While fans can enjoy seeingBatmanfight crime on TV or in movies, nothing immerses a viewer like being able to play as Batman in theBatman Arkhamgame series made byRocksteady Studios. These games also have plenty of side missions that put the spotlight on so many Batman friends and foes.
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For some of these side missions, you might jump at the chance to play them while forgetting all about the main mission for a while. Other side missions might feel more anti-climactic or tedious. For this list, DLC side quests will not be included.
10The Best: Shot In The Dark (Batman: Arkham City)
This quest does a great job of letting you use Batman’s detective skills and doesn’t require much fighting like other side missions call for. The quest itself involves analyzing crime scenes where Deadshot has sniped his victims. Batman tracks the trajectory of the bullets to try and find clues about where Deadshot has gone.
The boss battle between Batman and Deadshot is relatively easy, and investigating the crime scenes lets you use the more in-depth features in detective mode that remind you why Batman has been called The World’s Greatest Detective.
9The Worst: Gotham On Fire (Batman: Arkham Knight)
In this quest, you have to fight Firefly by chasing him in the Batmobile. Once you get close enough to him, you have to jump out of the Batmobile, grab Firefly, beat him up, then watch him fly away to repeat the process.
It can be a long, tedious process to get close enough to Firefly. He takes lots of turns, making it hard to know when you should use the Batmobile’s boosters. This quest is best left for after you finish the main story, otherwise chasing Firefly will most likely lead you far away from your next objective. Let’s hope these kinds of chase scenesdon’t show up in future Batman games.
8The Best: Heir To The Cowl (Batman: Arkham Knight)
While this quest is similar to Azrael’s Watcher in the Wings quest fromBatman: Arkham City, this one takes it to a different level. Not only is it easier to find Azrael this time, but you also get the chance to learn more about him as a character.
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After you complete Batman’s trials as Azrael to prove that Azrael could take on the cowl, Batman uses his computer to look into Azrael’s past. You learn about his motives, how he’s been brainwashed, and you even get to choose whether Azrael kills Batman or walks away.
7The Worst: Two-Faced Bandit (Batman: Arkham Knight)
Just when you think you get the hang of this quest, its next location brings you more challenges. Here, Batman must stop Two-Face’s thugs from robbing three different banks. While the first location might start easy, especially when you can do louder takedowns over the bank’s alarms, each new location brings in better-equipped enemies.
Between medics healing men you’ve already taken out, to goons that can see you in the dark, it’s harder to be stealthy, quick, and quiet when more enemies are around with more equipment to stop and annoy you.
6The Best: Cold Call Killer (Batman: Arkham City)
Zsasz just wants someone to tell his weird stories to. That’s why he calls Batman on random payphones. By tracing his calls, you can find out where he’s hiding, rescue his hostages, and send him to the GCPD.
Tracing the calls can give you a high-stakes task or a story to listen to, depending on how much you want to pay attention to what Zsasz is saying. When you find Zsasz, each area of his hideout requires a different tactic to get around it. It keeps you on your toes, and you can play with a bunch of your gadgets along the way.
5The Worst: The Tea Party (Batman: Arkham City)
After receiving a call from Alfred saying that he delivered a cure forthe poisoned blood that Joker gave to Batman, you find that this “cure” was actually planted by the Mad Hatter. Taking it knocks Batman out, and he wakes up at a tea party.
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Not only is it disturbing to see the sequence where Batman is screening with the bunny mask on, but the quest itself just consists of seemingly endless waves of enemies until you get to defeat the Mad Hatter himself. Just like that, the quest is over, and it feels like a big waste of time.
4The Best: Friend In Need (Batman: Arkham Knight)
When Batman goes into the elevator of Wayne Tower to look for Lucius and Bruce Wayne comes out of the elevator a few seconds later, one would think that they’re the same person. However, this quest has a twist and shows that “Bruce Wayne” is actually Hush, who has captured Lucius.
The twist comes as a surprise, and you have to have quick reflexes to not get Lucius or Batman killed during a quick time event. While this quest may be short, the reveal, the points to explore in Bruce’s office, and the backstory of these characters make it stand out.
3The Worst: Anarky (Batman: Arkham Origins)
Anarky is only inBatman: Arkham Originsand his quest is just as forgettable as he is. Batman must fly across the city, beat Anarky’s thugs, and defuse three bombs all within certain time limits.
While the time limits should make the quest feel urgent, it’s boring to fly around for so long to get to each bomb. The final fight is also annoying. Anarky throws bombs at you before he joins the fight against Batman, and the fight depends more on defeating the goons than Anarky himself. Maybe it’s a good thing that we don’t see Anarky in any ofthe other Batman games.
2The Best: The Perfect Crime (Batman: Arkham Knight)
While this quest is fairly darker than the rest, it does give you a chance to do some more detective work. Batman must analyze the bodies of different victims to find out that their killer is Professor Pyg.
This quest calls for you to try and make connections between the victims each time you analyze them. It can make you feel more involved in the process instead of just letting Batman tell you the answers right away. Plus, the final fight against Pyg has a dark tone as he sings opera music and you have to defeat people that he’s “operated” on.
1The Worst: All The Riddles
In each game in theBatman: Arkhamseries, The Riddler is always ready with some puzzles and collectibles for you to find. Regardless of which game you’re playing, you’ll see green nearly everywhere.
You may just ignore the riddles. You may scream at your TV as you fail at getting one for the millionth time. Either way, these green spots hardly ever feel like they’re worth the effort that it takes to get them. While others might be sitting out in the open, others will have you pulling your hair out as you try to get them. Save yourself the stress and either skip them or maybe look up a walkthrough.
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