The Batmobile is a time-honored staple of the Dark Knight’s arsenal, and the excellent Batman: Arkham series featured two different versions of the iconic car. Rocksteady’s blockbuster superhero series deftly put players in the role of the legendary Caped Crusader of DC Comics lore, allowing them to bust crime and take down supervillains using Batman’s trademark stealth, martial arts skills, and vast assortment of gadgets in a visually stunning rendition of Gotham City.
No Batman story would be complete without the Batmobile, the Dark Knight’s trusty automobile. However, while the high-tech supercar was featured as early as 2009’s Die Hard-inspired Batman: Arkham Asylum, it wouldn’t be until the very end of the Arkham series that players could finally get behind the wheel of the Batmobile in actual gameplay. In that time, the Batmobile had gone through several alternations, and the vehicle players controlled in 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight was vastly different from the one that Batman famously escorted the Joker to Arkham Asylum in terms of design and functionality.
Batman: Arkham Asylum’s Batmobile Harkens Back To The Movies
As mentioned before, the Batmobile wasn’t playable in 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum, but the famous car made its presence felt from the game’s opening cutscene. Of course, since most of the first Arkham game involved Batman stealthily sneaking through Arkham Asylum‘s dark confines, the use of the Batmobile as a means of transportation wouldn’t have been very practical. However, that didn’t stop Batman from making use of it in his battle against the monstrous Bane, as well as retrieving his Explosive Gel from the truck. Unfortunately, the aforementioned fight left the Batmobile damaged, forcing Batman to explore the rest of Arkham on foot.
This Batmobile has a much simpler design than its later counterpart, with sources like the Tim Burton-directed Batman movies and the beloved Batman: The Animated Series as the primary inspiration. A slightly-altered version of this Batmobile design can also be seen in the Batcave Predator Challenge Map in Batman: Arkham City, and it was drivable in Batman: Arkham Knight via DLC.
Batman: Arkham Knight’s Bat-Tank Is A Jack Of All Trades
Despite the Batman: Arkham series shifting to an open-world Gotham from Arkham City onward, it wouldn’t be until Batman: Arkham Knight that players could finally experience the thrill of driving the Batmobile through the mean streets of Batman’s home town. However, Rocksteady’s implementation of the Batmobile was a mixed package: steering the car was unwieldy, and it could be argued that the slow-paced tank combat sections featured alongside it overstayed their welcome.
Design-wise, the Batmobile of Arkham Knight serves as a final evolution similar to Batman’s armored Batsuit, with a more militaristic esthetic that blends the Tumbler from the Christopher Nolan films and Ben Affleck’s souped-up Batmobile from the then-in-production Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Just like the latter, this Batmobile came equipped with non-lethal weapons systems that served the Dark Knight well while battling the forces of the mysterious twist villain, the Arkham Knight. This Batmobile could also shift into a tank-like battle mode, and was used to solve puzzles and navigate through the Riddler’s dangerous obstacle courses.
Both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham Knight featured visually impressive Batmobile designs, but the edge ultimately goes to Knight’s take on the legendary ride of the Dark Knight. As uneven as the Batmobile’s gameplay was, the 2015 version represents Batman at the peak of his power, with an armored design that combines decades of comics, cartoons, and films to create the ultimate means of transportation for the Caped Crusader’s final adventure – at least until his surprising return in this year’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This new game is set in the Batman: Arkham timeline and will possibly include a brand-new Batmobile design, but for now Batman: Arkham Knight’s version is the coolest to come from Rocksteady.
