This is a review that I didn’t think I’d ever have to write. I’m a huge fan of the Arkham series that Rocksteady has so lovingly built over the past few years. Heck, I was even a fan of Origins, even if it was a bit buggy and felt like the odd man out. The strange thing is that Arkham Knight is doing quite well in the review department with regards to its console versions, but the PC is another matter entirely. This has to be the hands down worst AAA release to ever grace our screens, getting so back that Warner Bros. went so far as to pull the game from digital shelves.
I wanted to really like Arkham Knight, and I may in the future, but in its current state the game is in such a state of disarray that I wonder how the game was even allowed to be released at all. Us in the PC review community didn’t get copies before release, which is always a bad sign, and when launch day happened we understood why. The developers knew this port was a shoddy mess and willingly released it to earn a few bucks. And even after getting some little fixes to patch the game, it still barely functions for most people.
Fine, I’m used to launch day issues, so I gave the game a few days to shake of its issues, but after WB pulled the game from shelves I decided to finally have a go at it to see if all the anger directed at the game was warranted. Turns out it was. Even after a few days of various fixes and forum recommended tips, the game still had trouble even opening for me. It crashed on me twice and locked up my computer completely one time, and that’s before I even got to the games loading screen.
I have tried the game on two separate PC’s that I have: One that met the minimum system requirements, or did until they completely changed the specs the day before release, and another that while not in the top-tier, should have easily handled the game. Problem was that on both computers I had major issues with the game. Funny enough, the lower end machine that is running an Nvidia graphics card did better with Arkham Knight than the higher end machine with an AMD card inside.
Upon getting into the game I ran the PC specs option that the game offered letting it choose the best options for said machine. Unfortunately this never worked, as every time I tried to run it the game locked up and I was unceremoniously kicked back to the desktop. Fine, I can adjust the settings myself as I know my way around a menu or two, but even with getting the game set to the lowest possible settings I couldn’t get the games pre-rendered videos to play without major stuttering. I should note that both of these machines I have handled the Witcher 3 without much trouble, and even my lower end machine let me have a really enjoyable time with that game.
But strangely enough, if you actually did get lucky enough to have the perfectly tuned machine to run Arkham Knight, the game is locked at a mere 30 frames per second. While this may be well and good for console games (of last generation), on the PC this has no excuse. Gaming PC’s are powerhouses, so forcing a game to run at the low 30fps is a mystery. Sure, you could go into the config file and lift the cap, but a player shouldn’t have to mess around with .txt files deep in the installation folders just to have a better gaming experience. Even during the opening gameplay sections of the game I was lucky to be getting single digit FPS numbers.
I want to tell you that Batman Arkham Knight is a fun game and totally worth it on the PC, but I just can’t. While the few little patches and the tweaks the people in the Steam forums were sharing help, the game is just not playable. I’m a PC gamer through and through, but after this review goes live I think I’m taking advantage of the Steam refund policy so I can pick this one up for my Xbox One. Maybe once WB deals will all these issues that the game is suffering from it will be worth it, but for now there is just no way I can recommend this one to anyone. In the amount of time I tried to get this game running, I still haven’t even had the chance to “Be the Batman” and that is just a damn shame.
The PC release of Arkham Knight makes the Assassin’s Creed Unity release look like smooth sailing. Hell, at least with Unity we could actually play the game. I urge you to skip this game, as do the nearly 9,000 negative reviews on Steam because it’s a mess. WB and the developer they tapped to port this game should be ashamed of themselves and should be offering any PC user a free copy of a PS4 or Xbox One version of the game while they try and fix things.
The problem arises with how I should grade a game like this. I sit here thinking, “Maybe it’s just my system that’s having issues,” but then I look on Steam and see review after review. At present I don’t think Arkham Knight was released in a playable state, but the simple fact is that it was released and my system(s) meet what the game requirements to at least play the game. Guys, I can’t even play this game, so there is no way to give it a proper score, but then again who is at fault for that, certainly not me. It’s sad that the last installment of one of my favorite series in recent memory earns the lowest review in our publications history. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go play the copy of LEGO Batman 3 that I snagged during the Steam Summer Sale.
Below is the statement that WB said with regards to the PC release:
Dear Batman: Arkham Knight PC owners,
We want to apologize to those of you who are experiencing performance issues with Batman: Arkham Knight on PC. We take these issues very seriously and have therefore decided to suspend future game sales of the PC version while we work to address these issues to satisfy our quality standards. We greatly value our customers and know that while there are a significant amount of players who are enjoying the game on PC, we want to do whatever we can to make the experience better for PC players overall.
Thank you to those players who have already given valuable feedback. We are continuously monitoring all threads posted in the Official Batman: Arkham Knight Community and Steam forums, as well as any issues logged with our Customer Support (http://support.wbgames.com/). If you purchased your copy of the game and are not satisfied with your experience, then we ask for your patience while these issues are resolved. If desired, you can request a refund athttps://help.steampowered.com (Steam refund policies can be found here:http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds) or the retail location where you purchased the game.
The Batman: Arkham fans have continually supported the franchise to its current height of success, and we want to thank you for your patience as we work to deliver an updated version of Batman: Arkham Knight on PC so you can all enjoy the final chapter of the Batman: Arkham series as it was meant to be played.
UPDATE: I got into the game after some tweaking, proceeded to make my first jump, fell through Gotham city for nearly 5 minutes. Cool.
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