So I just finished playing the latest Batman game, Batman: Arkham Knight, and have written a review of it right here. Although I enjoyed the game as a whole, there were parts that let me down. But can probably be cured with some future DLC. But personally, I would rather just wait for a Game-of-the-Year Edition, because I'm buying it anyway with all DLC. Patience is virtue, I guess.
But I want to talk about Boss Fights specifically.
What I was looking forward to when waiting for the release of Arkham Knight was facing off the entire Batman Rogues Gallery throughout the Arkham Series. Though we got a decent amount of previous and new villains, I was kinda hoping for more. Instead, we got a narrative focused game, which I don't mind since I enjoyed the story of Arkham Knight...oh, and a whole bunch of tank battles. Long, tedious, tank battles.
Though it lacked boss fights, it didn't really affect the game's story as much. In fact, the pacing of the entire game just felt natural and smooth, which is why certain characters felt like they didn't need a full fledged boss fight. After all not everyone in Batman's rogues gallery is a physical match to the Dark Knight himself. One-on-one boss battles are more fun when the boss actually has a chance defeating Batman. Those who aren't a physical match tend to rely on thugs and weapons to do the trick, and they could be difficult Combat/Predator Challenges.
What I'm going to do is talk about every villain in Arkham Knight and talk about what I liked and what I didn't like and what could have made it better, or just things i would have done if I were part of creating the game. I'll also probably talk about villains that could make an appearance down the road and what I personally would like to see Rocksteady Studios pull off with other villains that would have, could have, should BE in Batman: Arkham Knight.
Let's get started!
SPOILERS AHEAD! Duh!
SCARECROW
"You are the product of everything you fear; Violence, Darkness, Helplessness... All that remains is for you to watch as I drag your beloved Gotham into oblivion."
What can I say about Dr. Jonathan Crane? The last we saw him, he was being dragged down the sewer by Killer Croc and presumably died. Until of course you get the after-credits scene where Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and Bane all grabbed the same Titan container. I wonder if they fought for it?
"Mine!" (Actual game dialogue)
I'm guessing Scarecrow won, because either Bane or Croc are nowhere to be seen. And I don't count the Jokermobile section as an official appearance by "Old Boy Croc". Fingers are still crossed though.
When I first saw Scarecrow in Arkham Asylum, I immediately loved the whole Freddy Kreuger motif. If I had to choose my favorite boss levels or encounters from that game, Scarecrow's would probably be my favorite. What they did with him in that game made Scarecrow cooler and not just some skinny dude with a hard on for phobias. But truth be told, I wasn't scared enough. Though he did scare me when I thought my game malfunctioned--practically solidifying him as my favorite boss fight in Arkham Asylum--I still think he could've been more scarier. Hell, Arkham Asylum's atmosphere just gave me the creeps but he should have been more.
When I saw what Scarecrow looked like for the new game and how he sounded like, I was sold. I mean look at what he looked like then and compare it with now. He looks a lot scarier in Arkham Knight than in Asylum. Maybe it has to do with John Noble as Scarecrow because he was just phenomenal as Dr. Crane and I wished this was how he was portrayed in the first place. The design change is reminiscent of his design transition from Batman The Animated Series, to The New Batman Adventures. Though I liked John Noble, it would've been really cool if they casted Jeffrey Combs as Scarecrow again. The Arkham Knight Scarecrow design even sort of looks like the cartoon one.
The video above perfectly captures what I mean.
What I liked about him as the main villain in Batman: Akham Knight was that he was constantly trying to instill fear in the Dark Knight and how his fear gas affected Batman in general. Although I liked the idea of a fear gas induced hallucination of the Joker, I still think they couldve gone further with Scarecrow to make up for the lack of a Scarecrow boss fight.
First off, they advertised the idea of Scarecrow missions, and I thought it looked cool and thought that it was the Asylum boss battle except city wide. I looked forward to it, but when I started playing...it was nothing but an overglorified Batmobile race. Though the visuals for it were great and a large scope mirage like that was a neat idea, it was still just another Batmobile drone fight! Personally, I think they shouldve spread the Scarecrow Missions throughout the main story so we know exactly how serious Scarecrow is or know the exact scope of his plans.
I felt that they seriously missed out on a huge opportunity here.
So in the game, Scarecrow detonates the Cloudburst, which effectively covered Gotham in fear gas, or at least the three big islands that make up part of the immense city. If you enter the gas, you are just consumed with fear and you go totally insane. Now you don't actually go down to street level, the only time you go down there is once you've found a way to destroy the Cloudburst and engage in a tank battle to accomplish the mission.
So I started thinking: what if you had a story mission where you had to go down to street level and say rescue a few hostages; but everytime you enter the gas, you have to constantly fight off either an army of Jokers (which you do later in the story) or Skeletons (like in Asylum) and make your way to rescue the hostage in the same style as Scarecrow's boss levels in the first game while also trying to avoid his gaze and all the things he does in the Arkham Knight Scarecrow missions like throw a murder of crows at you and random fear toxin syringes coming up from the ground? I think that would've done it for me. Sure it seems like a rehashed version of the first Arkham game Scarecrow battle, but I think it would have been fine since he is the head honcho in this game. You could do more with him just because he's the one calling the shots.
This was a beautifully designed Challenge Map, by the way.
They could've added some sort of Insanity/Fear Meter throughout the game. I liked how there were HELLA jump scares in this game to play on the fear factor, but they should've also focused on putting fear in the player. One way of doing this is by "glitching" parts of the game (like in Asylum) or "freezing" the game, making it lag, taking you back to the main menu, but instead of Batman on the menu screen it's Scarecrow mocking you, saying things like "How does it feel losing everything you have worked for your entire life?" (ala Mantis from Metal Gear); and opening doors that takes you on an infinite loop like Arkham's morgue; dying for no reason or all of the above; then transporting the player into a fear gas induced episode where Batman needs to fight for control, a "Fear Trap" if you will. Nothing scares a gamer more than a broken game, or the illusion of a broken game. Unfortunately for PC players, they have succumbed to that fear.
Scarecrow should be psychologically screwing with Batman in a hell lot more ways than usual, like maybe screwing with the player's controls, seeing things that you shouldnt. I would've been really pissed if my controls switched for no reason and ultimately freaking out when I'm seing things that aren't there throughout the game. Hell, even seeing flashbacks of not only Jason Todd being tortured, but also Talia and other things that should scare the Dark Knight and the Player, and made sure Scarecrow adds salt to the wound by mocking him. Maybe show Nightwing getting killed and have Batman go into a rage, but then a few seconds laer he's being restrained by Nightwing himself, and tell him that he just suddenly started tripping balls. Imagine if he had to fight Nightwing or Robin, or even his dead parents in a fear induced sequence? That would be awesome!
They could've done so much with Scarecrow but alas, he was upstaged by Joker, yet again. They should've honed in on what made Scarecrow work in the first game and found new ways to mess with players in various creative ways.
To this day, I'm still trying to figure out where the middle stick is.
ARKHAM KNIGHT
"You're old, you're predictable, and you never stood a chance."
We should say the same thing about you...at least the predictable part.
The title character himself, the Arkham Knight, was the biggest let down in the entire game, if not second. From the moment rumors started flying as to who is the mystrious villain behind the mask, or under the red hood *cough, cough* to the moment they started showing scenes of Jason Todd being tortured by the Joker, it was plainly obvious who the person is under the mask is. The second Robin, Jason Todd. Now, I had no problem with this, in fact when I made the prediction it was Batman's greatest failure underneath that sweet armor, I was looking forward to kicking his ass.
Unfortunately, I set my standards way too high and received a simple predator challenge. You will not believe how much I began overthinking this level. I thought I was gonna die the moment I stuck my head out of my cover. The Red Hood "boss battle" was so easy it makes Electrocutioner's boss battle in Arkham Origins look like Mr. Freeze's boss battle in Arkham City...No I'm exaggerating. No boss battle could be worse than Electocutioner's battle. Hell, even fighting rioters is harder than fighting Electrocutioner. But seriously, here I am expecting a big one-on-one battle with Arkham Knight, only to be let down with a tank battle, an annoying excavator escape in the tunnels, and a simple "press R1 to grapple".
Here's the boss battle if you're curious as to how easy it was, assuming you have not played the game.
Then I started thinking of what could have probably enhanced the boss battle. Well for starters, Jason was trained by Batman; so by default he should be a force to be reckoned with--even if it is a Predator match. It was a neat idea but it needed kneading. So I started thinking: what if instead of a one-on-one fist fight, you got the one-on-one Predator match they gave you but turned up to 11?
Since he knows every trick in Batman's arsenal, normal predator moves shouldn't have been easy to pull off against Jason, like grappling onto the gargoyle he was perched on. Jason could've easily borrowed the recipe from Mr. Freeze's Arkham City Boss Fight albeit with a few tweaks. All he did was stand on the gargoyle with a sniper rifle. He didn't even bother moving. If he moved to get a better sniping position it would have definitely increased the difficulty of the level. If you somehow missed where he moved and he got a lock on you position, you're dead. The gameplay would've focused on keeping track where Jason could be hiding i.e gargoyles, vents, behind walls, while taking out armed thugs and remote controlled drones.
Think of Batman as the Prey and this time he is the victim of a possible Silent Takedown or Fear MultiTakedown or even an Inverted Takedown. To make things interesting, Todd himself should be a walking Detective Mode Disruptor, making Arkham Knight's movements near impossible to track. Hell, when he's near beaten, he should pull of a coward's move and take Gordon as hostage! He's still there isn't he? Gordon was a sitting duck in this battle, if Arkham Knight wanted to win, he could've just shot the Commisioner and Game Over.
I have to admit, Jason looks badass in this game.
I think why the reveal fell flat was because of just how predictable it was. I think they should have done the reveal earlier on, like in the mid-point of the game and you have three seperate Boss Battles with him, the first being a Tank Battle, the second would be the Predator battle (and the big reveal), the third would be a one-on-one fight. (Throw in the Excavator sequence before the big one-on-one and you'd be so pissed from this level that when you finally get your hands on Arkham Knight, you would feel so complished.)
The tension would've been so high because you have no clue what will happen and how Batman would approach the situation. Bruce could have been trying to appeal to him throughout the game and trying to reconcile with him. This move would have probably strengthened the end where Jason helps free Batman from out of nowhere at the Asylum. Then maybe when all is said and done, Batman tries to appeal to Jason one last time to come home. Jason turns around, apologizes to Bruce, then runs away.
That is what I like to call, closure.
Harvey "TWO-FACE" Dent
"You can't argue with the coin, Batman."
Two-Face is one of my favorite Batman villains. He's one part rational, one part sadistic motherf*****, just like my neighbor from down the street. When I saw him in Arkham City, I was filled with joy. I liked how they amalgamated the Animated Series Two-Face with the Nolan-verse Two-Face (the burn scars, and coin).
Knowing Two-Face, his boss battle would be a bunch of henchmen ambushing Batman like in Arkham City while he gets a clean shot of you. They practically retooled the Catwoman level, when she had to go face Harvey at the Museum for her stuff, when you faced him in the latest game. I didn't mind that, it was expected, but I didn't expect it to be easy. In Arkham City, Two-Face had a life bar. You can only hit him enough times before his thugs come to his aid, and you'll need to hit him again. In Arkham Knight, it's the same deal when he tries to rob the banks. Though, I did feel that he was a bit off character by trying to rob three banks instead of two...that's just me being a nerd. Then I thought well, he probably only planned to steal two, but Batman got in the way and felt desperate so he had no choice but to rob the third, with the coin's permission, of course.
However, I was expecting him to get some sort of backup from say...Penguin. Sure they don't really see eye-to-eye, both figuratively and literally, but the game advertisement clearly says that Batman's Rogues gallery have teamed up. So I think they could've definitely stuck a second villain with this scene that can help Harvey out like having Cobblepot send major reinforcements, like a helicopter providing air support or even Cobblepot himself (I haven't seem him use that umbrella to it's full extent yet) Then when you finally beat Harvey to a pulp, Penguin could have just left Harvey Dent at the scene, severing their loose alliance until you have to chase him down with his own side mission.
There's only so much you can do with Harvey, to be honest. So I started thinking: what if he had a hired gun with him from a previous Arkham Game. And I thought, what if he hired two mercenaries to oversee the two heists? But who?
COPPERHEAD
"Lo siento, Batman. Pero mi veneno es la muerte."
Speak Spanish to me, baby.
I liked Copperhead in Arkham Origins. She was a refreshingly new face and a welcome addition to the Arkham Series. I think it fits the character being female than the more well known male. Besides, imagine seeing that ridiculous looking comic book outfit in the games.
(Side track: If I were to choose the eight assassins in Arkham Origins, I'd probably change I'd probably have removed Killer Croc and replaced him with Red Hood (Pre-Joker). I just thought that Black Mask needed to be Batman's arch-nemesis until Joker comes along. I'd have the Killing Joke Joker flashbacks as part of the Side Mission when confronting Red Hood. The game has the word Origins in it, right? I would've actually did that to launch a second trilogy revolving around events leading up to Arkham, and the emergence of a new breed of criminals, with presence from old school gangsters waning. That's just me wishing to see Carmine Falcone in an Arkham game.)
Copperhead would provide the back up needed to accomplish the heist in either the first bank or second, it doesn't really matter. After Two Face shuts the exits down, she could come in and fight Batman. You can have a similar fight with her like in Origins, but her venom has been laced with Scarecrow's fear toxin making the fight even more trippy. The Copperhead "clones/hallucinations" could slowly become Joker trying to gain control. Basically you just start hallucinating and you need to fight for consciousness back. The moment you do, you fight Copperhead again one-on-one. Until of course, Bam! Copperhead trained militia, and new contorionist villain, Ragdoll!
Just imagine having to fight off Copperhead and a squadron of trained militia plus Ragdoll.
I think Ragdoll would be a pretty nice surprise villain for players, and I think that he's one of the more obscure villains, only getting the limelight in The Secret Six. But hey, an Arkham game has the power to turn obscure villains and make them dark, cool, and memorable.
As sexy as she looks in this photo, and I'd let her do anything she wants with me, I don't want to end up like that guy.
It is known that Arkham Knight had a base of operations in Venezuela where he trained many of the militia in defeating Batman. It would only make sense for her--because her fate was unknown after the events of Origins and the fact that she operates mostly in South America--to hold a grudge and help him train the militia.
Then after all is said and done you deliver both of them to the GCPD. Batman has two seats in the back after all. Make use of it, Bats; it'll save you money on gas.
KILLER MOTH
As much as I hate the New 52, I'm digging the new look for Killer Moth.
I like underdogs. What can I say? Killer Moth would be perfect in this game. He's been referenced in both games prior to Arkham Knight, and was even speculated to be one of the eight assassins in Origns. He's due for an appearance in a city filled with rioters, gang lords trying to take control, mercenaries to take down the Bat is in high demand. The city has gone up in flames (thanks to his protege, Firefly) and you know what they say about moths to a flame.
Drury Walker is a hired gun. He is literally Batman but opposite; instead of protecting the innocent, and for FREE, if I might add, Killer Moth protects Gotham's Most Wanted for a steep price. This guy's got his trusty cocoon gun which entraps his enemies. Though it doesn't seem all that lethal I'm pretty sure they can find a way to make that thing not only hurt but burn with an acidic quality. I mean have you seen the cocoon in Arkham Asylum? That thing is holding a skeleton. If that kill took place months before the events at the Asylum, don't you think the doctors would've removed it by the time Joker takes over?
Yeesh! Nevermind what I said about that dude Copperhead killed. I don't want to end up like THIS guy.
Killer Moth would be a refreshingly new villain to fight and my ideas for his boss fight would be sort of like Mr. Freeze's tactic of freezing gargoyles, a Predator/Combat level. He would shoot his cocoons at gargoyles and everytime you grapple on them, you'd get stuck and get poisoned. This alerts him to your position and he can shoot you with either live ammunition or acid. It doesn't matter...because you're friggin' stuck! Think Origins's glue grenade, but worse. Other thugs would come when needed, but the only way to beat him is to dismantle the backpack that creates the acids and cocoon for his gun. You hit it enough times and he decides to fly and hover around the bank shooting random cocoon traps and acids that can melt vantage points, melt walls, and with the cocoon, grates would be stuck closed.
Getting near him would be quite a hassle since the moment he sees you, he'll shoot. Killer Moth is tired of being the worst villain in Batman's Rogues gallery, or at lest being mocked for his stupid outfit. Though it would also be cool if he used swarms of moths to help him out, I wouldn't want him transforming into an actual giant killer moth because I think it's a cheap way to make him a "cool villain". That and because Man-Bat is already in the game.
Don't worry about being a cool villain, be worried about being an effective one. (Hmm... I like that. I'll write that down.)
"Tails you lose, Batman!"
May I just say that Two-Face looks pretty good in this game.
So after all that, you just go ahead and confront Two-Face at the final bank. I liked the idea of Two-Face just firing random grenades with his grenade launcher in Arkham City, it adds even more tension to the level. In Arkham Knight, he was just some ordinary thug, and can be taken down just as easily. It should've taken more to beat down Gotham's White Knight, y'know?
Oswald "THE PENGUIN" Cobblepot
"Well, would you look at that? A new stuffed head for my cigar room.
Someone get me a hacksaw."
You know, I never liked the Penguin. I just thought that he was just some old dude with a cool umbrella, but when I saw how he was portrayed in Arkham City, man, I began liking him. I don't know maybe because I felt that he was more of a sadistic midget in the game, more than usual, or maybe it's Nolan North's cockney accent doing the role justice. I think it's the latter.
In Arkham City, Penguin had so much help from a lot more thugs than anyone because this dude had the money. Joker considered Cobblepot his main rival in the mega prison, and he's pretty much right. He had a collection of guns, explosives, state-of-the-art equipment, you name it, he's got it. "If I don't have it, I'll take it." This dangerous dwarf effectively captured Mr. Freeze, one of the most dangerous villains in the Rogues Gallery, commanded Solomon Grundy, and has a pet shark! Shark repellent does not work on said shark.
The first thing that popped into my head when playing Arkham City.
I liked the Penguin side-missions in Arkham Knight a lot, mostly because I got to play as Nightwing, but other than that it was pretty much what I expected from a Penguin side mission. The dude's old, you can't expect him to put up a fight; I did really want them to show his trick umbrellas a lot more, though. I kinda expected him to be a bit more than the common mob boss. In City, Penguin felt like he had more of a gimmick in Arkham City than in Arkham Knight. Maybe it was because of Grundy.
So I started thinking: what if we gave him hired guns, like Two-Face, to protect his weapon caches? One each to protect one weapon cache? Okay cool, but who?
CATMAN
"Ah, the thrill of the hunt -- there's no feeling in the world like it!"
Thomas Blake was a known trapper of jungle cats until he became bored of his day job. So what does he do? He turned to a life of crime (like what you always do when you're bored) and took up the guise of Catman--a thieving criminal who even stole Catwoman's modus operandi, of stealing cat related items. Yeah that seems cheap, but you won't believe how many time Selina Kyle has been accused of commiting HIS crimes. I know,what a jerk!
It would be very cool to see him make a debut in Arkham Knight; besides, he's been referenced in Arkham Origins, as I recall. It would make sense that he's taking money as a hired gun as a vendetta against Batman for something that took place years ago when Batman was just an up and coming vigilante. They can retool his story up a bit to make him more cool and then blam! New boss!
Here's the cool easter egg, with the Flying Graysons Poster.
If I were to improve Penguin's side missions with boss fights, I would have included him in it. He has sharpened claws, has a fascination with bladed weaponry, and has the hand-to-hand combat experience. He can literally play like a hybrid of Catwoman and Batman, with the bonus of throwing knives and other bladed projectiles. The fight could be similar to how you fought Albert King with Robin when Harley takes over the secret lab in Panessa Movie Studios. I liked that boss battle... a lot.
Think about it; a bunch of henchman attacking, Catman throwing knives when needed, rushing down at either Nightwing or Batman with a flurry of violent scratches, and can even tackle them like those annoying thugs, and if you fail to evade him, he'll scratch up your face and deal some horrifying damage. A cool Dual-Team Beatdown will be one of the ways to deal damage to him and finally stop this feline menace.
BLACK SPIDER
"No, I'm not Denzel."
Eric Needham aka Black Spider is one of those fairly obscure villains that has recently enjoyed a short amount of recognition when he was introduced in the animated film Assault on Arkham, and was even considered to be hired by Joker to be one of the eight assassins in Arkham Origins. Unfortunately, Assault on Arkham took place before the events of Arkham Asylum, meaning he should be dead by Arkham Knight.
But the name "Black Spider" is merely a title and could easily be passed down. So it is possible for a new Black Spider to take up the mantle to face off against the Dark Knight. Who knows, he could be Needham's son out for revenge, thinking that Batman was responsible for his father's death? The point is, Black Spider would be a cool addition to the Arkham game series.
Black Spider's reject file from Arkham Origins.
The side mission would be the same: destory Penguin's weapon cache. The level would start normally until Black Spider drops in with some militia and intervenes. He probably could care less about the money, as long as he gets revenge. He's an acrobatic assassin, an expert marksman, and a trained hand-to-hand combat specialist. It would be a cool idea if he's learned Batman's moves and tactics so well, that you can't land an attack on him with Batman, but since the level allows Nightwing to be a playable character he's the only one that can do damage to the assassin.
This would change the player's strategy on how to approach him and how to deliver Dual Takedowns. But since he's a learned soldier, he can adapt to Nightwing's attacks. So changing your strategy and what attacks to hit him with is a top priority. Think Mr. Freeze, but Combat. (If all the villains learned how to adapt like Freeze, the game would be significantly more challenging.)
Just don't blow up his head. Though, it would be funny if Joker mentions something like that when you lock him up. A funny nod to the film.
BRONZE TIGER
"I'm sorry, Batman, but I'm sure you'd do the same in my position."
Bronze Tiger. This dude was cool. He was in the CW series Arrow, he was in Arkham Origins Blackgate, and he kicks ass. I mean this dude was taken in and trained by the League of Assassins. He would be a great addition for one reason: avenging the death of Ra's al Ghul. He'd open up some wounds both emotionally and literally. I know his history with the League is very murky but you have to admit: it would be cool to see him in the game.
Now I know that the Blackgate DLC wasn't all that good, and the boss fight for Tiger sucked, but I want to see him done properly. When I fought against Albert King in Arkham Knight, I thought to myself: "This is what the Bronze Tiger boss battle should have been." It would be cool if he functioned like one of the militia brutes with the blades.
Look at this guy, he's so cool! This is what you get when you take Jaden Smith's Karate Kid,
but you make him cooler, and not make him Jaden Smith.
He'll be a bit tougher than your typical brute, so Batman and Nightwing must take turns beating him down, similar to how Bats and Selina took care of Riddler.
Now, after you beat him, it would be cool if Lady Shiva makes a "OUT OF NOWHERE!" appearance to take Bronze Tiger away but not without a fight. She's the only assassin who got away without getting taken into custody in Arkham Origins.
"What do you know of justice. Behind bars or beyond them, these people never change.
As long as they live, Gotham is stained."
Her reason for returning to Gotham could simply be avenging Talia. This would definitely be a crucial fight and can be greatly affected by sudden mockery from the Joker hallucinations. Fighting Lady Shiva can be very trippy and it would be cool to see Batman and Nightwing taking her on. What would be more interesting is if Batman starts hallucinating and confuses Lady Shiva for Talia and gets taken out of the fight, and you're forced to fight her with Nightwing alone. You'll do some damage, but you'll just end up being overwhelmed with struggling to avoid her blade.
A short cutscene of Bruce struggling to get a hold of himself and maybe add in some flashbacks of Talia's death and Joker laughing, or make it a quicktime event--sort of like how all the Jokers attacked you at Stagg's airships. Once you gain consciousness, and as Lady Shiva is about to kill Nightwing, you intervene and have a one-on-one fight with her and finally capture her.
Then after blowing up the weapons cache a short conversation with Nightwing about tracking the final cache, you escort both Bronze Tiger and Lady Shiva to GCPD.
THE ABROMOVICI TWINS
These two were very cool in Arkham City. They were a bit annoying to fight but I liked the idea of the un-conjoined twins. Since Joker is dead, it would only make sense for Mr. Hammer to join Penguin's team seeing as Sickle is already a part of Penguin's gang and having them protect the final vaults would make sense. They'd be harder to knock down but would probably play the same way they did in City, but they should have more mobility since they can operate on their own now and can move around the screen pursuing Batman rather than being sluggish brutes. I mean, it would make sense for Mr. hammer to be slower, but Mr. Sickle should't have much of a problem moving around since a sickle is relatively lighter than a friggin' sledgehammer.
The Gunrunner sidemission was pretty fun even without the boss haracters, but if I were a part of making the game, I probably would've added these bosses in to make things a lot more fun.