Summary

• Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham series revolutionized superhero games with Arkham Asylum in 2009, but 2015's Arkham Knight finally let players drive the Batmobile.
• Arkham Knight introduced Batmobile skins that matched iconic Batsuits from film versions.
• A modder added The Batman's 2022 Batmobile to Arkham Knight, completing the live-action Batmobile collection.

The Batman: Arkham series is often regarded as some of the best superhero games out there, with many praising Batman: Arkham Asylum for revitalizing the superhero genre in gaming upon its release back in 2009. While I enjoyed some other superhero titles of the era, I'll agree there was something special about the Arkham games that set them apart. Having said that, there's one tiny detail that's bugged me in Batman: Arkham Knight for the past few months, and surprisingly, Rocksteady wasn't the one to fix it.

After many requests from fans over the years, especially since the series went open world with Arkham City, Arkham Knight finally let players take control of the Batmobile and drive it through the streets of Gotham for the first time in the series. While I'd agree with some of the complaints that there was an over-reliance on the vehicle throughout some story missions, overall, I did enjoy racing around the city and partaking in Riddler challenges in Rocksteady's take on the iconic vehicle. This was made even more satisfying when combined with the skins for the vehicle that could transform it into an array of different designs based on its big-screen counterparts, letting me drive around in the sleek design from Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie or Christopher Nolan's tank-like Tumbler from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight​​​​​.

Most Of Arkham Knight's Batmobile Skins Were Accompanied By A Batsuit

Letting Players Complete The Overall Look

Most of these Batmobile designs were accompanied by a Batsuit from the films, with Rocksteady adapting the 1989 outfit worn by Michael Keaton, Christian Bale's 2008 The Dark Knight suit - although ittedly, I did prefer Batman Begins' look, which wasn't adapted - and Ben Affleck's incredibly comics-accurate, The Dark Knight Returns-esque suit from Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Those on PlayStation 4 could even match the Batmobile from the 1966 Batman TV series with both Adam West and Burt Ward's versions of Batman and Robin, although I still find it bizarre that Rocksteady never ported the Adam West Batsuit to other devices and kept it as a PlayStation exclusive to this day, especially when the Batmobile, Catwoman, and Robin from that show were both present on other platforms.

Fans have since modded Adam West's Batsuit into the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight, but Xbox and Nintendo players are still missing out.

To celebrate the release of Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Trilogy on Nintendo Switch in December 2023 - something that wasn't too celebrated by the community when it actually launched due to awful textures, performance issues, and bugs - the studio added the Lee Bermejo-inspired, tactical Batsuit worn by Robert Pattinson in 2022's The Batman to Batman: Arkham Knight, and this came to the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions of the game shortly after. While initially, there were some texture issues that looked out of place in the non-Switch versions of the game, these were soon patched out, but there was one thing I still thought was odd... The Batman's suped-up muscle car version of the Batmobile didn't accompany this suit.

Sure, it was an update to a game that was eight years old by that point, and I was surprised Rocksteady even went as far as to add the most recent movie incarnation of the Caped Crusader to the game, considering the studio was gearing up for the launch of the doomed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League at that point. However, it felt bizarre to me that every other live-action version of Batman and his Batmobile was available in the game and could be matched up to complete the look from the respective films as I paired The Batman's more grounded outfit with the more outlandish tank-type version of the Batmobile from the base game.

The Batman's Batmobile Has Finally Been Added To Arkham Knight

A Talented Modder Added The 2022 Movie's Batmobile To The Game

Earlier this month, the talented The car chase in The Batman was one of the better action sequences in the Noir take on the character, and I was looking forward to recreating that feeling in the game, even if it was chasing down various criminal vehicles rather than The Penguin as he does in the movie.

The mod was even better than I thought, as it went beyond what the other movie versions of the Batmobiles did and was fully kitted out with the same features as Arkham Knight's base Batmobile. Due to their designs, the other official movie versions didn't have the various combat features needed for tank battles and were primarily used for races, but The Batman's Batmobile now has its own turret design to help make it more of an all-rounder in the game.

Despite looking great most of the time, kbachani did point out that the car may look broken in some cutscenes due to being a custom rig and that a small slit on the roof is visible if players respawn or spawn in the car. The latter can be easily fixed, however, by getting out of the car and then getting back in. For the most part, however, the vehicle looks great, especially with its blue flame shooting out of its afterburner, like in the movie, while using the boost for jumps and with the textures matching certain environments, picking up dirt, for example, to add to the grounded feel.

It's a shame Rocksteady didn't incorporate The Batman's Batmobile to go alongside the new suit originally, but kbachani's mod has certainly made up for this, and finally, through the use of mods, every live-action version of the Dark Knight depicted in the game has their matching car in Batman: Arkham Knight. As I said at the start of this piece, it's only a small detail that wasn't the end of the world by any means - again, I wasn't even expecting the suit to be added officially 8 years after launch and was pleasantly surprised - but it is certainly satisfying to see it resolved.

Source: kbachani/Nexus Mods