Interesting lore and villain backgrounds, and surprisingly some of the villains from Batman: Arkham Origins also appear in this game.Batman as always, a static yet great character who is clearly troubled due to certain events in previous games.
Other villains also get good amount of screentime, with Scarecrow being the major highlight of the game as the main villain. I personally think this is the way Rocksteady should focus on different villains on different games, instead of padding their story arcs in sequels as the main villains. This is actually the main issue I had with Batman: Arkham City's story: too much focus on Joker as the second main villain next to Hugo Strange. One major issue I have with this game's story is the Arkham Knight's true identity. It is not surprising nor being an original character, and the reveal is disappointing to me, personally.
The downloadable Arkham Episodes give some story closures to most of the villains in the game. A Matter of Family basically sheds light on Batgirl's adventure before her injury before the start of most Arkham games, and many other Arkham Episodes basically take place after the game's ending.
Season of Infamy missions also give a bit of extra lore and closure of the villains encountered in previous Arkham games. Two of the Season of Infamy missions have mediocre exposition and story, but the other two have stronger lore and exposition, particularly In From the Cold's mission. All of the Arkham Episodes and Season of Infamy missions serve as decent closures to the character arcs in Batman: Arkham series, but they may be too short for many people's liking.
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Gameplay
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1) Main Gameplay Section
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The gameplay remains the same as previous Batman: Arkham games, albeit with more refined controls. The basic game controls remain the same, however you do have some new moves, new gadgets as well as the ability to drive Batmobile.
The exploration and progression is the same as previous Batman: Arkham games. This time, you can explore Gotham City by either running, gliding, or driving the Batmobile. There are also many different buildings where you can go, as well as finding different collectibles in the game. The story progression is also similar, as you must progress the game's story by completing the story missions. Many objectives are varied, such as using Batmobile to solve some puzzles.
The upgrading system is the same as previous games, where you earn experience points by defeating enemies in direct combat or predator encounters. Once you have accumulated enough experience points, you will gain a Waynetech Point, which you can spend to learn a new upgrade. Different upgrade requires a different amount of Waynetech Points, so you must choose your upgrades carefully as you will even harder enemies in both combat and predator encounters as you progress in the game.
The combat system remains the same as previous games, such as the Freeflow Combat system and the stealth gameplay system. Enemy A.I is more smarter now, such as charging towards you, grab you from behind, and a bit more aggressive. There is also a bit more enemy types in the game, such as medics who can revive downed enemies, as well as brutes who can use a minigun in predator encounters. There is also a new combat feature called Dual Play, which allows you to switch to another character in a combat or predator encounter, in different story sections or side missions.
Batmobile is the most notable addition in this game, as it acts as your vehicle for driving, exploration, as well as combat against drone tanks. You will be using the vehicle extensively in both main missions as well as side missions. Driving controls is tight, and you can also use the Batmobile's Battle Mode to knock out regular thugs or destroying enemy drone tanks.
2) Downloadable Content Section
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This game has massive amount of downloadable content, which includes both paid and free content. The Season Pass code in the Game of the Year Edition includes all DLCs for the game, except for Scarecrow Nightmare missions and some of the Batman costumes.
The most notable DLC is the Season of Infamy pack. It adds four more Wanted Missions in the main story campaign, which acts as story closures to villains who appeared in the previous Batman: Arkham games. Arkham Episodes act as standalone character episodes for different characters in the game, such as Catwoman and Nightwing. A Matter of Family is one of the most robust Arkham Episode as it has more content than the other Arkham Episodes, as well as serves as a good introductory to Batgirl's story, which takes place before Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Other DLC includes different AR Challenges in the game, which include the ability to use different playable characters in both combat and predator maps, as well as different AR challenges for the Batmobile. You may also choose different costume for Batman with the DLCs.
3) Gameplay Conclusion
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This game has very good gameplay, surpassing previous Batman: Arkham games' such as the improved game controls, the improved enemy A.I., some good boss fights such as Albert King and Arkham Knight, more enemy variety, toms of side-content, great Gotham City design and more puzzles. The Batmobile also has excellent controls, for both driving and the Battle Mode controls.
However, this game is not without faults. First of all, no story boss fights against other notable villains such as Scarecrow, Two-Face, Penguin, and Deathstroke. In the main story campaign, the human boss fights are too few, and there are too many Batmobile Battle Mode-related boss fights in this game. Secondly, the over-reliance of Batmobile's Battle Mode in combat. While the Batmobile has lots of utility in both exploration and combat, I find that there are too many combat sections involving the Batmobile in the game. I wish there are more chase sections in the game using the Batmobile, such as chasing a supervillain's vehicle in the game or escaping from other enemies via Batmobile.
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Graphics
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This game has amazing graphics. One of the best looking games on PS4. Batman's character model looks amazing, as well as all other character models such as the villains, thugs, and other NPCs. The game has amazingly detailed environments, buildings, and indoor areas. This game has excellent game performance all round, although I did notice small screentearring issues at the end of the game, which occur in a pre-rendered cutscene. Otherwise, the game looks fantastic.
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Sound
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This game has amazing voice acting. Excellent casting on all characters in the game, such as Kevin Conroy (Batman), Tara Strong (Harley Quinn), Wally Wingert (The Riddler), Matthew Mercer (Robin), Nolan North (Penguin), and most of all John Noble (Scarecrow). While I am disappointed that some of the characters' voice actors have been replaced such as Oracle, Jim Gordon, and Scarecrow, I am extremely happy with the recasting of the voice actors, unlike other games.
The soundtrack is great. Dark, brooding, and memorable. Some of the predator encounter themes are also well-done, and there are other good pieces such as when Batman first uses the Batmobile in this game.
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Replay Value
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This game has high replay value. You can play the game again in New Game Plus mode, with the fixed Knightmare difficulty. You may also complete every Side Mission available in the game, as well as collect all collectibles. You may also complete the AR Challenges in the game. With the Season Pass code, you can also play with the rest of Arkham Episodes, Season of Infamy side missions in the main game, as well as the additional AR challenges with different playable characters.
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Conclusion
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This is a great game, but it is not the best Batman: Arkham game in the series. The main story plot is pretty good, but some of the sub-plots feel unfulfilled as well as having too reliance on Joker's background story. The Arkham Knight reveal feels underwhelming too. This game also has the most refined gameplay system, but the lack of story boss fights as well as imbalance usage of Batmobile sections in this game are notable issues in the game.
It is recommended for interested players to buy the base edition of the game as it includes the Scarecrow Nightmare challenges, and then buy the Season Pass separately from PlayStation Store. This edition is good, but incomplete. The quality of this game varies from being great towards good, and despite being not as good as previous Batman: Arkham games, this game is still worth playing for any action open world game fans.
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Score
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Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Final Score: 8.75/10 or 35/40
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Pros and Cons
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Pros
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- Interesting plot.
- Scarecrow is an excellent main villain.
- Great exposure of other villains in this game.
- Good variety of story progression objectives.
- Great combat, for both normal fights and predator encounters.
- Great addition of Batmobile.
- Tons of side-content.
- Excellent graphics.
- Great voice acting.
- Good music.
- High replay value.
Cons
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- Slightly weaker story than previous games.
- Disappointing Arkham Knight reveal.
- No Scarecrow boss fights like in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
- Too few supervillain boss fights, in both main missions and side missions.
- Some poorly designed Batmobile Battle Mode boss fights.
- Too many Batmobile Battle Mode combat sections.
- Underwhelming story in most Arkham Episodes.
- Missing some DLCs such as Scarecrow Nightmare challenges.
Discover the best Batman Arkham games ranked from Asylum to Knight, including Origins, VR and more, with a focus on combat, story, and world design.
Games such as Mad Max, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Batman: Arkham Knight desperately deserve a modern-day revisit.
RDR2 still looks astounding on PS4 Pro. i cannot imagine how it could look with a next gen upgrade.
Probably not very different.
No idea why this article is highlighting recent beautiful graphically-advanced games and saying they need current gen makeovers. They already look better than most new releases; just compare Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad!
It's obviously never gonna happen since Sony killed the game and studio, but Driveclub. Even in its current state, 10 years after release, it still puts many competitors to shame ...
It's a shame they cancelled the game. Definitely the best racing game I've ever played on Playstation. Just got GT7, but it feels so slow and less arcade-y, which is to be expected of a sim racer of course, that I just enjoy it less.
Driveclub also graphically looked insanely good for its time. I wonder what a Driveclub 2 would look like for the PS5.
Mad max ikr! Far cry primal, it amuses me how ubisoft just left ac unity hanging, sadly most of the good staff left from rocksteady while being forced to make that abomination smh
One way or another, these games provoked strong reactions.
I don't think Days Gone divided fans. For the most part, gamers loved it. It was the reviewers who were divided. Self-loathing racist pieces of shit that took exception to the main character being white. This was a fantastic game, one of the best open-world games I ever played, and I've played them all.
Second you on this.. I had absolute blast playing this game!! Memorable!
TLOU 2 I thought was utter s***.. I still haven’t finished it and stopped about halfway (apparently).
It wasn’t fans divided around The Order, it was a period where xbox fanboys were thinking Rise was a more engaging game so they were spreading a lot of hate..
Today they are hibernating with nothing to play
The Order was short, no denying, but a great game with huge potential
I enjoyed days gone and last of us 2. PeoPke trippin.
I always thought the order was kinda whack seeming so I never tried it. Id like to now though.
No thr order was a short, clunky mediocre yet visually stunning game. I thoughts so and pretty much every other reviewer did too.
The Order, where length was a criterion for rating a game, but only this particular game and no others.
While I enjoy what is there in Days Gone, I mourn what was lost. The first trailers for Days Gone showed a morality system that looked interesting. For example, in the beginning when you are chasing down Leon and after you caught him, you could choose to shoot him or leave him for the freaks. You can see hints of it in other places, like if you catch a bandit unaware sometimes they will disarm and it seems like Deacon had the option to shoot them or let them go (he automatically lets them go).
Whatever...those systems unless revolutionary don't add much...they rarely do in games that do have them.
For the most part, when it comes to Last of Us 2, incels, homophobes, and closet national socialist types didn't like it. I repeat not all, but most.
Days Gone is a great game and it was attacked by the leftist socialist people that are actually closet fascists. As a great poet once said: "Socialism is the mother of fascism."
The Order got hit from anti-Sony Xbox fans.
Out of these 3, Last of Us 2 stands above as being a work of art. It's still generating a ton conversation to this day.
-"Last of Us 2, incels, homophobes, and closet national socialist types didn't like it. I repeat not all, but most."
It's so weird & cringe to see other gamers paint this broad brush of *who* didn't like Part II. Why take the "most who disagree with me are Hitler" type of mentality over game tastes?
-"The Order got hit from anti-Sony Xbox fans."
No other community I've dabbled in - be it social media or gaming forums - has built up such a dedicated defense for The Order like N4G. This attitude fundamentally blows my mind, especially in the face of similar older titles (hello Uncharted 1) that already did a marginally better job at storytelling and gameplay. It almost feels like some N4G group chat made this reflexive defense as a meme and a bunch of posters are still playing along with it. No offense to genuine Order fans, but I simply can't shake that feeling.
Well to be fair, I remember being only one of a few people on this site that actually praised The Order when it for came out and got alot of flack for it. Over time it seems opinions have changed about it.
saying something is "cringe" doesn't prove me wrong. You just throw words out and hope they stick. Bring some evidence to prove me otherwise.
I got:
Letizi, R., & Norman, C. (2023). “You Took That From Me”: Conspiracism and Online Harassment in the Alt-Fandom of The Last of Us Part II. Games and Culture, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/155...
You're up. Maybe you can change my mind.
Because NG4 defended it doesn't mean NG4 is the gospel of gaming.
Yeah Yui, it was "the game to hate" at the time. What was bizarre was the, as usual, journalists that were lying about the game and their stories were approved.
It was all clickhate all the time for the Order. I defended it too.
@Yui
-"I remember being only one of a few people on this site that actually praised The Order when it for came out and got alot of flack for it."
That could've been the case right at release, but you should see more recent opinion articles on here. There's a pretty substantial cadre who defend it on here as being "unfairly tarnished" that I simply don't see elsewhere.
Most of the backlash against The Last Of Us 2 was people upset that Joel was killed off, simple as that.
There is that too, but the other groups pilled on too, which increased the numbers. I really don't see why we have to ignore everything but Joel being killed.
I didn't like Part 2 and I'm not any of. The game sold like crazy, it's just hard for people to understand that most found the story to be arse.
Prove what I say is wrong. I will need evidence. I didn't not say all. Your exception rule doesn't work. Find evidence that counters mine. So, we can have a real discussion.
There are plenty of legitimate criticism in hours long analysis videos and reddit posts actually critiquing Part 2. The people you're talking about are such a minority, and they attack just about everything because they see the "wokeness" in the most subliminal ways. They're insignificant because the game still sold pretty well, and reviewed well regardless. Keep in mind the game released world wide, and western politics and views can't be applied to every corner of the world. I can agree that Days Gone was attacked, and unlike Part 2, due to these sites being so heavily political biased it did do some damage.
I am at least showing the group was large enough of a concern for a journal to publish an article.
Where's your evidence?
The last of us part 2 was bad story wise. Not some nonsense that you speak of...most of the negative people were random...lots of the critical reception from anything other than mainstream journalism thought that the game had huge problems.
Angry Joe and skill up being prime examples of that...unless of course like most socialists out there you wanna just lable people.
@anast
Oh geez...Twitter is full of trolls...common sense.
The YouTube critics I mentioned are innocent till proven guilty. And proven with facts not opinions. I gave you evidence of 2 prominent youtubers and yet you ask for more...either you can't read or you aren't looking for evidence.
As far as groups being "large" for journos to get their panties all tied up...well then again you must be extremely gullible. As if we haven't seen thousands of articles claiming players are offended, angry or backlashing based solely on 1 or 2 posts. They love grabbing very specific individuals and using them to represent a much larger base....whatever is convenient to them making the case that gamers bad and journos good.
-"saying something is "cringe" doesn't prove me wrong. You just throw words out and hope they stick. Bring some evidence to prove me otherwise."
It doesn't "prove" it, but I have a solid success rate with the term - which seems to be the case here too. With regards to your article, I should break this down into parts:
1.) For starters, bleating for countering "evidence" after brandishing a media analysis paper (or papers) shouldn't be treated as some kind of trump card. That's not to say these researchers did nothing, mind you. Only that expecting counter-ideologies within this field who'll make this specific kind of work for TLOU Pt. II is absurdly demanding on its face. Nevermind the probability of non-progressive types getting the administrative approval being next to nil, but that's another can of worms.
2.) While I have critiques about x or y (some anecdotes being more flimsy than others, GG speculation, etc.), let's say for this argument that it's a solid piece overall. Having read the whole thing, there is literally *NOTHING* that validates the broad brush with which you painted TLOU2 critics in your first comment (speaking as someone who thinks it's a good game). The discussion about alt-fans, anti-fans, etc. does paint an ugly picture about the TLOU subreddit, Twitter users, certain YouTubers, and more; however, there's no positive declaration about TLOU2's critics ending at these particular clusters either. Even if you say "most, not all" in your first comment, that still seems overly broad compared to the text I read. (EDIT: That's not to disregard the nastiness or modest size in its own right.)
It's also worth noting how much of that paper's material is inspecting a pre-/at-release sort of backlash. But the game's been out for several years now. More and more people who AREN'T incels, homophobes, closet Nazis have played it past 2020 and you don't really see this new broad consensus about its accomplishments; in fact, you see more of a continued split over whether or not it deserves such monumental praise. Here's just a few other sub-communities near its release that don't fit your description:
- https://www.youtube.com/wat...
- https://www.youtube.com/wat...
- https://www.youtube.com/wat...
-"Because NG4 defended it doesn't mean NG4 is the gospel of gaming."
Correct, but you're just solidifying my point. Even PS fans elsewhere (social media or gaming forums) don't go to bat for The Order with the enthusiasm and consistency they do here in my experience. That's what makes your assessment of "anti-Sony Xbox fans" so fascinating to me.
1) Speculation and emotion
2) Speculation and emotion
2a) Might be an argument if you gave me something other than your own opinion and emotions over the subject, but it's left as an anecdote without any real research. By the way, we can't negate the at release behavior, because it fits your narrative. It existed and those groups were involved.
The article is not a trump card and the fact that you seem to think so is more troubling on your end than mine. The article was to see if you could find other people that researched this phenomenon and we can have a conversation, but you still refuse to do this. Instead you wrote a sermon, which is a shame because maybe you had something with point "2a: It's also worth..." But this point still tries to side step actual events.
The final point doesn't solidify anything unless you are trying to solidify your own opinion. Albeit, it is passive aggressive, which is strange.
-"Speculation and emotion"
I mean... okay? Where am I wrong on 2.) though? Asking for a conflicting media studies research paper on this specific topic is already a random ask, given the environment with which these are made.
-"Might be an argument if you gave me something other than your own opinion and emotions over the subject, but it's left as an anecdote without any real research."
Wait. Just so we're clear: a research paper that focuses most of its attention towards a subreddit and social media comments to Neil Druckmann means you get to sustain your overly broad claims while contrary social media sources that don't exhibit the same kind of "alt-fan/anti-fan" rhetoric can't be counted? Now I feel even more confident in my initial assessment b/c all you're after is just whatever can be found with some accreditation behind it - regardless of quality.
-"By the way, we can't negate the at release behavior, because it fits your narrative. It existed and those groups were involved."
That's the thing: I never said they wasn't a sizable contingent of that either. From the start, my response was just how wild it was to paint *MOST* detractors with such a broad brush. I still don't think I'm off-base in saying it's cringe to just say "most people who shit on x game are closet Nazis or bigots of some sort," especially when your research doesn't really validate that.
-"The article is not a trump card and the fact that you seem to think so is more troubling on your end than mine."
Bro, you literally responded with "Bring some evidence to prove me otherwise.... You're up. Maybe you can change my mind." I don't really see how I'm speaking out of turn there given this and your original comment.
-"The article was to see if you could find other people that researched this phenomenon and we can have a conversation, but you still refuse to do this."
If no other people *HAVE* researched this phenomenon, then I don't see how the next best option is highly-popular sources which counter your original claim. Given that all you're promoting is a media studies paper hyper-focusing on a specific cluster of media, why wouldn't other forms of media work as some kind of substitute? That's not side-stepping events in the slightest.
-"The final point doesn't solidify anything unless you are trying to solidify your own opinion. Albeit, it is passive aggressive, which is strange."
I don't know what that first sentence means, honestly.
Look, I'll just put it like this: try to have a frank conversation about The Order on some other non-N4G gaming forum. There isn't going to be this clean split between 'Sony fans' and 'Xbox fans' that love it or hate it. Ask Sony fans how they'd feel about paying full-price for it and you're not going to get the ardent defenses compared to some of its most popular comment sections here.
Still no evidence. I ask for you to bring contrary evidence, so maybe I might change my mind, all research can be falsifiable. This is what you are missing. We are thinking in two different universes.
You are writing sermons, which is a waste of everyone's time including yours. Bring some research and we will discuss it. As of now you have only brought superstitions.
-"I ask for you to bring contrary evidence, so maybe I might change my mind, all research can be falsifiable."
But I literally read YOUR evidence and it doesn't support the broader claims you made at the start. I'm not sure where else to go with that.
-"Bring some research and we will discuss it. As of now you have only brought superstitions."
Bro, leveraging this kind of language is so wild in the face of what you've provided. It's like unless those different communities I linked where fused together in a random media studies paper, you'd magically consider it valid. I don't understand how you're leveraging that, especially when it doesn't fortify your initial claim. You're basically retorting to me writing too much, regardless of the content itself. Just the oddest conversation with you thus far and I don't quite get it.
Amazing gameplay, but TLOU2 had one of the worst, most convoluted and uneccessary plots I ever seen in a sequel. Terrible story and the characters were forgettable. I didn't give an F about anyone in the story.
I don't think any of these divided fans, other than LoU2. The rest were either victims of biased reviews or just generally agreed that they weren't as good as they could've been or just overall disappointing.
