Batman: Arkham Destruction is the 5th and final game in the Arkham Series, and is a sequel to Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins, and Arkham Knight. The game will feature Batman trying to stop Ra's Al Ghul and the entire League Of Assassins from attempting to destroy Gotham City, who also has hired most of Batman most notorious enemies to stop him, as Batman also must deal with the retirement of Jim Gordon, Lucius Fox going missing, and the entire G.C.P.D. under the orders of new commisioner Ellen Yindel hunting him down. The game is developed by Rocksteady Games once again, and will be released for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Wii U, and PC on November 30, 2016.
Gameplay:[]
Arkham Destruction is a open world action-adventure game (like all the others), and is shown in third-person perspective, showing playable character on screen, and the camera rotating freely around them. New accessibilities in Destruction is that it can also be viewed in first-person perspective, along with expanded open-world, now covering locations, such as the entire city of Gotham, and new places like Santa Prisca, Bludhaven, and Nanda Parbat. Most functions return from Arkham City, like the Freeflow Combat System, and all of Batman's gadgets (with some also being boughten/upgraded in store).
The Cryptographic Sequencer, Line Launcher, Remote-Controlled Batarang, Explosive Gel, Grapnel Gun, etc. all return, with new equipment being used in this game such as Infared Vision, X-Ray Vision, Ultraviolet Vision, a completely upgraded and redesigned Batcomputer, and Computing System that calculates how many civilians and/or opponents there are around you, which all works with the newly redesigned Batsuit, which is more futuristic, but not as futuristic as the Batman Beyond suit.
The game will have about 72 hours of gameplay, with a additional 24 hours on side missions and training missions. All side missions and training missions can be attempted at any time, and can now be saved at any point during the mission. Each time a mission is completed, credits will be awarded to buy/upgrade new gadgets. Plus, the open-world now has a destructable environment, meaning you will be able to destroy anything around the environment (buildings, people, vehicles, etc.).
Like Arkham City, after story mode on normal or hard difficulties is completed, a new game mode will be unlocked, with enemies tougher, but also getting to replay it all with every single gadget, vehicle, experience, and abilities attained. On your radar, you will now see big flashing lights, which are the bosses, average flashing lights, which are the goons, and the low flashing lights, which are your fellow heroes or the Police Department. There will be over 200 goals for you to complete, varying from each hero you play as. It can be ranked online.
Sypnosis:[]
Characters
Arkham Destruction features basically every major Batman hero and villain, along with some minor villains and other heroes and villains like Superman and Lex Luthor. The cast includes Batman (Kevin Conroy), Nightwing (Loren Lester), Red Hood (Jensen Ackles), Red Robin (Troy Baker), Robin (Stuart Allan), Batwoman (Colleen Clickenbeard), Batgirl (Kimberly Brooks), Batwing (Shemar Moore), Catwoman (Grey DeLisle), Azrael (Khary Payton), Katana (Sumalee Montano), Bluebird (Hynden Walch), and Huntress (Amy Acker). Also, Superman will be reprised by Tim Daly, Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg), The Flash (Michael Rosenbaum), Green Arrow (Alan Tudyk), Zatanna (Lacy Chabert), and The Question (Jeffery Combs). The supporting cast is Jim Gordon (David Kaye), Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Ellen Yindel (Maria Canals Barrera), and Jack Ryde/Creeper (James Horan). Returning Villains include The Joker (Mark Hamill), The Riddler (Wally Wingert), Bane (Fred Tatasciore), Poison Ivy (Tasia Valenza), Two-Face (Troy Baker), The Penguin (Nolan North), Hugo Strange (Corey Burton), Harley Quinn (Tara Strong), Solomon Grundy (Fred Tatasciore), Hush (Kevin Conroy), Black Mask (Nolan North), Killer Croc (Steve Blum), Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol), Mr.Freeze and Calender Man (both Maurice LaMarche), Ra's Al Ghul (Dee Bradley Baker), Talia Al Ghul (Stana Katic), Nyssa Al Ghul (Katrina Law), Deathstroke (Mark Rolston), Victor Zsasz (Danny Jacobs), Clayface (Rick D. Wasserman), Deadshot (Chris Cox), Scarecrow (Dino Andrade), Copperhead (Rosa Salazar), Firefly (Crispin Freeman), Electrocutioner (Steve Blum), Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu), Silver Monkey (James Remar), Tobias Whale (Michael-Leon Wooley), Anarky (Matthew Mercer), and Amanda Waller (C.C.H. Pounder). Others either make cameos, speak a couple of lines, or do not speak at all.
Setting
The events of Arkham Destruction takes place 5 years after Arkham Knight. Within the 5 year period, Batman has retired and left the crimefighting to Nightwing and others. Unfortunately, The Joker was reported to have come back from the dead and had killed former Commisioner Jeph Loeb, Mayor Quincy Sharp, and also Merlyn, a professional mercenery who had trained with the League Of Assassins. Ra's al Ghul hears of The Joker's return and plans on hiring him and a large amount of other villains and merceneries to kill the Batman and destroy all of Gotham. Ra's al Ghul manages to persuade the villains by revealing Batman's secret identity (Bruce Wayne) to them.They agree to join, and Batman decides to unretire and come back into crime fighting.
Plot
Sitting in the living room drinking a glass of scotch, Bruce Wayne recounts of all his memories in the recent years. Seeing that the entire concept of Batman was a mistake, Bruce prepares to destroy everything in the Batcave. The Batmobile, the Batsuit, the Batcomputer, etc. Just as he's about to leave, he checks the Gotham Channel on TV which states that The Joker had broken out of jail and brutally and sadistically murdered Mayor Quincy Sharp, prompting Bruce to put the Batsuit back on once again.
Having fixed the Batsuit to be a little more current, He prepares to find The Joker. Batman sends Nightwing and Batgirl to Arkham, where they must ensure all the prisoners are contained. In one swift move, Deathstroke arrives at Arkham and ambushes the two heroes. He knocks Nightwing out, and fights Batgirl for several minutes before finally decapitating her. As Nightwing wakes up, he finds that all the prisoners have escaped with Deathstroke, and finds Batgirl's lifeless corpse far away from him. Tears ran down his cheek, and he contacts Batman, who is told of Batgirl. Ellen Yindel, the new Police Commisioner recently announced her plans to rid Gotham City of all vigilantes, no matter what side they are on, good or bad.
With Batman now being hunted by the Police Department, the heroes discuss what they must do next. Meanwhile, The Joker is on a killing spree, hunting down former comissioner Jeph Loeb, and shooting him point blank in the forehead. Having been tracked by Merlyn, The Joker also kills him, stabbing him in both eyes, until nothing but silence comes from him.
Batman and Nightwing investigate Nanda Parbat, where Ra's al Ghul is currently waiting. Batman discovers that it is him who had released The Joker and sent Deathstroke to Arkham to release the prisoners there. Ra's also releases Bane, who has been recharged with Venom, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, and Joker's Laugh Gas. Batman's back is broken severely, and thrown over the swinging bridge, with Nightwing just barely making it.
Batman is encountered by the spirits of his father and mother, Thomas and Martha Wayne. They manage to spark hope in him once again, but still doubts his current situation. He encounters Bluebird, a mysterious hero, who manages to help him and fix him up. Nightwing, Red Hood, Batwoman, and Catwoman lead the fight against The Joker, alongside other villains, such as The Riddler, Scarecrow, Mister Freeze, Two-Face, and KGBeast, mercenaries like Deathstroke, Deadshot, Sportsmaster, and Cheshire, and being supported by the crime gangs of crime lords like Tobias Whale, Black Mask, Frank Bertinelli, Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni, and Rupert Thorne, which makes things look bleak. As they begin fighting, Two-Face manages to shoot out one of Catwoman's eyes, but is ended up killed by Bane, who has arrived on jet.
Batman returns to the fight, where he incapacitates Riddler, Scarecrow and KGBeast, but his arm is frozen and broken off by Mister Freeze. Commissioner Yindel and the Gotham Police then arrives, and breaks up the fight, but is able to shoot down a couple of villains.
Having retreated back to the Batcave, Batman formally introduced Bluebird to everyone, and also helped Catwoman with a new prosthetic eye. Just out of nowhere, a explosion ruptured the cave, and Deathstroke, along with Sportsmaster, Bronze Tiger, China White, and Copperhead come walking into the cave, having known Batman's secret identity. They are able to capture Robin and Huntress, and leave, setting the entire Wayne Manor to explode within 10 minutes. They just barely escape, as the entire Manor explodes, along with the Batcave. With nowhere else to turn to now, and with Alfred and Lucius Fox missing, the heroes travel to Jim Gordon's home and seek help.
As they form a plan to retake Gotham, the TV suddenly turns on, with The Joker pointing guns at both Robin and Huntress. He tells all of Gotham to report Batman if seen, and kill any followers of his, or else both heroes die. And to prove he's serious, he electrifies Huntress to death. A wave of silence has stuck Gotham, and Batman leaves to get Robin.
However, the police are guarding the entire outside of Gordon's house, surrounding him. As Yindel is about to shoot Batman, Gordon steps in front of him and takes the bullet, seriously wounding him before dying. Batman then throws batarangs at Yindel and the force, paralyzing them for a short few minutes. Without any outside supporters now, Batman and Nightwing plan to siege against The Joker and Ra's Al Ghul for good. They attack the base where they're holding Robin. Hush and Blockbuster are both knocked out, and as Batman saves Robin, he is stabbed in the head by KGBeast, who then kills himself due to Psycho Pirate.
With yet another person close to him dead, Batman leaves Nightwing and heads on to Gotham Observatory, where he takes down Man-Bat, Mad Hatter, and Psycho Pirate, before being confronted by Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Zatanna. Superman warns Batman to stop this crusade and let the entire Justice League intervene, but Batman refuses. The two heroes then begin to fight each other, with it seemingly going on for hours, until Batman grabs his kryptonite sword, and cuts Superman's arm off. He warns Superman to leave Gotham and leave it to Batman. Green Arrow and The Question (who shows up) ends up joining Batman's side.
Batman, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batwoman, and The Question goes off to find Deathstroke and the other merceneries/assassins and stop them, while Nightwing, Green Arrow, Katana, Bluebird, and The Creeper heads to take out the crime bosses supplying the troops, which include Tobias Whale, Frank Bertinelli, Black Mask, and Rupert Thorne.
Batman's team manages to get past most of the assassins, but is stopped when Deathstroke rips out Red Robin's spine, and poisons The Question. Meanwhile, Nightwing's team achieved their mission and stopped the crime bosses, but discovers Katana is a traitor, who then blinds The Creeper. She then activates the detonator for a mega-bomb, which was placed under Wayne Industries while they fought Black Mask, and the entire building begins to crumble down and fall on the south side of Gotham, killing thousands more.
Batman finds Ra's Al Ghul, who sends the entire League of Assassins attacking him. After they fail, Lady Shiva, Silver Monkey, Black Spider, Ubu, and his daughters Talia and Nyssa are sent to kill him. When most fail, Talia manages to stab him in the eye, but also fails to kill him. Elsewhere, Nightwing, Batwing, and Bluebird confronts The Joker and Bane, who rough them up, and captures Nightwing. The Joker meets up with Ra's, and they give Batman a choice; that Nightwing and Alfred are in 2 seperate areas in Gotham, and he must choose who to save, while the other dies. But if he does not hurry up, they will both die.
Batman quickly goes after Alfred, while the others go for Nightwing. When they hear that they are both in Arkham, they regroup there and run inside, where they discover only Nightwing is inside. He rushes to Blackgate, where he is able to find Alfred, but is tensed up when he sees a bomb attached to Alfred. Alfred then tells Batman to leave right away, and dies in the explosion, which Batman witnesses. He takes off his mask and tries finding Alfred's body, but when he finds it, tears come rushing down his face, and he plans to finally end it.
Batman gets back to the others, who ask him of Alfred. When he silently walks past them, they too are silenced and tears begin to run down some of their faces. Batman finds The Joker once again, and they end up in hand-to-hand combat. After finally getting the upper hand, Batman trips The Joker and snaps his neck, killing him. He then goes after Ra's, who knows this is the end for him and blows up the Lazarus Pit once and for all. Ra's and Bane both simantaneously fight Bruce, who is also confronted by the Police. And as Batman tries to save them, Bane rips off Detective Crispus Allen's head, and throws the remains at Commander Sarah Essen Gordon, who is then told of the passing of her husband Jim, and her daugher Barbara, and mourns for them.
Batman finally is able to end it, as he stabs Ra's in the back, and blow Bane's head off via grenade. But when told that there is still a bomb in play, set at the Gotham Capital, he tells Nightwing that if he doesn't make it, he must take over the role of Batman, and that he always thought of him as the perfect son. They hug before Batman leaves, who sacrifices himself in the end to save Gotham from any more utter destruction.
A memorial is held for Bruce Wayne, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Jim and Barbara Gordon, Vic Sage, Crispus Allen, and Helena Bertinelli, who all perished, and the secret identities of the heroes were kept secret. Nightwing becomes Batman in the end, leading a team of him, Red Hood, Batwoman, Batwing, Catwoman, Azrael, and Etrigan The Demon to save Gotham City, and hopefully the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, a spiritual ghost fuses with the soul of Crispus Allen, and becomes The Spectre, Renee Montoya quits the police force after getting a letter from the late Vic Sage and becomes the new Question, while Amanda Waller officially commands the Suicide Squad on their first mission; to find the remaining villains of the Gotham Massacre and kill them.
Development:[]
Concept
After the success of Arkham Knight, Rocksteady Games felt that one more Batman Arkham game could happen. So in early 2015, they began work on the game, in which took them until at least June of 2015 to finish all the designs and characters. It took them another 7 months to finish the story. They finally announced the game in February 2016, in which the game's main message is that it is the fall of heroes, and the rise of villains. Every Batvehicle was included in the game, as this was most likely the biggest game Rocksteady Games has ever worked on. The tone of the game was also the most darkest of the series.
Release:[]
Batman: Arkham Destruction, was released on November 30, 2016 in North America, December 3 in Europe, and December 4 in Austrailia for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Wii U, and PC. Within 8 days, the game made more than $1.5 Billion dollars, making it the fastest grossing media released in history. A Game Of The Year edition was made available on September 13, 2017, for the previously mentioned consoles.
Pre-Order Bonuses
Pre-Order DLC was released for the game, with Azrael, Etrigan The Demon, Talon, Maxwell Lord, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Zatanna all being playable DLC characters. Also, costumes such as New 52 Earth-2, Dark Knight Returns Armor, Vampire Batman, Troika, and Zur-En-Arrh were made available from several retailers, such as EB Games, GameStop, Future Shop, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart.
Downloadable Content
Costumes and Characters were primarily Downloadable Content, as codes were provided with the Games. Costumes, such as Sinestro Corps, Knightfall, Pirate Batman, Caveman Batman, Kingdom Come, and Justice were available for DLC, and characters like Poison Ivy, Psycho Pirate, Professor Pyg, Mr.Toad, Magpie, The Creeper, and Ellen Yindel were used. Storylines were also DLC, such as the Prologue, which told what happened before the game, and Epilogue, which tells what happens after the game, along with The Future Of Batman, which focuses on Batman Beyond. On September 13, the Game Of The Year Edition was released, with all characters, costumes, and storylines, both Pre-Order and normal DLC were included.
Accolades:[]
| Award Show | Award | Won/Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| Spike Video Game Awards | Game Of The Year | Won |
| Studio Of The Year | Won | |
| Character Of The Year | Won | |
| Best Action-Adventure Game | Won | |
| Best DLC | Nominated | |
| Best Xbox Game | Won | |
| Best PlayStation Game | Won | |
| Best Nintendo Game | Nominated | |
| Best PC Game | Won | |
| Best Voice Actor | Won | |
| Most Anticipated Game | Won | |
| Best Game Of The Decade | Won | |
| Best Graphics | Won | |
| Video Game Hall Of Fame | Won | |
| Telegraph Video Game Awards | Best Acting Performance | Won |
| Best Developer | Won | |
| Best Graphics | Won | |
| Best Character | Nominated | |
| Best Game | Won | |
| Game Of The Year | Won | |
| Academy Of Interactive Arts & Sciences | Adventure Game Of The Year | Nominated |
| Action Game Of The Year | Won | |
| Action-Adventure Game Of The Year | Won | |
| Game Of The Year | Won | |
| Outstanding Achievement In Animation | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Achievement In Art Direction | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Achievement In Game Direction | Won | |
| Outstanding Achievement In Game Play Engineering | Won | |
| Writers Guild Of America | Video Game Writing | Won |
| Game Developers Choice Awards | Game Of The Year | Won |
| Excellence In Game Design | Won | |
| Excellence In Visual Arts | Nominated | |
| Excellence In Writing | Won | |
| Best Technology | Nominated | |
| British Academy Of Film And Television | Action Game | Won |
| Artistic Achievement | Nominated | |
| Best Game | Won | |
| Design | Won | |
| GAME Award | Won | |
| Performer | Won | |
| Story | Won | |
| Golden Joystick Award | Best Action-Adventure | Won |
| Best DLC | Nominated | |
| Golden Joystick Ultimate Game Of The Year | Won | |
| Top Gaming Moment | Nominated | |
| Writers' Guild Of Great Britain | Best Videogame Script | Won |
| Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing: Computer Entertainment | Nominated |