Games: Asylum • City • Origins • Knight • Kill the Justice League |
- "This is how it happened. This is how the Batman died."
- —The opening and ending narration of the game by Commissioner Gordon.
Batman: Arkham Knight is a 2015 action-adventure video game developed by Rocksteady Studios. It is the sequel to the 2011 video game Batman: Arkham City, and is the fourth in the Batman: Arkham series. The game has been released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It was released worldwide on June 23, 2015.[1] Batman: Arkham Knight was also released on the Nintendo Switch on December 1, 2023.
Arkham Knight's main story follows Scarecrow, the Arkham Knight, and Deathstroke, who have made an alliance on Halloween night, and plan to drown Gotham City in fear toxin and unmask Batman. The game was praised for it's graphics, visuals, combat, and world design, while criticism was directed at the boss fights, the portrayal of the Arkham Knight, and the overuse of the Batmobile. The PC port was released to widespread criticism over performance issues and technical glitches, eventually leading to the PC version being pulled from online retailers and digital distributors for months. It was even considered to be one of the worst PC ports of all time. On console, the game saw little to no issues upon release.
A new game set after the events of Arkham Knight, titled Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was released on February 2nd, 2024.
Cast and Characters[]
Arkham Knight features a large ensemble cast of characters pulled from the history of Batman comics. Returning characters include:
- Bruce Wayne/Batman (Kevin Conroy)
- The Joker (Mark Hamill)
- Oracle (Ashley Greene)
- Robin (Matthew Mercer)
- Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis)
- James Gordon (Jonathan Banks)
- Nightwing (Scott Porter)
- Catwoman (Grey DeLisle)
- Scarecrow (John Noble)
- Harley Quinn (Tara Strong)
- Two-Face (Troy Baker)
- Penguin (Nolan North)
- The Riddler (Wally Wingert)
- Poison Ivy (Tasia Valenza)
- Firefly (Crispin Freeman)
- Black Mask (Brian Bloom; Red Hood DLC)
- Aaron Cash (Duane R. Shepard Sr.)
- Azrael (Khary Payton)
- Jack Ryder (James Horan)
- Deathstroke (Mark Rolston)
- Hush (Kevin Conroy)
- Vicki Vale (Grey DeLisle)
- Killer Croc (Steve Blum; Infamy and Community DLC)
- Calendar Man (Cameo)
- Ra's al Ghul (Dee Bradley Baker; Infamy DLC)
- Mr. Freeze (Maurice LaMarche; Infamy DLC)
- Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol; Infamy DLC)
- Nora Fries (Cissy Jones; Infamy DLC)
- Victor Zsasz (Cameo)
Characters marking their debut in the series:[]
- Jason Todd/Arkham Knight/Red Hood (Troy Baker)
- Lucius Fox (Dave Fennoy)
- Man-Bat (Loren Lester)
- Francine Langstrom
- Simon Stagg (Phil Proctor)
- Warden Ranken (Dee Bradley Baker; Infamy DLC)
- Professor Pyg (Dwight Schultz)
- Deacon Blackfire (Marc Worden)
- Militia Commander (Infamy DLC)
- Nyssa Raatko (Jennifer Hale; Infamy DLC)
- Christina Bell (Jules De Jongh)
- Albert King (Isaac C. Singleton, Jr.)
- Jonathan Browne (Michael Rosenbaum)
- Henry Adams (Garrick Hagon)
- Officer Katz (Infamy DLC)
- Officer McQueen (Jules De Jongh;Infamy DLC)
- Raymond Underhill (J.B. Blanc)
- Leader of the Order (Keith Szarabajka)
- Lex Luthor (Keith Silverstein) (Voice Only)
- Kate Kane (Voice Only)
- Cassie Cain (Voice Only)
- Starro (Cameo in A Matter Of Family DLC)
- Edward Burke (J.B. Blanc) (Voice Only in A Matter Of Family DLC)
Henchmen in Arkham Knight:[]
- Arkham Knight's Militia
- Scarecrow's Henchmen
- The Penguin's Henchmen
- Riddler Thugs
- Riddler Robots
- Two-Face's Gang
- Harley's Thugs
- Dollotrons
- Thugs
- Combat Experts
- Combat Medics
- Brutes
- Minigunners
- Optically Camouflaged enemy
- League of Assassins Loyalists (Infamy DLC)
- League of Assassins Rebels (Infamy DLC)
- Mad Hatter's Henchmen (Infamy DLC)
- Iron Heights Prisoners (Infamy DLC)
- Deacon Blackfire's Disciples
- Black Mask's Henchmen (Red Hood DLC)
- Blüdhaven Police Officers (Harley Quinn DLC)
- Joker's Henchmen (Infamy and A Matter Of Family DLC)
Referenced Characters:[]
- Superman
- Booster Gold
- Blue Beetle, Ted Kord
- Anarky
- Clayface
- Deadshot
- Swamp Thing
- Solomon Grundy
- Bane
- Black Spider
- Clock King
- Big Tony
- Doctor Aesop
- Sal Maroni
- Zatanna
- Toyman
- Royal Flush Gang
- Talia al Ghul
- Quincy Sharp
- Batwoman
- Hugo Strange
- Thomas and Martha Wayne
- Beeks
- John Constantine
- Green Arrow
- Great White Shark
- Ventriloquist
- Penelope Young (A Matter Of Family DLC)
- Amanda Waller
- The Atom
- Doctor Phosphorus
- Copperhead
- Carmine Falcone
- The Flash
- Gorilla Grodd
- Wildcat
- John Doe/Copperhead
- The Creeper
- Electrocutioner
- Scarface
- Second Ventriloquist
- Ratcatcher
- Lex Luthor
- Cluemaster/Arthur Brown
Locations[]
Gotham City:[]
- Ace Chemicals
- Arkham Asylum
- Arkham City
- Monarch Theatre (mentioned)
- Wonder Tower
- Batcave
- Blackgate Prison (mentioned)
- Bleake Island
- Clock Tower
- Founders' Island
- GCPD Building
- Miagani Island
- Panessa Studios
- Wayne Tower
- Wayne Manor
Plot[]
Prologue[]
Nine months after the Joker's death, crime rates in Gotham City have dramatically declined, but Batman anticipates a new threat and maintains a vigil over the city. Before his death, the Joker sent his mutated blood to Gotham's hospitals, and several patients were infected. While most were cured, the patients who were not treated are starting to look and act like the Joker. Batman researches a cure for the mutations, and orders Robin to watch over the infected.
The Arkham Knight[]
On Halloween night, Scarecrow unleashes his newest strain of Fear Gas in a diner, and threatens to release it throughout Gotham. Six million civilians are evacuated, but the city's criminals and supervillains stay behind, leaving Commissioner James Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department outnumbered. Batman investigates Scarecrow's presence, and searches for him in a rooftop safehouse, but instead finds and saves Poison Ivy, who was being held captive by Scarecrow's henchmen. In a makeshift Batcave in Gotham's Clock Tower, Barbara Gordon is collecting information on Scarecrow's new toxin, and traces its production to Ace Chemicals. Batman goes to investigate, but is confronted by the mysterious "Arkham Knight" and his militia, which has a massive army of unmaned tanks. Batman fights his way through the militia, learning from workers that Scarecrow is planning to produce a chemical explosion so large that it will cover the entire eastern seaboard in fear toxin. Batman reaches Scarecrow, who reveals to him that Barbara has been abducted by the Arkham Knight before escaping. While reducing the blast radius, Batman is exposed to the fear toxin, which reacts with his own mutated blood to cause hallucinations of the Joker. Escaping from the exploding Ace Chemicals, Batman is forced to tell Gordon about his daughter's involvement in his crime-fighting, and the outraged Gordon swears that he will find Barbara without Batman's help.
Scarecrow's Plans[]
Batman tracks the Arkham Knight to an underground tunnel network, hoping to learn Barbara's whereabouts from him, but instead gets ambushed by him. Batman then gives chase to the escaping convoy, only to learn that the driver is a decoy, using a voice synthesizer that makes him sound like the Arkham Knight. Batman interrogates the driver and learns that they are heading to the North Refrigeration. He and Nightwing interrogate the Penguin, who tells them that the Knight and Scarecrow are meeting with a businessman named Simon Stagg, who runs a pharmaceutical company. After boarding Stagg's airship, Batman discovers that Scarecrow paid Stagg to create a device known as the "Cloudburst", but Stagg tried to double-cross them and has been doused with fear toxin as punishment. After reaching Scarecrow and interrogating Stagg, Batman is again exposed to the toxin, which triggers a powerful hallucinogenic response. Scarecrow escapes with the Cloudburst. Batman receives a message from Scarecrow revealing that Barbara is in the same safehouse where Ivy was held, but before Batman can save her, Barbara is doused with fear toxin and shoots herself in the head. Batman and Alfred Pennyworth are devastated, but Alfred convinces Batman to not lose hope, for Barbara's sake. Alfred explains to Batman that the Cloudburst is a dispersal device designed to flood all of Gotham with the fear toxin. To counteract this effect, Batman enlists the help of Ivy, who takes control of a large tree which develops giant flowers capable of neutralizing the toxin.
Joker Mutants[]
Travelling to Batman's quarantine base in the Panessa Movie Studios, Batman speaks with Robin about his progress in finding a cure for the Joker mutations, but knowing that Robin's civilian identity Tim Drake was dating Barbara, he does not tell him about her death, wanting to keep him focused on finding a cure. Later, Batman learns that Harley Quinn has taken over the studios, planning to gather the mutated citizens and keep the Joker's legacy alive through them. Batman and Robin captured the infected and Harley, but the infected are killed by Henry Adams, a seemingly immune patient (whom Batman was relying on for a cure) that has fully succumbed to the mutations and desires only the best of the infected to be the new Joker. When he confronts Batman, Henry realizes that he is infected and commits suicide, believing Batman will be the perfect Joker. Robin attempts to imprison Batman before the Joker completely takes over, knowing he will not be able to stop him if that happens. However, Batman refuses to be apprehended until Scarecrow has been stopped, and locks Robin in a holding cell.
City of Fear[]
Batman searches for the Cloudburst to no avail, and aids Ivy in propelling the Arkham Knight's drones when they find her. The Arkham Knight subsequently activates the Cloudburst device, flooding Gotham City with fear toxin . The toxicity overwhelms Ivy, and the Batmobile, which is disabled. Batman heads back to Stagg's airship and acquires a nimbus power cell, allowing him to repower the Batmobile, but is exposed to the toxin yet again, strengthening Joker's control. After awakening another large tree to help Ivy fight the toxin, Batman goes to destroy the Cloudburst, hoping Ivy will be able to clear out Gotham then. Batman succeeds in destroying the Cloudburst, but the Arkham Knight escapes. While Ivy succeeds in saving Gotham and clearing the toxin, the toxin proves too much for her handle, and she dies in Batman's arms. Alfred and Batman lament her death, acknowledging she redeemed herself in her final moments.
The Identity Of The Arkham Knight[]
Batman heads back to the GCPD and learns from SWAT transmissions that Gordon has found Scarecrow, and intends to kill him as revenge for Barbara's death. After fighting his way through the militia and heading underground in the Batmobile, Batman is pursued once again by the Arkham Knight, who is manning a giant excavator. The Arkham Knight destroys the Batmobile, forcing Batman to eject and reach Gordon on foot. The Arkham Knight catches up, and reveals himself to be Jason Todd, the second Robin, whom Batman believed was murdered by the Joker. Jason had instead been traumatized by torture at the Joker's hands, and believes, incorrectly, that Batman deliberately abandoned him. Jason takes a sniping position, and after an intense fight, Batman disarms Jason and offers to help him recover. Jason lowers his gun in shame, but then disappears.
The Final Battle[]
Batman and Gordon then proceed to meet Scarecrow on the building's roof. Gordon apologizes for his anger and says he has never forgotten how he met Bruce Wayne on the night of his parents' death, since he now knows Batman's identity (having heard it from Jason). As they confront Scarecrow, Barbara is revealed to still be alive, and her suicide was a fear toxin-induced hallucination. Having made a deal with Scarecrow for his daughter's life, Gordon shoots Batman in the chest, who falls from the roof. Scarecrow goes back on the deal and pushes Barbara off the roof. Batman, whom Gordan deliberately shoot in his body armor, rescues Barbara and returns her to GCPD in a second Batmobile. Batman learns that the Arkham Knights Militia (now working for Scarecrow) have gone to the Clock Tower and started to destroy the servers. Needing the servers to track down Gordon, Batman goes to the Clock Tower and defeats the militia. Scarecrow then launches an all out attack on the GCPD, using all the remaining militia. After incapacitating the remaining militia, Batman learns Gordon's voice was just used to access the movie studios and races back there, only to find that Robin has been kidnapped by Scarecrow, who threatens to kill Robin and Gordon unless Batman surrenders.
He complies, and is driven to the long-abandoned ruins of Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow forces Gordon to remove Batman's cowl in front of a live video feed, revealing his true identity to the world. Scarecrow injects Bruce with fear toxin and Joker finally manages to take control over Batman's body. Scarecrow injects more fear toxin into Batman's body to break him in front of the public, but this fails as Joker is now in control and taunts Scarecrow. Inside his mind, Batman grapples with Joker over control of his body. Thanks to the toxin now being applied to Joker instead, Batman manages to gain the upper hand and uses the Joker's greatest fear against him: the fear of being forgotten. Batman regains control and locks Joker away in his mind forever.
Jason arrives and frees Bruce, who subdues Scarecrow with his own fear toxin, and locks him up at the GCPD. Before Batman goes to neutralize the remaining threats to Gotham's safety, he contacts Alfred and grimly tells him to activate The Knightfall Protocol, using the voice code "Martha".
Fire And Ice[]
Batman receives reports that the Station 17 fire crew had gone missing. As Batman rescues the crew, he deduces that serial arsonist Firefly and chief Raymond Underhill have been working together to keep Chief Underhill's fire crew working. Firefly was given a list of abandoned buildings by Underhill which he could set fire to. Underhill's crew would then respond to the calls to keep working. After rescuing all the firemen, Batman locates Underhill, who admits to his actions and apologizes before Batman turns him in to the GCPD. Later, Batman uses his Batmobile to douse the firehouses with water and attack Firefly. The first two attempts to apprehend Firefly fail, but Batman manages to capture him the third time and lock him at GCPD.
While clearing out the militia strongholds, Batman is informed by Alfred that the Arkham Knight's replacement as leader of the militia is demanding to speak to him. The replacement is revealed to be Deathstroke, who was hired by the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow to fight Batman. Though Batman points out the Knight gone, Deathstroke has already received advance payment, and is more than eager to avenge his defeat at Batman's hands long ago. Deathstroke owns the remaining APCs, watchtowers, checkpoints and bombs in Gotham City. Alfred also warns Batman that a vessel called the Nora was ransacked by Deathstroke's militia. After taking down the militia there, Batman discovers Mr. Freeze, who explains that the militia has kidnapped Nora after he refused to help them kill Batman. His cryo-generator, which he needs to maintain is progress on a cure for Nora, has been damaged, and asks Batman to get Nora back while he repairs it.
Batman uses a tracker to locate Nora's containment unit, and after he takes out the militia guarding her, Nora's cryo-tube fails and she finally awakens. Meanwhile, at the Nora, the cyro-generator fails and freezes the landscape, attracting the militia's attention. Batman and Nora race back to the ship in the Batmobile, but the amount of drones are too much to handle. Mr. Freeze is forced to allow the generator to explode, losing all of his work and progress on a cure to take them all out. With no hope left, Nora and Freeze agree to leave Gotham City and spend their final days together. Later, after destroying Deathstroke's forces, Batman and Deathstroke go face-to-face at Grand Avenue. The two engage in a tank battle, with Batman disabling Deathstroke's tank and subduing the assassin when he leaps out of the tank. After regaining consciousness and being locked up, Deathstroke declares that Batman has earned his respect, that he will dedicate his life to killing him, and he'd do it for free.
The New Savior[]
Three organizations have been trying to lay claim to Gotham City to further their own ends; The League of Assassins, The Order of St. Dumas and The Cult of Blackfire. Alfred informs Batman that there is a sighting of the League of Assassins on a rooftop in Miagani Island. Batman sees two dead female ninjas with a blood trail. The blood trail leads him to Elliot Memorial Hospital which has an extremely weak Ra's al Ghul, who is dying from the lack of Lazarus, due to the old Lazarus pit being destroyed, and is barely staying alive through machines. Batman uses his Batmobile to track another Lazarus pit which leads him to Nyssa Raatko, the leader of the rebels and Ra's other daughter. After giving Batman the Lazarus sample, Nyssa implores Batman to let Ra's die and asserts that he is too far gone to be saved, encouraged by Alfred. Nyssa also promises to leave Gotham with her rebels if he does this.
After returning to Ra's, Batman can choose to either cure Ra's or destroy the machine that is keeping him alive. If Batman chooses to destroy the machines, he defeats the enraged League and stops Nyssa from killing her father, instead taking Ra's to the GCPD lockup. As Batman leaves, Ra's tells him that he is proud of him for breaking his one rule. If Batman instead chooses to cure Ra's, he fends off the enraged Nyssa and the rebels until Ra's is fully restored. He mortally wounds Nyssa for her betrayal and escapes. As she dies, Nyssa tells Batman that he should have let her father die and asserts that he made the wrong choice. Either option results in the League of Assassins effectively leaving Gotham.
Meanwhile, Azrael returns to Gotham City and tells Batman that his previous predictions have come true. He explains to Batman that he wants to become his successor and promises to honor his code not to kill, giving his sword away. Batman gives Azrael four tests to see if he is a worthy successor and notices his fighting style is similar to his own. After Azrael passes each test, Alfred tells Batman that his real name is Michael Lane, a former GCPD officer, and notices an irregularity in his brain. At the Clock Tower, Batman analyzes Azrael's tampered memories and learns he has been assigned to kill him and take his place as the savior of Gotham, killing criminals as "divine justice" Azrael subsequently appears, and Batman gives him the choice of either attempting to kill him with his sword, or leave the Clock Tower and disobey the Order.
If Azrael chooses to disobey the Order and leave, Batman praises him for his decision, and Azrael vows that the Order will answer for what they have done to him. If Azrael instead attempts to kill Batman, he will dodge the attack and knock Azrael unconscious, locking him up at the GCPD. Azrael vows that he will never stop until Batman is dead.
Reporter Jack Ryder has gone missing while pursuing a story of the Cult of Blackfire and its highly religious leader, Deacon Blackfire. Following a tip from Barbara, Batman follows the religious fanatic to the Lady of Gotham, where Blackfire intends to sacrifice Ryder in a bid to seek immortality. Batman takes down Blackfire and his men, saving Ryder, and locks up the powerful priest at GCPD.
Old Enemies[]
Nightwing gives Batman a report that Iron Heights Penitentiary has crashed in the ocean of Gotham. Batman arrives there and helped free Warden Ranken from an even more beastly Killer Croc, who recaptures the warden and escapes into the lower levels. Batman learns that he needs two key cards from two guards of Iron Heights, who have parachuted off the airship to escape, to access the lower levels. After obtaining the cards, Batman discovers that the warden has been torturing and experimenting on Croc and the other prisons in an attempt to enhance soldiers for the military. After defeating Croc with Nightwing's help, Batman sends both the warden and Croc to GCPD in separate cells.
As part of Scarecrow's alliance, Two-Face and Penguin are exchanging money and firearms. Batman learns from Alfred that Two-Face and his crew are robbing three banks across Gotham. Batman used his stealth techniques to stop the thugs robbing all three banks. At the third bank, Batman manages to capture Two-Face and send him to jail. Batman and Nightwing also work together to destroy Penguin's weapons caches. Nightwing helps Batman locate most of the caches, but is captured by Penguin while hitting the final cache. Batman uses a tracker to locate Nightwing, rescues him, and sends Penguin to jail.
Batman learns from Alfred that Lucius is out of contact and Wayne Tower is closed. Batman decides to investigate the tower. Batman finds out that Hush has taken Fox hostage and wants Bruce Wayne. Hush ordered Batman to bring him Wayne or Hush will kill Lucius and destroy the tower. Batman unmasks himself to Hush's surprise. Once Hush turns the gun on Batman and away from Lucius, Batman disarms him and knocks him out. Batman informs Fox that since Scarecrow unmasked him, everybody knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne. As a result, Batman tells Fox to lock Hush up inside the vault here and ensure the tower's security will be increased.
Dragged To Insanity[]
Four villains that Batman encountered have become completely delusional: The Mad Hatter, a serial killer who chains bodies to walls, a huge bat creature and the Riddler. At GCPD, Batman interrogates the Hatter, who currently speaks in rhyme and tells Batman to find three stolen officers, who have been locked up in police cars with explosives. After rescuing two officers, Batman receives a book called Batman's Adventures In Wonderland. Back at GCPD, the Hatter hypnotizes Batman and makes him believe he is inside the book to try and make him kill the third hostage. Batman resists the influence and rescues the third hostage, before locking up the Hatter, who is dismayed his failure and keeps calling Batman his Alice.
Later, Batman finds a dead body chained to a nearby wall and analyzes it, learning the victim died due to removal of unique conditions. Batman noticed the victim was not from Gotham. Batman found five other victims with the same cause of death. Alfred shows the suspect of the crime: Lazlo Valentin AKA Professor Pyg of the Circus of Strange, which has been traveling throughout all of the victims last known locations. Batman confronts Pyg at Pretty Dollars Parlor, where he learns that Pyg wanted to make his victims what he considered perfect, torturing them and transforming them into Dollotrons, which are immune to pain. After defeating the porcine professor and his Dollotrons, Batman sent him to jail.
While traveling across Miagani island, Batman is ambushed by a monstrous bat creature, and manages to get a sample of his blood before it flies off. Alfred tells Batman that the DNA is from a scientist named Dr. Kirk Langstrom. Batman goes to Langstrom's lab and learns that the doctor mixed his DNA with a vampire bat to end deafness, resulting in his transformation and him seemingly killing wife, Francine. After synthesizing a cure and tracking Man-Bat down twice, Batman manages to transform him back into Langstrom and locks him up at the GCPD, where he breaks down upon learning of Francine's fate.
Batman has to find nine keys to free Catwoman from an explosive collar, outfitted by the Riddler, that is preventing her from leaving an abandoned orphanage she'd been entrapped in by the egomaniac. After obtaining all nine keys and freeing Catwoman, Riddler tells Batman to find and solve all 243 of his riddles to earn the privilege of battling him in the orphanage. Back at the orphanage, the Riddler sabotages the fight so the robots are invulnerable to Batman's attacks, but Catwoman returns to help Batman defeat the astute adversary. Batman shares a kiss with Catwoman after explaining that they cannot be together and his legend is ending. He then sends Nigma to jail for his intellectual torture.
This Is How The Batman Died[]
After ensuring that every remaining super-villain threat is neutralized, Batman returns to GCPD and leaves his cowl next to the Bat-Signal before he left to begin The "Knightfall Protocol", while Gordon dispatches the police force to deal with the remaining rioting criminals. Bruce arrives at Wayne Manor and, as he goes in with Alfred, it explodes, presumably killing both of them. Time passes and Gordon has become the new Mayor of Gotham. He gives a speech that there is always a hero to look up to like the Batman. The game ends with a group of muggers trying to rob a family, reminiscent to the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. Before they can cause them any harm, they are distracted by a caped figure on a distant rooftop. They heckle that the real Batman is gone and he doesn't scare them anymore. The figure then rises into the air and glides towards the thugs in a fear-induced attack.
Gameplay[]
Batman: Arkham Knight takes place in Gotham City, and is said to be five times bigger than Arkham City. Unlike Batman: Arkham Origins, the city is totally new and does not include any city sections that were in previous games. The developers have made the streets in the city larger and more spaced out so the player will have room to drive the Batmobile. The player will be able to drive the Batmobile for the first time in the series. The Batmobile has features such as a seat that can be used to launch Batman out, and non-lethal mounted guns. The developers have also said that the Batmobile will be able to smash through most things in the environment.
The developers have also said that since the game is made for next-gen consoles, they finally have the freedom to do what they have always wanted with the series. One small perk of being on next-gen consoles is that the game will have no load screens when going in or out of buildings. It is said that one of the character models in the game uses as many polygons as the entire environment in Batman: Arkham Asylum, the game also has other graphic-related improvements, such as rain drops or blood dripping down Batman's Batsuit, and Batman's cape billowing around when the wind blows.
You can also use gadgets in mid-air. With this the player can be more strategic with enemy encounters. Not much has been said about what gadgets Batman can use in mid-air, but the trusty batarang has been confirmed to be usable in mid-air combat. Confirmed returning gadgets are the Batarang, Batclaw, Freeze Blast, Remote Electrical Charge Gun, and Explosive Gel.
The Gotham's Most Wanted include: Gotham on Fire (Firefly), Beneath the Surface (Killer Croc, Infamy DLC), Riddler's Revenge (Riddler), Two-Faced Bandit (Two-Face), Wonderland (Mad Hatter, Infamy DLC), Creature of the Night (Man-Bat), Gunrunner (Penguin), Campaign for Disarmament (Deathstroke), In From the Cold (Mr. Freeze, Infamy DLC), Shadow War (Ra's al Ghul, Infamy DLC), Friend in Need (Hush), The Perfect Crime (Professor Pyg) and Lamb to the Slaughter (Deacon Blackfire). Players are also be able to switch between characters during Dual Play such as Robin, Nightwing and Catwoman.
Downloadable Content[]
The Season Pass is available that unlocks all DLC. The DLC's release was spread across 7 months from July 2015 to January 2016.
Pre-Order Bonuses[]
(note: all pre-order content became DLC on August 2015)
- Pre-Ordering Batman: Arkham Knight will allow you to play as Harley Quinn.
- Wal-Mart Exclusive: Prototype Batmobile.
- Gamestop Exclusive: Playable Red Hood character DLC.
- Steam Exclusive: Future Skin Pack.
- Amazon Exclusive: Batman First Appearance costume.
Scarecrow Nightmare[]
Scarecrow Nightmare consists of three Batmobile tracks of Gotham City with Scarecrow's fear toxin in it. It is a exclusive DLC content for the PS4 only, also exclusive for Nintendo Switch.
Arkham Episodes[]
Arkham Episodes are six extra DLC levels that focus on Harley Quinn, Red Hood, Batgirl, Nightwing, Catwoman and Robin which take place before or after the game. The first three allow using their protagonist on most challenge maps and the last three Arkham Episodes has two challenge maps for each. The packs were released from June 23 to November 24, 2015.
Batmobile Skins/Tracks[]
Throughout the 6 months, the default Batmobile gained several new paintjobs. These paintjobs only apply to the default Batmobile, and are based on either other Batmobile colors or characters.
In addition, several themed special Batmobiles were made, and most came with themed character skins and race tracks based on the source material. These vehicles lack Battle Mode, but can be used in free roam after beating the story. As with playable characters, each car can be used on any track.
- 1989 movie Batsuit and Batmobile, Two racetracks
- 2008 Tumbler Batmobile, Two Racetracks (The 2008 Dark Knight Batsuit is a separate, free download)
- Classic Tv series Batmobile, 1 extra costume for Robin and Catwoman, Two racetracks (Adam West skin is a separate, albeit unfortunately PS4/Nintendo Switch exclusive skin)
- Batman V Superman Batsuit and Batmobile, (No extra tracks as the movie was not out at the time)
- Original Arkham Batmobile, No extra tracks (Arkham Asylum costume is a separate free download.)
Crime Fighter Challenge Maps[]
Crime Fighter Challenge Maps consists of extra challenge maps which have six maps per pack. The first pack was released on September 1, 2015. The second pack was released on September 29, 2015. The third pack was released on October 28, 2015. The fourth pack was released on November 24, 2015. The fifth and final pack was released on December 22, 2015. See the article for more details.
The Season of Infamy[]
The Season of Infamy focuses on Batman defeating four extra villains including Mr. Freeze, Ra's al Ghul, Killer Croc and Mad Hatter at Gotham City with new story arcs and gameplay features as four extra Gotham's Most Wanted missions. It was released on December 22, 2015.
Community Challenge Pack[]
The Community Challenge Pack is a free DLC pack that consists of six maps based on both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City as an apology for the PC re-launch. It also comes with an extra Predator map. It was released on January 19, 2016 for PC and on January 26th, 2016 for Xbox One and PS4.
Alternate Skins[]
Batman[]
- 1st Appearance Batman skin
- 1970's Batsuit skin
- 1989 Batsuit skin
- Anime Batman Suit skin (Unlock through WB Play Account)
- Arkham Asylum Batsuit
- Arkham Origins Batsuit
- Batsuit V7.43 (Arkham City suit)
- Batsuit V8.03 (Arkham Knight suit)
- Batsuit V8.04 (Arkham Knight suit without battle-damage)
- Batsuit V8.05 (Prestige Edition, Infamy DLC)
- Batman Beyond Batsuit skin
- Batman Earth 2 skin (Only on PS4 and Nintendo Switch)
- Batman Inc Skin
- Classic TV series Batsuit skin (Only on PS4 and Nintendo Switch)
- Flashpoint Batman skin (Unlock through the Season Pass)
- Iconic Grey & Black Batsuit skin
- Justice League 3000 Batman skin (Only on PS4 and Nintendo Switch)
- New 52 Batman skin
- The Dark Knight Returns skin
- Zur-En-Arrh skin (Unlock through WB Play Account)
- The Dark Knight skin
- Batman v Superman skin
- Noel Batman skin
Catwoman[]
- Arkham Knight Catsuit
- 1990's Catwoman skin
- Classic TV Series Catwoman skin
Robin[]
- Arkham Knight Robin suit
- New 52 Robin (Dick Grayson) skin
- One Year Later Robin skin
- Classic TV Series Robin (Dick Grayson) skin
- Original Tim Drake suit
Nightwing[]
- Arkham Knight Nightwing suit
- Classic Arkham City suit
- New 52 Nightwing skin
Harley Quinn[]
- Arkham Knight Harley Quinn suit
- Classic suit
Red Hood[]
- Red Hood suit
- Arkham Knight suit
Batmobile[]
- Normal Batmobile
- Prototype Batmobile
- Batmobile Mark II
- 1960s Batmobile
- 1970s Batmobile
- Jokermobile (Story mode only)
- 1989 Batmobile
- The Dark Knight Trilogy Tumbler Batmobile
- 1966 Classic Batmobile (Arkham Knight version, Only on PS4 and Nintendo Switch)
- Riddler Batmobile
- Robin Batmobile
- Batman vs Superman Batmobile
- Original Arkham Batmobile
- Rocksteady Themed Batmobile
Development History[]
- March 4, 2014: Batman: Arkham Knight gets announced, announcement trailer releases along side, scheduled for release on October 14, 2014.
- March 5, 2014: Game Informer releases a Video Feature called "Revealing The Story Of Batman: Arkham Knight".
- March 7, 2014: Game Informer releases a article called "The Keys To The Batmobile - Designing Batman's Iconic Vehicle".
- March 10, 2014: Game Informer releases a Video Feature called "Batman's New Moves: The Animation Of Arkham Knight".
- June 3, 2014: Rocksteady has revealed Battle-Mode in Batmobile and has officially delayed Batman: Arkham Knight to 2015.
- July 22, 2014: Red Hood DLC character announced.
- September 8, 2014: The official release date is announced (June 2, 2015).
- February 24, 2015: It was revealed that Batman: Arkham Knight had been given an M for Mature rating by the ESRB.
- February 25, 2015: PEGI followed suit by giving the game an 18 rating.
- March 23, 2015: The release of Batman: Arkham Knight has again been delayed (by three weeks to June 23, 2015).
- June 25, 2015: Due to unfavorable reviews regarding the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight as a result of poor optimization of the game to most computers, the PC version was pulled from stores a day after release to be fixed and properly optimized, set for a release in Fall 2015.
- July 6, 2015: Batgirl: A Matter of Family DLC information was released by Entertainment Weekly as well as the announcement of the release date, scheduled for July 14, 2015 for Arkham Knight DLC season-pass holders or it can be purchased separately on July 21, 2015 for regular customers.
- December 22, 2015: The Season of Infamy DLC was released for Arkham Knight.
More Development History to be added.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Batman: Arkham Knight/Gallery
Trailers[]
Trivia[]
- Batman: Arkham Knight is the first game in the Arkham series as well as the first game in Batman history to be rated M for Mature (and PEGI 18). The creators admitted they did not anticipate it being rated M.
- According to Sefton Hill, Jason's torture scenes were the main reason for the rating; the team was asked to tone them down for a T rating, but they refused, feeling that they were too important to the story.
- Other reasons for the rating include Joker being able to shoot hostages during the end of the game, Professor Pyg torturing his victims, blood, and Batman threatening to crush a man's head with the Batmobile while interrogating him.
- Until the Arkham Knight was revealed, some fans assumed that the title referred to Batman. Another name of his is the Dark Knight, and he has constantly averted disasters related to Arkham.
- When Batman fights the first wave of tanks, the theme from Batman evading helicopter fire in Protocol 10 plays.
- Deathstroke mentions that Batman is now worth more than $50,000,000; exactly how much is not revealed, but apparently it's enough for Deathstroke to consider retiring after killing Batman.
- Batman appears to be quite reluctant to work with Nightwing and Robin throughout the game, as he is constantly keeping them away from his conflict with Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight. This is most likely due to the repeated nightmares he had, and he feared that the Joker Infection might take over Batman's mind. Hence, his nightmare had shaken him to the point of keeping them away for their own safety.
- All of Riddler's riddles rhyme in this game. It's unknown if this was chosen to make them harder to figure out, or to show Riddler had finally begun to crack up just as bad as Mad Hatter.
- Any time there was a message from the Scarecrow or Riddler broadcasted to Gotham, there would be feedback or screech over the speakers to get the player's attention.
- Bizarrely, even if Riddler is put in GCPD before Batman is unmasked, his message stating that he doesn't believe Batman is Bruce Wayne still plays.
- This is most likely a developer oversight or an error, as the side missions in the game can be started and completed even after Batman's unmasking, explaining the Riddler broadcast acting like Batman hadn't yet captured Riddler following his unmasking.
- Some fans believed that the Season of Infamy would have more downloadable content in the future, due to the three empty display cases in the West Wing evidence room.
- However, this could be an oversight due to not knowing how many villains would be programmed into the Season of Infamy, with only the four Batman villains being the only ones in the DLC.
- When the player takes control of the Joker right after Batman is unmasked and poisoned with Fear Toxin by Scarecrow, you can choose to spare Penguin and Riddler, but you DO need to shoot Two-Face to continue onward.
- Most negative reactions to the game come from the Batmobile; while many reactions to being able to drive it have been positive, the negative reactions are due to it being considered overused during certain parts of the game. There are a few parts of the game that require the Batmobile that are found quite troublesome by players who are bad at driving games, with the Batmobile itself being notable for not turning well around corners at high speeds. However, there are two particular moments regarding the use of the Batmobile that stuck out for some players:
- The battle against the Arkham Knight in the Cloudburst tank has become notorious within the fandom for being considered tricky to do, as the Cloudburst tank can very quickly catch up to the Batmobile either after taking damage or if the player gets into it's line of sight, as it acts as a 360 turning Cobra Tank, and is able deal a large amount of damage if it manages to hit the Batmobile, being able to take away an entire bar of health in normal mode, on top of this players also need to deal with the five Cobra Tanks before being able to get close to the Cloudburst itself. New Game Plus makes the encounter even more difficult due to the difficulty automatically being on Knightmare mode, increasing the damage done to the player, along with the addition of one more Cobra Tank to the fight.
- This also applies to the battle against Deathstroke, which fans reacted very negatively to as it was identical to the Cloudburst battle, with the only difference being Batman doesn't need to weaken Deathstroke's tank before destroying it. Fans found the fight to be incredibly disappointing, as they weren't able to fight Deathstroke himself as they had in Arkham Origins.
- Some of the Riddler's challenges to free Catwoman consist mainly of race tracks, however it is the final Riddler race track that has gained infamy within the fandom for two reasons:
- Riddler takes control of the obstacles away from the player on the final lap, causing the player to try and avoid these obstacles while also going fast enough to beat the race track without being able to slow down.
- Being able to get the momentum and steering right on the last part of the track can be difficult due to it being on a wall, with the final lap causing players to try and avoid getting smashed by one of the Riddler's traps thanks to him taking control of the obstacles away from them.
- The battle against the Arkham Knight in the Cloudburst tank has become notorious within the fandom for being considered tricky to do, as the Cloudburst tank can very quickly catch up to the Batmobile either after taking damage or if the player gets into it's line of sight, as it acts as a 360 turning Cobra Tank, and is able deal a large amount of damage if it manages to hit the Batmobile, being able to take away an entire bar of health in normal mode, on top of this players also need to deal with the five Cobra Tanks before being able to get close to the Cloudburst itself. New Game Plus makes the encounter even more difficult due to the difficulty automatically being on Knightmare mode, increasing the damage done to the player, along with the addition of one more Cobra Tank to the fight.
- This, so far, is the only time Batman has been unmasked to the public of Gotham City in any media.
- The Mission Selection screen changes from blue to yellow after Batman is unmasked.
- Out of the four main Arkham games and the mobile games, Arkham Knight has the most playable characters, twelve in total. Including Batman, Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing in story mode by means of the new Dual Play feature and Harley Quinn, Red Hood, and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) via DLC. You can also play as the Joker in the final mission, along with playing as Azrael in a side mission. also, for a brief period of time, you can play as Jim Gordon, Hush, and Officer Owens. Batman, Catwoman, Robin, Nightwing, Azrael, Harley Quinn, Red Hood, and Batgirl are playable in all challenge maps.
- Unlike the previous games, Arkham Knight originally only allowed playing as pre-selected characters in each challenge map. This caused a lot of negative feedback, which was addressed by Sefton Hill on his twitter feed on September 17. In October 13, a patch was released worldwide which allows players to choose their character in combat challenge maps, and another patch was released in November 24, which added character selection on Predator maps, improved the movesets of DLC characters, and added two new A.R challenges for those who own the GCPD lockdown challenge map.
- One of Batman's quotes ("I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman!") originated from Batman: The Animated Series, and is the quote Kevin Conroy's Batman is most famous for saying.
- This quote's inclusion in the game was possibly foreshadowed in one of the TV commercials by the tagline "Be vengeance. Be the night. Be the Batman."
- It is possible that Rocksteady foreshadowed Batman: Arkham Knight's ending in Arkham City since Hugo Strange's note on Crime Alley read: "It will end where it all began" meaning both where the Arkham games started and "finished" (in Arkham Asylum) and the legend of the Batman as a whole, so far; (it began in Crime Alley with his parents getting mugged shot and it ends with Batman stopping that from happening again to another family when they find themselves in the same situation in an alley).
- Batman: Arkham Knight has the most boss battles in one game, about 24 different villains fights.
- It's entirely possible that the original title for the game was Arkham World as shown on Joker's script in 2011 when he received his award for best character.
- After the character selection update(s), there have been rumors about an extra playable character, as there seems to be an extra slot right next to Red Hood. Most of this speculation is centered around Joker's or Deathstroke's return. However, the "slot" is actually simply the background behind the selector.
- Arkham Knight (Along with Asylum) is the only game that doesn't have a mobile version.
- There is another Batsuit, this time with a golden bat-symbol, it can only be unlocked by achieving 240% Completion, this can be done by getting 100% on story mode, 100% on New Story+, and completing the Season of Infamy DLC.
- The plot of this game shares many similarities with the unreleased Joel Schumacher movie "Batman Unchained". Scarecrow would've been the main villain, making Batman hallucinate The Joker and various other of his inner demons whom he had to overcome while terrorizing Gotham. Harley Quinn would have also been in the movie, seeking revenge for Joker's (Her father's) death and teaming up with Scarecrow to bring Batman to Arkham Asylum. An alternate version of the script, titled "Batman: DarKnight" was also proposed. It would still have had Scarecrow as the primary antagonist, but it would be set during Halloween and Man-Bat would've also had a major role in the movie.
- Arkham Knight was the last main game in the series for almost 9 years, until Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was released in 2024
- In 2023 Arkham Knight, Asylum and City were ported onto the Nintendo Switch console, with all versions of Knight receiving a new skin based on Robert Pattinson's "The Batman", making it the first new skin made for the game in almost 9 years since it's release.
- The Switch port of Arkham Knight was also the subject of much criticism online much like the PC port; while many understood the downgrade in visuals, the main criticism was directed at the poor performance of the port, bugs stopping progress and making collectables impossible to get and the drop of FPS during gameplay, especially when the Batmobile is used.
- The Switch port of Arkham Knight includes all the DLC released for the game along with the new "The Batman" skin, notably this also includes the Playstation exclusive Adam West Batman skin and the Justice League 3000 skin, making the Switch port the first time the skins have been included in another version of the game, as it isn't available for the Xbox and PC versions as of 2024. The Switch version also includes the Playstation exclusive Scarecrow's Nightmare missions, the Earth 2 Dark Knight skin, and the Classic TV Series skin for the Batmobile, making it the first version of the game to have every DLC made and released for Arkham Knight included.
- This is the only Arkham game with Challenge Maps to not have Extreme Challenges.
- It is the only game where Batman's starting costume doesn't get damage during the story.