Being Batman: Hands On With 'Batman: Arkham Knight'

[Guest]

"Batman: Arkham Knight" has had some launch issues, and despite being pulled from stores, we spent some time with the final installment of the "Batman: Arkham" franchise.

Being Batman: Hands On With 'Batman: Arkham Knight' : Read more

 

[clonazepam]

Do you suppose the pulling of sales versus a patch have anything to do with latest controversy of removing any and all products, games lately that have the confederate flag in it?

 

[jimmysmitty]

Derek, I can say the same. But I bench and perform about the same. My HD7970GHz runs it fine for me.

The interesting thing is that when gliding or in the batmobile I always get 30FPS, no matter what.

But the story is the saving grace for me. I do hope they figure it out and make the game run better for everyone but man the story is sooo good so far, especially your friend along for the trip with an oh so familiar voice.....

 

[ykki]

.....but... but Shadow of Mordor Was so well optimized. How could WB let this train wreck happen?

 

[FTLAUDMAN]

Having the game installed on an SSD seems to have spared you from some of the worst stuttering issues. The devs have addressed that they're working on fixing the streaming issues from hard drives.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Having the game installed on an SSD seems to have spared you from some of the worst stuttering issues. The devs have addressed that they're working on fixing the streaming issues from hard drives.

I think there is more to it than that. I have mine installed on a RAD0 which at best is probably able to keep up with a low end SATA300 SSD only in MB/s, not even close in IOPS.

I personally don't have stuttering or single digit performance, in fact mine never goes below 30FPS but there are times when it will just stay at 30FPS.

 

[Koushik Majumder]

Then install it in HDD and tell us back about the fps.

 

[Emanuel Elmo]

Oh no... another botched release by a company for PC, PS4, and XBOX One. I am shocked.

Wow it really is easier to ask for forgiveness that ask for permission.

I wonder if people would buy a car with a square tire, than let the dealership say that they are sorry but they need to have the car back so they can go ahead and optimize that square tire to be round.

What happened to the days when games would be release but would ACTUALLY RUN!!!!!! I can not understand why so many people are cool headed? Cause the story is good?

So glad I didn't get this on pre-order. Glad 60 bucks for everyone else is chump change to be all relaxed about this.

 

[photonboy]

Elmo,
The PC is the only botched version as much of the code had to be ported over and there is a WIDE VARIETY of software and hardware configurations that can cause unanticipated issues.

PS4 and XB1 are very good.

I'll still be buying the game and think they definitely did the right decision, though I wonder did Steam's new return policy factor into this at all?

 

[cats_Paw]

This is becoming the rule rather than the exception.

 

[therealduckofdeath]

Removing things like AMD Gaming Evolved cures tons of issues. I don't even know what the point is with software like that. The games has built in recommended settings, why have a third party application mess that up? Also the video capture features of AMD Gaming Evolved adds even more issues.
It's literally the first thing I double check that it hasn't installed when I update my drivers...

 

[ChronosVRdS]

.....but... but Shadow of Mordor Was so well optimized. How could WB let this train wreck happen?

Not the same devs, Shadow of Mordor is developed by Monolith Productions, Batman is done by Rocksteady Studios and they don't like to do PC so the port was made by Iron Galaxy Studios the same that ported Arkham Origins (which was a bad port, but not near this mess)

 

[ChronosVRdS]

Elmo,
The PC is the only botched version as much of the code had to be ported over and there is a WIDE VARIETY of software and hardware configurations that can cause unanticipated issues.

I got to disagree, one thing is minor glitches caused my different hardwares, Whats happening is a widespread problem, Iron Galaxy is the same that ported Batman Arkham Origins, and to makes thing worse this games uses Unreal Engine 3, that engine is used on PC since '04 in lots and lots of games, that's sheer incompetence or just lazy job.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Elmo,
The PC is the only botched version as much of the code had to be ported over and there is a WIDE VARIETY of software and hardware configurations that can cause unanticipated issues.

I got to disagree, one thing is minor glitches caused my different hardwares, Whats happening is a widespread problem, Iron Galaxy is the same that ported Batman Arkham Origins, and to makes thing worse this games uses Unreal Engine 3, that engine is used on PC since '04 in lots and lots of games, that's sheer incompetence or just lazy job.

But short of a few bugs that affected some people, AO didn't have performance issues. In fact it performs massively better than Arkham City on launch.

 

[Pedasc]

Elmo,
The PC is the only botched version as much of the code had to be ported over and there is a WIDE VARIETY of software and hardware configurations that can cause unanticipated issues.

PS4 and XB1 are very good.

I'll still be buying the game and think they definitely did the right decision, though I wonder did Steam's new return policy factor into this at all?

Unfortunately this does not seem to be the standard issue of not accounting for a "WIDE VARIETY" of software and hardware configurations. This title seems to have trouble on a much higher percentage of machines than most. I don't know anyone that was spared completely. It just makes me wonder what they actually tested this on.

 

[Pedasc]

Removing things like AMD Gaming Evolved cures tons of issues. I don't even know what the point is with software like that. The games has built in recommended settings, why have a third party application mess that up? Also the video capture features of AMD Gaming Evolved adds even more issues.
It's literally the first thing I double check that it hasn't installed when I update my drivers...

Well I get the theory. Each game's detection method is going to be more general and these programs will be more accurate to your specific system by having a more comprehensive database to use.

In practice I find they don't do much.

 

[Emanuel Elmo]

Elmo,
The PC is the only botched version as much of the code had to be ported over and there is a WIDE VARIETY of software and hardware configurations that can cause unanticipated issues.

PS4 and XB1 are very good.

I'll still be buying the game and think they definitely did the right decision, though I wonder did Steam's new return policy factor into this at all?

I have multiple freinds that have ps4 and xbox and have nothing but problems. Game freezing, disk ejecting, game freezing (yup put that in twice ), etc. I can not comprehend why people are so cool headed. Does spending $60 come that easy to everyone?

$60 for a game that you can not play continuously till your fingers fall off is unacceptable.

And than on top of that, it is a port to the PC. I pay more money for PC games these day and the best they can do is PORT the game over? Come freakin on......

There is no excuse in the book for releasing a broken game to the public; None.

Assassins Creed, Watch Dogs, Far Cry 4, Halo Master Chief Collection (XBOX one); have we all already forgot about those games? Now we can add Batman to that list. How many more games? They can not get it right for the PC because there are too many configurations? BS....

When you have people spending upward of $3000 for a PC to be able to play games at MAX FPS without any issues to enjoy a full emersion of games and then after they spend $60 they can't enjoy the game cause the dev are just way to lazy to do proper QA. What are you trying to say... it is ok that 3K pc is now a paperweight and not to be mad about it because PC just has way too many configurations to account for?

No... unacceptable. Big companies need to get it through there heads.... consumers make them what and who they are and without us... these big companies are nothing. But hey, who am I amongst the many when it seems that $60 is chump change for everyone else.

I apologize if it seems like I am projecting anything towards you. I am not. I am just sick and tired of big companies taking short cuts and then just saying... we are sorry, we will take care of you soon but till then we have your money... hahahahaa

 

[Tommy LeQuickee]

30fps is unplayable. It's practically slow motion FFS. Gives me migraines. I want proper frame rates!

 

[Simon Ayres]

Wanting a solid 60FPS does not make us "elitists".

This is a PC hardware site, the author is using a video card that costs as much as the PS4 and is content with 30FPS and no tessellation?

Also this needs to be looked at from a business stand point, steam is now offering refunds on games meaning if they didn't pull it from the steam store all the returns would be lost sales, pulling it gives them time to rework it to a more PC friendly standard.

Honestly I am stick of PC ports being rushed out to see a simultaneous release with console, we are all victims of the whiny little brats that don't get that releasing a game on PC takes more time to optimize it than it does on console so if we want the best possible game we need to wait a bit longer.

 

[ykki]

I apologize if it seems like I am projecting anything towards you. I am not. I am just sick and tired of big companies taking short cuts and then just saying... we are sorry, we will take care of you soon but till then we have your money... hahahahaa

I agree with you a 100%. Don't these companies run the game on multiple platforms to see if there are some glitches/bugs, performance issues?

 

[ChronosVRdS]

Elmo,
The PC is the only botched version as much of the code had to be ported over and there is a WIDE VARIETY of software and hardware configurations that can cause unanticipated issues.

I got to disagree, one thing is minor glitches caused by different hardwares, Whats happening is a widespread problem, Iron Galaxy is the same that ported Batman Arkham Origins, and to makes thing worse this games uses Unreal Engine 3, that engine is used on PC since '04 in lots and lots of games, that's sheer incompetence or just lazy job.

But short of a few bugs that affected some people, AO didn't have performance issues. In fact it performs massively better than Arkham City on launch.

Not questioning AO performance (and yes they got some nasty game-breaking bugs), what I was trying to say is since they ported AO and are using the same 11yo engine, what is happening on Knight is unacceptable, it isn't a port of custom bleeding-edge new engine and isn't even their first batman port.

 

[kewlguy239]

The author (me) tested the game using an Intel Core i7 4790k on an ASUS Z97i mini-ITX mobo, 16gb of 2133 mhz RAM, a 500gb Samsung 840 EVO, and an EVGA GTX 970 SC. I also never said 30 fps was acceptable for elitists (when did elitist become a negative term in the PC gaming world? It just means they pay for more hardware and therefore expect more, rightfully so!) I simply stated that it was playable. I also never excused the reported performance issues, and was clear stating I wasn't experiencing the same problems. Is 30 fps acceptable for my hardware config? No, but instead of harping on that I pushed forward to review a game that despite the issues, was very fun to play. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon, I pointed out the positives in a largely negative situation. Performance will improve, according to WB Games, and if they fail and give up on fixing it, I will gladly write the article to state the obvious, that "they screwed up". But honestly, it seems a lot of gamers are giving this game the Ben Affleck treatment, completely trashing it before giving it a chance to improve, or even surprise you. As frustrating as day one glitches can be, all games of this nature improve with time. Could I have spent more time testing with different hardware components to further elaborate on the performance issues? Sure, but I had limited time, and felt it more important to focus on the actual gameplay, features, and story, which don't make up for the performance problems, but definitely gives me a reason to be patient for fixes. I liked this game, despite the lackluster performance, and if those issues are solved in a timely manner would recommend it to anyone with a PC that likes Batman.

 

[jimmysmitty]

The author (me) tested the game using an Intel Core i7 4790k on an ASUS Z97i mini-ITX mobo, 16gb of 2133 mhz RAM, a 500gb Samsung 840 EVO, and an EVGA GTX 970 SC. I also never said 30 fps was acceptable for elitists (when did elitist become a negative term in the PC gaming world? It just means they pay for more hardware and therefore expect more, rightfully so!) I simply stated that it was playable. I also never excused the reported performance issues, and was clear stating I wasn't experiencing the same problems. Is 30 fps acceptable for my hardware config? No, but instead of harping on that I pushed forward to review a game that despite the issues, was very fun to play. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon, I pointed out the positives in a largely negative situation. Performance will improve, according to WB Games, and if they fail and give up on fixing it, I will gladly write the article to state the obvious, that "they screwed up". But honestly, it seems a lot of gamers are giving this game the Ben Affleck treatment, completely trashing it before giving it a chance to improve, or even surprise you. As frustrating as day one glitches can be, all games of this nature improve with time. Could I have spent more time testing with different hardware components to further elaborate on the performance issues? Sure, but I had limited time, and felt it more important to focus on the actual gameplay, features, and story, which don't make up for the performance problems, but definitely gives me a reason to be patient for fixes. I liked this game, despite the lackluster performance, and if those issues are solved in a timely manner would recommend it to anyone with a PC that likes Batman.

I agree 100%. I am enjoying the game-play and story and while I want better performance I am not so "elitist" that I demand it.

And that term was made bad by the snobbish and jerks of the PC community. PC Master Race was a term of how gamers felt about PCs, that they were the best possible gaming platform for a multitude of reasons, but now it is abused as is PC Elitist.

On an off note, I also think Ben Affleck will do a great Batman and people need to stop jumping on the hate bandwagon right away.

 

[ChronosVRdS]

The author (me) tested the game using an Intel Core i7 4790k on an ASUS Z97i mini-ITX mobo, 16gb of 2133 mhz RAM, a 500gb Samsung 840 EVO, and an EVGA GTX 970 SC. I also never said 30 fps was acceptable for elitists (when did elitist become a negative term in the PC gaming world? It just means they pay for more hardware and therefore expect more, rightfully so!) I simply stated that it was playable. I also never excused the reported performance issues, and was clear stating I wasn't experiencing the same problems. Is 30 fps acceptable for my hardware config? No, but instead of harping on that I pushed forward to review a game that despite the issues, was very fun to play. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon, I pointed out the positives in a largely negative situation. Performance will improve, according to WB Games, and if they fail and give up on fixing it, I will gladly write the article to state the obvious, that "they screwed up". But honestly, it seems a lot of gamers are giving this game the Ben Affleck treatment, completely trashing it before giving it a chance to improve, or even surprise you. As frustrating as day one glitches can be, all games of this nature improve with time. Could I have spent more time testing with different hardware components to further elaborate on the performance issues? Sure, but I had limited time, and felt it more important to focus on the actual gameplay, features, and story, which don't make up for the performance problems, but definitely gives me a reason to be patient for fixes. I liked this game, despite the lackluster performance, and if those issues are solved in a timely manner would recommend it to anyone with a PC that likes Batman.

It's good you pushed forward, as you pointed out you tested in elitist hardware (nothing wrong in that) and by luck didn't come to any gameplay breaking hiccups, that at least show that the gameplay is good as rocksteady always do, but I don't think this is unreasonable bashing, or as you called Ben Affleck treatment, is not question if they will or will not fix, is the poor state release, if we wanted an unfinished product we go to "Early Access" section of steam

This hasn't passed through QA, I know Kotaku is a terrible source, but there is some news that WB knew about the state of the but go on release anyway, because was "good enough", if ubisoft can sell AC:Unity so can we. A delay would be better alternative, coming into public and say "We still have some problems, and to not release a bad product we gonna delay for further QA.". One of QA source stated this issues are at least a year old, not a easy fix, it was a race to relase.

Think like this you don't buy a TV on black and white and hope they someday bring colors by a firmware update.

I do hope they fix I love all batman games, the others had issues but this was a disaster, at least steam refunds as already active.

P.S.: Excuse my poor English!

 

[Emanuel Elmo]

The author (me) tested the game using an Intel Core i7 4790k on an ASUS Z97i mini-ITX mobo, 16gb of 2133 mhz RAM, a 500gb Samsung 840 EVO, and an EVGA GTX 970 SC. I also never said 30 fps was acceptable for elitists (when did elitist become a negative term in the PC gaming world? It just means they pay for more hardware and therefore expect more, rightfully so!) I simply stated that it was playable. I also never excused the reported performance issues, and was clear stating I wasn't experiencing the same problems. Is 30 fps acceptable for my hardware config? No, but instead of harping on that I pushed forward to review a game that despite the issues, was very fun to play. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon, I pointed out the positives in a largely negative situation. Performance will improve, according to WB Games, and if they fail and give up on fixing it, I will gladly write the article to state the obvious, that "they screwed up". But honestly, it seems a lot of gamers are giving this game the Ben Affleck treatment, completely trashing it before giving it a chance to improve, or even surprise you. As frustrating as day one glitches can be, all games of this nature improve with time. Could I have spent more time testing with different hardware components to further elaborate on the performance issues? Sure, but I had limited time, and felt it more important to focus on the actual gameplay, features, and story, which don't make up for the performance problems, but definitely gives me a reason to be patient for fixes. I liked this game, despite the lackluster performance, and if those issues are solved in a timely manner would recommend it to anyone with a PC that likes Batman.

sorry but the positives still do not outweigh the negative. You like the game that is great. I am very glad that you do. But it still does not excuse the fact that the game is still broken. Broken to a point that WB had to pull the game from shelves. Really? and you still think that this game is great.

Sorry but unacceptable. It is not jumping on the bandwagon. It is about getting sick and tired big companies taking advantage of there customer and after taking our hard earned money, they get away with saying... "oh we are sorry." No way. The company is not sorry cause they made out like bandits with your hard earn money. What happened to releasing a game that is functioning well with your system. lets not give a positive review on something that clearly is rubbish.

And it is not so much of being an elitist it is about demanding full value for spending that $60.

and you clearly state, that day one glitches are a problem, but you shrug it off like it is not big thing cause the game play is good. You know, day one glitches will stop being such a big problem when gamers like yourself finally say no and demand a better gaming experience. And having a day one gaming experience with minor to no problems does play into the whole gaming experience.

I didn't buy this game or pre-order this game because I was expecting this to happen and I will be damned if I will every give a company money on any game release that has glitches day one. Will that limit me to the games that I play? YES... but I will be voting with my wallet and one less sale mean less profit for the company and if more people would join in, watch how quick the tide would turn. But sadly.... this will never happen, cause there are more people like you that even though they do care, they don't care that much because.. you know... the game play and the story line are amazing.

And I am sure you remember, the main reason for instituting day one patches for games is to fix things that the developers didn't get to in time. You know little things. Not big things, like performance issues, caps at 30fps, etc.

As exciting I was about this game, I am not longer. But at the end of the day I do respect your writing and your opinion and I can see where you are coming from.

Have a great day sir.
Cheers!