➤ Batmobile and costumes 🎮

After last month's first discreet (but short) DLC focusing on Batgirl, it's time for Batman: Arkham Knight to receive a second package from Warner Bros. Interactive, this time double. However, this is not an extra content that expands the stories of Arkham through the events of some supporting actor of the Dark Knight or the superhero himself, but a classic DLC containing mainly skins of various kinds, this time by the same Rocksteady Studios. . Specifically we have the 1989 Movie Batmobile Pack, which includes Batman and Batmobile skins inspired by Tim Burton's 1989 film, as well as two circuits, one of which is based on its sequel, Batman - Returns, and the Bat-family. Skins Pack, which features six character costumes focused on alternate timelines for Catwoman, Robin, Batman and Nightwing. Both add-ons are available from August 18 for season pass holders, while the 1989 Movie Batmobile Pack can be purchased separately for € 1,99 on PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE.

Batman: Arkham Knight's two August DLCs offer new skins for the Batmobile, Batman and his friends

A jump into the past

The first package is based as mentioned earlier on the 1989 film "Batman" directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as Super Villain The Joker, and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale. It was the first in a series of Batman films produced by Warner Bros. and was a critical and financial success, at the time achieving the highest grossing for a film based on a DC Comics comic. Tim Burton's Batman received multiple BAFTA, Golden Globe and Saturn Award nominations, and inspired the Emmy-winning animated series of the same name, as well as several other superhero films produced thereafter. Thanks to the 1989 Movie Batmobile Pack add-on it is thus possible to drive the Batmobile inspired by the film, taking on new challenges within two special circuits.

These are found within the AR challenges in a combination of four timed challenges of one and three laps, along two "tracks" that recall the famous Joker parade and the scenery of Batman's Penguin - The Return. For the record, the races are accompanied by the main musical theme of the two Burton films, curated at the time by Danny Elfman. Unfortunately, however, it must be said that apart from the charm of the two settings, complete with snow covering the areas, the paths do not add anything special to the gaming experience and indeed, you want for a less controllable Batmobile than the original Akham Knight, either for the structurally anonymous "circuits" which feature rotating pylons that are particularly difficult to overcome (as soon as they touch the car it explodes), running to beat the records set by the developers sometimes becomes even frustrating and useless, given that overcoming new challenges AR challenges do not add stars to the final tally. However, the vehicle with the new skin can also be used in the main game (together with a new Batman costume based on Tim Burton's films), but considering that it cannot transform into an armored vehicle, it becomes practically useless, if not for a matter of aesthetics, since the Arkham Knight's drones can throw her "the party" in an instant. Therefore, it can be used only after having cleared the streets of the latter and only in free-roaming. Moving on to the other available pack, the Bat-family Skins Pack, it instead includes six character skins based on alternate timelines. Here is a first costume dedicated to the sensual Catwoman, which incorporates the purple one worn by the "kitten" in the comics dedicated to her, illustrated by Jim Balent starting from 1993. The Original Arkham Nightwing instead allows Dick Grayson to have a slightly more jaunty, at least in the haircut, and to wear a different mask and "suit" compared to the original game. Also beautiful is the "One Year Later Robin" skin, which gives Tim Drake a dark red and blue outfit with golden cuffs, as well as a new haircut. The Robin costume is based on the DC Comics story arc entitled One Year Later, which tells of the events that took place after the jump of an exact year into the future of the DC Universe, immediately after the events of the Infinite Crisis.

Finally we have three new costumes also for the Caped Crusader: in detail the one worn by the hero in Batman: Arkham Origins, the iconic one in gray and black, and finally the famous Batman "suit" of the 70s, with the black logo of the bat imprinted on a yellow oval shape. Also in this case nothing to object from a visual point of view: the design of the costumes is good and each of them has been well reproduced by the graphics. Despite this, this month's double package is in our opinion disappointing, a wasted opportunity to offer Batman: Arkham Knight owners something more substantial to improve the gaming experience and expand it, even from an artistic point of view. Cars and two circuits for the AR challenges are really too little to recommend indiscriminate purchase to all users, despite the price of just € 1,99; ditto the handful of skins in the second package, which among other things we had already seen in the previous DLC of the past games of the series. From this point of view it would have made more sense to include the two contents within the retail version, or in the Batgirl add-on or in the next package that will see the light in September. Our advice, therefore, for those who obviously do not have the season pass and have not yet played the main game, this time is to wait for an all-encompassing edition, while for the most avid fans who want to collect everything, really everything, of the world of Batman, then the reverse is true.