(Spoiler Alert: This
article contains major spoilers of crucial plot elements in Batman:
Arkham Knight.)
Though I do not
talk about them much, I am a huge fan of the Batman: Arkham games. So
when Batman: Arkham Knight came out on June 23rd, I was eager to
purchase and play through what developer Rocksteady states to be the
final entry in the Arkham series. With all of the spare time that I
had that week, I completely finished the game. Ultimately, I was very
happy with the game that I had played, and the way it ended the
series. Despite fulfilling the promise of a satisfying conclusion to
the franchise's story, there is an underlying problem with the
writing of Arkham Knight.
To be blunt,
Rocksteady's inclusion of the Joker was not necessary to the game's
story. For those of you who haven't finished the game and don't care
about spoilers, one of the early reveals is that Batman is slowly
turning into the Joker. Back in Arkham City, Joker injected his
Titan-infected blood into both Batman and a large supply of blood
bags going to hospitals across Gotham City in order to motivate the
Dark Knight to develop a cure of Titan-poisoning. Though the cure was
eventually developed for the Titan half of the infection, Joker's
blood acts as a virus that transforms those infected with it into a
clone of the clown prince of crime, taking on many of his physical
and psychological traits.
On its own, Batman
has enough willpower to resist the mutation and still retain his
moral code, albeit with slightly sharper edge. However, when
Scarecrow gases him with a powerful dose of fear toxin, the
combination with the virus manifests as visions of the Joker himself.
Because Batman's greatest fear is succumbing to baser instinct, every
hit of fear toxin strengthens the Joker's hold on him, leading to a
climactic battle in his mind.
While these plot
elements are fine, and there is nothing inherently wrong with them,
they are unnecessary when both Scarecrow and the titular Arkham
Knight are both effective villains with their own schemes and
set-ups. At the very beginning of the game, Scarecrow is able to
force authorities to call for a mandatory evacuation of Gotham's 6.3
million citizens with the threat of literal terrorist attacks via
fear toxin. Proving himself to be one of Batman's most capable
adversaries, he then manages to convince Penguin, Two-Face, Harley
Quinn, and even the Riddler to unite together in an effort to finally
destroy not only the Batman, but his legend and legacy. In the game's
grand finale, Scarecrow succeeds at apprehending and publicly
unmasking Batman, revealing his secret identity to the world.
Yet Scarecrow isn't
the only character whose limelight is stolen by the inclusion of the
Joker. The Arkham Knight also loses out on screen time, despite being
two-thirds of the game's title. Even before his true name is
revealed, it is obvious that the Knight has a grudge against the
caped crusader. Most of his lines to dedicated to exactly how badly
he wants Batman dead. Furthermore, he has a clear in-depth knowledge
of Batman's gadgetry, skills, and tactics. When Batman battles his
militia forces, he will often coach them on, directing them to avoid
Batman’s most common tactics.
Even if the game
does make his identity fairly obvious about half-way through, this
element of mystery is an important plot point. However, it isn't
until the mask comes off that this plot is allowed to develop beyond
a mere "Who is the Arkham Knight?". For those who are
unaware, Jason Todd, the second Robin, is the Arkham Knight. Having
been tortured by the Joker for an entire year before even the events
of Arkham Asylum, he grew to blame Batman for all of his pain,
assuming the guise of the Knight in order to take his revenge. During
and after his boss battle, the two reconnect and reconcile, leading
Todd to realize the error of his ways and don the persona of the Red
Hood. During the finale, after Scarecrow has revealed Bruce Wayne to
the world, he uses this new identity to swoop in and save the day.
Both of these story
arcs are strong on their own, and each serve to examine the mind and
psyche of Batman. Scarecrow helps us, as the audience, to better
understand what drive Batman and what he is truly afraid of. With the
Arkham Knight, Rocksteady is able to illuminate some of his previous
failures, adding extra context and forcing the narrative to be more
introspective. Putting the two together gives Scarecrow a powerful
advantage by giving him access to knowledge of and the ability to get
at the most important people in Bruce Wayne's life, like Commissioner
Gordon and the Oracle. At the same time, the fact that Jason Todd
does care about those same people affords a justification for why
they aren't brutally, systematically slaughtered in order to break
the bat. There is an odd chemistry between these two characters,
their abilities, and their motivations that works to drive the events
of the game.
And then, the Joker
comes in with his signature dark humor. While his writing is solid
and the legendary Mark Hamill once again delivers on the voice
acting, I cannot help but feel disappointed by his inclusion. The
moment the clown prince of crime makes his first appearance on
screen, he steals the show. Almost every story beat is punctuated by
a quip about current events or his past misdeeds and relationships
with various characters. Since he is only an illusion in Bruce
Wayne's head, this is mostly unobtrusive from a gameplay standpoint.
It can even lead to some interesting and amusing little diversions.
Unfortunately, it
also robs both the player's attention and valuable screen-time from
the other main villains, who aren't dead and have their own designs
upon Gotham City. One particular instance stands out that really
demonstrates this point. About halfway through the game’s campaign,
the Arkham Knight manages to pin down Batman. Taking out his sidearm,
he pinpoints the weakness in the Dark Knight’s armor, where he is
most vulnerable, and fires straight into him. Leaving Batman to
wallow in his injury, the Arkham Knight departs, leaving his militia
forces to clean up. It is then that Joker appears on screen,
commenting on how foolish it is to think that a single bullet can
defeat the Batman. With this one line, all the threat and mystique
that Rocksteady developed for the Arkham Knight in that scene is
immediately shot down. Other similar examples happen so frequently
that the non-Joker villains are severely undermined by these quips.
What this tells me
is that Rocksteady didn't feel confident in their ability to conclude
the Arkham storyline without using the Joker. That's honestly sad,
because the set-ups and plot threads with Scarecrow and the Arkham
Knight demonstrate an obvious understanding of how to write a good
Batman story and why Batman is an interesting character. Adding Joker
into the story make the other two major villains feel less like
threats in their own right and more like tools for Joker to assert
his dominance from beyond the grave. It is Scarecrow's fear toxin
that awakens and empowers the jester's control over the Dark Knight.
Even Jason Todd only resents Batman because he was trained over an
entire year to do so by the Joker. In this light, neither one of them
can be seen as inherently threatening.
The resurrection(?)
of the Joker also deprived Rocksteady of a valuable opportunity to
explore not only how Batman is coping with his inability to save
everyone, but how Gotham and its criminal underworld are adjusting to
the fact that the single biggest threat has been eliminated. There
are shades of this sprinkled throughout that narrative. Not only do
many of the random mooks expressed surprise and remorse about his
passing, but it is implied that Scarecrow's opportunity was only
opened by the power vacuum left open. It is interesting to think that
his insanity might have been accidentally aiding Gotham PD by
preventing any one criminal enterprise from obtaining too much power
over the others, yet the game does not give much time to the thought.
I won't say that
Batman: Arkham Knight is a bad story. Nor will I claim that I didn't
enjoy seeing Mark Hamill return to show why people love his take on
the Joker. All I want to say is that the narrative as a whole would
have been stronger is Rocksteady had the confidence to soldier on
feeling the need to bring him back. As I write this, I know that my
opinion on this matter is going to be in the minority. However, it is
important to point out ways in which even a good story can improve
itself. With so much talk about the other flaws in the game, it is
only right for the story to get its due.
