Things that go Bump in the Night

    Now its time for the DLC predator maps. Just like with the last section I will be playing through these with the character they were originally intended for. So even though everyone but Batman has horrible predator gadgets, thats how its going to be. I will say that as a general tip, if you're having trouble with finishing one or two medals for a challenge try completing it with what you can do, and then go back later. Playing through a level, and finding out its particulars will help in the long run.

How has this not killed someone?

Jailbreak

Class dismissed

This challenge puts you as Nightwing stopping Penguin's thugs in the destroyed section of GCPD (why is it destroyed? Why are you playing DLC without finishing the story?). This map is somewhat unique as it uses a large building. There are balconies you can access on both sides of it, and there are windows you can smash through to either attack or escape. Unfortunately, one of the medals is to NOT break any windows. There is also one of my favorite medal challenges; takeout the jammer last. This also includes a slight twist as it has to be via a grate takedown. Thank you Rocksteady. Finally, the last one is to take out 5 thugs with ledge takedowns. It also has a drone pilot on the interior second floor balcony. His drones patrols the lowest floor so be careful. I actually failed the window challenge because I accidentally misfired the REC. 

Trash Disposal 

As Robin finish off Two-Faces gang in the Hellsgate waste disposal center. The challenges include my favorite, leave the jammer till last, perform a shield bash on two thugs, and don't takeout any of the turrets. Oh yea and there are sentry turrets around the map. Thankfully Robin has a decent loadout for predator maps with both the explosive gel, and hacking device. This map has lots of open space for you to flee if you get spotted. But it also has a lot of turrets. Thankfully with the Hacking device you can temporarily disable one. Use this before you strike. Note: the turrets CAN interrupt your fear takedown, so plan accordingly.

Toy Soldiers

Selena's turn. These challenges are to remain unseen, takeout three guys from the ceiling, and stun a guy with caltrops then take him out. All of these are doable, but the unseen may take a few tries. Also be warned that there are turrets, but nothing is stopping you from disabling them. Be careful because there are also optically camo soldiers, and medics on the field. 

Selena really knows how to leave a guy hanging

Credit Crunch

Responsibilities of an adult, maturity of a child

Tim's back up to bat and this time its at the bank. This challenge has some interesting medals, like finish with a fear takedown (easy if you can set it up), shield bash three thugs (just hit and run), and takedown 3 thugs without moving (hint: use the remote hacking device). This is basically one of the noisy predator rooms where you get to be as loud as you want, but there is a time limit. 

Divine Intervention

Az just heard that Star Wars tickets are on sale.

Alright its Azrael's turn. Thankfully, while trying to be a copy bat, Az has made himself a valuable predator character. He has the disruptor, freeze blast, REC, gel, and smoke. In this challenge no silent takedowns, take out the drone controller with an environment takedown, and a takedown through a glass roof. There are medics, a drone controller, and tracker (scans for detective mode). All of whom make excellent targets for the disruptor (upgrades required). The drone controller takedown might be difficult, it specifically means you need to get him close enough to one of the blue-glowing objects, like a fuse box. Fortunately, if you take down everyone else he will start patrolling around, but there is no guarantee he will get close to the one area you need him to. I spent several minutes waiting for him to before giving up. The glass ceiling isn't much better as I never really noticed enemies patrolling near there. The no silent takedowns should be easy, just act aggressively, and hit and run. 

High Flyers

YES! This is a duel play predator map...with the Boys Wonder (don't tell them I called them that). Both Robin and Nightwing, together at last. For the challenges you have to glide kick as Robin, ledge takedown as Nightwing, and alternate each takedown, so each get one takedown then switch. The last shouldn't be too hard if you pay attention. The other two are laughably easy as well. There is a minigunner, I recommend using Robin's hacking device to take him out from afar. The medics should be your priority. Watchout as there are one or two cloaked enemies. One thing I noted while playing it was that it seems the detectability while on the beams that run across the ceiling was unpredictable. It seemed like I was getting spotting when I shouldn't have, and this goes for more than just this map. 

Stage Fright

Nightwing takes the stage at the movie studio. You start with a jammer on the field, but he can be taken out quickly at the beginning. I don't believe the jammer gets fixed if the medic revives him. You might want to spare the medic and let him heal guards to give you more victims to work with. You have to do 3 grate takedowns from 3 different grates, takeout 3 with the electrical blast, and perform 2 fear takedowns in 60 seconds. The first one will just take using the voice synthesiser, and luck. The electrical blast is a tall order as they need to be sent over the edge to be knocked out. But at least its 3 separate times and not getting three guys to go over at once. The last on takes timing and luck. You not only need to find two groups quickly that you can get close enough to, but also find a guy you can silently takeout between them. There are a lot of enemies for you to work with so try to pick your moments with this level.

And all it does is knock people out for a few seconds...

  

Chemical Reaction

Duel Play as Batman and Nightwing. There arn't too many enemies, and there are no specials. The problem here is the star challenges. Do not use Detective mode, be unseen, and take out 5 guys in 5 seconds. All three are tall orders. I can't really give any advice for the first two, but with the last one you will likely need to use a combination of fear takedown, and calling in your partner to help. 

Vertigo

Just some militia, an empty construction zone, and a Robin. This is a large, open area for you to fly around in. Unfortunately there are very few good grapple points for you to hide in. To get the three stars you have to do a corner takedown (easy), not be seen, and save the jammer for last. The unseen will just take luck and trying the level several times. The remote hack allows for some long range takedowns, like with power generators. There are some good cross beams to grapple to in the middle of the zone. The corner takedown, while easy, will take some effort with out the ability to see enemies coming though walls. This fight will test your ability to rely on your eyes, and not just detective mode.

Uncontainable

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom"

Use both Batman and Robin at the shipping yard. You need to takeout half of the enemies with each hero. That means six each. You also need to call in Batman to takeout one. Finally, as Batman seal an enemy in a room (the one you can close the shutters by hacking), and use Robin to take him out. You simply need to hack the door while someone is inside, and then call in Robin on them. Be careful as Robin can't pass through the door until its opened, and you can't switch back while hes not up high. This can force you into a risky retreat as you have to exit through an exposed floor grate. Else, this is fairly straightforward. Just keep track of how many each has taken out.

Sky High

Robin is back on the airship, but this time without Dick for backup (it is however a different map). You need to take out the minigunner first, stun all medics at the same time, and take out an enemy with a power cell. The latter just takes waiting for someone to walk by one of the cells. The medic means using Robins snap-flashes, you only have three for the whole level, so you can't afford to misplace, or detonate one early. Finally the minigunner is a challenge. You have to hope that he walks close enough to some environmental hazard, and that you're in a position to act on it. 

Financial Crash  

Ha! ....someone wanna go see if they're breathing?

Another noisy predator bank map. Same as with the others, takeout a certain number of enemies, all moves can't be heard, and there is a time limit as they steal all of them money. First challenge, avoid taking damage. Just watch your targets, and restart if you get hit. Second, takeout 3 guys with one chandelier. This means making one fall by hacking it. This is quite challenging as its hard getting 3 guys in such a small area on this map. Thugs don't seem to group up like on other maps. Finally, avoid any fear takedowns. This one is quite simple as you just have to not rely on a fear takedown. Really I do like these bank maps because they throw a spin on the traditional Arkham predator gameplay. Also they have all kinds of fun traps like electric floors, and escalators. 

Deconstruction

Finally we have Batman fighting evil at the City Vision construction site. This map is fairly contained, and yet open. There are lots of walls, electromagnets and grates to use. The first challenge is to prevent enemies from deploying sentry guns. You can see them scattered about, and sabotage them with the disruptor. I recommend doing this before engaging the enemy. Even with detective mode jammed they still glow in the disruptors sights. Listen for the audio clues that someone is about to deploy one and keep an eye on them. if you haven't sabotaged the one that is getting set up, stop them at all costs. Next you have to do a grate takedown. This is actually really easy as the jammer stands on top of it to start. Just saying, it makes a great first target. Lastly, you need to disarm 3 guys with electromagnetic generators. These are the machines you can set off with the REC. I have spotted two on the level, so just make sure you get at least two guys with one of them. This is a really fun level since it has a lot of the fun elements to mess around with.

I'm really starting to think Batman broke his one rule.

Fur, Feathers, and Fists

Since launch, Rocksteady has released several Crime Fighter packs with various challenge missions for most of the playable characters. Unfortunately, Harley Quinn, and Red Hood haven't received any challenge maps specifically for them, but due to the addon allowing for all fighters to be used in most maps, this is of little concern.

  Jason asked nicely 

     For this run down I will be working under the assumption you are playing as the character intended for the map, if you find it easier or harder playing a map meant for Robin as Nightwing then go ahead.

Shark Bait

Don't call him a sidekick 

Play as the original Robin (so Nightwing) at Bludhaven docks in a four round death match. Remember as Dick you have the REC, batarang-like escrima throw, electric pulse, and grapple at your disposal. Your two special moves, aside from the takedown, are the multi-shock, and escrima flurry. Both basically strike opponents around you so try to use them in the middle of a group. The first two rounds are pretty simple. The last two have two big guys, and the last has a bunch of stun sticks. You'd think Dick would have gotten Bruce to teach him how to destroy those. Remember the basics of combat maps from earlier to help, and especially try to get a flawless combo in at least the first two rounds.

Scales of Justice

"He's just a kid!" - Guy who was just beaten up by a kid

     Robin's turn. Same as before, four rounds, but in Two-Face's "Courthouse". Robin has grapple, his shield bash, snap flash (like the explosive gel), and birdarang. His specials are a throw (not very useful, but its a variation bonus), and a spin with his staff. Robin has a lot of variation so make sure to take advantage of it. Ok this one seems to have less "dangerous" baddies. Remember you can use the instant takedown on one of the big guys if you need, but try to do the beatdown on one as the hit counter will go crazy. Also listen for the audio clues for a thug going for the gun case, like Nightwing, Tim lacks the Disarm and Destroy move so if one gets onto the field you can't take it out.  

Destruction Line

Selena returns to Riddler's factory for this challenge. Unlike the previous ones, there are no big enemies. I guess all of the freakishly large thugs in Gotham were taken. But there is a unique twist in this map; environmental hazards. Round two sees the walls become electrified. You can use this to your advantage by sending thugs flying into them for a takedown. The next round starts lasers that move randomly across the field. These will be your biggest danger. Remember, Selena only has her whip, bolas, and caltrops (three for the whole challenge, so use wisely). Also the bolas are mapped to square, and her whip, which is slower, is on the batarang button. Her specials are mirrors of Nightwings. In Round three a thug with a gun spawns, so watch out. 

Clockwork

The Dark Knight returns in this map in Barbara's Tower. Space is tight, and the marks for each star are lower, but there are also less thugs. You need to maximize your variation and not get caught up just punching everyone. If you're looking for that last bit of variation bonus to squeeze out of Batman, don't forget the freeze grenade, I...may or may not sometimes. In the last round there are two big guys, several stun sticks, and a gun. Be careful where you target, and use Disarm and Destroy, finally someone who has it.

Try not to get blood on Barb's floor

Wild Cat

Get ready to go wild as Catwoman on the western set in the Panessa movie studio. This is a timed challenge with you having to acquire as high a score as possible in the time limit. Each takedown will give you a tiny bonus to time so try to focus on taking out thugs as quickly as you can. Also the gadget and move variation bonus's still apply so make sure you try and use everything at least once. While it might be tempting to use the takedown special, it can end up having a long animation that burns lots of the clock. Similarly, Selena's aerial move (stun + dodge) has a long animate. Keep in mind that her beatdown, and Whip Trip are both fairly quick, and effective. Also thankfully you will only find normal enemies armed with just bats (the club, not the Knight) and knives. Try to use the blade dodge takedown as much as you can to maximize your efficiency. 

Quarantine

Teach the militia in Ace Chemicals that Batman isn't the only one they need to worry about. This challenge brings in the new medic enemy. Most of the rounds will have at least two of them. You can either target them first, or try to use them. You can let the medics heal soldiers to try and milk the round for more points. Remember, the electrical charge they can give thugs gets dissipated by most of your gadgets. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you are doing a beatdown on a target try to angle the camera so you can see the enemies around you, some bad guys have deceptive range that might make you miss the wind up if you're not careful. Also the last round is VERY dangerous, with multiple gun-armed thugs, armored guys, medics, and combat experts (the ninjas). 

Guardians

Seriously! Why are you a criminal if theres a crazy crime-fighter who can do this?!

The original Dynamic Duo are back defending Panessa Studios from evil. This Duel Play challenge features a timer, so efficiency is the name of the game. Try to avoid the awesome duel takedowns as they add time (with style at least). One bonus is that you can add lots of variation bonus with both of their moves. This one should be fairly easy to 3 star.

Precinct

This challenge sees Robin taking down Penguin's goons in the GCPD parking area. The enemies are fairly basic with just a handful of stun stick and big guys to give you trouble. No real need to worry about this one. 

High Interest

Own the skies with Batman. This is a difficult challenge not just because of what they throw at you, but how they do it. There are no rounds, just a series of spawning waves so you need to make each hit count. You will have to face big enemies, combat experts, shields, stunsticks, and guns, both spawning and from boxes. Also there will be junk littered around that thugs will try to throw at you, so keep an eye out for those, especially look for the propane tanks you can use to finish an unlucky guy off with. There are also some environmental takedown areas to exploit in the corners. 

Flying Grayson

Why do people mess with these heroes again?

This is another Nightwing map. Fight an endless wave of thugs in the Arkham Knight's underground base. The tip here is to last as long as you can. With practice it should be fairly easy to last long enough to get the three stars. Guns WILL spawn so keep an eye out for bad guy's loading so you can stop them. Also if the big guys are giving your trouble you can just save your special moves for them. Ultimately, just remember that this is a losing battle from the beginning. Don't sweat losing your streak. 

Feline Frenzy

Another fight till you die with Catwoman this time. This one adds medics to the mix, and while their reviving won't really matter here, the electrical field will so watch out. Unfortunately, without Disarm and Destroy you will just have to use all of your gadgets and moves than last as long as you can. 

Assault on GCPD

The new Dynamic Duo defend GCPD from the militia. This is the same as with Nightwing, but no time limit. Just switch between the two, hitting as many of each hero's variations as you can, and try to get the flawless bonuses. 

Newton's Cradle

Another combat time trial, this time with Nightwing. Same basic principle, as you fight tougher enemies will spawn. Eventually you will have to contend with guns, stun sticks, and giants. Again not as hard of one to win.

Two for the price of one

Cat's Conundrum

This is actually a fairly unique challenge map that should seem familiar to anyone who has played at least part of the Riddler/Catwoman story in the game. You play as Selena and fight waves of Riddlerbots, of both blue and red varieties. The catch, you can only hurt red ones, but can toggle the colors by moving through platforms on each wall. This map will test your ability to precisely target enemies. You can try to keep streaks going as long as you can, but eventually you will have to break it to switch all of the bots to the right color. 

Teen Titan

CATCH!

Finally its Robin's turn in an endless bad guy beatdown. Its the same drill as before, fight till you die. After awhile the center will be a sea of different enemies, it makes Robin's Staff Spin pretty fun to use. They will throw pretty hard enemy types, like the armored shield guy, pretty early, but it isn't too hard of a challenge.

Self Reflection (For class)

     I have enjoyed this class. I feel like you stressed technique of writing in everyday settings. I feel like you emphasized writing and presenting well in projects we enjoy and have interest in, over ones we were assigned and find uninteresting. I feel that this has helped make our projects better, by mostly being in subjects we are knowledgeable in. I do, however, believe that the group proposal was too large of a step up from our previous works in this class. We went from suddenly having easy projects where we did not need to do much research, to a herculean undertaking, that required lots of research, and intense focus on details. The jump from our last project to this one in work load was very noticeable. Regardless I have enjoyed most of the projects we have done in this class. I like that I basically got to play video games and say it was research for a college class. I have learned from here that while there may be times when I need to be as specific and wordy as needed, for instance a comprehensive manual, or a few hundred word reflection. But there are also times when I should be concise with my word choice, and that happens to be most of life. I learned how to write memos for workplace project updating. I can easily see how this knowledge will be useful in my life. So that's all, here's a picture of Batman Beyond.

Lights! Camera! Afterburner!

Frankly this is some of the least insane alternate costumes

     Part of the DLC for Arkham Knight includes a series of batmobile packs themed after different Batman eras. These currently include the Dark Knight series, the 1960's tv show, the Tim Burton series, and most recently, the Batman vs Superman car. Each pack contains two tracks, and a car model designed after the car from that series. Many of the tracks seem to be set on movie stages, almost like those shows were just movies in the Arkham universe. Also most of these come in 3, and 1 lap versions, the 1 laps being the a run through the last one. Unfortunately, these special batmobiles can only be used in non-combat challenge maps, as they cannot transform like the AK car. I get that adapting these versions into tank forms would have been a challenge and lots of work for the devs, but it would have been SOOOOOO cool. Imagine the 60's Batmobile with a tank turret coming out of the trunk!

    All of these maps are fairly challenging. Many took me multiple tries to actually finish. A lot of these actually have slight variations on the base game maps. This is welcome as a bunch of new Riddler tracks with him telling you even more of how much smarter he is than you would have just been annoying. Instead you get Mr. Fox to do that. Ultimately don't feel bad if you have trouble with these maps. Since completing them isn't part of the story (and no one wants to pay for super easy content) they were designed to be a little more challenging than the original maps.

Cauldron Speedway TT

This is just like the other time trials. Race through several checkpoints, trying to get the best time. You start on Founder's and bounce to Bleake. The end happens to be the ramp to get to the roof of the movie studio.

Penguin Dockyard/ Batcave Set

HOLY HABERDASHER BATMAN!

These two maps are based off of the old 1960's Batman show, the one where they literally flashed things like "KERPOW!, BAM!, and BANG! when fight scenes happened. The gimmick on these is that the two gates on the Riddler tracks have been replaced with glowing blue and yellow cutouts of people. You can switch them on and off with the same button, and hitting them gives you a time penalty. There are also green stop watches you can hit that give you a time bonus. Just remember that like the time bonuses in other tracks you need to balance the time they give you with how much time you lose going after them. Also take the time to enjoy reminiscing about a simpler time, a cornier time.  

HOLY TIME PARADOX BATMAN

Ashes/ Cataclysm

Ashes and Cataclysm both take place on action movie sets that look more like war zones than city streets. This fits with the Tumbler's more armored design. While you traverse these tracks it seems like you are in combat. Pieces of the tracks explode around you, and a helicopter takes pot shots at you from the sky (don't worry you don't take damage/time penalties). On Ashes there is a wall you must race across that gives the one in the last Riddler track a run for most annoying obstacle. This might be a good time to lay off of the afterburner.Cataclysm has series of ramps across what look like rooftops. These jumps are easy to miss and will send you into a time wasting drop. so try to line it up before gunning it.

Pictured: Still not a riddle

Cobblepot's Causeway/ Joker Parade

Seriously, they felt the need to try and explain this a in-game show?

These two are based off of the Tim Burton Batman in the late 80's/90's. Both feature spinning blades of different colors you can alternate between, more in line with the Riddler tracks. Watch it because both of these have sections it is easy to slip off the track, and times when you might switch gates before clearing the last one. Again just take time to learn these tracks.

Batmobile Proving Ground/ Waynetech - Loop

These are two fairly unique tracks based around the idea of test tracks for the car. Proving Ground is a simple figure eight design that is supposed to test your drifting. Lucius will remind you to try, however I felt like most of the course was too shallow of a turn to really drift. The first lap has no obstacles except staying inside of the course, leaving the narrow strip will penalize you. Lap two sees the addition of gates and beams you can toggle like all the rest. Finally on lap 3 they keep the toggle gates, while adding red ones you can't turn off. Good luck.

Its facilities like this that make me wonder how Bruce's identity isn't known by EVERY construction worker in the state

Loop earns its name in more than one way. Not only is the entire track a tube, but point is not to reach an end, but hit all of the goals. Missing a green gate will cause you to have to try and go through the section again till you hit it. The red barriers will cause the next green one to disappear, so avoid those red ones. Of course this is one of the ones that doesn't come in more than one versions. Remember, it you go too slow, take too sharp of a turn, or stay too close to the top of a loop you will fall. This tracks tests your accuracy as a driver, not just your speed.

I kinda feel like the BvS car is a step down after Arkham Knight

Arkham Review

     So since I have done a lot of these posts I have decided I may as well try my hand at reviewing this game. I haven't gotten three stars in all challenges (sorry if you thought otherwise) but I have completed the whole game and activated the full Knightfall Protocol (if you don't know, you basically have to do everything).

Story

    I find the story to be a mixed bag. There are elements that I like, and ones I found disappointing. I will avoid spoilers, but there might be a few minor story points in here.

The Set Up

Tell me again how this Bat-Skype helps

     Arkham Knight uses an almost generic scenario for Gotham. In a somewhat interesting set up, where Gordon claims this is the story of how the Batman died. You start by watching the Joker being cremated, probably a decision by the writers so no one would constantly think this was Arkham Origins where the main bad guy ended up being the Joker. Then there is a short scene where you play in first person as a GCPD officer. Basically that ends with a diner being consumed with Scarecrow's newest fear toxin, and his subsequent threat against the city come morning. This leads to a mass evacuation where a city the size of New York is evacuated with little preparation in a few hours flat. Being from the south and knowing hurricane evacuations I find this a little unlikely, but hey its a comic book video game. This puts you in a city where almost everybody you meet on the street is a rioter you can feel good about beating up. Also there doesn't appear to be any women generic bad guys. I can't decide if thats sexist or trying to avoid showing Batman beating up women (who arn't dressed as clowns).

The Beginning

     The game starts with you tracking down leads on Scarecrow. This leads you to Ace Chemicals, which was shown in pre-release footage. Ace is one of the best story sections in my opinion. It helps introduce you to the Arkham Knight who is the co-villain for this game with Scarecrow. This section is where I like him the best. He seems confident without being cocky, and is pretty interesting. When you first see him face to face he taunts you calmly while also telling his men exactly how to shoot to kill you. The writers make his knowledge of Batman's tactics and weaponry very evident. I feel like later in the game he becomes too one dimensional, and just a generic revenge seeking bad guy. Also typical plot driven inconsistencies. In the beginning of the Ace section, Scarecrow stops AK from killing Batman, then at the end locks you in a chamber thats about to explode. MAKE UP YOUR MIND CRANE! Do you want him to die before or after you make him afraid. 

The Middle

     The actual story is pretty decent. Although not particularly noteworthy. For those who haven't played I will avoid spoiling what I thought was the best part of their storytelling, and one that persists until you finish the main story. I will just say it starts at the end of the Ace Chemicals section. Basically you do a few story missions, and then get a message saying "That will take some time, drop by such and such when you're ready." (Basically as soon as you want) "In the mean time here are some more side quests." This actually works in breaking up when you unlock sides missions, and reminds you there is other stuff to do. Also, new to Arkham you get upgrade points by completing these. So bravo to the devs for making side quests more rewarding. Unfortunately aside from some parts this story just feels very generic superhero story.

The Ending

     I LOVE the ending. The final "Confrontation" (with whom is a spoiler) is just amazing and any Batman fan will be going crazy with excitement. Also I will say that while I feel as though most of the boss fights in this game are a step back from AC's, the final fight with the Arkham Knight is great, and tests your abilities as a master of shadows. That being said I found the Full Knightfall Protocal ending a little lackluster. It has a "leaving it up to their imagination" type ending that I don't like. At least it had a feeling of being a defining ending, so hopefully Rocksteady won't be releasing a new Arkham game unless they have a really good reason (more money isn't one).

And people think clowns are scary

Villains 

     Let me start by saying that thankfully the Joker is dead and gone. No AO style plot twists with the Joker being the Arkham Knight or something (good because the Knight is way too different from him). Despite what the first trailer would have you believe, most of the other big bad guys like Two Face and Penguin don't have some big part in the story at large. Yes they have their own side missions, and funded the AK but other than that they aren't important like in AC. Harley actually has some part in the main story,   although it really isn't important in the scheme of things. Scarecrow is by all measures the main villain. Let me tell you he looks TERRIFYING. A big jump from this appearance in AA. He is a constant presence throughout the story and, unlike many villains' plans in comic-book adapted media, his plan is actually pretty large scaled evil. Its also nice that his more serious tone is a good difference from the Joker.

     Finally, there's the Arkham Knight. He is the big mystery of this game. Unfortunately all of that stuff the devs said about him being a completely new character was just misinformation. Unless you consider an old character with a new look original. I will leave who exactly is under the cowl a secret, but of all of the "twists" in this story it is the most foreshadowed. I don't have a problem with hinting to a reveal before hand, but with the AK they practically shove who it is down your throat, especially at one particular section. At least he has a somewhat interesting motivation (if unoriginal).He wants revenge for something you don't know. He knows all of your tactics and taught the militia how to counter them. He has a sense of confidance bordering on arrogance that is fun to listen to at times. Unfortunately it seems that as the game goes on he loses some of his cool and becomes more and more just an off of the rack revenge seeking bad guy. One interesting aspect that doesn't seem to be brought up a lot is that the guys in the militia believe he cares for them (as much as a villain can). I feel like they should have written some moments later in the story to highlight this, like him giving up a chance to kill Batman to save a milia person, then lord it over Batman that he didn't leave a person to die (would make sense if you know who he is). Finally, his name has no real significance that I can tell, its just so they could make a game title fitting with the others.

Allies

"Robin, you and Harley go play while the adults talk"

     When I saw the "All Who Follow You" trailer I got really excited. I thought that finally Nightwing, Robin, and others would actually be useful in the main story. I was disappointed. Nightwing and Catwoman both basically just help you out in side quests, and while Robin is in the main story some, he doesn't really do anything to help after one section partway through. I was hoping that since they were playing up all of the bad guys coming together that this would mean all of Bruce's allies would play an important part in the conclusion. But despite clearly being able to use some help, Bruce constantly tells the others that he doesn't. Perhaps its in character, but I would have liked Batman to accept that he needed help in arguably the most dangerous night of the series. The GCPD don't really even do anything except play the helpless sidekick in need of rescuing when Robin isn't around. The only member of the gang who plays a big role throughout is Oracle, AKA Barbara Gordon. I won't spoil the story with her, but she is at least part of it for a good portion.

     I can at least say that the Duel Play system works well. You basically go into fights with an ally, and can swap between the two at any time. You can also do Duel Takedowns when you switch after filling up a meter, but the animations get dull quickly. There is also a predator version of this where you can use both characters to take down mini-gunners quickly, or let your ally takeout a target while your current character watches. Unfortunately this feature is used precisely ONE time throughout the story. Thankfully one of the dlc challenge maps uses this feature. I hope that more dlc uses this as it is fun to have two heroes taking out thugs together.

Gameplay

     

     This is where Arkham Knight shines. They wisely kept many features, while adding fun new ones.

Traversal 

     One of the big improvements is to traversing the city. The glide mechanic received some significant work. This works in tangent with the new design of the city. A bigger emphasis on vertical scale gives you more room to dive and rise. The grapnel boost has also received improvements. You can now upgrade it to help slingshot you even farther, and faster through the sky. One feature I really like is that you can "queue up" a grapple. While zipping towards an object, if the geometry matches up well enough, you can press the button again to immediately latch onto a higher point as soon as you land.

     Then of course there is the Batmobile. While very controversial among the community, I enjoy its addition. I have already given a description of its many features in a previous post. For those who played Titanfall you may have enjoyed ejecting out of the titan, Well you might enjoy the feeling of flying out of the Batmobile. Thankfully this won't be as such a one-time deal as with the titan. You can fly out of the car while barreling through the streets of Gotham. Like the grapnel boost this can be upgraded, you can eventually charge it up by holding X to fly like a jet out into the sky.

     Be it in the air, or on the ground, Gotham's Knight can be there.

Combat

Why do they never aim at the shield guy's exposed feet?

     This has been one of the Arkham series's strongest points throughout all of the games. Thankfully the devs realized this and kept it largely unchanged, except for a few well received improvements.

     I have already gone over many of the changes, and new features in previous sections, so I will let you look them up, and not restate everything here. You would be looking for the "Into the Fray", and "Gothic Knightmare" posts.

The City

This is right next to the City?! And people blame Batman for all of the crazies

     Exploring Gotham City is one of the fun parts of this game, and is essentially everything outside of challenge maps and missions. There are groups of bad guys to take on (unfortunately you will only really find the basic ones). At certain points you can access the challenges. There are "riddles" to solve. Note, if you plan on completing everything I highly recommend completing riddles, and interrogating Riddler informants as you go through the story. It'll make it a lot easier than waiting for after the story.

     One new feature in Knight is that thugs in cars will be driving around. You can take them out easily in the Batmobile, and they will try to run if they see you in the car, TRY to run. However if they spot you on the ground they will try to run over you. Oddly enough after running over a well trained, heavily armored martial artist they think, "We got this" and get out and try to fight you. Usually miffed about getting run over, I bring in MY car. Finally, one of the things in the city I love most are the easter eggs. I'm not just talking about all of the references to Batman's world and characters, but to other DC characters. Running around the islands you'll see ads for LexCorp, see the Gotham branch of Queen Industries, and one of my favorites, some militia thugs discussing the "freak" in Metropolis (There are several references to the Man of Steel.

Design

Man! That was a new suit too!

     Overall I like the look of the characters, the team really made use of the stronger equipment of the the current gen to up the look of everything.

Characters

     I must confess the character models are a bit of a mixed bag for me. Batman looks AMAZING! Look at Batman in the new suit. It looks awe inspiring. You can see the plates moving the look is just terrifying. The other designs for Batman look just as highly designed.

Again, Joker IS NOT the Arkham Knight

     Robin, Nightwing and the other playable characters all look good as well. Although I think I like Robin's hood in AC. The villain's as well look great. Scarecrow looks terrifying, and the Knight is pretty good looking, just check out his visor. Man-bat (minor spoiler) is pretty well designed.

      However, and perhaps this is more opinion, but I don't like how Barbara, Jim, and some of the non-masked characters look. Of course I guess if the devs specialized in any look, costumed character would be the prefered. The same goes for the unmasked villains, I don't care for the look of Penguin and Riddler in this game.

Did Jim become President since Arkham City?

City

     The city looks good as well. While obviously not as highly detailed as the Batman costumes, it still looks good. In fact, I'd say it looks more like a comic-book Gotham than AC or AO. There are a lot more unusual structures throughout the city, like the monorail station. The underground tunnels you traverse, the garden, and Wayne Tower all look like they could be in a comic. While I won't go into detail about what, something happens that dramatically changes the look of the city for a short time. this is really well done. Its strange, and cool to see the familiar city suddenly become anything but.

Verdict

     I love this game. Its fun, inventive, and at parts, challenging. It keeps what is fun, and engaging about the previous games. It also brings new elements, like enemies, tools, and the car, that 

 

Instructions Project (Minecraft)

This is a project where I had to instruct the class on making something. I chose a device from Minecraft that I made myself. Unfortunately, it seemed that the original document did not translate well into this blog, so the spacing with the pictures is a little off.

Connor Nelson

William Montesano

Eng365

Introduction

            Welcome. You have been selected to participate in this project as our guinea pig. You will be attempting to recreate a jump pad I built in the game Minecraft. Do not worry, while preferred, experience playing Minecraft is not required, and you have been provided with all of the materials necessary for the project. For those unfamiliar with the controls; WASD controls movement, and the mouse controls where you are looking.

What you will need

            Minecraft by Mojang

            (In game) Piston(1), Slime block(1), Button(1), A creative world

1.      Getting into the world: To begin click on the Singleplayer button. Then double click on ENG 365.

2.      Dig the hole: Create a hole in the ground, by left clicking the spot, three (3) spaces in front of the pillar in front of you.

3.      Selecting the piston: Select the piston in your inventory. It is in the second slot and can be selected by pressing the 2 key.

4.      Place the piston: Place in the hole you just created by moving the crosshairs over the bottom of the hole and press the right key. If correctly done the top of the piston (the wooden part) will be the only visible part.

5.      Placing the slime block: Now select the slime block in the third slot of your inventory and place one on top of the piston. You will use similar steps to how you selected and placed the piston.

6.      Setting up the button: Finally place the button on the ground block adjacent to the slime block between it and the pillar.

This should complete the jump pad. To test you can hop onto the slime block and press the button. Go ahead and try to get onto the platform
.

Visual Media Project

For my class I am posting a visual media project I made. I made a brief explanation of the various power sets in the game: InFamous: Second Son. (Yes I know another superhero game for the same class)
http://prezi.com/udjn77tzs7nk/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

I hope you enjoyed my presentation, yes I did all of the narration myself. Now here is a picture of Red Hood being awesome.

Group Proposal

This post is for my class, and I am posting a group proposal report.

This is a proposal for additions to the ULL Bus, and Shuttle system. This was made by the group of Connor Nelson, Julianna Brooks, Cullen Dejion, and Joshua Jackson.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Ug4E3XmqvLeWtuWkdiTjZheFU/view?usp=sharing