Jump to content

Batman Arkham Blank


HotChops
 Share

Recommended Posts

Gotta agree with Strangelove. The fight looked flashy and all, but it was just a protracted QTE.

 

Turns out I do need to reinstall the graphics drivers every time so as to get the 'DX11 Enhanced' options and stand a chance at a decent framerate (still a little crappy in the open world). Even then, the stuttering's enough to ruin the experience, so I'm going to have to look at some sort of fix. Shame really, because Arkham City ran perfectly fine except for whenever you entered that one room in the courthouse (or did combat challenges there).

 

The game's been OK so far. I prefer the design for Batman and some of the other characters, and I think the new guy does a decent, gruff, Bale-inspired Batman, which is obviously what they were going for. Plus, the story's been good.

 

Having said that, I think they have a habit of throwing too many bodies at you in both combat and predator missions. In predator stuff, it means that if they discover an unconscious thug, you could wind up with five nervous, armed guys all patrolling close together for a bit. While, in combat, things just get way too crowded and those armoured guys kill the flow because they become hard to spot or necessitate detective vision too often. They definitely don't have the 'Rocksteady touch'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to disagree with your opinion on the boss fights.  I thought the ones in City were a lot better.  These are flashy and have a lot of spectacle behind them, but when you get right down to it they're all basically fought the same way as every other mook, just with more HP.  Maybe that will change at some point, but I've fought I think four or five bosses so far and they've all been this way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can't even really hit him unless the counter symbol pops up first.

Not true. You can just blindly mash the punch button and that won't amount to much. But you're not limited to waiting for the counter prompts. I'm playing on hard so maybe it wasn't an issue on normal, but I failed a few times before I managed to beat him and once I realized you can use the batclaw to open him up the fight got significantly easier.

 

I mean, it's not like I can't see how the fight might superficially seem like an elongated QTE, but I was willing to cut it some slack since it's not just random prompts, it actually relies on skills you develop from playing the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just used the batclaw to drag him and clothesline him when I was too bored waiting for him to get his "counter" prompt. Thats all that was. It didnt even really do any significant damage. It was worthless. The whole point of the fight is just to get him to counter into a multihit combo. Which also gets ridiculous when he has his sword but your gauntlets still block every hit.

 

I dont know. Maybe Im missing something. As long as you do what the button prompts say, youll be fine. the only thing this fight tests is your patience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with Strangelove. The batclaw lets you get a few extra hits in, but other than that you're left going through the same few sequences over and over. Batclaw slam > few punches > he attacks, you do the three counter thing > repeat until he does the flash-grenade-to-counter-to-beatdown sequence > repeat the whole batclaw routine until he does the flash grenade thing or the remote claw-canister thing > repeat until the health bar finally depletes enough.

 

For developers who were inspired by the Mr. Freeze fight from Arkham City, they sure don't show it. The first boss fight is a perfect example of the old 'do this thing three times' school of boss fights. Not that I'm saying Rocksteady's games bossfights were all amazing, just that I've not seen anything special here.

 

Oh, also, I dislike that skills are now on a tree and the grading thing is starting to bug me but not quite as much as the medal stuff in GTAV.

Edited by Hot Heart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, the Freeze fight was pretty much one of the greatest boss fights ever. Forgot about that one and I don't think the Deathstroke fight is anywhere near that good. But I still think it was way more fun than Clayface or Solomon Grundy or pretty much any boss from the first game.

 

Ugh, wish I didn't have so much homework that's due in soon. Haven't had a chance to play much yesterday and now I just wanna say fuck it and play all day. :(

 

Also, have any of you guys run into the Burnley comms tower bug? People have reported not being able to climb into the vent so they get stuck in the room. Went to check it out yesterday and it happened to me too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, got that same bug myself.

This is the 'fight fire with fire' solution

Weeeeeeeee

 

On the plus side, I used that fix you mentioned regarding cutscene stuttering and it actually seems to have sorted out everything else (even though it lagged really bad when I tried it without the DX11 stuff yesterday...) so I'm enjoying things a lot more. The buttons respond properly (most of the time) in combat now!

 

Still, I'm liking the story, but it all feels a little too familiar. Really hoping Rocksteady pull off some No Man's Land type game or something for next-gen.

Edited by Hot Heart
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't noticed any problems with that or any other aspect of the combat.\

 

I have noticed that farther along in the game they start putting in too many goddamn snipers in the open world, all with sightlines to each.  I just want to get Enigma datapacks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know I've seen people complaining about the combat a lot. One theory I've seen is that they made the enemies faster without adjusting for counters and such. I don't know, there are times when I feel like something's kinda off, tbh. I'll miss a single counter and my rhythm will get so fucked I won't be able to recover at all and I'll just keep getting hit until I die. Then again, that's probably just because I'm playing on hard right away and I'm not used to the new enemy types yet.

 

I'm having pretty mixed feelings on the game. The story is pretty good so far and the cutscenes are great. I can't help but be bugged by Joker's new voice but I have to admit Troy Baker did a pretty damn good job with the character.

Holy shit, that short bit where you control him. That was so fucking good. Having Harley be there felt a bit forced but it was a nice touch.

 

 

But overall, I feel like the game in general is just poorly designed, at least in comparison to AC. These guys certainly aren't on the same level as Rocksteady. The world feels too restrained. Too many places you can't grapnel to. The line-launcher being replaced by that shitty wire thing that only works in specific places. Sometimes my grapnel won't want to go to places it should and other times it'll show up in a way that makes me think I'll head up but then it fires way the fuck to the side and I end up flying off in the opposite direction I intended.

 

I'm enjoying it a lot. A shitty game in this series is still a pretty good game. But after this one, I'm not sure I'll be interested in playing another non-Rocksteady game. It's just not the same.

Edited by FLD
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is definitely something off about the combat. I mean, in some instances my brain is still confusing controls with the ninja turtles game, while others I wasn't sure if my pad was playing up, but I saw Jim Sterling's review mention a problem with ground takedowns, which reminded me I recall issues there as well. I don't mind that the enemies are a little more aggressive and give you less breathing room, but I'd like it if the controls were responsive. And it's no longer related to framerate issues either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...