I read reviews for Batman: Return To Arkham, then I played it. Then I figured there was something I missed and went back to playing...x amount of hours later I'm just gonna throw my hands up and say it. If there's something remarkably wrong with the graphical quality/frame rate/aesthetics I haven't seen it.
What I have seen is a lot of nitpicking all seeming to stem from a video prior to the game's release. The development team apologized and tweaked the game to a much better experience, and still I read the nitpicking. I'm really not trying to come off as a shill or some asshole but I just don't see it.
Maybe it's because I haven't put it up to the original games and did an eye for eye comparison, I'm just not sure. What I am sure of, is if you're someone who was concerned that this game is worse for the wear because the remaster isn't 60 FPS 1080p, you shouldn't be.
People get hung up on critiquing the remaster draw (which if you read those reviews they all essentially say 'WELL YEAH IT'S GOOD BUT IS IT THE BEST?!') when the real questions you should be asking yourself on whether you should buy this game are as follows...
- Have you ever played the game?
- Have you ever played the game with all the DLC which adds several more missions and fun stuff?
- Do you want 2 amazing games for $49.99?
- Do you love Batman?
Make no mistake there's some real entitlement when people think they "deserve" to pay less for these games. Yeah, they're old, but make no mistake the Rocksteady Batman games are and will long be remembered as classic games that will remain ageless. On top of being a truly remarkable video game the series remains about the truest experience you can get to the actual Batman in pop culture.
The most magical thing about Rocksteady's series is it blends the modern comic book Batman with the classic voice cast of Batman: The Animated Series. It was the first Batman game to truly showcase the detective work and true fighting style of Batman. Can Bruce Wayne beat some ass? Sure he can level thugs with relative ease, but he's not going to rush a guy with an automatic weapon from 15 feet out and leave that encounter alive. Rocksteady made the stealth element of Batman viable without making it boring.
That's something that's grossly understated, and deserves more respect than it gets. More respect than the "buy it when it's $20" crowd tends to give. There's nothing wrong with getting a game for a deal, but don't disrespect this game and act like you aren't getting a dollar an hour for two games worth of gameplay.
So what's the point I'm making here? This game isn't broken, in fact, it's far from it. The experience supposedly isn't "perfect" but for what graphical flaws it does have...I have yet to spot them. Don't let that sway you from getting this game if you haven't played the full experience, it's still very much worth your money.
