The Batman Arkham Collection is a compilation of three critically acclaimed action-adventure games: “Batman: Arkham Asylum,” “Batman: Arkham City,” and “Batman: Arkham Knight.” Developed by Rocksteady Studios, these games follow the Dark Knight as he battles iconic villains in Gotham City, utilizing a blend of stealth, combat, and detective skills.

The Good

• The graphics and visuals don’t get any better, and they mostly still hold up compared to today’s visuals.
• The gameplay is a wonderful mix of stealth, puzzles, and brawling.
• The voice acting couldn’t be any better.
• Each game’s world is fully immersive.

The Bad

• The language is unnecessarily harsh and filled with cursing, restricting responsible parents from purchasing it for any child under the age of 17.
• It’s not woke free.
• Arkham Knight’s batmobile controls, and handling has been an understandable source of contention for years.

The Ugly

• The Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn character designs are overly sexualized (especially Ivy, who is nearly naked), precluding purchases for even the older children of responsible parents.

Batman: Arkham Collection Review

The video game industry continues its self-immolation via a combination of declining quality standards and an obsession with injecting identity politics and other radical progressive ideals into its products. As such, there has been an increase in nostalgia-play, with more and more gamers returning to the classics.

Batman: Arkham Collection (or Arkham Trilogy for Nintendo Switch users) is the perfect remedy for those woke game blues. Even at its most expensive, players get three games for the price of one. However, for those who are patient enough to wait and regimented enough to check continually, it’s possible to find it at a significant discount (I got mine for $20 from nintendo.com).

The Arkham games range from solidly crafted experiences to near-masterpieces. Featuring the legendary voices of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin, these games bring Gotham to life in a way few video games ever have. Rocksteady Studios delivers not just stunning character designs but deeply immersive gameplay that only gets better with each entry. The controls start off strong and evolve across the trilogy, culminating in Batman: Arkham Knight, where the sensation of being the Dark Knight is about as real as it gets—short of donning the cape and cowl in VR.

There are some who may remember a less-than-stellar batmobile experience in Arkham Knight, but if you can forgive that single conceit or just enjoy smashing through walls and pedestrians, it might be time to revisit one of the greatest video game trilogies ever conceived.

WOKE REPORT

We’re Men In Tight Tights

• In the third game of the trilogy, Batman: Arkham Knight, there are hundreds of random thugs and mercenaries roving the streets of Gotham, each consisting of a dozen or so designs and possessing a plethora of audio tracks. One of these audio tracks is a conversation between two mercenaries in which one laments that his husband is a human rights lawyer who is away on business. I played the game all the way through and spent a considerable amount of time wandering the streets, listening to NPC conversations, and only came upon this loop twice, but it’s there.