The Batman Arkham series is awesome! As of writing it comprises five games and not one of them is bad. I have enjoyed all of them and have played through them multiple times. I also for some reason have bought the games on multiple systems and I even have the Batman Arkham Trilogy on pre-order for the Nintendo Switch which unfortunately has been delayed several weeks!
Keep in mind this is just my ranking of the games and if yours is different I would love to read about it in the comments section.
5: Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
Taking the fifth spot is Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. This was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, although it would eventually make its way to PC and consoles. Rather than try and emulate the console games, Arkham Origins Blackgate is a 2.5D kind of Metroidvania style game. The story takes place after Arkham Origins and sees Batman having to try and stop a riot in the prison that has Joker, Penguin, and Black Mask all causing trouble.
This is actually a pretty fun game and a game I have come to appreciate more over time. It is a tad on the clunky side and Batman not being able to jump and always having to use the grappling hook is a tad annoying, but you do get used to it. While I think this is great for the 3DS. I would loved to have seen them attempt to port Arkham Origins to the Vita as I think in the right hands it could have been pulled off.
4: Batman: Arkham Origins
Next up we have what is kind of the black sheep of the Arkham series. This is a prequel and it is set during the early days of Batman’s crime fighting career. It has an epic story that sees Black Mask put a huge bounty on Batman’s head which many of Gotham’s most dangerous villains want to take! Plus, we get a bit of a Batman/Joker origin story here as we get to see the two go head to head for the first time.
It was not Rocksteady who made this game and as a result, Arkham Origins feels a bit more janky than the other Arkham games. It is not bad by any means and I love the Christmas setting and seeing Gotham covered in snow. However, it is just the little things like getting lost inside buildings due to a bad map system or the controls feeling slightly off to Arkham City that holds this one back. Still, I feel that this is way better than many people give it credit for and it sucks that they have never given this the remaster treatment like they have the other games.
3: Batman Arkham Knight
Batman Arkham Knight was the epic conclusion to the Arkham series and this game was epic in every sense of the word. With the power of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Rocksteady was able to go all in with this and Gotham felt and looked far more real than it had in the previous games. You have a massive story to play through and the stuff with Batman and The Joker is some of the best writing and performing of any video game that I have played. The story is wonderful and it kept me guessing all the way to the very end if Batman would actually make it out of this alive.
The gameplay here is very similar to what we had with Arkham City. There is a ton of stuff to do in this game and many classic Batman villains have their own missions for us to take on. I do think that it was very predictable who the Arkham Knight was, but it was still great. The problem I have with this game is its big new feature and that is the Batmobile. Yes, the Batmobile is awesome, but it is way too overused in this game, and for all the cool stuff it can do, the Batmobile is not the easiest thing to control which can make some segments of the game a bit more frustrating than fun. I think if they toned down the Batmobile sections just a tad, I probably would have put this one at number 2 on my list.
2: Batman Arkham Asylum
Wow just wow, talk about a game changer. It may be hard to imagine for some people, but I cannot overstate what a huge deal it was when Arkham Asylum was released all the way back in 2009. Batman Begins during the PS2 era was a solid game, but this took being Batman to a whole new level. The voice acting from Kevin Conroy and Mark Hammil told the story so incredibly well and it truly was an epic story. Setting the whole thing in Arkham Asylum and having Batman face off with iconic characters like Scarecrow, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn and more was just a blast.
Even though this game came out over a decade ago, the gameplay still holds up. It may lack the open world of the later games, but Arkham Asylum is huge and such a fun place to explore. It makes finding little areas with Riddler trophies and extended lore feel a little bit more exciting. Arkham Asylum was also the first game to make excellent use of the various iconic Batman gadgets. Figuring out fun and creative ways to use them to solve a puzzle and take down bad guys was a ton of fun.
1: Batman Arkham City
You know, I think that Arkham City deserves to be regarded as one of the greatest video game sequels of all time! This game took everything that was great about Arkham Asylum and expanded upon it in every way. The story was bigger, and had more classic characters from Batman’s rogues gallery, not to mention allies like Tim Drake and Barbara Gordon! The story was so well done and the reveal of The Joker not being who we thought he was truly shocking the first time I saw it. For a story that has so many characters and so much going on Arkham City never feels overwhelming or like any part of it is rushed.
The gameplay was more refined over Arkham Asylum too. Grappling and gliding all over Gotham was great and easy to do and the city felt like it was huge. I loved stumbling across random crimes and the levelling up and upgrade system felt bigger and more rewarding here too. Plus, we cannot forget that Arkham City added Catwoman into the mix and she was also fun to play as. They did not overuse her, but when you did play as her, she felt different enough that it was always a joy to do so. Arkham City is one of my go to games when I am in a bit of a gaming slump or waiting for something new to come out and it simply never gets old!
So that is my ranking of the Batman Arkham games! I have to say that while it is not connected to this series, Gotham Knights was nowhere near as bad as people made out.. granted it was not great, but it was not bad either. Hopefully, if Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League ever comes out, Rocksteady will be able to reach the highs they had with the Arkham series.
Please leave your thoughts on the Arkham series in the comments below and what you would like to see next in this series.