Batman return to arkham recenzia: Batman: Return to Arkham Review

Batman: Return to Arkham Review

Batman: Return to ArkhamBatman: Return to Arkham AsylumBatman: Return to Arkham City

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By Lucy O’Brien

Updated: Jun 26, 2022 6:46 pm

Posted: Oct 18, 2016 4:00 am

With their sense of freedom and loving grasp of the Dark Knight’s comic universe, 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum and its 2011 sequel, Batman: Arkham City, are two of the best superhero games ever made. Batman: Return to Arkham brings both games — and all their DLC — to the current generation of consoles, but an unremarkable graphical upgrade doesn’t do them justice.

That’s not to say it’s not noticeable. Textures in Return to Arkham are much sharper: Batman’s suit, for example, looks much more detailed. His cape in particular stands out beautifully, pebbled, catching the light. Virtous, the studio that’s upgraded Rocksteady’s original games, has ported both games to Unreal Engine 4 from Unreal Engine 3, making for a much brighter aesthetic overall.

Batman’s cape in particular stands out beautifully, pebbled, catching the light


But in many instances, ‘brighter’ does not mean ‘better’. The original Arkham games were dark for two reasons: one, because deep blacks add to the atmosphere and two, to disguise the graphical shortcomings of 2009-era consoles. Here, every PS3 plant, rock and puddle of water is thrown into stark relief, and as a result Gotham often feels quite blocky and theme park-esque, which breaks the romantic illusion.

More, some of the detail in faces has been smoothed out in this much lighter version, and some of the intricacies of expression are lost as a result. This isn’t a deal-breaker — characters can still emote — but to remove such nuances is another example of illumination where it’s simply not needed.

LoadingThe bigger issue is performance. For a remastered version of older games, it’s disappointing that neither Asylum nor City runs at 60 frames per second — they’re both targeting 30. In fact, Asylum suffers from some odd stutters when Batman runs through a corridor or turns a corner. The issues aren’t bad enough to interrupt combat flow, but occasional chugging is a noticeable distraction.

Outside of the two campaigns, all the DLC challenge maps and additional skins are here, so you can play as 1970s Batman — or even better, animated Batman — from the get-go. But there’s nothing to differentiate the extra content from what was included in the Game of the Year editions, and the lack of making-ofs or behind-the-scenes details is a missed opportunity.Loading

If you’ve never played Arkham Asylum and Arkham City and own a current-gen console, Return to Arkham is a fine place to start. But for those who already own both on PC or last gen, there’s no real reason to pick this up beyond a rather uninspiring and technically disappointing graphical upgrade.

In This Article

Batman: Return to Arkham

Virtuos Games

Rating

ESRB: Teen

Platforms

PlayStation 4Xbox One

Batman: Return to Arkham Review

good

Two amazing games get updated for current-gen consoles with an unremarkable port in Batman: Return to Arkham.

Lucy O’Brien

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Batman: Return to Arkham for PlayStation 4 Reviews

PlayStation 4

  • Publisher:

    Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

  • Release Date:
    Oct 18, 2016
  • Also On:

    Xbox One

  • Summary

  • Critic Reviews

  • User Reviews

  • Details & Credits

  • Trailers & Videos

Metascore

73

Mixed or average reviews


based on

28
Critic Reviews

What’s this?

User Score

8. 6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 462 Ratings

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  • Summary:

    Return to Arkham and experience two critically acclaimed titles from the last generation — Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, with fully remastered and updated visuals. Batman: Return to Arkham includes the comprehensive versions of both games and includes all previously releasedReturn to Arkham and experience two critically acclaimed titles from the last generation — Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, with fully remastered and updated visuals. Batman: Return to Arkham includes the comprehensive versions of both games and includes all previously released additional content. Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them into the depths of Arkham Asylum -Gotham City’s high security psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Use Batman’s legendary gadgetry, strike from the shadows, and confront The Joker and Gotham City’s most notorious super villains. Batman: Arkham City sends players soaring into Arkham City — a heavily fortified sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City. Batman Arkham City introduces a brand-new story that draws together an all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe. … Expand

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  • Developer:

    Rocksteady Studios, Virtuos

  • Genre(s): Miscellaneous, Compilation
  • # of players:
    No Online Multiplayer
  • Cheats:
    On GameFAQs
  • Rating:
    T
  • More Details and Credits »

Trailer

Play Sound

Batman: Return to Arkham Announcement Trailer

Score distribution:

  1. Positive:

    17
    out of 28

  2. Mixed:

    11
    out of 28

  3. Negative:

    0
    out of 28

  1. If not for some graphical and framerate issues, Batman: Return to Arkham would be one of the best remasters out there.

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