Which Batman: Arkham Games Are Open World?
The Batman: Arkham video games are well-known and praised in the video games industry for their action gameplay, open world adventure and overall "Batman" feel, providing players the unique experience of being Batman and fighting his enemies. The original Batman: Arkham video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
The Batman: Arkham video games are known to not only feature action gameplay in a 3D beat 'em up gameplay style, with a unique timing mechanic that requires players to pay attention to the combat, especially depending on the chosen difficulty, but these games also include various puzzles, side missions and collectibles, that add to the lore of the Batman games or unlock additional content.
Which Batman: Arkham Games Are Open World?
While all of the Batman: Arkham video games are unique experiences and provide excellent gameplay, some players specifically look for open world experiences, and in this regard, there is often not a clear definition about which Batman: Arkham video games are open world, especially among fans. In this article, I will explain the differences in the game world of each Batman: Arkham video game.
The answer regarding which Batman: Arkham video games are open world depends on the definition of open world video game being used. If open world video games are games that feature an open world similar to the open game worlds of GTA (Grand Theft Auto) video games, then Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight would be considered open world video games, while Batman: Arkham Asylum would not. If open world video games are games that feature open environments similar to the open environments of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, then Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight would be considered open world video games.
While the reasons why some Batman: Arkham video games are considered open world and some are not vary depending on the definition of open world video game, the general answer is that the Batman: Arkham open world video games are Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight, while Batman: Arkham Asylum is generally not considered to be an open world video game. The details to these descriptions are explained further in the article.
Is Batman: Arkham Asylum Open World?
Batman: Arkham Asylum was the first of the Batman: Arkham video games, introducing many of the mechanics that would later be found in subsequent video games. Batman: Arkham Asylum features the traditional combat system of Batman: Arkham games, as well as puzzles and collectibles. Batman: Arkham Asylum features different and unique locations that can be visited by Batman, and each of these locations feature different enemies.
Due to these various locations in the game, and due to the freedom of the player of, in many cases, deciding where to go and adventure in this game world, Batman: Arkham Asylum is sometimes referred to as an open world video game. However, it must be noted that Batman: Arkham Asylum is not open world in the same sense as a GTA (Grand Theft Auto) game, but rather, it is open world in the same sense as Dark Souls video games. It is open world in the sense that there are multiple locations to adventure and in the sense that the player can sometimes choose in which direction to go, but there are limitations to this freedom of direction. For these reasons, I do not consider Batman: Arkham Asylum to be an open world game in the same sense as a GTA video game, but it does indeed feature freedom of movement in a variety of environments. Perhaps, it would be reasonable to consider Batman: Arkham Asylum an open world sense in the same sense as some of the first 3D open world video games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998). These games were mostly action-adventure video games with freedom of movement in open environments, and this description could also be applied to Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Is Batman: Arkham City Open World?
Batman: Arkham City is often considered to be the first Batman: Arkham open world video game. While Batman: Arkham Asylum featured freedom of movement in open environments, Batman: Arkham City features districts in which Batman can adventure with a larger freedom of direction, being able to climb and glide through multiple buildings, streets and locations. In this sense, Batman: Arkham City provides the feeling of being Batman in Gotham City, even if the game world of Batman: Arkham City is limited to the Arkham City portion.
Perhaps due to the number of side activities, collectibles and freedom of direction and gameplay, in which the player can decide whether to fight enemies, glide through buildings or walk the streets as Batman, Batman: Arkham City is generally considered to be more an open world video game than Batman: Arkham Asylum, and features more similarities to open world video games than its predecessor.
Compared to Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City features a larger amount of locations to be visited, as well as many streets and buildings in which Batman can adventure, climb and glide. For this reason, Batman: Arkham City provides the feeling of being a superhero in an open game world, whereas Batman: Arkham Asylum provides the feeling of a superhero action-adventure. Of course, Batman: Arkham City stands as a direct evolution of Batman: Arkham Asylum, and the gameplay tradition of the Batman: Arkham video games was set in Batman: Arkham Asylum. For these reasons, and also for being an excellent gameplay experience, Batman: Arkham Asylum is an important part of the Batman: Arkham video games.
Is Batman: Arkham Origins Open World?
Batman: Arkham Origins continues the gameplay tradition of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, and features an open world game in which the player can adventure as Batman. In this sense, Batman: Arkham Origins is an open world video game in the same sense as Batman: Arkham City. Batman: Arkham Origins features many of the traditional gameplay elements previously seen in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, while featuring a game world in a different chronological moment when compared to Batman: Arkham City. In this sense, Batman: Arkham Origins expands the experience of players who want to play as Batman in an open world portion of Gotham City, because it provides this open world experience in a different moment in story of the Batman: Arkham games.
Is Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Open World?
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a side-scrolling video game set in the Batman: Arkham games universe. Considering that Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a side-scrolling game, it cannot be considered a 3D open world video game in the same sense as Batman: Arkham City.
Is Batman: Arkham Knight Open World?
Like Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Knight takes place in a portion of Gotham City, and expands the open world of Batman: Arkham Knight with larger environments and a larger game world. Compared to Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Knight features more ways to glide throughout the city and adventure in its different locations. One important difference between Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight is the ability to use Batman's classic vehicle: the Batmobile.
Considering that Batman: Arkham Knight continued the tradition of Batman: Arkham City and expanded its gameplay elements, it is reasonable to describe Batman: Arkham Knight as an open world video game.
Which Batman: Arkham Game Has the Best Open World?
The best open world is generally a matter of personal preference. In this article, I do not discuss preferences, but I discuss facts. The facts are that Batman: Arkham Asylum changed the way superhero video games were viewed and provided an excellent action-adventure gameplay experience, Batman: Arkham City expanded on the elements of Batman: Arkham Asylum while providing an open game world to adventure in, Batman: Arkham Origins presented an open game world in a different moment in time, and Batman: Arkham Knight expanded the open game world of Batman: Arkham City. Players that prefer amount of side missions and size of game world will prefer Batman: Arkham Knight, considering that this video game features a larger game world and more side activities. On the other hand, some players prefer Batman: Arkham City.
Which Batman: Arkham Game Has the Largest Game World?
Batman: Arkham City has a larger game world than Batman: Arkham Asylum. Batman: Arkham Knight has a larger game world than Batman: Arkham City. For this reason, it is often said that Batman: Arkham Knight features the largest, or biggest, game world of the Batman: Arkham video games.
Which Batman: Arkham Game Has the Batmobile?
The Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Origins video games are known for featuring the Batmobile as an easter egg, in the sense that, while technically it is present in the game, it is not playable. Considering that the Batmobile is a well-known element of the Batman universe, players often wondered whether they would be able to play with the Batmobile in the Batman: Arkham video games. The first Batman: Arkham video game to feature a completely playable Batmobile was Batman: Arkham Knight.
What Are the Playable Characters of Each Batman Video Game?
The Batman: Arkham games feature a variety of playable characters in each game. Depending on the game, some of these characters are available from the start, while in other cases it is necessary to complete certain parts of the game.
While some secondary characters are playable for brief moments in various games, in this list I only included characters that can either free roam or be played for longer periods of time.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Batman
- Joker
Batman: Arkham City
- Batman
- Catwoman
- Nightwing
- Robin
Batman: Arkham Origins
- Batman
Batman: Arkham Knight
- Batman
- Catwoman
- Harley Queen
- Nightwing
- Red Hood
- Robin
Which Batman: Arkham Game Has the Most Playable Characters?
As it can be seen from the list I wrote previously, while many Batman: Arkham video games feature a variety of playable game characters, including Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight, it seems that the Batman: Arkham video game with the most playable characters is Batman: Arkham Knight, featuring Batman, Catwoman, Harley Queen, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin as playable characters.
An Analysis of the Differences of the Open Worlds of Batman: Arkham Video Games
As previously stated in this article, although the Batman: Arkham video games feature a similar traditional gameplay, there are some differences among these games that make each experience unique. Batman: Arkham Asylum introduced the characteristical gameplay aspects later also seen in subsequent Batman: Arham games, although its game world was somewhat limited when compared to the more open worlds of Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight. On the other hand, these subsequent video games, due to featuring a more open world environment, also feature a larger amount of side activities. Batman: Arkham Asylum, due to being an action-adventure in open environments, does not feature as many interactable NPCs such as Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight. Some players prefer more direct action-adventure gameplay experiences, with less side activities in the game world, and these players would prefer the experience of Batman: Arkham Asylum instead of the subsequent Batman: Arkham games, while players who enjoy adventuring in open world game environments will prefer the experiences found in Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight.
While the Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight video games are all generally considered to be open world games, there are some differences in the open worlds of these games. For example, while Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Origins generally feature a similar game world, it is important to consider that the open worlds of each of these games are set in different time periods. On the other hand, the open world of Batman: Arkham Knight is generally larger than the open worlds of Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Origins, while also featuring more side activities. For this reason, players looking for larger game worlds with more side content, may choose to play Batman: Arkham Knight.
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