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.

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 

 

Nightmare Incarnate

     Ok so I don't know how many of you have which DLC but I will do posts on some of them just cover them.

     Note: The game makes a point that this is high difficulty content. So keep in mind that while this may be available to do as soon you load the game, it would be a good idea to wait till you have some upgrades and experience under your belt before tackling this.

     First off I'll do the Scarecrow challenges. Imagine the combat zone challenges from the last post. Now imagine they used Riddler tracks and there was just one combat section at the very end. Thats basically whats happening here. For all of these you have to race through these tracks based off of sections of the city. However, you are essentially in a nightmare form of Gotham populated by a giant version of Dr. Crane. While racing through this hell, you will need to avoid various obstacles that his supreme fearfulness throws at you. If you played Arkham Asylum then the design of these three courses will seem familiar. Ultimately, you need to run through these to get the layout down so that you can get a good time. I also recommend that you invest in some Batmobile upgrades before, especially the armor. Finally, each will have a boss fight at the end where you must fight the giant specter of Scarecrow and a drone guard that he summons. Tip: While you can damage him, hold down the button for the Vulcan while firing the 60mm as it reloads. This will maximize your DPS.

Man! I hate traffic.

#1 Scarecrow Nightmare 1

For the first of the challenges you will be on Bleake Island. You will race through the city as Scarecrow tries to taunt you. Honestly he should leave that to other villains, or at least get the knight to write his stuff. Also it seems that he has different sets of dialogue he uses for different run throughs. As you charge through the streets you will have to avoid giant "syringes" that shoot through the ground. Also you will see meteor-like projectiles hitting the ground in front of you. Avoid those spots as they leave behind fire that will damage your car and cost you time. Finally, you will reach the Panessa studio lot, and the Big Bad Bogeyman. He will summon waves of drones when you damage him enough. First they will be Rattler's, but later waves will have Mumba. After destroying all of his toys time will slow down for a few seconds, use this to target him and unleash whatever level of missile barrage you have. Also beware as Scarecrow will fire laserbeams from his eyes, send "crows" (basically the mumba missiles) at you, and, worst of all, think his dialogue is scary. At one point the helicopter from the first boss fight shows up. Also he ends up summoning some phantoms occasionally who rush the car. Take them out with the vulcan.  

Good thing all of my weapons work in this nightmare world he made

#2 Scarecrow Nightmare 2

Mostly same thing, but on Miagani. Scarecrow has some more tricks. While driving though the streets, he will fire his eyebeams at you. Also he throws cars that will explode and damage you. The boss fight at the orphanage is also mostly the same. In the second wave of drones they drop one of those stationary turrets. Prioritize that it. 

#3 Scarecrow Nightmare 3

Same as the last two. You will start on Founder's, then jump to Bleake, and finally jump to the Statue of Liberty rip-off in the middle for the final battle. Honestly there is nothing really new to share about this. The drone arrangement has been upgraded to Twin Rattlers and Dragons. Full honesty I found the dragons a little difficult to target with the lighting and colors the way they are. 

Note: I almost kind of hate that this is available from the beginning, and not through the story. Because of this all of Scarcrow's ranting is generic, or about Joker's death. I would have liked if this "nightmare" included some references to the events of the game. But thats just me. 

Angry Bruce: Street Warrior

     The hybrid Batmobile challenges have one common theme: the devs didn't feel they fit with either of the other two types. They form a kind of middle ground as in they aren't quite about straight combat and they aren't quite about racing. There are three different flavors of these guys: pursuits where you chase down and disable APCs and humvees, combat zones where you have to race through a course while stopping to destroy drones at different locations, and finally, two are showdowns with the fearsome Cobra tanks. In order to best organize these I will be shifting the order to fit these groupings.

Pursuit 

#1 Seek and Destroy

The first of the pursuit challenges, this one tasks you with tracking down and disabling APCs and humvees on Founder's Island. The Humvees give you less points but are weaker, while the APCs are much tougher, but give triple the points. Basically you have to just move around the area while searching for targets until you find one to hunt down. Press O to lock-on, or hold to switch. It takes about two hits to disable a humvee, but remember that ramming also works. It is basically a race against the clock as it counts down to get as many as you can. Successfully taking out one will give you a small time bonus, but be warned because getting hit by a rocket will lose you time. A good trick I learned is that you can use the sideswipe (X + left or right) for a quick dodge. It takes practice to get the timing down, but it may help you to avoid those shots. Keep trying and eventually you should reach that lofty 12 take downs. 

#3 Road Rage

Same as the first, but without those APCs. Remember to try and boost when you go in for a ram to get the most from the impact. Also keep in mind that it helps the lock-on if you get closer and getting farther does the inverse. 

He was doing 46 in a 45.

Combat Zones

#2 Knight Time Strike

On Founders' race through the course while destroying drones in the three zones along the way. Basically imagine one of the city race courses with a small combat section. Unlike in the combat section variety does not net you anything. Here its just about destroying all targets as quickly as possible. Thankfully they are all Rattlers in this one. Be careful though as one hit will add time to the clock. Do keep an eye out as there are time bonuses scattered throughout. 

#7 Drone Zone

Same as before, just more difficult. This time you will be doing several jumps so you may need to run it several times in order to get them down. Also once in the tunnel (you'll know which) you'll find three bonuses in a row by going around on the wall. They're the easiest to get so don't miss them. Finally, the last combat zone includes at least one Diamondback (I didn't get to count cus I wiped them all out at once). If you save your weapon energy you can wipe out all of the targets which will save you alot of time. 

Cobra Fights

#4 Big Game Hunter

I'm not going to lie. I don't like these. In the story, I feel like the devs made too many Cobra fights. They are basically the Arkham version of the ship stealth in Assassin's Creed Black Flag. Devs trying to push the game's stealth element with unstealthy vehicles. Yes they make good boss/mini-boss type fights, but are used too often. In this first one, you have to take down six Cobra. If you need to know how then please review the section on enemy drones in my other post: "The Dark Steed". The first catch is that if you are even detected you fail. While writing this I attempted it and was doing well. I needed one more to finish under the 2:30 time limit, but I was detected, not hit, detected, by one. My biggest tip for these: pick your engagements. If you can then avoid hitting one with others nearby as they will be alerted and move towards you. If you have to hit one thats close to another then try to find two that are moving in the same direction so you can hit the one in back. Also remember how I called the detection rule the first catch? Well the second is that there is another tank that you can't destroy thats also moving around. This should seem familiar to anyone who has beaten the game. For those who haven't: they did it for a boss fight...twice... 

 Well if at first you don't succeed...don't try it again on Batman.

#5 David and Goliath 

First of all, its like Goliath and slightly less Goliath. This is mostly the same as # 4, but without the boss Cobra, and you don't need to avoid being seen. Now hits will only add a chunk of time to the clock. Also you will start with three tanks, but each one destroyed will make two more spawn. So have fun. 

 If the Knight had sprung for 360 scanners this might have worked

Pursuing Victory

     The Batmobile challenges start off with the racing maps. While all of these involve racing against the clock, they fall into two different groups. Standard tracks through the city, and Riddler tracks. Also while we're at it here's the Batman Beyond skin.

I guess he got jealous after he saw the Arkham "definitely no one we know" Knight's suit

   The first two are the standard time trial races. You are basically put into the city and given a series of holographic bat symbols to drive through. There are also hourglass shaped time bonuses scattered throughout that deduct 3 seconds from the clock. To get the 3 stars you'll almost certainly have to get several of these, but try not to lose time as you go out of your way. To beat these you may have to try them several times to learn exactly where the bonuses you can get are, work on making the turns quickly, and master avoiding the pitfalls in each part.

#1 Midnight Fury

Race through parts of Bleake Island (I think they misspelled bleak). Watch out for when you go around the bridge; you have to go through the left side first and hit the right on your way back.

Aren't there at least a half dozen plots to destroy the city going on right now?

#2 City Heat

This course seems to be shorter than the other one, and takes place on Miagani Island. There a time bonus near the Botanical Garden but be careful, try to get it after going through the wrong marker could cost you.

The last three courses challenge you to make your best time on the last lap of the three Riddler tracks. You know Mr Nigma really needs to look into rebranding himself. I can't remember the last time he gave us an ACTUAL riddle to solve. 90% of what he makes you solve are challenges. He should change his name to the Challenger or someone needs to tell him that these arn't riddles. 

  How is this a riddle again?

     In these you use the O button to switch the red and green traps. Since the challenges use the last, and hardest, of each track you will need to be quick on some of these switches.

The Riddler knew your brand new car could do this...Right?

#3 Crushonator
The first of the Riddler themed challenges is actually based on the second of his race tracks (they couldn't have kept them in order?). The main "obstacle" in this course is the large panels that you can switch on and off. You also end up driving on top of these so be careful, and remember to wait to switch it when you are on the uncolored panels. You also have to deal with "panels" that automatically move up and down, and will crush you if you're under them. Keep in mind that they do change where they land each time so simply avoiding where they just left won't work. Alternating the drift and afterburner will help reach that time.

#4 Condamned
This challenge has you race through the last and hardest of the tracks. I'm not going to lie; this one took me awhile to finish in the story. Also unique to this one is that you do not control anything in it. Which you should know since you have to had already played and beaten it to have unlocked it. Also there is a section with a wall and two barriers you have to navigate. The ways you can fall off of the wall are numerous and include:

• Stopping (obviously)
• Hitting said walls (thats why they're there)
• Barley tapping the walls (I swear it didn't even leave a dent)
• Turning too sharply (you have to be kidding me!)
• If Batman breathes while on it (ok now I'm kidding)
• Changing into Battle Mode (that one's on you)
• And probably many more that I haven't encountered yet

Pictured: A Riddle

     My advice for this section, try to take the turns very gently and keep your hand off of the afterburner. Then you have more dodging spinning death blades, some of which randomly appear, and ANOTHER wall section. This one involves several square "crushers" that move forward each time and somehow end up right where you are when they come down. For this one try to avoid the row the next one is on because trying to time passing through it will be nearly impossible. Really I think the Batwing would have been more suited to this challenge.

#5 Mental Blocked
This one is actually my favorite of the courses. It features more use of the block control then the others. In my opinion, its also the easiest of the three. Boost as much as you can, remember to be clear of the blocks before you change the next one, and try to have fun, it is a game afterall.

    Pictured: The Riddler's "game"

The Dark Steed

     All knights have their mounts and Batman is no exception. One of the most anticipated (and controversial) additions this game brings to the franchise is letting the player drive the Batmobile around the city. While calling this monster a car is like calling a tyrannosaurus a mere reptile (no offense to Reptile from Mortal Kombat), however it is convenient. As you may remember from Arkham Asylum, Batman used to use a batmobile that had a more classic look to it, something similar to the Tim Burton Batman. But like that car being ousted for the Tumbler (Batman Begins) so was the AA car replaced by a more militarized car/tank hybrid. But unlike the cute little Tumbler, that could only take one RPG, this new car can fight an army. This post will serve to familiarize players with the car. 

     To begin, this car comes with two modes: Pursuit, and Battle. The first is the standard car mode. This one can be used for travel and chasing down cars/apc's/ and humvees. It comes equipped with the "Immobilizer" missiles, and the ability to ram/ sideswipe targets.

• R2: Drive
• Left stick: Steer
• Triangle: Afterburner (hold), recharge by powersliding.
• O: Immobilzer Missile, target with O and fire when fully locked on. Amazingly these missiles don't do any of the possibly deadly things that other missiles disabling a car would do, such as: kill someone in the explosion, hit someone with shrapnel, kill someone by causing a high velocity car crash, or others.
• XX: Eject, sends Batman into air. Moving faster increases the speed boost in the air, and can be upgraded.
• Square: Break/ Reverse. Hold while holding R2 and moving the left stick to powerslide.

     Do not worry about crashing as you speed through the city; only attacks from enemies will damage the car. HItting a wall at 150mph? No problem. A rocket fired from a car? RUN! Also you do not need to worry about some Assassin's Creed style warning if you accidently run over a thug. Any contact by an enemy will give them a harmless electrical shock...that sends them flying safely away from you. Although I think I might have landed on top of a guy once when I went off of an overpass.

     Remember, the car is more than meets the eye. Hold L2 and you will watch as the Batmobile transforms into what can only be described as a "Bat-tank". And if you're afraid of accidentally shooting a criminal with an anti-tank shell fret not! Both of the primary weapons (Vulcan and Cannon) will automatically fire the riot suppressor instead if you are targeting a living target. 

What was that no guns rule again?...

• L2: Battle Mode, hold or go into settings to allow for toggling.
• Left stick: Moves the vehicle.
• X + Left stick: Dodge. Useful for avoid incoming fire. Can be upgraded to allow for two bursts in a row.
• R2: Main cannon. Your best friend in tank battles.
• R1: Hold for the Vulcan gun. A fast machine gun, this is useful for targeting enemy weakspots, taking out light drones, and intercepting missiles.
• O: EMP, once unlocked you can spend some of your weapon energy to temporarily knockout enemy drones. It is also very useful for taking out missiles in the air. The size and duration of the pulse is based on the number of bars.
• Square: Missile barrage. Can choose how many bars to use, press for number of targets. Very strong ability when overwhelmed. Note; the level one version is almost useless as it only takes out one drone at the expense of one bar. 
• Triangle: Hold for drone hack. This ability Allows you to switch drones to your side. Very useful when facing alot of drones. Level 1 only hacks one weak drone, but more bars increases the radius, and power. 

...I guess it was just about handguns

  Its a good thing that Batman's new urban assault vehicle was ready by tonight. Otherwise he might have had a problem with those drones. Well that and just judging by the looks of the AA car he would have been hard pressed to finish most of those Riddler challenges (more on that later). And speaking of the drones...

• Rattler: Basic drone. Fires one shot. After upgrading the 60mm cannon's damage you can easily one shot these guys. Also the little glowing weak spot light on the turret is vulnerable to the vulcan gun, and will kill the drone.
• Twin Rattler: Same as above, but with two parallel guns.
• Diamondback: The armored upgrade to the Rattler, these guys will take several shots to destroy. They also fire three shots in a spread pattern. I'm not even sure if you can destroy them with just the Vulcan, but you can blast open their armor with the cannon to open up a weak point. Also be aware; while at range its easy to avoid their fire pattern, close up you can find yourself running out of room quick. 
• Mumba: This annoying little guy is probably my least favorite of the Arkham Knight's gang. This one locks onto the Batmobile and fires 1-2 homing missiles at you. You can tell when it locks on, and it shows the missiles allowing you to shoot interception fire with the Vulcan. It also sports light armor making it fairly easy to destroy. Doesn't sound too bad? Wait till you have one on either side of you and as soon as you blow up its ordinance the other is locking on. No fun. 
• 
  

Why were the Rattlers sad? Batman blew up their mum-ba.... I'm sorry.

• Dragon: These are almost like a cross between Predator UAVs and those RC quad-copters. These guys like to fly in close to you and start launching rockets that can hit a small area. They aren't too bad to dodge, but once you get them with several other drones in a CQC situation you can find yourself running out of open room very quickly. Thankfully they're pretty squishy. While you could try one shotting them with the 60mm, but its better to gun them down with the Vulcan.
• Cobra: Finally we're at the big guns of the Knight's army. These big boys can't be beaten in a straight fight. And like Assassin's Creed: Black Flag's ship stealth we have giant billion dollar tank stealth. Thankfully these tanks are apparently sound-proof since as long as you're not in their scanning laser they can't tell if your behind them running over a car. The main way to takeout these tanks is get behind them, wait for the lock-on, fire at the weak point all tanks apparently have in their back, and get out of Dodge since nearby Cobras will be alerted to you. Also you can destroy them a lot faster, and from farther away, if you have two bars of weapon energy and fire off a level 2 missile barrage. Finally if a Cobra spots you immediately shift to Pursuit mode and run away; its kind of your only option. And really finally, your radar is your best friend in these situations.

Tune in next time for the first of the Batmobile challenges; the race challenges