As we waggle hankies and wish a teary farewell to August, we can at least console ourselves with the promise of a fresh batch of PS4 games arriving as part PlayStation Plus in September, this time looking an awful lot like Batman: Arkham Knight and Darksiders 3.
Batman: Arkham Knight is, of course, the fourth entry in the celebrated Arkham series, and the third to be developed by Rocksteady Games, the studio behind the game that started it all, Batman: Arkham Asylum. Once again, it’s another open-world offering, replete with rhythmic combat, shadowy stealth, and a positive festoonment of delightful gadgets to play with as Batman sets out across the series’ largest sprawl of Gotham City yet.
The big change this time around, however, comes with the introduction of Batguy’s trusty Batmobile, meaning that a sizeable chunk of the game’s run-time is taken up with driving around and hurling missiles at road-bound foes, which didn’t sit quite so well with fans of the series’ tautly designed on-foot subterfuge. It’s all as slick as ever though, and frequently dazzles with its narrative ambitions.
