Best Batman Arkham Games

In 2009, Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham Asylum, changing the superhero genre and gaming forever. Within the next few years, the developer went on to produce a couple of direct sequels that expanded the original title’s scope, gameplay, and world. Arkham City and Arkham Knight are both considered masterpieces in their own right, creating a trilogy that is among the best in the industry.

While those three projects are the most well-known, the Arkham series extends well beyond just the core trilogy. In fact, the franchise goes beyond Arkham Origins and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as well. So, that raises the question: which are the best Batman Arkham games?

Updated January 27, 2025 by Mark Sammut: Now that Arkham Shadow has been out for a couple of months, the game’s strengths have become much clearer, cementing itself as a worthy addition to this storied franchise. Consequently, the section on Camouflaj’s release has been rewritten and expanded.

Every Batman: Arkham Game

Over the last 15 years, the Batman: Arkham series has ballooned to more than 10 games, making it a far more expansive franchise than might seem to be the case if someone is only familiar with Rocksteady’s main entries. The upcoming list includes every Batman: Arkham game in release order.

Click on one of the above games to jump to their ranking.

13

Batman: Arkham Origins (Mobile)

Rough Mobile Game That Has Nothing To Do With The Main Version (That Is No Longer Available To Purchase)

Despite having the same name, Arkham Origins on mobile is a completely different game from the one on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Primarily because on iOS and Android, the game was a brawler, not an action-adventure title. In 2021, Arkham Origins Mobile was removed from the Apple and Play Stores, so it is no longer possible to legally download the free-to-play game.

It was a freemium game, so expectations for it were never high. The fighting was simple, and the lack of variety in Batman’s opponents didn’t help. However, the restrictive stamina system meant players could not brawl for long periods unless they wanted to spend money.

12

Batman: Arkham Underworld

A Decent Enough Management Strategy Game (That Is No Longer Available To Purchase)

Underworld is a different sort of mobile game from Origins. It’s also a freemium title, but instead of fighting Batman’s villains, players control them. Similar to its companion app, Underworld was eventually removed from stores, and it lasted a far shorter time than Origins.

The goal was to build up a criminal empire using management skills. Players also get to partake in a little bit of fighting during missions. That said, the game was mostly about strategy. It was fine, but aside from the voice actors, it was an Arkham game in name only.

11

Batman: Arkham City Lockdown

Very Solid Fighting Game With A Respectable Upgrade System (That Is Not Available To Purchase Anymore)

Any game that followed Asylum and City was going to struggle to live up to their excellence. Arkham City Lockdown, however, has avoided any comparisons to those classics because it’s nothing like them.

The title has more in common with its successor, Arkham Origins (mobile). It’s an iOS and Android fighter, where Batman takes on various goons. The brawling is simplistic and repetitive, but at least it’s fast-paced. In comparison to most mobile fighters, it’s fine; compared to the best of the Arkham series, it’s mediocre.

10

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

Repetitive Side-Scroller That Simplifies The Arkham Formula While Being A Mediocre Metroidvania

With Blackgate, Armature Studio attempted to bring Arkham to handheld consoles. To do this, they made certain changes to account for the less powerful systems, the main one being the switch to a 2.5D perspective.

The result isn’t perfect. Combat and stealth feel shallow compared to the main Arkham games. Whereas, the environments are very repetitive and uninteresting. At least the game recounts the first meeting between Batman and Catwoman. An argument could be made that Underworld and Lockdown were more interesting games than Blackgate, but the fact the latter can still be played today gives it the edge.

9

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Messy Successor With Passable But Repetitive Combat And A Weak Story

While not the worst Arkham game in a vacuum, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the most disappointing and polarizing. Rocksteady’s long-awaited return to this beloved universe steadily turned sour as more and more news regarding the project came out, particularly its game-as-a-service model and a combat system revolving around guns and loot. In the months before its launch, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was surrounded by controversy and negative press, to the point of being dismissed as a failure before ever hitting store shelves. Rather than being one of 2024’s most highly-anticipated releases, it became an early contender for one of the year’s most frustrating drops.

Does that mean the game has nothing to offer? Well, no. Visually, Kill the Justice League looks fantastic, particularly during its cutscenes. If nothing else, the graphics are of proper current-generation quality. The gameplay is the definition of a mixed bag. The minute-to-minute action is fast-paced, frantic, and has some weight to it; consequently, it can be fun for a couple of hours. Each member of the Suicide Squad has unique movement abilities that are fairly enjoyable to utilize. Unfortunately, the gunplay reduces the characters’ uniqueness during combat, so they don’t shine as individuals as much as they should. The story is fine too, although it does fall short of Rocksteady’s high standards.

8

Batman: Arkham Trilogy

Sounds Great On Paper, But Arkham Asylum And City Are The Only Ones That Work Well

Batman: Arkham Trilogy for the Switch is in a strange place that makes it simultaneously a decent option but also difficult to recommend. As the title suggests, this package comes with Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight. While these projects are fairly old, the option to play them on the go using the Switch is enticing. Along with all the vanilla content that adds up to more than 30 hours for just the main stories, the trilogy also comes with the DLC, most of which are pretty darn good.

Now, the main sticking point is performance. The Switch was never going to compete with the PC or even PS4/XBO versions, but Arkham Asylum and Arkham City are generally playable on Nintendo’s system, and the latter runs surprisingly well. Conversely, Arkham Knight is a mess, to the point of barely being worth consideration when deciding whether to buy this compilation. This trilogy feels incomplete thanks to its poorly optimized finale.

7

Batman: Return To Arkham

A Decent Compilation Undermined By A Few Unnecessary Changes

Once a popular game is around long enough, it’s bound to get remastered in some form, and that’s what happened to the first two Arkham titles in this collection. They aren’t the most inspiring remasters, though.

All Return To Arkham does is give both Asylum and City slight visual upgrades. It didn’t improve the frame rate of the two games, so the gameplay is largely unchanged. Still, it’s nice to have them both on newer consoles to ensure they are as accessible as possible; furthermore, this compilation is backward-compatible with the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Plus, Return to Arkham is a fine package for people who never played the originals.

Still, it is hard not to be disappointed with Return to Arkham since it does not feel like an appropriate “definitive” edition for two of the greatest games of all time. Also, why was Arkham Origins left out? That game gets way too little love.

6

Batman: Arkham VR

Become The Bat (For A Very Short Time)

The chance to feel what it’s like to be Batman is enticing and that’s close to what Arkham VR offers. Although, it’s mostly the detective side of the Dark Knight’s crusade that players get to experience. They have to solve compelling puzzles to find out what happened to Nightwing and Robin.

It’s an engaging and imaginative game that makes good use of the PlayStation VR. Nevertheless, Arkham VR doesn’t match the scale and depth of the bigger entries in the series, and it does come across as a tech demo. Nevertheless, die-hard fans of the Caped Crusader should check out this spin-off.

5

Batman: Arkham Origins

Underappreciated Gem With A Cool Christmas Setting And A Couple Of Great Boss Fights

This prequel could’ve easily been a disaster. Rocksteady wasn’t the developer, and Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill weren’t on the voice cast. Yet, all of their replacements did great, especially WB Games Montréal, who proved they could make a solid Arkham game.

The only downside to Origins is its lack of invention. Besides some shock gloves, it doesn’t do anything that its predecessors didn’t. The map is just Arkham City‘s open-world with a Christmas coat of paint, although the setting is still quite visually pleasing. Ultimately, more Arkham is always a good thing, especially when it delivers a compelling story with fun boss battles like Origins does.

Batman: Arkham Origins received a Mr. Freeze-themed expansion called Cold, Cold Heart.

4

Batman: Arkham Shadow

The Most Immersive Batman Game

For the most part, 2024 will likely not be remembered as a great year for the Arkham series due to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The long-awaited return to this universe proved to be extremely divisive, to the point of almost earning ridicule. The project was not a success by any stretch of the imagination, and there is a very good chance that this game will be the last time many people interact with this franchise in terms of a new story.

However, 2024 produced another Arkham outing that is far more in tune with Rocksteady’s original trilogy (and Origins). Arkham Shadow seems like it should have been a bigger deal; after all, it has all the hallmarks associated with the series at its best. The story is well-written, lengthy, stuffed with memorable characters, and has an air of mystery that works beautifully. The voice acting is also flawless. The combat revolves around group management, blocks, combos, and tools, with the encounters feeling like a smoothly choreographed symphony of punches, smoke bombs, and leaps. The stealth sections are present and accounted for, and they are just as satisfying as in the older games.

Arkham Shadow is a fantastic game that marks a return to form for the series. If someone can play it, they should. Unfortunately, “can” is the operative word, as the 2024 release is a Meta Quest 3 and 3S VR exclusive. Automatically, this greatly narrows the game’s potential player base, limiting its reach to a relatively small ecosystem compared to the franchise’s other major releases. There are likely die-hard fans who have wanted a new game for nearly a decade who cannot play Arkham Shadow, and that is a shame.

Now, to be clear, VR needs these types of projects to expand and thrive, so the above is not meant to be a criticism. Camouflaj did a great job of translating the Arkham formula into virtual reality, creating a game that is good by all standards.

3

Batman: Arkham Knight

The Best In Class When It Comes To Combat & Open-World

Arkham Knight presents the end of a story that started with Asylum, and it’s a truly captivating last chapter as Batman has to deal with his own mental instability caused by The Joker. Not every aspect of the narrative is amazing, though, as the titular villain twist is fairly predictable for anyone remotely familiar with the comics or wider Batman lore.

Arkham Knight‘s combat and predator sections are just as fluid and fun as ever; in fact, from a gameplay perspective, this title is arguably the best Batman Arkham game. Yet, they’re constantly intruded on by the polarizing Batmobile sequences. Controlling the fancy car isn’t awful, but the game forces players to use it too often. Overall, though, Arkham Knight’s positives heavily outweigh its negatives.

Batman: Arkham Knight received quite a lot of DLC Season of Infamy: Most Wanted is probably the best expansion in the Arkham series; conversely, A Matter of Family might be the worst.

2

Batman: Arkham Asylum

A Lean & Impeccable Adventure That Changed The Gaming Industry

Nobody knew what to expect from Arkham Asylum before it was released. Comic book games didn’t have the best track record, after all. When it hit the shelves, though, it blew everyone away.

Fighting mechanics, stealth sections, tone, everything about the game fits The Dark Knight perfectly. Likewise, the voice acting is spectacular, with Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker being arguably the best adaptations of those DC characters. And they were assisted by the game’s wonderful writing. Fans will never forget the time they first strolled around the Joker-ran Asylum.

1

Batman: Arkham City

Fine-Tunes Arkham Asylum While Adding A Lot Of Content, Improving A Masterpiece In The Process

It was a lot to ask of Arkham City to match the quality of the near-perfect Asylum. Against the odds, though, the Arkham Asylum sequel managed to surpass its predecessor by delivering an unbelievable open-world adventure. Rocksteady succeeded by enhancing things the first installment established instead of replacing them.

For instance, the wonderful combat added lots of new gadgets and attacks. Whereas, the confining Asylum has been replaced with a full city that’s filled with things to do. And the larger area leaves room for more of Batman’s friends and foes, including Two-Face, Penguin, and Catwoman. Each new character joins Batman in an incredibly engaging story, which has one of the best video game endings of all time.

Batman: Arkham City received an expansion called Harley Quinn’s Revenge, which garnered a Metascore of 74 on the PS3.