0:00:02.570,0:00:07.950 Hi, this is Mark Brown with Game Maker's Toolkit,[br]a series on video game design. 0:00:08.950,0:00:14.970 If you ask me, Rocksteady's Batman games are[br]a good example of why bigger isn't always better. 0:00:15.419,0:00:19.779 The first game in the trilogy, Arkham Asylum,[br]was a pleasant surprise. Not only was it a 0:00:19.779,0:00:24.369 great game, and a great licensed game, but[br]it was a killer Batman game. The developer 0:00:24.369,0:00:28.630 figured out what made this dude interesting[br]- how he was more than just a rich guy who 0:00:28.630,0:00:31.409 punches hooligans while his underpants are[br]showing. 0:00:31.419,0:00:36.530 For starters, Arkham Asylum had truly loony[br]villains who got inside the dark knight's 0:00:36.530,0:00:41.430 head. And it also had free-flowing combat[br]that mimics the martial arts of the animated 0:00:41.430,0:00:47.079 films, and when Batman fought goons with guns[br]he'd hide in the shadows and use fear to trip 0:00:47.079,0:00:52.710 up his opponents. Like a reverse horror game,[br]as if you're playing as the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation 0:00:54.010,0:00:58.470 Those two main mechanics simply didn't require[br]the massive open city that had, at the time, 0:00:58.470,0:01:00.800 become synonymous with super hero games. 0:01:00.800,0:01:03.360 (Nowadays,[br]they're all endless runners for iPhone). 0:01:03.360,0:01:09.100 So, instead, we got the smaller, more intimate[br]environment of the Arkham Asylum mental hospital. 0:01:09.100,0:01:14.840 But then we got sequels. And things, inevitably,[br]got bigger. Arkham City gave us a few urban 0:01:14.840,0:01:19.950 blocks, and switched the structure from Metroidvania[br]to full open world. And in Arkham Knight, 0:01:19.950,0:01:22.290 we get a mini Grand Theft Auto. 0:01:22.290,0:01:27.790 But does Batman really benefit from the extra[br]square footage? I'm not convinced. 0:01:27.790,0:01:32.790 For one, the main gameplay systems in Asylum[br]didn't actually gain anything from going open 0:01:32.790,0:01:37.310 world. In actual fact, they kind of suffered.[br]The predator mode got lots of new gadgets 0:01:37.310,0:01:41.479 and wrinkles in the sequels, but it always[br]worked best in the purpose built rooms of 0:01:41.479,0:01:46.290 Asylum, that encouraged you to play smart[br]to isolate your foes, rather than the random 0:01:46.290,0:01:48.340 rooftops of City and Knight. 0:01:48.340,0:01:52.030 And the combat got plenty of new features,[br]but it quickly becomes tiresome when you have 0:01:52.030,0:01:56.229 to fight dozens of random goons who are littered[br]about the open world. 0:01:56.229,0:02:00.909 Sandbox games should ideally contain mechanics[br]that need a sandbox. Like attacking bases 0:02:00.909,0:02:06.299 in any way you wish in Far Cry, or the elaborate[br]cop chases in Grand Theft Auto. Otherwise, 0:02:06.299,0:02:11.570 you've just built an incredibly elaborate[br]menu system to jump between gameplay moments. 0:02:11.570,0:02:16.140 To its credit, Rocksteady did add more mechanics[br]that made better use of the larger play space. 0:02:16.140,0:02:21.530 But was anyone really asking for Batmobile[br]tank warfare, or Assassin's Creed-style tailing 0:02:21.530,0:02:26.070 missions, or - that old favourite - liberating[br]towers? 0:02:28.220,0:02:33.680 One of the biggest victims of an open world is story. A strong narrative can quickly lose 0:02:33.680,0:02:38.260 its structure and focus when players are given[br]so many distractions. In Arkham Knight, the 0:02:38.270,0:02:43.110 urgency of stopping Scarecrow is undermined[br]by the huge wheel of side missions which see 0:02:43.110,0:02:47.680 you stopping bank robberies and blowing up[br]gun caches and training Azriel and tracking 0:02:47.680,0:02:48.860 down a man bat. 0:02:49.340,0:02:54.400 JIM GORDON: Look, I know you're busy. But anything you can do to help is going to save lives. 0:02:54.460,0:02:58.780 In a way, it emulates the feeling of Batman[br]being overstretched and having to put out 0:02:58.780,0:03:03.420 fires - sometimes literally - but the simulation[br]is revealed as being quite hollow when you 0:03:03.420,0:03:06.950 realise that there's no need to prioritise[br]missions or act quickly. 0:03:06.950,0:03:11.660 Take two events that happen early in Arkham[br]Knight. Two of Batman's allies are kidnapped, 0:03:11.660,0:03:15.950 almost simultaneously, but unlike in the Dark[br]Knight where Batman has to make a choice of 0:03:15.950,0:03:20.550 who lives and who dies, there are no such[br]stakes here. The Riddler will patiently wait 0:03:20.550,0:03:25.020 for you to come back to his bonkers underground[br]race ways, and all his posturing about killing 0:03:25.020,0:03:29.360 his detainee are hot air. Take your time,[br]detective. It's just a side quest. 0:03:29.760,0:03:35.640 Open worlds can harm the pacing of gameplay, too. Ultra linear games like Uncharted 2 0:03:35.640,0:03:40.950 can smartly dole out moments of shooting and[br]climbing and story and puzzle solving at just 0:03:40.950,0:03:45.690 right time to stop you getting bored and to[br]ramp up challenge and slowly teach you mechanics. 0:03:45.690,0:03:49.880 Sandbox games aren't so good at this, and[br]you can find yourself doing repetitive tasks 0:03:49.880,0:03:52.440 or facing a weird, wobbly difficulty curve. 0:03:53.360,0:03:57.400 I can see the case for open world games, of course.[br]Players get more freedom, they can tackle 0:03:57.400,0:04:01.620 missions in any order they want, and they[br]get a lot more content for their cash. And 0:04:01.620,0:04:06.880 games like Fallout and Skyrim make terrific[br]use of massive great worlds to faff about in. 0:04:07.000,0:04:12.100 But these days, I'm finding the promises of[br]bigger and wider worlds a bit of a turn off. 0:04:12.100,0:04:17.980 TRAILER V/O: Just Cause 3 is a huge open world game with over 400 square miles of complete freedom. 0:04:18.530,0:04:22.340 You either end up with Assassin's Creed which[br]has so much stuff to do that your map looks 0:04:22.340,0:04:26.760 like someone spilled a tub of glitter on it.[br]Or Codemaster's Fuel which holds a Guinness 0:04:26.760,0:04:31.510 World Record for largest game world, but hasn't[br]got a single interesting thing in it. 0:04:31.510,0:04:37.370 So maybe Arkham Asylum proves that open world[br]doesn't necessarily need to mean open "world". 0:04:37.370,0:04:41.190 And that game environments should be measured[br]by how much meaningful content is inside, 0:04:41.190,0:04:43.130 rather than in square metres. 0:04:43.130,0:04:47.530 Arkham Asylum was tiny, but it had better[br]pacing than Arkham Knight and a more focused 0:04:47.530,0:04:52.820 story than Arkham City. It was claustrophobic,[br]but the game's mechanics suited that. Spider-Man 0:04:52.820,0:04:57.040 needs a big open world to swing about in,[br]but Batman is at his best when he's locked 0:04:57.040,0:04:58.660 in with his opponents. 0:04:58.660,0:05:03.660 So for every monstrously massive open world,[br]we need a few sandbox games that are tiny 0:05:03.660,0:05:08.780 and intimate. More games like Resident Evil[br]with its cramped Spencer mansion or Gone Home 0:05:08.780,0:05:10.600 with its Portland town house. 0:05:10.600,0:05:15.370 Game worlds that are packed with details but[br]free from padding. Worlds where you learn 0:05:15.370,0:05:20.220 all the nooks and crannies and shortcuts as[br]you retread familiar ground, instead of whizzing 0:05:20.220,0:05:25.260 past it all in a sports car. Game worlds that[br]are memorable, not just cold, dull environments 0:05:25.260,0:05:27.260 filled with content and features. 0:05:27.260,0:05:31.900 Because, as Arkham trilogy director Sefton[br]Hill said, back at the release of Arkham Aslyum, 0:05:31.900,0:05:37.200 "It's easy to see how people fall into the[br]trap of having so many features. It's natural 0:05:37.200,0:05:38.940 to equate features with quality." 0:05:38.940,0:05:42.020 DAN STAPLETON: This has got to be number one for me, followed by Asylum 0:05:42.020,0:05:45.160 DAN STAPLETON: Purely because of the amount of content there is. 0:05:45.180,0:05:50.080 "You want to do less, but do it amazingly[br]well, rather than do more and have a load 0:05:50.080,0:05:55.940 of average stuff. There are too many games[br]out there that deliver lots of average content." 0:05:57.180,0:06:01.740 Thanks for watching. Agree or disagree with[br]my take on the Arkham trilogy? Let me know 0:06:01.750,0:06:06.410 your thoughts in the comments. Plus, please[br]give the episode a like, share it online, 0:06:06.410,0:06:10.590 and consider pitching in via Patreon. Your[br]support means everything.