Rocksteady’s masterful Arkham trilogy comes to a close with a game so far from the cramped, knotty, Bafta-winning original Asylum as to be nigh on unrecognisable. Where Asylum took place entirely in the titular madhouse, in City, the Caped Crusader took to the skies and streets of Gotham to deal justice to his collection of nemeses. Now, in Knight, the basic idea is the same – the open-world setting has grown, the already impressive visuals have been polished further – as the Dark Knight takes on the Scarecrow and the mysterious Arkham Knight, a malevolent doppelgänger.
The addition of the Batmobile is the biggest change in gameplay – with the ability to speed through the streets of the city a welcome departure – although some of the tank-style combat has strayed too far from the claustrophobic, stealth challenges that really made the series great. However, the twisty plot is a comic-book delight – a fitting end to a triumvirate of games that have always valued storytelling and voice-acting – and it propels players through to a fine conclusion to this version of DC’s most popular superhero.
