If you ask me, the Arkham-style combat is the best system ever created. It’s so flexible, and it can work in so many different kinds of games, from realistic ones to over-the-top fantasy or anything you can think of.
It single-handedly unlocked melee combat for the future of gaming and plenty of modern games are still using the formula that was created all the way back in 2009.
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We’re going to check out a bunch of the best games that implement the Arkham style and create great experiences in the process.
10Gotham Knights
Taking After The Caped Crusader
Gotham Knights
Gotham Knightsis not the successor to the Arkham Games it should’ve been, but it’s not because of the combat. The combat in Gotham Knights is very reminiscent of the Arkham games, from the dodge system to the unique takedowns you have to use.
Each character has their own style of combat, with Red Hood, Batgirl, Robin, and Nightwing all available to play as at any point. The combat is weighty, and the Arkham system serves it well, delivering punishing blows as Red Hood or whirling dervish attacks as Batgirl.
The finishing moves in particular are a great evolution on the Arkham system, with a bunch of different ones available, and they all feel incredibly powerful, and the variety of different enemies you’ll fight throughout the game requires different approaches.
It’s not as good as the Arkham games, but the combat is certainly close, and it’s a solid take on a system that at least makes you feel like a badass superhero any time you engage with it.
9Captain America: Super Soldier
With Your Shield Or On It
Captain America: Super Soldier
This game did not get the love it deserved, but if you’re a fan of superhero games and love Arkham-style combat, this is the game to play.
It takes that exact combat and throws it into Captain America’s world, and while the game is rather short, it’s an explosive and fun time.
Cap is brutal here, moving with finesse and precision, fighting Hydra agents and all sorts of unique villains. The use of the shield twists the formula a little bit and adds to the chaos as a throwable weapon you’re able to use to soften up the enemies before getting up close and personal.
The action is so great here that it actually inspired the fight scenes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Cap is fast as hell and his counter-attacks are just as weighty and brutal as Batman, but even more acrobatic, and Chris Evans bothered to voice the character for this game, giving it some authenticity that goes a long way.
It’s a quick ride, but a fun one, and perhaps the most authentic use of the Arkham-style combat.
Crunchy and Punchy
Mad Max is such a rarity. A good game based on a famous movie property? Blasphemy. Andyet, that’s exactly what we got with this game.
Part of the reason is due to the excellent melee combat. I think hand-to-hand combat is often pretty awkward and rarely feels as good as it should, but with Mad Max, it hits that spot.
Every combat encounter is as brutal as the Mad Max universe would suggest. The hand-to-hand crunchiness is felt from every hit on both the screen and in controller feedback, and it makes the somewhat repetitive encounters always enjoyable to partake in.
I think the counters in the game really elevate it above others in the same genre, because it works just as seamlessly as it does in the Arkham games.
Whether it’s as believable that this random guy could handle these huge groups of post-apocalyptic raiders or not, it still is a damn fun time to fight in the desolate future wasteland.
7Assassin’s Creed: Unity
Seamless Sword Art
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Assassin’s Creed: Unitygot roasted when it came out for some horrific bugs,but playing the game today is as smooth as it gets.
It’s my favorite in the franchise for the melee combat alone, and the amazing backdrop of Paris during the revolution is just the cherry on top.
The combat is simply incredible here, with a variety of counter-attacks, light and strong attacks, and endless different kill animations depending on what enemy you’re fighting.
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Arkham games borrow in many ways from the formula Assassin’s Creed started, but it’s clear that both borrowed from each other as the years went by.
The amount of weapon variety is incredible, and the thump of each weapon is different and has different damage ratings. Unity is just so much deeper than most of the games in the series, and the implementation of the Arkham-style system is the biggest part of that.
6Sleeping Dogs
Fighting in Hong Kong
Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogsis an awesome game, and while the story is great and the voice acting and atmosphere are also on point, the highlight is definitely the combat.
The melee combat here is a perfect evolution of the Arkham system, and it’s fair to say that Batman: Arkham Knight actually took a little bit back from Sleeping Dogs' system.
There are tons of moves to learn throughout the game, and even the basic kit you start with is elaborate and flexible with grabs, counters, and the ability to use the surrounding environment to fight.
It’s so satisfying to counter an enemy, grab them and then shove them face-first into a metal shutter, followed by a brutal finishing move, and it never gets old.
The combat only grows throughout the game, and the highlight is an amazing island tournament that is completely optional, which is straight out of a Bruce Lee movie.
5Marvel’s Avengers
It Got One Thing Right
Marvel’s Avengers
Marvel’s Avengerswasnot the hit it was supposed to be, but regardless of the terrible reviews, that combat is a 10/10. Imagine the Arkham system, but it’s different for every member of the Avengers.
In this way, there are over 8 different versions of the system in one game. While the enemies can be repetitive, the combat never is, as you’ve got a huge skill tree to unlock.
Playing as Captain America feels incredible, as does beating up robots as Black Panther. The counter system from the Arkham games is switched to a dodge-based system, but the effect is the same.
You’ve also got the two-button finishing moves and additional abilities you can trigger after a cool-down. It’s Arkham-style combat on steroids, and if only they put some more effort into the rest of the game, we’d have an all-time classic.
4Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel Can Do It Too
The Arkham games set the blueprint for how superhero games should play for the foreseeable future. Despite debuting in 2009, it took 9 years for another game to capitalize on it.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is an incredible exampleof how flexible this system can be. It shows off Spider-Man in the perfect way, with incredible acrobatics, fluent enemy-to-enemy punching and kicking, and a ton of moves to pull off.
No game since the Arkham games pulls off the feeling of fighting like a superhero.
Whether it’s swinging an enemy around, using Spidey Sense to dodge at the last second, or the various moves to pull off, it’s an excellent combat system that has been adapted from the Arkham system in a brilliant manner.
The combat feels pretty varied depending on what type of enemies you face, so you’ll need to use different gadgets to overcome different types of enemies.
This is straight out of the Arkham playbook as well, and I think Spider-Man has now ascended that system for another game to pick up and run with it.
The Deepest Combat Around
Sifu is a one-of-a-kind gamethese days, and it stands out because of its amazing take on the Arkham-style combat. The way the protagonist floats from enemy to enemy feels a lot like Batman, but Sifu goes even more in-depth.
There are so many moves to learn throughout the game that it almost becomes a fighting game in its complexity.
The combat is fast, intense, and makes you feel like a superhero or action star as you tear through the amazingly designed levels.
The cartoonish nature of the graphics might suggest a lighthearted game, but it’s anything but, as the finishing moves are absolutely brutal, and the difficulty is among the toughest in the action game genre.
The countering system is a bit less intuitive than the Arkham games, but it’s still implemented well and very rewarding when you pull it off properly.
2Ghost of Tshushima
The Batman of Tsushima
Ghost of Tsushima
Fextralife Wiki
Ghost of Tsushima resembles the Caped Crusader in more ways than one, but I found that the combat is a great way of taking the Batman formula to the next level.
The direction-based locked-on system allows you to fight in four directions at once, making you able to seamlessly dodge one attack from your left, counter an attack from the right, and perform a brutal execution on the enemy in front of you.
It’s an incredible system that even implements Batman staples like smokebombs and stealth attacks, but it’s that seamless combat system that remains the highlight throughout.
There are situationswhere you’ll be facing off against 10 enemies at onceand, if you’ve mastered the system the right way, you’ll have little issue dispatching them, and it’s a testament to how well the system works here and a big reason why the game was such a huge hit.
1Middle Earth: Shadow of War
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
Middle Earth: Shadow of War makes the Arkham-style combat feel right at home in the world of Lord of the Rings.
The way you bounce from enemy to enemy here is extremely reminiscent of how Batman moves in those games and even the way you charge up certain moves and use finishing attacks is directly scooped from the Arkham games.
It works great here, though,as the combat never seems to get old thanksto the incredible Nemesis system, which has enemies constantly evolving to fight you and creates special boss fights that appear organically.
The combat system really shines in the massive castle sieges, where Talon will be ripping through enemies like butter and parrying and severing limbs in a whirling display of swordsmanship that’s unmatched in other games.
It rips off the Arkham system more than most games, but makes the result incredibly satisfying in the process.
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Open world games have been the perfect fit for the superhero genre to be explored and it has resulted in some fantastic games.
