In this analysis I will be looking at the fourth instalment in Rocksteady's Batman series, I will be describing the game in terms of the set criteria.
Arkham knight is an action-adventure third person combat video game. It has an open world that allows the player to free-roam and complete both main story and side missions- as well as having to use ‘detective vision’ to solve riddles and crimes. The games combat features many of Batman’s utilities (such as the batarang and remote hacking device) and a countering system to improve the pace of the action. Sleeping dogs is a similar title in reference to genre and combat but falls short of Arkham knight in its reviews. Sleeping dogs focuses more on physical combat whereas Arkham knight incorporates the use of other utilities, the bat mobile and also stealth. In comparison to the previous three games it was similar in many elements but added more to the gameplay than previously existed.
The narrative of Arkham knight is that the antagonist Scarecrow has launched an attack on Gotham city with the help of the Arkham knight by using his fear gas- because of this civilians have been evacuated so the world can be more readily explored. The bat-mobile has also been incorporated so that it is easier to travel the city. As Batman it is your task to stop scarecrow using every weapon at your disposal, which is why you are constantly upgraded with new gear. Because of the story the player feels the need to protect the characters left in Gotham such as James and Barbara Gordon, engaging you as a player if they are in danger. My target audience is quite diverse, anything from teenagers to adults, as most of the world knows who batman is and the older generation may have read the comics as children and want to revisit the character.
Rocksteady returned to develop Arkham knight following Warner Bros Montreal taking over in the creation of Arkham Origins.To make the final instalment of the Arkham series, Rocksteady first decided it would be best made on next generation consoles instead of what was then the current generation. The technical changes made allowed for cutscenes to be rendered in real time in the game engine instead of pre-rendered videos so they were better quality, as well as allowing more enemies to be on screen at once (and interact with the environment) using the Apex physics engine. They spent a long time working on character models and movements in the game to make them as realistic as possible and improve the graphics for players. The game mechanics such as detective vision enhance the gameplay by offering more of a variety to the players so the exploration does not become monotonous- similarly to the bat-mobile. When in combat Rocksteady make the environment more inter-actable for a wider variety of situations e.g. you can shove enemies against walls and takedown multiple enemies at a time.
Batman is relevant to the target audience as he is a superhero; an occupation which few people aren’t intrigued by. The younger generation like him because of the films and the older generation are interested because of the comics. Theres a diverse set of characters throughout the game, from villains to allies, the villains are likeable for their ingenious designs whereas Barbara Gordon is relevant to the target audience as she's a teenager so will appeal more to the younger age group because of her personality. It’s quite a story-based game so the characterisation is important, and the adventure like genre leads to you meeting a lot of different companions. Each of these characters are very strong and you gradually grow to care for them- especially close friends of Batman’s such as Barbara, Tim or Dick.
Completing the main story is a challenge in itself but there are a lot of side missions available for the player to complete- each of which are very different (from solving riddles to stopping groups of thugs from robbing a bank) to ensure the player remains engaged as they have the ability to choose their next objective. The weaponry is key to Arkham knight’s success as each game has been improved by adding in new combative elements- in this instance the bat-mobile is the most innovative feature in fights. The gameplay utilises Batman’s ‘abilities’, mainly taken from the comics but with new additions. As a superhero the player will participate in combat against thugs trying to tear up Gotham as well as more prominent enemies in the series, relating itself to the narrative by offering you objectives/challenges. Certain areas may require you to use different pieces of equipment to take out a group; in the case of stealth you may have to use the audio voice recorder to lure guards away. Areas evolve by having different types of thugs with different movement patterns to constantly keep the players on their toes.
The target audience of this game is teenagers to adults because Batman is a well-known figure that will appeal to adults who have read the comics and teenagers who favour superheroes. In combat Batman does not actually kill any enemies, instead knocking them unconscious, so the gore level is not too intense for slightly younger players. There are a vast majority of popular characters in the game, from heroes to villains, all of different ages to relate to different generations. The actual gameplay also appeals to this target audience by having engaging and relatively simple combat but complete with an arsenal of different weaponry for the player to use. Arkham knight has the age rating of 18 even though it actually has a much wider target audience. Similar games targeting this audience are the Fallout games, for nostalgia purposes though this series is likely to reach a wider audience and is also more widely known for being incredible.
Arkham knight is available on: microsoft windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox one, OS X and Linux. This game is better suited to the recent generation consoles (PS4 and Xbox one) as it offers improved visuals in cutscenes and utilises the PS4’s touch pad to use as a progress tracker for the player to view.
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