Arkham City vs. Arkham Knight: Which is the superior Batman title?

Rocksteady Studios’ Batman Arkham series is an iconic example of how to do superhero games justice. All these games centered around the adventures of the Dark Knight in a new adaptation of the DC universe, which told original stories while utilizing quintessential characters from Batman’s mythos.

The series began with Batman: Arkham Asylum in 2009, continued onto Arkham City in 2011, and ended in grand fashion with Arkham Knight in 2015. While the first game was the springboard that launched the series into global recognition, the next two games were the ones that saw Rocksteady bring new ideas to the table.

The endeavor here is to determine which is the best Batman title between Arkham City and Arkham Knight. Both games are compared against each other with respect to certain parameters and points are allotted to whichever is determined to be the best in each round. The overall aggregate is taken as the deciding factor to ascertain which one is the winner.

Note: This article reflects the writer's opinion.

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Best Batman game: Arkham City or Arkham Knight?

1) Story

Arkham City’s story takes place about 18 months after the events of the previous game. It retains the comic book-like nature of its predecessor and takes the game to an open-world environment as Batman, along with a prison full of inmates, are dumped into Arkham City by Hugo Strange.

In contrast, Arkham Knight takes place nine months after the events of Arkham City and sets the stage in modern-day Gotham. Scarecrow plans to level the city with his dreaded fear toxin and the Dark Knight must work alongside the GCPD to stop him at all costs.

For this round, the point goes to Arkham City because of the game's decision to stick to the comic book theme set by the original game. Although the story is quite campy, it does have a certain fun quality in how ridiculous things can get, similar to how comic book plots tend to work generally.

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2) Gameplay

Arkham City upped the ante in the gameplay department by streamlining the spectacular combat system from the previous game, while also incorporating the use of gadgets. Speaking of which, the number of useful tools in Batman’s arsenal was also expanded to include up to 12 gadgets.

Arkham Knight took similar steps to improve combat and overall gameplay, while making the Caped Crusader more versatile and quick by introducing a new high-tech batsuit. Furthermore, the iconic Batmobile was also added to the game, which significantly increased the role-playing aspect of feeling like the Dark Knight.

This round goes to Arkham Knight as the combat and predator encounters feel the most polished it has ever been in the series. Furthermore, the inclusion of the Batmobile was a great addition, especially for a map of this size where traversing on foot or rooftops would take far too long.

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3) Visuals

Batman looks down on a gorgeous Gotham (Image via Rocksteady Studios)

Arkham Knight excels with its visual appeal by creating a Gotham City that feels lived-in and is quite comparable to a real-life metropolis. With stunning lighting, gothic architecture, and distinctly different districts, Gotham has been brought to life in gorgeous detail, which is heightened by the fact that the game only takes place at night.

However, Arkham City’s world falls quite short in this regard. After excellent visuals from Arkham Asylum, this sequel fails to capture the same mood, instead consisting of a desaturated, run-down city environment. While the different areas of the map had their own look and feel, it was still lackluster when compared to both its predecessor and the follow-up title.

Thus, Arkham Knight takes the point for this round as it provides players with the option to explore a completely fictional city beautifully created from the ground up. Playing this Batman game today in higher resolution will show that it still holds up in terms of visuals, even after seven years.

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4) Open world

The Batmobile chases down a militia vehicle in Arkham Knight's open world (Image via Rocksteady Studios)

Arkham City’s open world consisted of an old section of Gotham City that had been sectioned off to accommodate criminals in an enclosed space. With thugs and enemies patrolling the streets at all times, this was mostly a scaled-up version of the open environment seen in the previous game.

Arkham Knight changed things up a little by having the criminals loose in Gotham City itself, with GCPD patrols also scouring the streets along with Batman. The inclusion of the Batmobile also worked to expand mobility around the map significantly, while also giving Batman the ability to take on armored tanks.

As Arkham City’s open world was quite large but offered little in the way of fast movement, moving across the map was quite a tiring prospect, even with the advanced grapnel launcher. On the other hand, Arkham Knight’s Batmobile served as the ideal way to cover large distances, while also having the added benefit of being able to scare away most thugs whenever it was called in.

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5) Boss Fights

The Dark Knight vs. Mr. Freeze (Image via Rocksteady Studios)

Arkham Knight had many boss fights scattered throughout its main campaign, as well as in side-missions. The quality of these was varied, as at least half of these were in the form of tank battles, which could get tiresome quickly. The Batmobile versus enemy tank scenario can be fun, but not when it robs players of some intense one-on-one character brawls.

Arkham City excels in this regard with most final fights against Batman’s villains being purely hand-to-hand combat, which is where these games are at their best. Fights with iconic villains like Mr. Freeze and Clayface are fondly remembered as some of the best moments in the game by most.

Arkham City will take the point in this round with its engaging boss fights, specifically for the Mr. Freeze encounter, which asks players to adapt their technique at every turn. In comparison, Arkham Knight’s insistence on tank battles against well-known hand-to-hand combatants like Deathstroke is almost an insult to both the Dark Knight and players.

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Conclusion:

Batman: Arkham Knight wins this versus feature with its prowess in gameplay and stunning visuals along with a more accessible and enjoyable open world. It is definitely the best Batman gaming experience in the Arkham series, despite a few negative points for its story and boss fights.

Arkham City comes in at a close second in this trilogy, getting props for the fun story and innovation it brought to the series. It still exists as a great sequel to an already great game, as well as a great superhero game of its own.