Asylum or City? The debate rages on and on, with Rocksteady's work on the now-legendary Arkham series providing a monumental foundation of game design that essentially every superhero tale can take from in the future. Still, when you look back at the titles released so far there's quite the poignant left-turn from one to the other, with Asylum being a more linear, corridor-crawling atmospheric tale and the other a free-wheeling open-world extravaganza that (arguably) really didn't need to be. Arkham City certainly upped the ante in terms of scale and you were free to breathe in plenty fan-nods along the way - witnessing everything from ACE Chemicals' green glow shining in the moonlight to the varied banter from goons discussing everything from other DC characters to your impact on the city itself. The problem, was in amongst this idea of taking things that used to exist on a fairly linear path and scattering them across an entire city it lost that exquisite sense of focus and narrative drive Arkham Asylum had, not to mention in a title with 'Arkham' in the name, there should probably be a very imminent sense of imprisonment and claustrophobia throughout. As Arkham Knight looks set to nail its June release date whilst throwing in elements like the Batmobile that might derail the whole thing, it's important to look back on everything Rocksteady got right the very first time, to be mindful of how they'll succeed in the end.
