Batman: Arkham Knight, Let’s Play #12 - Red Hood

Batman: Arkham Knight, Let's Play Archive!

UPDATE: While the video has been updated, none of the commentary below (from 2016) has! Please consider this a re-post!

It's been more than a month since I posted a blog recap to accompany an episode of my Batman: Arkham Knight Let's Play, but my schedule in recent weeks was such that I just barely had enough time to complete the series on time(ish), the entirety of which can be found here on my blog! But back to this episode: the main calling card of Episode 12 is the sheer amount of spoilers, starting possibly with the very title of the episode itself! But, then again, if you don't get the reference, then it's not technically a spoiler. And if you DO get the reference, you've probably already figured it out a while ago. Either way, here are my behind-the-scenes thoughts on the climax of the rising action of Batman: Arkham Knight.

We start this episode tracking Commissioner Gordon's police radio, which is the first time we've seen him since he stormed off and went in search of Scarecrow seven episodes ago. And while long absences of major characters are never fun, this type of storytelling actually helps the case for a live-action version of this game by making it more feasible to cast A-list actors in these supporting roles. It would probably be easier to convince someone like Bryan Cranston to take time from his busy schedule to play Jim Gordon if he was only in a handful of scenes. Casting implications aside, it's nice to see old Jimbo back in our narrative, even if it means he was somewhat predictably captured by Scarecrow.

The first act basically follows the action of the game (somewhat trimmed down, of course) as we make our way through the Arkham Knight's HQ, a multi-level underground dungeon, which requires us to attach the Batmobile's power winch to a secure point at the top and lowering the car down the side of a gigantic ventilation shaft. The comedic highlight of this episode happens during this sequence, when Joker paints a priceless picture of the Arkham Knight lamenting his defeat in the previous episode by "hanging out in some tacky dive bar, splashing glasses of cheap whiskey all over that masked face of his." Act 1 culminates with Batman crashing a briefing of some of the Arkham Knight's top soldiers, who somehow have some disturbingly accurate information about the inner workings of the Batsuit - harkening back to Episode 2 where the Arkham Knight spouts off the same information during our first in-person meeting. Where could he be getting his intel?

We actually have a chance to find out once we reach the bottom level of the dungeon, which leads into a series of maze-like tunnels, which are guarded by the Arkham Knight's largest and most obnoxious vehicle yet. This giant excavator is basically a TIE-fighter cockpit surrounded on all sides by drills/tank treads, it's bulletproof, and it can move extremely fast in any direction. If it doesn't sound fair, it's not. Especially considering that even after you successfully defeat the boss fight, the game railroads you into a situation where the Knight gets you trapped in a corner and there's no way to escape. But the disappointment in this type of game storytelling, which would normally make me as a gamer feel feel helpless and frustrated, was tempered by astonishment at the Arkham Knight's parting remark where he admits that he knows Batman's secret identity! But there's not a lot of time to process this new information, as we have to pull off an emergency eject moments before the Batmobile gets destroyed.

Luckily this course of action leads us directly underneath the room where Commissioner Gordon is being held hostage by a group of soldiers consisting almost exclusively of ninjas and medics. After we clear the room, but before we free the Commissioner from his bonds, we're confronted once again by the Arkham Knight in the flesh, who pulls a classic supervillain mistake and reveals his darkest secret right when he thinks he's won. Follow the link to find out the true identity of Batman: Arkham Knight's main antagonist...












WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!










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Last chance! Arkham Knight's identity revealed below...

That's right, it's Jason Todd, the second Robin! He WASN'T in fact killed by the Joker, despite the video evidence that's referenced in Episode 8 (which also tells the story of the identifying "J" brand on his face)! I should have known, really: Joker shot him right in the center of his chest, which we've established is the most protected part of Batman's armor, so the same should hold true for the rest of the Bat-Family. Actually, I should say that BATMAN should have known: as a gamer, I guessed Jason Todd as the Arkham Knight's identity almost from the beginning. Spouting off privileged information about the Batsuit was a dead giveaway; I'm also somewhat familiar with the events of the Under the Hood story arc.

Anyway, we're able to escape from this confrontation when Jason gets too close and we're able to head butt his flashy helmet into pieces, leaving him with just a menacing electronic... Red Hood. Get it? This predator boss fight involves fighting off three separate waves of henchmen/sentry guns while Jason sits on a vantage point surveying the area with his sniper rifle. It's a very emotional and enlightening exchange, which I would recommend watching, if not just to hear my unique use of music from the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, which I also used for the Arkham Knight Excavator chase. It's not that the music from this point in the game is not good, it's just of the more atmospheric variety, likely to keep gamers from getting distracted during the incredibly challenging and engaging gameplay sequences. These are just some of the little creative flairs that you get with a RyskMonger42 Productions Let's Play.

Tune in next time to see how Batman deals with the reemergence of one of his closest allies.