5 Tips for Surviving Batman Arkham Knight

Tonight, Batman Arkham Knight, the biggest game to launch this summer, arrives on store shelves. If our own hands-on time with the game and reviews published last week are an accurate indication of the final version of the game, Batman Arkham Knight buyers are in few a huge, wild ride.

We don’t yet know anything about the major plot points in Batman Arkham Knight. We don’t know who is behind he Arkham Knight’s mask or how Batman and his entire team will once again stop the city of Gotham from being destroyed. That being said, Arkham Insider YouTube videos, briefing glimpses of gameplay, reviews and some hands on-time during this year’s E3 2015 trade show last week have given us a glimpse into a lot of the systems players of Batman Arkham Knight will use and how they differ from the previous Batman Arkham games.

Read: Batman Arkham Knight Impressions: Be Your Own Bat

Here’s some tips to get you going on Batman Arkham Knight release day. None spoil information that Rocksteady Studios and Warner Brothers didn’t announce on their own, but read on if you’d like to in completely blind. All are meant to make sure that you can be the best Batman you can on launch day.

Don’t Let Your Feet Touch The Ground

Batman Arkham Knight is stuffed full of things fans will recognize from the comics. It’s hard to say whether any of them are more iconic than the grappling gun that Batman uses to reach the top of buildings and hide in tight spaces and corners.

Last week’s Arkham Insider video on YouTube wasn’t the first time we’d seen the grappling hook used, but it’s one of the best videos there is of a player getting to the point where they can use the grapple gun to propel themselves in the air and keep gliding to their destination without landing. That’s particularly important in Batman Arkham Knight, which has a huge game world that’s filled with soldiers, rovers, thugs and murderous looters all vying to be the one to finally end Batman’s reign.

Practice Your FreeFlow Combat

In Batman Arkham Asylum Rocksteady introduced a solid combat mechanic that some gamers have tried to reproduce ever since. The Batman doesn’t kill people, but he doesn’t have a problem with beating them to a pulp, breaking appendages, and using whatever environment is around him to solve Gotham’s crime problem.

Batman Arkham Knight takes these things a step further. In the previous games it took a bit before you found yourself having to contend with firearms. Firearms seem to be more common in Batman Arkham Knight and Batman’s suit still isn’t bullet prove. To take care of these guys you’ll need to be quick and silent. When you have the chance to perform a one-hit takedown on armed thugs, do it. If you’re seen by an enemy with a firearm and big mouth, drop a ink bomb to keep visibility low and then take him out. Absolutely, check rooms during predator missions like Two-Face’s bank heists.

You’ll ned to practice before mastering environmental take downs and one-hit takedowns. Give yourself the time, do a few challenges if you think you really need practice.

Call The Car

For long distances, you’re going to want to summon the Batmobile. Don’t worry about finding it, it’ll find you. The Batmobile is a roving laboratory according to Polygon’s Batman Arkham Knight review published last week. There’ll be some missions that require you to use its scanners and extras. If you’re in a sticky situation you can almost always call on the Batmobile at any time and it’ll come running. Dive off a building and summon it and it’ll even catch you.

In an episode of Arkham Insider Rocksteady revealed that the Batmobile has its own dedicated skill tree that adds new options like Electro Magnetic Pulses to destroy all the different drones that are under the command of the Arkham Knight. A special grappling hook even helps you track down one of the game’s most notorious enemies.

Don’t Assume You’re Skipping Those Side Missions Without Consequences

Rocksteady tries a lot of things we’ve never seen before in video games. Like its predecessors Batman Arkham Knight’s main story doesn’t happen in a vacuüm. Three are side missions to complete, stories to wrap up and fun to be had cleaning up the screens of Gotham as thoroughly as you can. Try as you might, it’s going to take you some time to finish the single player story.

GameInformer’s review indicates that players will get a decent ending at the conclusion of the game’s campaign, but won’t be able to get a more satisfying ending until they’ve wrapped up the entire experience – side missions and all. Theoretically, that’ll encourage you and everyone else to finish the game and its Riddler Trophies. More likely, mot people will search YouTube for that more satisfying second ending.

Keep Your Eyes Open

This being the last game in the series, pay attention to every single detail. Every Riddler Trophy you can pick-up without too much trouble you should go after. In Detective Mode, look for anything that seems out of the ordinary. If Rocksteady stays true to form, Batman Arkham Knight has a ridiculous amount of hidden gems, references and extras in it. You’ll want as much of the story as you can on your first play through.

Read: Batman Arkham Knight Release Date Disappointments

Batman Arkham Knight launches today on the Xbox One, Windows PCs and PS4. If you haven’t already pre-ordered it’s a good time to do so if you wanted to play the game tonight and don’t live near a Wal-Mart that’s open overnight. GameStop and Best Buy both have midnight launch parties at some locations planned.