Uncategorized,  Video Games

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT – BATGIRL: A MATTER of FAMILY Review

Batgirl: A Matter of Family is the first downloadable story add-on for Batman: Arkham Knight. Set before the events of  Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batgirl: A Matter of Family is the first appearance of Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl in the Arkham universe (the Arkhamverse.)
 The story start’s out with The Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapping Commissioner Gordon as a twisted Valentine’s Day present for Batman. The Joker will kill Gordon if the Batman shows up so it’s left up to Barbara to save her father. The plot is simple and boring, while the amusement mile makes for a decent setting, it often feels empty and futile.

 Gameplay wise, Batgirl feels like they just copied and pasted Batman’s controls on to Batgirl’s character model. Batgirl doesn’t feel like a new character which is so disappointing, with other characters like; Red Hood, Catwoman, and Nightwing feeling so different and so unique, Batgirl just feels out of place. The “new” feature for Batgirl was her hacking ability, this allows her to catch thugs off guard with smoke from the haunted house, music from the ferris wheel etc. This is not a new feature, Batman has the exact same gadget in the main story of the game! This wouldn’t be a bad thing if they didn’t try to sell us on the idea of this being Batgirl’s special “new” ability, once again they just copied and pasted all of Batman’s abilities.

One of the better parts of the story was teaming up with Robin (Tim Drake,) once again setting up more Duel Play, my personnel favorite feature in the Batman Arkham franchise. Barbara and Tim have some great dialogue here, even if their relationship is out of the ordinary.  The final  “boss battle” is by far the best boss fight in Batman: Arkham Knight, which isn’t saying much. Joker and Harley are pretty formidable foes here, having to takedown the both of them adds a decent challenge.
 Batgirl: A Matter of Family is an okay time if  you lower your expectations. Don’t expect great story with fresh new gameplay, it’s just more of the same with a female protagonist.

Batgirl: A Matter of Family is available now via Season Pass or July 21st for $6.99
Batman: Arkham Knight is available now on Xbox One and PS4

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