Batman: Arkham Knight’s Season Pass is Absurd (IGN)

[daze23]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/29/opinion-batman-arkham-knights-season-pass-is-absurd

I don’t believe that the existence of DLC content will necessarily diminish the quality of the $60 version of Batman: Arkham Knight. After WB’s recent announcement of a season pass, it remains one of my most hotly anticipated games of 2015, and I intend to play the hell out of it. That said: what the hell is this?

For $40, Warner Bros and Rocksteady promise us the following:

“This season pass for Batman: Arkham Knight delivers new content every month for 6 months, featuring new story missions, more supervillains invading Gotham City, new legendary Batmobiles, advanced challenge maps, alternative character skins, and new drivable race tracks.”

As a huge Batman fan, that strikes me as completely bonkers. Even if some of this extra content ends up being great – I do love Arkham challenge maps, and I might even spring for a well-done Animated Series Batman skin (yes, again) – there’s virtually no way all of it will be worth paying for. Who in their right mind would buy a bundle of vaguely described DLC all at once, especially sight unseen, at two-thirds the price of a full new game?

There’s so much we don’t know about this. We don’t know what the significance of a supervillain “invading Gotham” is. We don’t know what the skins are. We don’t know what these “legendary Batmobiles” will look like, or if they’ll behave differently from the stock version. And it’s especially weird that we’re promised Batmobile race tracks before that completely new feature has been shown off in any meaningful way. I definitely hope it will be fun, and I’m optimistic that Rocksteady wouldn’t have added driving at all if there weren’t a good idea behind it beyond a simple arcade racer... but that doesn’t make it something I’m willing to spend money for more of right now. The point of DLC is to give me the chance to buy more of the stuff I like, and I don’t know if I’ll like this yet.

Let’s also consider that historically, Batman games’ DLC hasn’t inspired a lot of confidence. Both Arkham City and Arkham Origins eventually produced roughly $40 in DLC: there’s one short, story-based add-on for each game for $10 apiece (which I found somewhat half-hearted), a handful of challenge maps that include the ability to play as Batman’s sidekicks, and skin packs. (Arkham Origins also has two $2.99 “Supply Drop” packs that promise “a measurable advantage in online gameplay,” which would be super gross if anyone played Arkham Origins’ multiplayer.) Absolutely none of that is essential – aside from the novelty of playing as a different character, you wouldn’t miss much at all by skipping it completely.

Beyond that, there’s a big pacing problem. We’re talking about a slow trickle of content coming out over the course of six months, for an exclusively single-player game. Now, I absolutely loved Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, and to a lesser extent I enjoyed Arkham Origins, but I didn’t play them for more than a couple of weeks before I’d had my fill and moved on while I was still feeling high on Bat life. The prospect of coming back to a city I’ve already spent a few dozen hours punching my way through every month just to play through a couple of new story missions or try on a new skin sounds dull and obligatory.

How about this: I just wait six months for all the DLC to come out, snap up the pieces that look interesting when most of them are on sale (for certainly less than $40,) and then play through all of it at once to make my return to Gotham a worthwhile stay rather than a sad, “Well, I guess I already paid for this junk” drive-by?

It’s times like this that we’re reminded that the concept of a season pass was conceived not as a way to deliver value (as any quality DLC should sell itself by looking cool), but as an incentive to hold onto your copy when you’re done playing instead of selling it back to GameStop or passing it on to a friend. This high-priced and poorly defined pass feels like an especially cynical implementation of that concept. I’ll be playing Arkham Knight, but I won’t be buying the season pass – and I don’t recommend that you do, either.

I'll wait for the GOTY edition to be $5 on Steam

 

[BaldingSoHard]

Yea, no.

 

[Tunez]

Money hungry

 

[Zero]

 

[Dominic Brehetto]

DLC is for rubes.

 

[Dwolf]

 

[Jax]

Goes to piratebay plays on pc instead.
They did this to themselves.

 

[MidniteJay]

and just like that I ain't buying the game till a nice price drop. I heard the dlc for previous Batman games were ass too...

 

[Rekkapryde]

and just like that I ain't buying the game till a nice price drop. I heard the dlc for previous Batman games were ass too...

I'm with you, I"ll wait for the Game Of The Year Edition.

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/29/opinion-batman-arkham-knights-season-pass-is-absurd



I'll wait for the GOTY edition to be $5 on Steam

 

[Rekkapryde]

and just like that I ain't buying the game till a nice price drop. I heard the dlc for previous Batman games were ass too...

Forgot I had GCU with best buy. That's 20% off and I get a 10 dollar gift card. So it's only 70 for me. I can dig that.

GCU good to a nikka.

 

[CACarot]

and PEOPLE WILL BUY IT.

We talking about the gaming industry and it's patrons correct ? When you going to understand the average fukk boi loser virgin fatboy 35 year old gamer nerd fanboy will buy this and support these practices. I will continue to reiterate that the gaming industry is the worst. They know for a minimal amount of added content they can squeeze out any penny from you because the average consumer is pathetic.

 

[thaKEAF]

I never buy DLC.

 

[Microfracture]

"Just hustlin' baby"

 

[JetLifer16]

This isn't overpriced and that article is terrible.

Arkham City had DLC that would cost you more than $30. That only includes Robin, Nightwing, Harley Quinns Revenge, Maps, and Skins. Thats not including Catwoman, which would put it at $40.

The Arkham Knight season pass clearly has much more content for the around the same exact price.

If you don't like DLC, thats a different story. You can wait for the GOTY edition and get over it. If you aren't going to use all of the DLC included in the season pass, buy only what you want and save money.

Its like people forget that Season Passes are a convenience to people that know they will be purchasing all of the DLC. It lets them do it at a much cheaper price. No one is forcing anyone else to buy it.