Batman Arkham Knight Gameplay And Performance Review

Batman Arkham Knight is here, and as we're sure most of you have heard, the game is no-longer for sale for the PC platform currently, due to a flood of performance issues. WB Games has pulled the title from store shelves, both physical and digital copies. Can you say “Holy botched game launch, Batman?” We usually don’t start a piece with such negativity. It's not the most engaging story setup, yet this time it’s really hard not to call a duck and duck, with regard to this release. If it walks like a duck... Well, you know the old adage, but is there more to Batman: Arkham Knight that might be redeeming in some way?

Currently, Bats is an indiscriminate pain in the backside on the PC, performing poorly on both AMD and NVIDIA GPU solutions. It’s a truly frustrating turn of events, since the general gameplay expands on the virtually tried and true mechanics of previous Batman titles. Here again you assume the role of the "Caped Crusader" from DC Comics and it’s good honest fun—until you have to step foot in Batman’s most iconic tool since Adam West brandished his mighty “Shark Repellent” on the original live action TV show. But we will dive into the Batmobile nuances and general gameplay in a bit.


Batman Arkham Knight is the Fourth title in the series with the previous being Arkham Origins. The last title was a prequel setting up the connected universe, which began in Batman Arkham Asylum and continued through BM: Arkham City and now BM: Arkham Knight. In Arkham Knight, Batman must assist Commissioner Gordon and the remaining Gotham City Police in a final effort to take back the city from Scarecrow. The master of chemical-induced fear has forced out most of the citizens and flooded the dark dank streets of Gotham City with a super villain army. This is thanks to his mysterious alliance with a brand new nemesis not-so-coincidentally dubbed the Arkham Knight. This figure is new to the Batman mythos and also bears a striking—more tech-infused resemblance to Batman himself. To make things interesting and familiar all the same, Scarecrow has also teamed up with classic villains Harley Quinn, Penguin, Two-Face and the Riddler.

Much of the attraction to this series of Batman titles has been three-fold: great visuals, exciting action, and how it all comes together with great attention to detail on what it means to be Batman: undaunted detective, master martial artist and billionaire tech genius. Each game has captured that lightening in a bottle while ever-so slightly building and elaborating on that successful foundation. Fortunately, Batman Arkham Knight is no different. Read on...