Batman: Arkham Shadow Review - I Am Batman

It's hard to believe it's been nearly a decade since the last mainline Batman Arkham game. Since then, we've seen several Arkham-adjacent projects come out, only to feel hamstrung or otherwise lacking. 2016's Batman Arkham VR was a neat tech demo, but it encompassed only the series' investigative elements. Both traditional Arkham studios, Rocksteady and WB Montreal, launched Batman-esque co-op games in recent years, but each struggled for several, sometimes similar reasons. Batman: Arkham Shadow stops the tailspin by authentically recapturing the essence of the Arkham series in ways other recent Batmanverse games disappointingly and intentionally avoided, making this the best Batman game since Arkham Knight, even if it doesn't soar to the same heights as the series' finest moments.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a VR-only, direct sequel to Arkham Origins, taking place roughly a year later. That means this version of Batman--once again played by Roger Craig Smith doing a solid Kevin Conroy impression--is still relatively untested and ornery. He's learning how to become the unflappable Batman we typically know him to be, so his temper can still get the best of him, and his uncanny ability to stay 10 steps ahead of his enemies isn't guaranteed. Played in first-person, you'll explore some enclosed sections of Gotham before ultimately landing in Blackgate Prison for the bulk of the game, giving this game a structure very much like the metroidvania-style design of 2009's Arkham Asylum.

The Dark Knight's mission is to identify and stop The Rat King--a new enemy in the Batman mythology--who's thought to be hiding out in the prison just days before his catastrophic strike on Gotham unfolds. This sees Shadow's story unfold over the course of an in-game week rather than the usual overnight structure of Arkham plots, and sometimes, it shows.