Batman Arkham Knight

[Grim.Reaper]

I was really tempted to pick this up during pre orders since many places strongly discounted but in the end it was one of the few times I held strong and did not order.  Seems at least for now that was the right decision, but I am sure they will get things reasonably worked out and I likely will pick up in some future sale.

[JasonPratt]

JD, you should certainly play the other games first anyway. :)


Arctic, while I didn't have that problem (despite manually pausing the download a few times for different reasons), I've seen enough comments on Steam to think that it's sadly common and not merely the game finishing its download and then post-installing for 40 minutes. Though be prepared for that, too.


Anyone getting it from Steam (or maybe even not) should check out various threads on the forums about how to optimize the game for your system, including some light .ini file editing to turn off various things. I suspect the game is simply optimized to run on PS4 and the XBone, at best, and any settings beyond what those systems can do will be chunky. So while the publishers and/or devs have made it possible to turn off some of the bling for the PC, they haven't made it possible to do that without text editing. Which, and I don't curse like this lightly, is seriously f'ckd up.  I can only guess they were required by contract to make the PC version look 'better' at all costs, even if that means running the PC version on some systems at 720p (the game can even go down to 640) with most of the whistles turned off or minimized -- just not the ones someone decided HAD TO BE THERE to make the PC version look 'better' than console.

I mean, my computer runs pretty smooth, but my computer was the fastest commercial model in the world a year or two ago. And even I can't run it on full bling without chugging. (I'm about two generations behind now on top of the line NVIDIA cards.) I feel nothing but sympathy and pity for the people who on moderate systems (no one should be playing a triple A gfx heavy title on a minimal system anyway) can't even get the game to look and play as smoothly as Arkham Asylum on a PS3 from five years ago or however long it was.

[Pete Dero]

http://steamcommunity.com/games/208650/announcements/detail/145587678164818505

http://www.bluesnews.com/s/162674/batman-arkham-knight-performance-update

The Recommended Spec is intended to deliver an experience on par with the current generation of gaming platforms.

For an optimal experience, users with recommended spec hardware should not set their resolution higher than 1080p.

By default, the game may set Shadow Quality and Level of Detail to High on Recommended Spec hardware. Users should revert these to Normal.

With these settings on Rec Spec AMD GPUs, users can expect some minor texture pops, occasional loading symbols during fast-paced scenarios, and some hitches & stuttering when gliding or driving the Batmobile. To help alleviate this, AMD users using Rec Spec GPU's should turn Texture Resolution, Shadow Quality, and Level of Detail to Low. We continue to work closely with AMD to resolve these issues as soon as possible; make sure you have the most current drivers and check back here for updates on when the next driver version is available.

Additional Recommendations
We do not recommend that users change anything in the game's .ini files as this will potentially negatively impact performance, including frame rate, and stability.

At this time we do not recommend using NVIDIA's GeForce Experience or AMD's Gaming Evolved Optimization tools.

We're currently working on improving streaming performance from mechanical hard drives (HDD). Addressing this is one of our top short-term priorities.

For users that have an SSD available, we've noted increased streaming performance when the game is installed to that type of drive



Recommended Hardware Specs

    Resolution: 1920x1080
    V-Sync: On
    Anti-Aliasing: On
    Texture Resolution: Normal
    Shadow Quality: Normal
    Level of Detail: Normal
    Interactive Smoke/Fog: Off
    Interactive Paper Debris: Off
    Enhanced Rain: Off
    Enhanced Light Shafts: Off

Expected: 30fps (capped)


In short : don't play this on a PC.

[Jarhead0331]

I've updated my GeForce driver and no longer seem to have the framerate issue. I am running the game on ultra settings with acceptable framerates and little to no lag.

Jason, I don't see the issue you mention about facial expressions. They look detailed and fine to me.

One awesome detail I noticed was when Batman was using a holographic viewer to speak with the Oracle...I could see the reflection of the holo screen in his eyes! Now that is detail in the extreme!

[JasonPratt]

JH, that reflection in his eyes is what I meant about subtle evidence provided by the visual programmers that there isn't really a giant glowy 2D hologram being projected from his wrists, it's actually shooting directly at his eyes -- but we also see it the way he 'sees' it.


Meanwhile, I'm not the only person who has complained about the hit and miss vocal acting, especially for Commissioner Gordon; but I was surprised to learn he actually is played by someone from Breaking Bad! -- but not Bryan Cranston, whom the artists are clearly modeling Gordon on (like Batman and Harley, he gets younger each game), but whom the actor sounds like he's trying to sound like.

Which might in a roundabout way explain the weird off-tone of the performance. Maybe he was pi$$ed that the director hired him for a Cranston impression!


Re: facial animations, I said they seemed fine for some side characters. To be fair, watching Jim Sterling play through about as much of the game as I've already played, I watched Gordon's face again and some parts of it are moving independently of the static parts in a parody of something like facial animation. You're supposed to move the eyebrows and parts of the jaw, right?  :P 

But there's more than I originally thought, so I can't say his face looks completely dead, even if I can't explain why some people in the game have much better facial animations than he does. (And that may change later in the game: the same people might not have worked on that scene, and/or it might have been added late and they didn't have time to tweak it before release.)

[JasonPratt]

Also, I don't want to spoil part of the plot, but... okay, anyone who is a fan of Batman: Brave and the Bold (the animated series). You know that thing he can do with the Batmobile?

He can do that thing in this game.

Obviously someone thought WHY THE HELL DO WE NEED A BATMOBILE IN THIS GAME, HE HAS THE BATWING AND IT'S CLEARLY SUPERIOR TO ANYTHING ON THE GROUND!? -- and so aggressively justified the Batmobile's inclusion in writing/designing this game.

I just realized that the other two Batmobiles, one of which is supposed to be the classic 66 model, should be able to do that, too.

I may plotz.

[Jarhead0331]

I dunno man...maybe you're a Batman super fan, or just have really really demanding standards when it comes to graphics fidelity. Personally, I don't really see anything to gripe about in the graphics department. The City and the characters look great to me.

[JasonPratt]

While the occasional lapses in facial animation still bug me, they are but a small bug (along with the occasional hiccup from moving too fast in this rain-filled environment) compared to my joy in playing this game. Even Gordan's acting has gotten better. Though I can't decide if the Knight himself is supposed to sound like a whiny brat -- and if that's a clue to his identity. I'm guessing Damien Wayne at the moment, or anyway Talia's son. Though he seems to know Batman better than that would imply. Still, appreciated the nod in the evidence room when Batman is taking a tour of what amounts to previous games (including Origins! -- so much for Rocksteady trying to claim that game doesn't count for some reason), when he gets to Talia's sword... he pauses a moment overcome by grief.


Also, without getting into plot spoilers, the thwarting of the Ace Chemical factory explosion (sort of), was pretty great. A certain voice actor who shall not be named but whom by doing so we all will know who it is (he's busy filming a high profile sci-fi movie right now), managed to get into the game without it having leaked to the press after all.

Curiously, the game is forcing me along the main plot trail pretty quickly right now, after introducing no less than three other plot trails, one of which (rescuing firefighters) I have no idea how to prosecute farther yet; and one of which (the Riddler challenges) I have only randomly stumbled on while too busy chasing the main plot to feel like I could try dealing with it -- neither could I mark the map to come back later! Annoying. Nor have I found but one of the damn Riddler trophies yet; nor can I apparently take photos of clues or pop area tokens or other things of that sort, even though that side of the game has technically opened up already: I can go to the appropriate Waynetech screen and get area clues. Weird.

By the way, I was misinformed about what exactly the Batmobile was going to do -- or maybe I just haven't gotten there yet, though from the description I suspect I already have. It doesn't transform into a robot. (Yet. Maybe.) Still, the writers and devs have worked hard to incorporate it feasibly into the game, as the most awesomest thing evar, even better than that silly Batwing thing which is once again relegated to supporting status. As another reviewer said, it's practically a secondary character. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Batman based its AI voice on Poison Ivy! -- so what does that say...  >:D (Doubtless just the same voice actress.)

[Grim.Reaper]

Interesting that they have suspended sales for now...I guess that is good to take the issues seriously.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/208650/

[mirth]

Wow. What a train wreck.

http://www.destructoid.com/batman-arkham-knight-sales-stopped-on-steam-294756.phtml

[JudgeDredd]

Interesting that they have suspended sales for now...I guess that is good to take the issues seriously.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/208650/

That's the first time I've EVER seen that.

[Pete Dero]

GMG is also supspending sales and are offering refunds   : http://blog.playfire.com/2015/06/batman-arkham-knight-pc-guidelines.html

[JudgeDredd]

This is Warner Brothers desperately not wanting any bad publicity on the DC World

I had hoped such an action would spur other publishers (in the future) to do the same in the hope that they pressure developers not to release shoddy titles. But I think the formidable weight of Warner Bros is the tipping point here.

IL2-Cliffs of Dover anyone? Still selling when broke and empty! There's certainly been more cases over the years

There aren't many publishers with the potential for similar clout.

[undercovergeek]

i wonder how much this has to do with all the people that surely are asking for steam refunds - rather stop access to it altogether than repay a refund minus steam's cut

miracles may yet happen - maybe this will encourage developers to finish their project before release?

[JasonPratt]

Well, the project was finished, just not effectively optimized yet. I remember back when ArkAss first released, the PC version took an extra couple of months -- and that was planned and announced in advance. I don't recall if the same thing happened with ArkCity, but it definitely didn't happen with ArkOri, and that was a public relations nightmare on about the same scale as this.

They should have waited for Halloween season.


I suspect you're right, UGeek: this is a direct response to people asking for Steam refunds. But a more cynical company would have let other places keep selling it like Gamersgate -- unless GG was only a Steam pass? Amazon is still selling hard copies apparently. (Or they were at 5:27am Central Daylight Whatever West Tennessee/Chicago time. ;) )