Recent reviews by Smaxx

Sehr schönes Proof of Concept, bei dem es dann leider doch an Umfang und Details mangelt.

Die Grundidee ist super und zeigt hervorragend, wie VR auch Nicht-Spieler begeistern könnte oder ggf. sogar in Schulen und ähnlichem Verwendung finden könnte. Nicht jede Schule kann sich Schulausflüge an historische Stätten oder in Museen leisten (gut, den VR-fähigen PC dann wohl eher auch nicht), aber mir gefällt die grundlegende Idee/Richtung sehr gut.

Wie schon in anderen Reviews erwähnt wurde, die Modelle sind detailliert, aber gerade aus der Nähe dann teils doch extrem grob bzw. vereinfacht. Ich bin mir leider nicht ganz sicher, wo der Umfang des ganzen „Spiels“ herkommt, denn es gibt ja doch nur eine Handvoll Räume mit jeweils einigen Bildern oder Skulpturen. Insgesamt trotzdem ein interessantes Einsteigererlebnis, insbesondere für jene, die sich an VR herantasten wollen und sich sonst eher für Geschichte, Kunst oder Bildung interessieren und eben weniger für Spiele.

Macht Lust auf mehr!

Zunächst einmal der sicher wichtigste Punkt, der aktuell leider noch vielen VR-Titeln zu schaffen macht: Viel zu kurz.

Aber was einen geboten wird, ist schon toll gemacht und ich wäre definitiv bereit, dafür auch entsprechend Geld hinzulegen, wenn der Umfang stimmt.

Natürlich bekommt man hier kein richtiges Portal angeboten, sondern mehr ein Spinoff. Ich weiß nicht, wer hier groß Portale, laufen und springen/fliegen erwartet, aber das ist mit einem Headset leider noch nicht möglich, ohne dass man stark am Sichtfeld werkelt (z.B. Google Earth VR) oder einfach nur noch – entschuldigt den Ausdruck – kotzen möchte (ja, du bist gemeint, ADR1FT).

Es gibt in etwa ein Dutzend Levels, dazu noch eine schöne Post-Credits "Vintage-Aufzugsfahrt", die alle vom Feeling und den Knobeleien schon sehr stark an die Grundspiele erinnern. Die einzelnen Rätsel bauen aufeinander auf und – was mich überrascht hat – man darf sich auch etwas mehr bewegen, um beispielsweise Turrets zu entgehen. Die Steuerung ist natürlich etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig, funktioniert aber zumindest mit der HTC Vive hervorragend nach etwas eingewöhnungszeit.

Leider – wie schon erwähnt – schlägt dann aber doch der Umfang zu. Gerade wenn man zu dem Zeitpunkt kommt, an dem die offiziellen Spiele erst loslegen ("Oh, übrigens, du bist gleich tot."), ist hier dann eben doch schon schluss.

Wenn ich mir eine Sache abseits von einem richtigen/längeren Spiel bzw. Titel wünschen könnte, dann wäre es definitiv Workshop-Support vergleichbar mit Portal 2. Den Editor könnte man ja genauso mit Maus und Tastatur bedienen, nur gespielt wird dann eben in VR.

To be honest, I didn't even feel like writing yet another review for this DLC, because I could just copy paste my text from most others: Three fights/areas, some optional stealth gameplay and seconds of animations - that's all you get.

Also to note, I think this DLC so far has the hardest fight in the game in it (at least that's my impression). We're not talking about game mechanics here or anything, just a hero who'll lose about one third of his health whenever something hits him, almost no matter what. While this isn't a problem in the first two parts of the game, the finale feels simply unfair and I don't think I've won it through skill, just luck.

The DLC also features one forced stealth approach, where you'll have to take out three bad guys guarded by three sentries. It's nice to try and error this, but the game's sometimes wonky controls completely ruin this.

Disappointing: I thought this DLC's size would be comparable to Batgirl's Family Matters… unfortunately, that's not the case. As with most other story DLC's this is once again really just two or three fight sequences with one optional stealth part.

And even then the fight's aren't really challenging at all. They combine the robot fights and spinning wheels of death from the original game and mix it up a bit. Add one very simple switch riddle and you've got everything in this pack. Overall, gameplay is very reminiscent of Arkham City's Catwoman mission, where you're supposed to get into a safe.

For completionists it's quite okayish, but as a season pass owner right from release I'm once again very disappointed. You'll get some action, but little to no story with this. There are some entertaining interactions between Eddie and Selina, but it feels scripted and surrealistic (well, we're talking about comic heroes/villains here).

I've preordered both the base game as well as the season pass long before release. I've had some performance issues, but I really enjoyed the base game content. The DLC isn't really worth it so far (the story packs are nice short "clips" to play through and the Batgirl DLC is quite enjoyable, but other stuff is just skins or challenges, stuff I don't care).

So far, I'd really recommend the base game. It has its issues, but it's a very nice end to the Arkham Trilogy (or Quadtrilogy if you want), especially considering the very great open world feel without the fear of missing anything significant before beating the game.

So far I even declined on using that possibility to get a full refund on the game. I didn't consider it fair, considering I've had fun for nearly 50 hours (and still haven't solved all Riddler challenges). However, today I noticed this game popping up yet again under Steam's "Popular New Releases". I check in and what do I see?

ALL REVIEWS WRITTEN POST-LAUNCH (BUT BEFORE 17th NOVEMBER AS OF RIGHT NOW) ARE TAGGED AS "PRE-RELEASE" BY THE PUBLISHER. THIS IS *NOT* HELPFUL.

I could understand them marking old reviews from before the October (or was it early November?) re-release as "pre-release". It's dodgy, but still fair considering they took it off the market, etc.

However, I don't see why they should have the right to claim reviews written yesterday, clearly POST-RELEASE as pre-release just to try to lessen their significance.

Don't blame the devs, they've delivered a great game, but what the publisher is doing here is more than dodgy. I guess this also marks my last WB Games game for a long while, because this is nothing I want to support in any way or form.

Update end of 2016: It took me a while to play through all DLC – and I still haven't finished the Mad Hatter one – but overall I can now definitely say that the DLC is not worth your money. If you're a real completionist, maybe during a sale, but overall none of them is significant in any way. "Story DLCs" all consist of a hand full of rooms (at most) and up to three or four fights or encounters. As amazing as the base game is (apart from that repetitive boss fight), so disappointing are the DLCs.

Preordered the Season Pass, expecting lots of story DLC, new cases, etc. but so far this is very disappointing. As far as I know, at the time of this writing we've got most DLC, but I'm not really impressed by what you get for 40 bucks. 2/3 of the content so far seems to be skins – something I don't really care about.

If you don't really care for AR challenges or skin packs, you're better off grabbing the Story DLCs separately, of which I'd only recommend the Batgirl (A Matter of Family) one so far. Can't say anything abotu Catwoman, as that one isn't out yet. The cheaper/shorter story packs can be completed within an hour (all three within that same hour), so… for now it's not worth it (unless on discount or you're a completionist).

Similar to the other Story Packs, this DLC offers a short few fights. What "rescues" this DLC for me is the fact that you're able to play one of the bad guys, which is something unique, compared to the other two Story DLCs, which more or less just add "more of the same". Also Harley has her own unique gadgets, which are interesting to try, but overall not that impressive.

Of all three Story Packs (I'm not counting the Batgirl DLC into this), this is definitely the strongest, giving you the most unique experience compared to the main game.

Also note that this is a direct prequel/tie-in to the main game's story, so I'd even recommend playing this DLC before you start the main story. It's not bad if you don't do so, you're missing out on a small tidbit.

Just make sure you don't expect a long story arc, this DLC is just 15-20 minutes long (as are the other Story Packs), depending on how you approach it (e.g. stealth gameplay).

Like the Red Hood Story Pack, this more or less consists of three fights with a few "cinematic" sequences in between (they're quite short).

However, compared to Red Hood, this made me smile at a few moments, especially Nightwing's interactions with the Penguin, who's trapped in GCPD's elevator.

Just keep in mind that the gameplay is very repetitive compared to the main game. Once again, the first and third fight both are just waves of enemies. The second fight is taking out bad guys in a building - you can go "loud" or stealth. Even worse, the third part of this DLC is pretty much the final part of the GCPD defense in the original game, just with a significantly more fragile (my impression) character.

If you really want to have everything, grab the DLC, but you're not really missing out on anything other a few short and (in my opinion) entertaining banters between Penguin and Nightwing.

This is how you do story DLC that is disconnected from their main game. So far I've played all released story DLCs (this one; Harley Quinn, Red Hood, and Nightwing) and I have to say that this is by far the best. Sure, it's more expensive, but it also has significantly more content.

Compared to the other, cheaper DLC, this one includes free roaming, also once the story is completed. You can't visit all of Gotham, you're "locked" in on a oil rig that got transformed into an amusement park. I think the playable area could be compared to the main game's Panessa Studios (also parts of the layout feel similar).

Gameplay wise, Batgirl is indeed more or less a reskinned Batman minus some gadgets, but it's enjoyable. The story is cliché, but it works and is entertaining for an hour or even a bit longer – and we're talking about comic book heroes here, so… it's probably as much as you can expect. If you've enjoyed the main game, you'll probably like this DLC as well. It's just some extra story arc – actually a prequel to Rocksteady's Arkham games (i.e. the trilogy). It's no must have, it doesn't really influence character development.

Biggest surprise for me was the ending, especially if you know Batgirl/Barbara's story. I won't spoiler that part, but let's just say they play with player expectations. They play with them and it works to keep the tension till the very last moment.

First of all, I love the Arkham Series. This year Arkham Knight was one of the few games I've preordered instantly and enjoyed, despite the flaws and bugs.

This was first Season Pass content I've tried and… well… I hope it can only get better.

As other reviews stated, this content is short. Of course I won't expect one, two, or even more hours of gameplay out of 2 bucks DLC, but what they sell here is probably as short as it could get. You can get better low budget indie games giving you more fun for that money.

Estimated (and perceived) play time is most likely somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes. Several base game challenges are longer than this DLC, assuming you take your time to get perfect stealth take-downs. I bet it took me longer to write this review than completing the game. So in the end I still got more "time" out of this I guess…

You can describe the whole DLC content in one sentence and you're not even able to call it a spoiler, since there's no real story progression or whatsoever:

Red Hood is out to get Black Mask, which he does while fighting through three small maps.

Small maps might even be exaggeration. The DLC starts mid-fight in a bigger room. After a few waves, you get a 5 seconds cut scene and are presented with a classic "Arkham setup", i.e. a bigger room with lower walls, breakable glass, etc. and 11 enemies. That's it. The room even introduces a new game mechanic, armored targets you can't stagger by shooting (Red Hood's Batarang replacement). After this, another short interrogation, and then the last map, which once again is just one big room with brawlers and Black Mask. There's no real boss mechanic, just infinitely(?) respawning bad guys and a quick time like "boss mechanic". Hit Y (counter) once the prompt shows up, tap the left trigger (like quick Batarang) to hit Black Mask - or just punch him straight away. Once that's over another 5 seconds cut-scene and you're back in main menu.

The only part regarding the "storytelling" in this DLC I'd like to tell you is the fact that it feels pretty bad, probably worse than any fanfic people could come up with. Yes, this DLC is essentially without a significant story, but even the random chatter by the bad guys feels cheap or odd. For example, they all seem to be worried about Red Hood killing them, rather than expecting Batman to show up (or be around, in case any of them is down). This feels like from an isolated universe, where there's no Batman, because we're playing as Red Hood and all the bad boys can think of is him, rather than the far more known Black Knight.

So far I thought the Harley Quinn Story Pack was short, which I got with my pre-order, but this DLC is even worse. Harley had gadgets you had to use to overcome some obstacles. Red Hood feels like a gadget-less Batman (well, he got his own version of the Batclaw to swing), a reskin with changed animations to account for the guns, if you want to.

I'd strongly recommend against buying this DLC, unless it's on sale or you're a real completionist (or fan of Black Mask).