Recent reviews by Machination

A true classic. Although much of the DLC is locked away behing the now-defunct Bioware forums, the game truely stands the test of time and is one of the finest RPGs I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

I never thought I'd be among the folks hating on this game, but I am. Here's why.

PC Specs:
Intel i7-3770
AMD R9 380 4GB
12GB DDR3/1333 RAM
256GB Samsung 850 Evo

Resolution run: 1366x768
Latest drivers and game patch(es) used. (Jan 15, 2016)

FPS: Mostly 30FPS. Batmobile trips dip below 20FPS on occasion. Every so often, there is a jarring transition to 60FPS, and then down to 45FPS. This game, beautiful though it is, isn't optimized for the PC. Honestly, I'd imagine drunk monkeys could optimize this game better than Rocksteady/WB.

Lag Spikes: Proceeding large explosions, Arkham Knight will often simply pause as it does whatever calculations it wants to run. These spikes are brief, but unpleasant, and make the game appear more broken than it already is.

Glitches: The only glitches that I have run into is Batman getting stuck on stuff and the controls not responding. Ledges are particularly bad in this game. It's a flashback to some of Origin's problems, and I can't say I'm thrilled.

The actual game:
Meh. It's okay. The Batmobile is alright, although it ruins the feel of "I'm a lone wolf, saving a dark world," changing it to "I'm Iron Man in a car." The story is bland, although helped be better lipsync, and more anguished expressions on all parties involved. The map is fine. Mostly it feels like you are defending the world's largest overpass or roadway instead of a city, though. Reasonably large, not too much to complain about. Overall, a mediocre game, helped along by good memories of Arkham City and Asylum.

Also, I have the season pass, as well as the base game. It isn't worth it. Most of the DLCs are essentially horse armor. Buy each individual DLC that is interesting instead.

In conlusion, unless you have a powerful rig, don't mind running on low resolutions, dealing with annoying bugs and terrible FPS issues, forget this game. Just forget it. Including the ~$90 of DLCs Rocksteady/WB is selling for it.

EDIT:
Since my review, I've gotten my hands on a PowerColor HD 7990 6GB, which is a monster 3-slot card. It's rated to be between 150%-200% (1.5-2x) as fast as my old 380 4GB. It's essentially two crossfire'd HD 7970s. While Arkham Knight can't properly make use of the second card, most of the FPS drops are gone, as well as the calculation-before-explosion bits. At 1366x768, it benchmarks at 90FPS average, 60FPS min, 150FPS max with all settings maxed + Nvidia enhanced rain. As you'd imagine, this makes the game much more enjoyable to play. I may try getting into this game after they patch it a few more times, now that most of the FPS issues are fixed.

Broken, buggy, and somewhat ill-designed. I'd be a rich man if I was give a dollar for every time I fired a batclaw through a villain, got stuck on invisible objects during fights, or had animation and physics glitches during flight. I love Batman: Arkham Asylum and City, and have put in 80 hours between the two, but I hate this game with a vengeance. It's simply a buggy, mediocre game with some horrifically frustrating moments thrown in.

I found this questline to be terribly buggy, and it is the pinniacle of fetch-quests. I love regular Skyrim, but not this DLC.

One of the best FPS/RPGs out there. Definitely should get it.

I never was much for games that require parties. To be honest, I didn't even like the Dragon Age series. However, this game is the exception to the rule. There's just something charmin and magical about the way this game works, as you and your merry team of four carefully collect the scarce resources around you and master difficult puzzles.

Pros:
+Old-school charm
+Good puzzles
+Calm, but engaging combat
+Good creature and level design

Neutral:
Story is a bit subtle.

Cons:
-Old-school difficulty
-Sometimes you need a walkthrough

Overall, I strongly recommend this game. It's a blast to play, and a good way to simultaneously unwind and put your brain to good use, too.

I literally cannot say anything that has not already been said about this game.
I'll reiterate some things, anyway. This is one of the best RPGs I have ever had the fortune to play. Fun, engrossing, and extremely detailed, this game has provided me with fifty hours of fun, and I haven't done half the things you can see, do, and achieve in this game. Simply put, this is a must-have game even if you only remotely like RPGs.


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