The Arkham Knight Character: My Thoughts (SPOILERS)

Thought I'd do something different and that is giving my thoughts and opinions on the infamous Arkham Knight character that was the in latest Batman game of the same name. This might seems that it is coming a bit but I was late getting the game any way because I went on holiday not long after it's release and I decided to get The Witcher 3 first before I went anyway. Plus the good thing about this is that by now everyone has played the game and probably don't care about spoilers much.

For those who don't know the Arkham Knight was the secondary antagonist in the latest Batman Arkham game; he wore a his own version of the Batman suit, was equal to him in skill and controlled the military that took over Gotham for Scarecrow. His identity was one of the biggest attraction of the game for many Batman fans (including myself) because of his unique design and that Rocksteady promising it was a original character for the game series. So imagine my disappointment when the man behind the mask turned out to be Jason Todd, the second Robin who wanted revenge on Batman.

Now for those who don't know who Jason Todd is he was the second Robin to work for Batman but was really violent, insolent and disagreed with Batman's views many times. He was kidnapped by the Joker and beaten almost to death with a crowbar before being blown up along with his mother. However he was indirectly resurrected by Superboy Prime and taken in for a while by the League of Assassins and even bathed in the Lazarus Pit. He then became the violent vigilante known as the Red Hood who returned to Gotham to get his revenge on Batman.

You know I thought the Arkham Knight was so freaking awesome when I got the game and I still do don't get me wrong; he was badass, his suit was such a great design and he was a match for Batman. I had so many theories to his identity (will list them) before the game's release and while I was playing it and to find out it was Jason Todd was so lacklustre and kind of lazy. It is almost the same story line as in Under the Hood where Jason, thought to be dead, comes back as a new persona in Gotham except that instead of becoming the Red Hood he becomes the Arkham Knight. What is annoying however is that Jason still becomes the Red Hood anyway at the end when part of the Arkham Knight suit is ripped off and it looks like the same Red Hood mask. What was also pretty annoying was that it wasn't even much of a surprise because halfway through the game Batman hallucinates seeing Jason tortured by the Joker and I thought after seeing something like that Jason just had to be the Arkham Knight. Why else would they have shown those flashbacks because if they wanted the Arkham Knight to be someone else then by that point in the game they would have gave hints of that someone but no they flat out tell you it's Jason. In the end Rocksteady decided to play it safe and just repeat a storyline used in the comics when the true identity of the Arkham Knight could have been lots of other Batman characters.

Here is a list of characters I think would have been better for the Arkham Knight, most of these where my theories before the game's release:

Damien Wayne: The son of Bruce with Talia, Damien could have become the Arkham Knight as revenge against Bruce and to prove he is a worth successor to Batman, which is why his suit is similar.

Thomas Wayne Junior/Owlman: Since this character s so well known in the comics and not featured as much as other villains I thought they could have change as much as the want about him without spoiling the character.

Thomas Wayne Senior: Was featured a lot in the commercials so I thought it could be possible he was still alive in the games. It could have been similar to Flashpoint where he was Batman but had no problem killing criminals.

James Gordon Junior: Because Gordon and Barbara where heavily involved in the plot like tricking Batman into thinking Barbara committed suicide and Gordon turning against you I thought it might have been someone close to them. James Gordon Junior his a psychopathic killer who does torment his family in the comics and while he has never been portrayed as a fighter who can stand up to Batman they could have changed it a bit for the game.

Hush: A side quest in Arkham reveals that Hush performs surgery on his face to make him look exactly like Bruce Wayne so he can ruin him so why not be his own version of the Batman while he is at it? But no they just gave him a silly five minute side quest in the game which was a shame.

Clayface: We never did get to find out if Clayface survived his fall into the Lazarus Pit or if it changed him in the end. He could have become the Arkham Knight to get revenge on Batman for his defeat in the last game.

Jean - Paul Valley/Azrael: This character actually was Batman at some point in the comics but was a lot more violent than Bruce. Like Hush I thought Azrael would be featured in the main storyline of the game instead of just being a side mission.

There you have it just a little rant about the Arkham Knight character.

Resident Evil Rant Part Two: Rebooting the Series

This is long overdo but the reason for that is because I have been very busy lately and I have only now just found the time to get round to writing part two. Those who have read my previous Resident Evil Rant may already now that I am dissatisfied with the direction the games have taken and I feel that it is in everyone's best interest if the series is rebooted. I will now make a list of what I think Capcom can do to make a good reboot and what mistakes it needs to avoid making again.

1. Never get rid of the zombies!
Had to get this one out of the way first because it is the most obvious one and the fall of the Resident Evil games started when they replaced zombies with intelligent parasites. When your enemies in survival horror games can jump around and use machine guns and bazookas then it turns in to an action game and that is something no true Resident Evil fan wanted. Leon's story in 6 did a good job of trying to bring zombies back and found a good way of letting them use weapons (they would drunkenly use clubs and guns like a proper zombie would) but Chris and Jack ruined that good work.

2. Don't overload it with too many B.O.Ws
In the old games they had great ones like Hunters, Lickers and Bandersnatch but in 6 they have the enemies mutant in to these stupid looking ones and in 4 and 5 I hated that they all looked like insects and parasites. Also in the old ones they always saved the stronger enemies for the right moments like the boiler room in the Resident Evil 1 mansion lab or the hospital in Resident Evil 3.

3. Don't load us down with too much ammunition and weapons
These shops and ammo drops in 4 and 5 really put me off the entire experience, probably more than anything else in the games. They may have got rid of the shops in 6 and went back to finding weapons in the field but the enemies still dropped too much ammo. Whenever I fought a boss in the new games I was not worried about losing to them at all. One of the most scary things about bosses in the old games was wondering if I might have been too trigger happy on the zombies and saved nothing! lack of resources and feeling like you can be killed at anytime is what makes a survival horror game a great survival horror game.

4. No QTE
Does this really need an explanation?

5. No multiplayer
I did sometimes enjoy this but I think it would be best if they got rid of so they can focus more on a single player experience because again that is what made the old games great. However if they want to have multiplayer than keep it for mercenaries because I still really enjoy that mode and maybe they could make more mini games if they want.

6. Don't abandon good characters
I don't know about anyone else but I just got sick of seeing Leon and Chris in every new Resident Evil game and why the hell don't we know what happened to great characters like Rebecca, Billy or Carlos?? Unless the character has died then keep them active in the overall story.

7. Don't get rid of the Umbrella Corporation
If they do reboot the series and use the Umbrella corporation again then for God's sake don't get rid of such a cool and powerful enemy in a prologue in 4! Umbrella was a really great and menacing company that doesn't care about human life at all and we did not even get to see their downfall properly. And as for Spencer the shadowy head of Umbrella who we never see and only heard off in the past - don't kill him off in such a lacklustre way after so much build up.

8. Don't go running around the entire world
There has not be single location in the new games as good as the old ones because they keep moving the settings around too much. They need to confine it in a single location so they can put more of an effect in to it, like the mansion and Raccoon City. Only Code Veronica X has done it right so far.

9. Bring back backtracking
As I mentioned in Part One I really like the backtracking in the old games; going back to old locations with a new key and running in to more enemies. The new games felt like we were just walking forward a liner corridor no matter how much they made us fell the levels were big.

10. Bring back typewriters and ink ribbons
Hate auto save because like with more ammo and weapons they take away the whole danger of the games. Because they limited the saves to ink ribbons you had to make sure you don't waste them for near the end of the game.

There you go ten good rules for Capcom to stick to if they decided to reboot the Resident Evil games. If you can think of anymore please let me know!

Resident Evil Rant Part One: The Fall of the Resident Evil Games

Still the greatest Resident Evil monster ever!

This post will be something entirely different, it won't be a review like they usually are. Instead I will be talking about a game series that was one of my most favourite, emphasis on was: Resident Evil.

Back when I was younger Resident Evil was by far the greatest survival horror games ever, even better than the Silent Hill series and that is only because Silent Hill can be a bit slow sometimes. There was other elements in the games to be sure like action but those were mostly saved for the bosses or more powerful enemies. I can remember long hours I would spend playing Resident Evil 2 and 3, the setting of Raccoon City was far the perfect setting and full of enemies, human and inhuman alike.
The tone and atmosphere for both was great as well; for Resident Evil 2 there was something quite creepy about the RPD station and the laboratory beyond and in 3 constant moaning of the zombies while your out in the street filled you with a scene of unease. Also every monster in it really gave you a sense of dread whenever you fought one, whether they were the normal zombies and zombie animals to the more sinister Tyrants such as the unstoppable Nemesis!

However there were other games besides these two; two others that surpassed them and were the perfect survival horror games ever - Resident Evil Remake and 0. As much fun as the original Resident Evil was, Remake improved absolutely everything about it and even added a lot more to them and 0 used Remake as an example and became a great prequel to the series. I am confident in saying that there have been no other survival horror games that have beaten these two.

Of course there are some other Resident Evil games worth mentioning; Code Veronica X was a great addition on the PS2, with its main setting on a prison island being just as great as Raccoon City. I admit whenever I played CVX in the dark when I was younger it did make me jump in some places. Also I know they had some mixed reviews but I also think the two Outbreak games deserve a spot in the great Resident Evil titles. They could have improved on a lot of things e.g. made them one big long game instead of splitting it in to episodes, but at least it still had a feeling of classic Resident Evil.

Now to refer back to the title of this rant; The Fall of Resident Evil, I will of course have to mention when it started to fall from grace. I know this next game was well received and has it share of fans but there is no deny that Resident Evil began to lose it with the release of Resident Evil 4.

Don't get me wrong Resident Evil 4 was a great game however I have always considered it more of an action game more than anything rather than a proper Resident Evil. Sure the Ganados and the bosses were interesting and difficult enough with their high intelligence but they just did not have the same impact as zombies. Also when the Ganados started to use guns near the end of the game I just really hated them then because the game just turned in to shooter, they might as well have been human enemies. However one thing that really annoyed me was the introduction of a shop were you can buy weapons and that enemies drop lots of ammunition. The biggest thrill of the classic Resident Evils was never knowing when or were you get your next gun and conserving ammo because it was scarce. With the shop and money that you can collect I never felt worried at all about my inventory like the last game.

Next entry of the Resident Evil was number 5 and this was an even bigger disappointment than 4 which I will talk about now. Frist though I just want to say that the racism surrounding this game was just so stupid, its a GAME that was set in Africa that was taken over by parasites, it had nothing to do with real life! The reasons I dislike this game was first to do with the fact that everything was a redo of 4, from the enemies to the chainsaw wielding guy to the shop at the end of the chapters it was just all the same, it even went to enemies using guns near the end as well. Next was the crappy A.I. that they gave Sheva and the fact that you can't play the game alone. I know in 4 you have to protect Ashley but she mostly stays out of the way and leaves at certain points but Sheva was always there and just so damn annoying that I just couldn't play it anymore. Also I just could not stand the story or the characters, Sheva being the main reason I hate them. She was only there in a hope to ease the racism and I just did not get why she stayed with Chris, her backstory was generic and weak and she had no impact on the story at all. Instead of her it should have been Rebecca, Barry or Carlos, at least they fit in to the overal story already and with Wesker in general, she just did not deserve to be there especially since this game was also the end of the iconic Wesker.

Lastly we have Resident Evil 6 and if I am honest I did like this game a hell of a lot more than 4 and 6. It still had a lot of problems like chapters, the enemies in Chris and Jakes and quick time events but it did try to return to some of its roots. Weapons can now only be found not bought, Leon's campaign actually had zombies in it and it worked really well with the over the shoulder mode (which you can now move in) and you have multiple campaigns like the previous games. However the best campaign in this was Leon's (even though chapter three is a complete waste of time) because of the zombies because I just did not like the J'avo in Chris and Jakes, even though some of their mutations were interesting. It should have been zombies for all campaigns and I know it could have worked, for example I know Chris has better weapons than the others but maybe he could have had massive crowds of zombies to deal with and he still could have had lots of B.O.W as well, like some of the J'avo mutations but as separate enemies. Also I did not like that Leon and Chris was in this because  again they have completely ignored the other characters.

There you have it, I believe 4, 5 and 6 were the reasons Resident Evil has fallen from grace however I do know from looking on the internet that I am not the only one who feels this way. I have heard that there is a seventh Resident Evil in development but it is a little too late, the damage is done from 4, 5 and 6 and there is no forgetting it. There is only one thing the series can do now; reboot.

That is it for now but I will be back for a part two were I go over the points of why a reboot is the best option and how to make it a great Resident Evil game again. Also I know I did not go in to so much detail on the classic Resident Evils like 2 and 3 and why I think they are the best but I might save that for a review on them.