I actually would say the Croc sewer door jumpscare serves as a neat way of blocking off the level- It’s a way of getting the player to be like “*Nope*, not going that way, I don’t wanna deal with Croc rn.”
The one that scared me the most was during the stint in crocs lair, when you zipline over to the last venom pod Croc reaches up and tries to grab you halfway across
I got it right before I was attacking an outpost, I died a couple of times and it triggered everytime I jumped up to the roof for a view, got me the first three times, after that I was just annoyed
See the fun thing about the Joker cremation scene is that when I first ever played Arkham Knight I thought there was going to be a jumpscare there. Like it was so perfect to put one and when it didnt come I was relieved but a little bit sad they didnt do it. Then playing on New Game+ when it happened I got the shit scared out of me.
YO SAME i was like dang this would be a perfect place for one but its like oddly nothings happening… and then new game plus i was like OH! THERE IT IS 😂
Same I remember thinking the first time "man the camera is really stuck on the Joker bet he's gonna jump out". Caught me off guard later when I did a new game plus.
I would never forget my first time playing Arkham Knight, that Man-Bat jumpscare had me in tears. I never thought I could get scared from a Batman game.
Man that moment when you're in first person shooting bat statues is one of my favourite moments in gaming. We make fun of how unaware the typical goons are but from that perspective, you really see how terrifying batman is.
Hard agree, it always seems kind of silly for hardened thugs to get scared of a guy in a bat suit, but then you get placed in that perspective, and suddenly it makes perfect sense.
Please don't forget that after you feel safe because Manbat has already jumpscared you, and doesn't do it again instead continuing the quest via local surveillance, JOKER decides to jumpscare you after you KNOW Manbat won't JUST to mock you for being jumpscared.
And it would probably be easier than other ability-excesssio characters lol. Zatanna, Fate, Superman and Flash are functionally difficult to make in a game, but Constantine deals with the occult and weir artefacts that you could have a more gamey limited array of abilities.
Easily the most underrated is in knight when Gordon is looking at panessa for the first time, batman popping up in first person completely unannounced was terrifying
You forgot to mention the Man-Bat jumpscare that happens when you play the game on Halloween, even if you’ve beaten that side quest. Nearly fell off my chair when it happened to me a few years ago, had no idea about that Easter egg
That happened to me this year. I just to be playing after tick-or-treating with the kids. I had captured Manbat so long prior that he wasn't even a thought. It somehow got me worse than the first time. Genuinely thought the game had glitched until I got back to GCPD.
Man-Bat has to be the best jumpscare i've ever seen and i liked the way you explained it. I did think about avoiding it the second time by choosing a different building, but then he still got me. I realized that no matter what, Man-Bat can and *_WILL_* jumpscare you. It's more inevitable than Thanos.
You can avoid the jump scare though. If you progress far enough in the story you’ll just see him flying around the city and can begin the side mission.
@@mjf2891 i did see that happen to a content creator(who i can't remember) but i also saw them get jumpscared even after the side mission started. And i also got a second Man-Bat jumpscare in one of my playthroughs so even if you trigger the mission without the jumpscare, there's still the second one.
I’ve played through Arkham knight over 10 times, and the Batman jump scare in jokers hallucination always makes me jump. The only time you ever feel in power in that room is if you choose to position yourself in one of the corners where you can see all of the statues. But this also means you can’t move, leaving you trapped with the bat. Knowing that the moment you leave that very specific spot you’ll be in danger again, but if you do nothing, you’ll just remain stuck there with the terror continuing to rise. And no matter how much I try to prepare myself for when Batman inevitably attacks, he always catches me off guard.
@@Gabe-h9y That’s good to know for speed running. So thanks. I still do think the jump scare is quite effective since even with that in mind, there’s still a five second gap where he could appear at any moment
People always say it's hard difficult to anticipate when Man Bat appears but I played the early part of the game so many times that for me I'm always anticipating it to be like one of the first 2-4 buildings you grapple up after Riddler calls you to the orphanage in Miagani.
Man-Bat doesn't appear after you exit the Orphanage. He appears after Riddler stops talking about it and forces you to go there. The moment he shuts up, the jumpscare is primed. When you wait in place till he stops talking and only then grapple to the exact building he was projected onto, you will get the jumpscare. Every single time.
I just replayed knight for the fourth or fifth time and this is the first time I've been jumpscared immediately after riddler stops talking. I got the absolute shit scared out of me because I thought man bat wouldn't appear until later (usually he scares me a few moments after exiting the orphanage)
Something else: Pacing. With the man man-bat scare, the player has already been grapnel boosting around for a while, so they expect that rush of speed and to be able to do an adrenaline boosting dive after. Having that shattered and put into a scary situation is jarring
The Arkham series is great at scaring their audience. And being able to overcome the Scares really makes you feel like Batman. As a sidenote, whenever I play the Killer Croc Bossfight, I like to actually turn off the music, so I have to rely purely on the noises of the sewers to tell one Croc is coming. It leaves you even more on edge.
that batman statue scare will forever get me. dealing with croc is my favorite because how he keeps coming back from the water, sometimes right in front of you, or you don’t even know where he is. i love that
What I really love about that jumpscare is that it feels like this is the devs way of giving you the player a little taste of your own medicine by putting you in the shoes of the thugs you’ve been spending the entire game hunting. It’s so cool
When I think of unexpected jumpscares, I always think of the Venom jumpscare in _LEGO Marvel Super Heroes,_ just because I never would've expected it from a LEGO game.
5:00 can confirm that sound makes all the difference in games. Playing Arkham Knight with vs without a surround sound system was a crazy difference. Having the bass behind you as you combo batarang enemies and as buildings explode is a truly ethereal experience that totally heightens the game onto another level
Regarding you saying the Man Bat jumpscare isn't predictable: for me, every single playthrough, after riddler tells me to go to the orphanage, i grapple onto the building where he was projected, and Man Bat is there to scare me every single time.
yep, after I have scanned the car crash and get FireFly and Azrael Side Missions, the first flat-roofed building I grapple on, Man-Bat will jumpscare. I think it's the first time Man-Bat can appear.
It's not tied to this single building, it's almost any building tho, there are maybe single ledges it doesn't activate on, but yeah, it will always happen at the same moments in the story.
Not sure if someone has commented this already but Glen Schofield, who created Dead Space actually praises his sound team almost endlessly for the work they did on the original Dead Space. There’s a really insightful interview about the work he did on Dead Space!
The Man-Bat jumpscare blew my mind and had me so hyped when I started playing Arkham Knight. While Knight ended up being one of the biggest disappointments of my entire life, when the Man-Bat scare happened I was SHOOK. Before Arkham Knight came out I was speculating with my brother "what if Man-Bat's in the new game, and he just shows up out of nowhere and jumpscares you while you're gliding or something?" and they ACTUALLY DID THAT EXACT THING AND I LOST IT.
Yesterday i was just enjoying myself and playing Arkham knight. I had just finished the stealth mission before the man-bat jump-scare. I remembered that I was jump-scared on a building that I passed so I grappled to it. To my surprise nothing happened and so I began to ignore it. Literally twenty second later I grapple to a building and to my surprise I see that discrimination show up on my screen.
The worst part of the jumpscares that aren't in a required area: When I first played Asylum (I was a teenager) I got that jumpscare. When I was replaying it for the first time recently (I'm in my mid 20s), I didn't go down that hallway because I forgot it was down there. I spent the entire playthrough going "Where's Croc?" until I defeated him. It sticks with ya, man.
This just reminds me of how great the museum was in Arkham City. The various wings of the museum tested a different skill and the Penguin was always just out of reach, taunting you. There's a reason it's often remembered as the best part of the game, except for the Mr. Freeze battle, which is one of the best bosses, well, ever.
During my last playthrough of Knight, I never even got the Man-Bat jumpscare. Idk if it’s because I somehow never grapelled at the right time, in the right place, or if it’s because I stumbled upon Man-Bat flying across Gotham and glided on him and just never ended up getting the scare. But experiencing the side quest without ever experiencing the jumpscare made me realize how damn important it is. The quest without it was forgettable and significantly less interesting. First impressions matter!
One of the things I constantly felt was this constant wariness and stress of potentially being jumpscared for EVERY single cinematic or interactable object(switches, triggers, buttons, etc.). Because I know there could always potentially be a jumpscare around the next frame. It is masterfully done, initially when I realized this feeling I was annoyed, then I realized it was amazing.
Good video bro, there is only one thing about Man Bat, and that is that he will always appear in the first building you climb after the riddle announces that he has captured Catwoman. I've played that section at least 20 times and it's always the same. The one that always catches me off guard is the Joker doing the same thing as Man Bat, that one is totally random.
I know that what I'm about to say isn't really a jumpscare but to me I think the scariest part of the Arkham series is probably the 5 seconds you have to be in a random building with Solomon Grundy's memorial to solve a riddle in Arkham Knight on Founders' Island just because his theme music, always been unsettling to me when I play Arkham Knight cuz I alway aim for 100% plus dlc
The Man-Bat jumpscare also plays into the follow-up element, as if you play the game on October 31st (the date that Knight takes place), you can get the Man-Bat jumpscare a second time, and if you go back to GCPD, you can see that he mutated back into Man-Bat and broke out of his cell. As someone who wants to go into media, I learned a lot from this video. Good work, man
The Man-Bat jumpscare becomes predictable after a few playthroughs. You’re able to trigger it right after Riddler tells Batman to go to the orphanage to meet Catwoman. And you’ll know you’re about to get the jumpscare when you try to do a grapple boost and you’re going at normal speed anyway. It was set up that way and made it less scary for me. What still gets me is Joker mimicking Man-Bat later in the game because I always forget about that other Joker jumpscare. I still don’t know exactly what point in the story that jumpscare is supposed to trigger.
Fun fact about the new game+ scare in Knight. I expected him to do that in the normal opening, and tried to brace myself. When it didnt happen and turned on New Game+, i scared myself even worse 😂
I remember getting the manbat scare for the first time, I had absolutely no idea what I was staring at for a second, until it swiped at me with its wing. I didn’t even recognize that it was man bat, I thought I was looking at a zombie or something, which the lack of familiarity made it even scarier for me.
14:44 truly its applicable most in AK the endin besides it there is man bat and jokers jumpscare on the rooftop while grappling, yes it does happen on a rooftop but u never know which one would it be which is the core on horror games
man-bat kinda got me, but the second i saw for the slight camera change and batman reaching for the building, i knew i was NOT about to get a boost from that claw, that got me instantly back into guard and i jumped just a little. same thing whenever the Joker just spawns on buildings and doesn't let me climb
For those who are still worried about Man Bat getting them out of nowhere, you can trigger his jumpscare by grappling up the building where Riddler spoke on after showing that he has Catwoman captive.
I always viewed the Arkham games like this: Asylum: Horror (i watched an older relative play that when i was younger and it scared the shit out of me, even without the jumpscares) City: Thriller Origins: Action Knight: Drama
Now I'm the type of Arkham player that likes to minimize the use of detective vision. Unless I'm in a predator map or need it, it's rare I'll turn it on because I don't like taking away from the scenery. I'm never going to forget the night my friend was watching me play Arkham Asylum during the segment in Croc's lair. My dude actually turns to me & goes "can you turn on detective mode?" The atmosphere was done so well, that he was on edge even without being the one behind the controller. These games are a chefs kiss to creating atmosphere, I'm telling ya.
Fun Fact: When I first played Arkham City and I first got the Tiny jumpscare, I paused it and thought that him appearing meant death. So I tried to get past him but didn’t know how. It wasn’t until I watched a video where I found out the jumpscare was just showing what will happen to you if you fall into the water Edit: Also, I’ve found a way to activate the Man Bat jumpscare right when I need it. Once you’re done at Grand Avenue and you’re looking at Riddler capturing Catwoman, as soon as the announcement ends and the screen goes blurrr, grapple to the giant screen and boom Giant Man Bat
5 jump scares/boss fights that scare me first time in the Arkham series 5.Batman (Arkham Knight) 4.TN-1 Bane (Arkham Origins) 3.Killer Croc (Arkham Asylum) 2.Joker (Arkham Knight) 1.Man-bat (Arkham Knight) Honourable mentions: Crazy nut job lunatics (Arkham Asylum) Stone batman statues (Arkham Knight)
Okay you actually got me with the statue part, proved your point. I'm shocked you didn't mention the repetition factor in the Man-Bat segment with how Joker does the same scare in the same way later on.
Man-Bat has an amazing jump scare. Sadly, I think that jump scare is where his side mission peaks. Maybe if he had a legitimate Bossfight, he would leave more of an impact on me. Imagine, if after the third time you land on him, Langstrom flies crazily before crashing into a church house where do you have to use the church bell to stun man-bat with the noise long enough to damage him.
The thing about the Killer Croc one when retrieving the samples is that it was kinda broken on my PC version (I guess?) bc Killer Croc often times jumped out two to three times in a row, ruining the tension and making it more annoying than scary. It never happened like this on Playstation as far as I recall. But out of all jump scares I think Scarecrow is my favourite.
To add to the Man-bat scare when they pull the same trick, but with Joker instead. Just gliding around, like before and then suddenly Joker screams in your face and mocks you for being scared by Man-Bat.
14:23 Also case in point, I recently discovered that Man-Bat doesn't just jumpscare you on one particular building: his encounter is triggered when you try to grapple up to any building on Miagini Island. I avoided the building that I know he spawns on but he still got me anyway on another building. Very effective randomness strategy
Amazing how much games like these tells you how to properly handle something as controversial as jumpscares. Snatching you from the comfort zone of "Feeling like Batman" by reminding you how quickly the tide can turn if you let your guard down. And the anxiety of randomized scares puts you on edge and fills you with dread. The build-up and release, rather than things building up, getting abnormally quiet and then screeching loud in your face.
Kinda wish you mentioned with the man bat jump scare what happens on Halloween. For those who don’t know on Halloween any year after you’ve completed man bats side story. Whenever you are gliding around anywhere normally there’s a chance for man bat to get you again. After going back to the GCPD afterwards it’s revealed that man bat escaped. This only happens on Halloween on your real in console calendar and works if you change the date to Halloween at any time
I have been watching horror films from all eras and played horror games for nearly 30 years. Nowadays, jump scares bore me and I find them predictable and most of the time, they're pretty cheap. These Arkham games though. They do it so well. From The Scarecrow in the body bag in Asylum, to the numerous scares in Knight, the jump scares are pulled off perfectly. They feel genuine and not cheap, like a lot of films made today. The jums are earned and make you put your guard up. My personal favourite (and it's probably just me that it frightened), is when you play as Gordon and you turn around and Batman is just standing there. I nearly died!!!! You made a great video!
On my first time playing Knight, I knew Man Bat was coming. I was randomly talking to myself to prepare, and this thing met my sight. It was frightening indeed.
2 things. 1. The statue scare got me good even in this video. Literally my favorite one. Thank you. Lol. Still gets me even having played the game more times than I can count. 2. Unfortunately the Man-Bat one isn't as random as you think. Sure, it's never the same building twice, but the timing is the same every time. It's down to the amount of times you grapple to a building after that mission. I was only actually scared by it twice. Plus, once you've seen it, as well as the Joker imitation of it, the split second change of camera angle before he leaps out gives it away. But nevertheless, good video, man. Really enjoyed this.
Who else on their first play-through of Arkham knight didn’t realize u gotta press a button to burn Joker and just sat there waiting for the cutscene to continue playing 😂
Man bat scared me the most for sure. The first time I was playing Knight, it was on a projector, so Batman was almost life size. I was just casually grappling along and then this giant monster screams at me and fills up the entire wall of my house 😂 I had to pause for a few minutes afterwards...
This franchise has one of the best takes on jump scares I’ve seen from media that isn’t horror but you can actually predict manbat. Now even though I’ve played and completed Arkham Knight a generous 9 times new players can use this info too. Manbat will ALWAYS appear on the first rooftop you grapple to after the mission to retake the bridge. I found this out around my 3rd or 4th play through that Manbat will appear on the first rooftop you grapple to once the Riddler starts speaking.
The fact after 8 years and counting the Batman jumpscare in Knight still gets, god I have to tip my hat to rocksteady. These games always felt eery, even when they weren’t. If like me, you and everyone else who played these at like 8,9.10 years old, these were horror games, and probably our first introduction to them
14:49 actually got me while watching this video. Ive never jumped at a jumpscare in arkham part from the glitch one back in asylum but this jumpscare in this video got me even though the jumpscare in the actual game didnt
The first jump scare that got me was in Arkham Asylum. Right in the section where all the straight-jacketed inmates got released, and the first one ambushed me from a cell (and I could not see with detective vision). Two subsequent straight-jacketed inmates also jump scared me dropping on me from ceiling vents... now that's the most scared I've been whit these games
in the beginning of arkham knight i remember burning the joker carefully as i expected a jumpscare, because the setup seemed so perfect. The fact that it only happened in new game plus made me jump
OMG the part when you were explaining the part of the scare when you play as joker at the end of Arkham knight, I was expecting it IN THE VIDEO AND IT STILL SCARED ME
Yeah these jumpscares always get you best first time but the batman jumpscare in the movie studio when playing as commissioner gordon in Arkham Knight always gets me
After learning about the Manbat jumpscare, when gliding around gotham, I would brace myself before every zip or grapple... But nothing comes. Then when I thought "this is stupid" and just relaxed, my first grapple was met with the distorted face of a man and my soul leaving my body.
Penguins pet Shark tiny and his final attack when you thought you were safe. 😱😱😱 It was so well placed. As the player you thought okay the tough part of this level was over. Then tiny was like nope one final jump-scare...
I think the best jumpscares in the whole Arkham Series is the aquarium segement of the Batgirl dlc, the already creepy atmosphere hightened by the bright aquariums accented by the dark surroundings, when a monster fish suddenly sprung up I was legit scared
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Damn that sponsor jumpscare really got me.
You really reinforced your point about irrelevance on that one.
I actually would say the Croc sewer door jumpscare serves as a neat way of blocking off the level- It’s a way of getting the player to be like “*Nope*, not going that way, I don’t wanna deal with Croc rn.”
Okey mommy
6:03 I was scared I would have to fight a t-Rex lol
The one that scared me the most was during the stint in crocs lair, when you zipline over to the last venom pod Croc reaches up and tries to grab you halfway across
What scared you the most for the first time? The Man Bat jump scare or the scarecrow computer glitch jumpscare?
The glitch the thought of loosing hours of progress is truly terrifying
Man-Bat, I already knew about the glitch way before I played Asylum, And even now I still get spooked
Man-Bat easily. I already knew about both jump scares before playing each respective game, but Man-Bat's isn't scripted.
@@RobocopStealerOfFridges it actually is, its only possible on a few rooftops on miagani island
@@leonrussell9607 oh shit real
Might be weird to say, but for me the Joker imitating Man Bat's jumpscare much later in Arkham Knight scared me just as much as Man Bat himself
I feel like it's because you don't expect it, and it's just as random as ManBat's jumpscare
Yah that is true
Gets me every play through I do and I hate it
I got it right before I was attacking an outpost, I died a couple of times and it triggered everytime I jumped up to the roof for a view, got me the first three times, after that I was just annoyed
Yea cus we all thought it was gona be man bat to see joker pop up
See the fun thing about the Joker cremation scene is that when I first ever played Arkham Knight I thought there was going to be a jumpscare there. Like it was so perfect to put one and when it didnt come I was relieved but a little bit sad they didnt do it. Then playing on New Game+ when it happened I got the shit scared out of me.
YO SAME i was like dang this would be a perfect place for one but its like oddly nothings happening… and then new game plus i was like OH! THERE IT IS 😂
Every games NG+ should fuck with the player in that sort of way.
Same I remember thinking the first time "man the camera is really stuck on the Joker bet he's gonna jump out".
Caught me off guard later when I did a new game plus.
@@darthbigred22 that shit sent electric to my heart it shouldn't have been that scary 😂
It's true. Man-Bat's jumpscare is fucking LEGENDARY. It's an honor to be jumpscared by him. The gold standard.
Joker jumpscare is also good
That shit gets me every time , even when I know it’s coming , it still catches you off guard
@@weeb-kun8353 should've it be funny ?
@@robertrogers074 that manbat jumpscare i knew about from UA-cam, but once i got it, i let my guard down and then that joker jumpscare got me😂
@@weeb-kun8353 😂
I would never forget my first time playing Arkham Knight, that Man-Bat jumpscare had me in tears. I never thought I could get scared from a Batman game.
My heart never sunk like that when I saw him my first time
@@randyabshear2551?
Man that moment when you're in first person shooting bat statues is one of my favourite moments in gaming. We make fun of how unaware the typical goons are but from that perspective, you really see how terrifying batman is.
Hard agree, it always seems kind of silly for hardened thugs to get scared of a guy in a bat suit, but then you get placed in that perspective, and suddenly it makes perfect sense.
Please don't forget that after you feel safe because Manbat has already jumpscared you, and doesn't do it again instead continuing the quest via local surveillance, JOKER decides to jumpscare you after you KNOW Manbat won't JUST to mock you for being jumpscared.
I honestly think a Rocksteady-made John Constantine horror game would be amazing!
🔥🔥
In the tone of the original Hellblazer comics would be so good, keep the detective elements from Arkham too
A format similar to La Noire would be really interesting.
I'd play that!
And it would probably be easier than other ability-excesssio characters lol. Zatanna, Fate, Superman and Flash are functionally difficult to make in a game, but Constantine deals with the occult and weir artefacts that you could have a more gamey limited array of abilities.
Easily the most underrated is in knight when Gordon is looking at panessa for the first time, batman popping up in first person completely unannounced was terrifying
The one thing i learned from jump scares is that I apparently need a new monitor every time it happens
You forgot to mention the Man-Bat jumpscare that happens when you play the game on Halloween, even if you’ve beaten that side quest. Nearly fell off my chair when it happened to me a few years ago, had no idea about that Easter egg
Welp ik what I’m doing this halloween
That happened to me this year. I just to be playing after tick-or-treating with the kids. I had captured Manbat so long prior that he wasn't even a thought. It somehow got me worse than the first time. Genuinely thought the game had glitched until I got back to GCPD.
Man-Bat has to be the best jumpscare i've ever seen and i liked the way you explained it.
I did think about avoiding it the second time by choosing a different building, but then he still got me.
I realized that no matter what, Man-Bat can and *_WILL_* jumpscare you.
It's more inevitable than Thanos.
It’s a canon event
You can avoid the jump scare though. If you progress far enough in the story you’ll just see him flying around the city and can begin the side mission.
@@mjf2891 i did see that happen to a content creator(who i can't remember) but i also saw them get jumpscared even after the side mission started.
And i also got a second Man-Bat jumpscare in one of my playthroughs so even if you trigger the mission without the jumpscare, there's still the second one.
@@fravtheregular pretty sure the second one is a Halloween Easter egg where man bat can jump you again in Halloween
@@DefinitelyAPerson1i never got the Halloween jumpscare because i never played the game on Halloween but i still got two jumpscares from Man-Bat.
I’ve played through Arkham knight over 10 times, and the Batman jump scare in jokers hallucination always makes me jump. The only time you ever feel in power in that room is if you choose to position yourself in one of the corners where you can see all of the statues. But this also means you can’t move, leaving you trapped with the bat. Knowing that the moment you leave that very specific spot you’ll be in danger again, but if you do nothing, you’ll just remain stuck there with the terror continuing to rise.
And no matter how much I try to prepare myself for when Batman inevitably attacks, he always catches me off guard.
There's a way to time it when he jumps out, just wait like 10-15 seconds before approaching a statute when the music is as tense as it will be
@@Gabe-h9y
That’s good to know for speed running. So thanks.
I still do think the jump scare is quite effective since even with that in mind, there’s still a five second gap where he could appear at any moment
when this scare was shown in the video it got me to😅😅
People always say it's hard difficult to anticipate when Man Bat appears but I played the early part of the game so many times that for me I'm always anticipating it to be like one of the first 2-4 buildings you grapple up after Riddler calls you to the orphanage in Miagani.
Man Bat's jumpscare is triggered after lowering the Mercy Bridge to follow Oracle's trail to Miagani Island.
Man-Bat doesn't appear after you exit the Orphanage. He appears after Riddler stops talking about it and forces you to go there. The moment he shuts up, the jumpscare is primed.
When you wait in place till he stops talking and only then grapple to the exact building he was projected onto, you will get the jumpscare. Every single time.
I was going to say the same thing :)
No,its After you scan the Car Wreck
@@The_AmazingRoger Wrong. It is definitely right after Riddler shuts up. I always reliably get the jumpscare this way. Every single time.
I just replayed knight for the fourth or fifth time and this is the first time I've been jumpscared immediately after riddler stops talking. I got the absolute shit scared out of me because I thought man bat wouldn't appear until later (usually he scares me a few moments after exiting the orphanage)
Something else: Pacing. With the man man-bat scare, the player has already been grapnel boosting around for a while, so they expect that rush of speed and to be able to do an adrenaline boosting dive after. Having that shattered and put into a scary situation is jarring
The Arkham series is great at scaring their audience. And being able to overcome the Scares really makes you feel like Batman.
As a sidenote, whenever I play the Killer Croc Bossfight, I like to actually turn off the music, so I have to rely purely on the noises of the sewers to tell one Croc is coming. It leaves you even more on edge.
scarecrow uses your blood to make his toxin
masochist
Holy shit that's actually a good challenge
That sounds like a fun idea I should try it…
that batman statue scare will forever get me. dealing with croc is my favorite because how he keeps coming back from the water, sometimes right in front of you, or you don’t even know where he is. i love that
What I really love about that jumpscare is that it feels like this is the devs way of giving you the player a little taste of your own medicine by putting you in the shoes of the thugs you’ve been spending the entire game hunting. It’s so cool
When I think of unexpected jumpscares, I always think of the Venom jumpscare in _LEGO Marvel Super Heroes,_ just because I never would've expected it from a LEGO game.
5:00 can confirm that sound makes all the difference in games. Playing Arkham Knight with vs without a surround sound system was a crazy difference. Having the bass behind you as you combo batarang enemies and as buildings explode is a truly ethereal experience that totally heightens the game onto another level
the fact that the playing as joker batman scare got me in this video as he was explaining proves how good arkhams jumpscares are
Regarding you saying the Man Bat jumpscare isn't predictable: for me, every single playthrough, after riddler tells me to go to the orphanage, i grapple onto the building where he was projected, and Man Bat is there to scare me every single time.
yep, after I have scanned the car crash and get FireFly and Azrael Side Missions, the first flat-roofed building I grapple on, Man-Bat will jumpscare. I think it's the first time Man-Bat can appear.
It's not tied to this single building, it's almost any building tho, there are maybe single ledges it doesn't activate on, but yeah, it will always happen at the same moments in the story.
@@kacpernowak1535 it's flat ledges on Miagani Island after the bit with the Riddler, I believe.
This would’ve been a perfect Halloween video. The jump scares in these games are amazing, and it only makes sense to dissect them.
Not sure if someone has commented this already but Glen Schofield, who created Dead Space actually praises his sound team almost endlessly for the work they did on the original Dead Space. There’s a really insightful interview about the work he did on Dead Space!
The Man-Bat jumpscare blew my mind and had me so hyped when I started playing Arkham Knight. While Knight ended up being one of the biggest disappointments of my entire life, when the Man-Bat scare happened I was SHOOK. Before Arkham Knight came out I was speculating with my brother "what if Man-Bat's in the new game, and he just shows up out of nowhere and jumpscares you while you're gliding or something?" and they ACTUALLY DID THAT EXACT THING AND I LOST IT.
Yesterday i was just enjoying myself and playing Arkham knight. I had just finished the stealth mission before the man-bat jump-scare. I remembered that I was jump-scared on a building that I passed so I grappled to it. To my surprise nothing happened and so I began to ignore it. Literally twenty second later I grapple to a building and to my surprise I see that discrimination show up on my screen.
14:48 Batman's jump scare gets me every freaking time 😅
I knoow, It gave me a damn Heart attack
The worst part of the jumpscares that aren't in a required area: When I first played Asylum (I was a teenager) I got that jumpscare. When I was replaying it for the first time recently (I'm in my mid 20s), I didn't go down that hallway because I forgot it was down there. I spent the entire playthrough going "Where's Croc?" until I defeated him. It sticks with ya, man.
The Jokers Body Burning In Arkham Knight. That Laugh Is Haunting. Keep Up The Good Work
This just reminds me of how great the museum was in Arkham City. The various wings of the museum tested a different skill and the Penguin was always just out of reach, taunting you. There's a reason it's often remembered as the best part of the game, except for the Mr. Freeze battle, which is one of the best bosses, well, ever.
During my last playthrough of Knight, I never even got the Man-Bat jumpscare. Idk if it’s because I somehow never grapelled at the right time, in the right place, or if it’s because I stumbled upon Man-Bat flying across Gotham and glided on him and just never ended up getting the scare. But experiencing the side quest without ever experiencing the jumpscare made me realize how damn important it is. The quest without it was forgettable and significantly less interesting. First impressions matter!
One of the things I constantly felt was this constant wariness and stress of potentially being jumpscared for EVERY single cinematic or interactable object(switches, triggers, buttons, etc.). Because I know there could always potentially be a jumpscare around the next frame. It is masterfully done, initially when I realized this feeling I was annoyed, then I realized it was amazing.
Good video bro, there is only one thing about Man Bat, and that is that he will always appear in the first building you climb after the riddle announces that he has captured Catwoman. I've played that section at least 20 times and it's always the same. The one that always catches me off guard is the Joker doing the same thing as Man Bat, that one is totally random.
I know that what I'm about to say isn't really a jumpscare but to me I think the scariest part of the Arkham series is probably the 5 seconds you have to be in a random building with Solomon Grundy's memorial to solve a riddle in Arkham Knight on Founders' Island just because his theme music, always been unsettling to me when I play Arkham Knight cuz I alway aim for 100% plus dlc
The Man-Bat jumpscare also plays into the follow-up element, as if you play the game on October 31st (the date that Knight takes place), you can get the Man-Bat jumpscare a second time, and if you go back to GCPD, you can see that he mutated back into Man-Bat and broke out of his cell.
As someone who wants to go into media, I learned a lot from this video. Good work, man
The Man-Bat jumpscare becomes predictable after a few playthroughs. You’re able to trigger it right after Riddler tells Batman to go to the orphanage to meet Catwoman. And you’ll know you’re about to get the jumpscare when you try to do a grapple boost and you’re going at normal speed anyway. It was set up that way and made it less scary for me. What still gets me is Joker mimicking Man-Bat later in the game because I always forget about that other Joker jumpscare. I still don’t know exactly what point in the story that jumpscare is supposed to trigger.
I think its After you have To Destroy Arkham Knight's Signal Thingamajigs
6:26 - THANK YOU! Now THAT is how you give players a good spook or a jump-scare right in their faces!
What I enjoy about The Arkham series is that is technically is a horror game from BOTH sides you do the scaring but you also can get scared too
Fun fact about the new game+ scare in Knight. I expected him to do that in the normal opening, and tried to brace myself. When it didnt happen and turned on New Game+, i scared myself even worse 😂
I remember getting the manbat scare for the first time, I had absolutely no idea what I was staring at for a second, until it swiped at me with its wing. I didn’t even recognize that it was man bat, I thought I was looking at a zombie or something, which the lack of familiarity made it even scarier for me.
One of the most underrated Arkham content creator
WWWWWWW
not really
A horror game where you play as a crook trying to escape batman would be peak.
14:44 truly its applicable most in AK the endin besides it there is man bat and jokers jumpscare on the rooftop while grappling, yes it does happen on a rooftop but u never know which one would it be which is the core on horror games
man-bat kinda got me, but the second i saw for the slight camera change and batman reaching for the building, i knew i was NOT about to get a boost from that claw, that got me instantly back into guard and i jumped just a little. same thing whenever the Joker just spawns on buildings and doesn't let me climb
For those who are still worried about Man Bat getting them out of nowhere, you can trigger his jumpscare by grappling up the building where Riddler spoke on after showing that he has Catwoman captive.
I always viewed the Arkham games like this:
Asylum: Horror (i watched an older relative play that when i was younger and it scared the shit out of me, even without the jumpscares)
City: Thriller
Origins: Action
Knight: Drama
*Me playing Arkham Knight for the first time*
My face: 😃
My heart: 🪦
Now I'm the type of Arkham player that likes to minimize the use of detective vision. Unless I'm in a predator map or need it, it's rare I'll turn it on because I don't like taking away from the scenery.
I'm never going to forget the night my friend was watching me play Arkham Asylum during the segment in Croc's lair. My dude actually turns to me & goes "can you turn on detective mode?" The atmosphere was done so well, that he was on edge even without being the one behind the controller. These games are a chefs kiss to creating atmosphere, I'm telling ya.
The one where joker impersonates man bat was also pretty good
Fun Fact: When I first played Arkham City and I first got the Tiny jumpscare, I paused it and thought that him appearing meant death. So I tried to get past him but didn’t know how. It wasn’t until I watched a video where I found out the jumpscare was just showing what will happen to you if you fall into the water
Edit: Also, I’ve found a way to activate the Man Bat jumpscare right when I need it. Once you’re done at Grand Avenue and you’re looking at Riddler capturing Catwoman, as soon as the announcement ends and the screen goes blurrr, grapple to the giant screen and boom Giant Man Bat
When i was 10, the dinosaur made me throw my controller. The sound isn't loud, but the ambush they mede is pretty scary...
5 jump scares/boss fights that scare me first time in the Arkham series
5.Batman (Arkham Knight)
4.TN-1 Bane (Arkham Origins)
3.Killer Croc (Arkham Asylum)
2.Joker (Arkham Knight)
1.Man-bat (Arkham Knight)
Honourable mentions:
Crazy nut job lunatics (Arkham Asylum)
Stone batman statues (Arkham Knight)
Killer Croc punching the sewer door and Man-Bat coming out of nowhere made me shit myself
Okay you actually got me with the statue part, proved your point.
I'm shocked you didn't mention the repetition factor in the Man-Bat segment with how Joker does the same scare in the same way later on.
"Respect your sound designers!"
Doom Eternal production: I'm just gonna ignore that
Even though he’s locked up I still flinch when grapnel boosting
Theres Always October 31st
Man-Bat has an amazing jump scare. Sadly, I think that jump scare is where his side mission peaks. Maybe if he had a legitimate Bossfight, he would leave more of an impact on me. Imagine, if after the third time you land on him, Langstrom flies crazily before crashing into a church house where do you have to use the church bell to stun man-bat with the noise long enough to damage him.
The killer croc one in the Arkham Asylum still gets me to this day
The thing about the Killer Croc one when retrieving the samples is that it was kinda broken on my PC version (I guess?) bc Killer Croc often times jumped out two to three times in a row, ruining the tension and making it more annoying than scary. It never happened like this on Playstation as far as I recall. But out of all jump scares I think Scarecrow is my favourite.
My personal favorite is the joker jumpscare when he first appears in Batman’s head while setting off scarecrows bomb.
I'll never forget the sound of sheer disbelief while watching my older brother play Arkham Asylum for the first time, when Scarecrow faked a crash
14:51 I actually jumped watching this video. The jumpscares are just another great thing Rocksteady did right with the Arkham games.
To add to the Man-bat scare when they pull the same trick, but with Joker instead. Just gliding around, like before and then suddenly Joker screams in your face and mocks you for being scared by Man-Bat.
14:23 Also case in point, I recently discovered that Man-Bat doesn't just jumpscare you on one particular building: his encounter is triggered when you try to grapple up to any building on Miagini Island. I avoided the building that I know he spawns on but he still got me anyway on another building. Very effective randomness strategy
Eight years later and we’re still getting unique content from the Arkham Games
I decided to give your regular videos a shot after the icebergs and I'm glad I did, your passion for Batman is straight up infectious
Amazing how much games like these tells you how to properly handle something as controversial as jumpscares.
Snatching you from the comfort zone of "Feeling like Batman" by reminding you how quickly the tide can turn if you let your guard down. And the anxiety of randomized scares puts you on edge and fills you with dread. The build-up and release, rather than things building up, getting abnormally quiet and then screeching loud in your face.
I cried for about 15 minutes when man bat jumped scared me, worst jump scare of my entire life 😭
Kinda wish you mentioned with the man bat jump scare what happens on Halloween. For those who don’t know on Halloween any year after you’ve completed man bats side story. Whenever you are gliding around anywhere normally there’s a chance for man bat to get you again. After going back to the GCPD afterwards it’s revealed that man bat escaped. This only happens on Halloween on your real in console calendar and works if you change the date to Halloween at any time
I hate injustice 2 Halloween.
I have been watching horror films from all eras and played horror games for nearly 30 years. Nowadays, jump scares bore me and I find them predictable and most of the time, they're pretty cheap.
These Arkham games though. They do it so well. From The Scarecrow in the body bag in Asylum, to the numerous scares in Knight, the jump scares are pulled off perfectly. They feel genuine and not cheap, like a lot of films made today. The jums are earned and make you put your guard up.
My personal favourite (and it's probably just me that it frightened), is when you play as Gordon and you turn around and Batman is just standing there. I nearly died!!!!
You made a great video!
On my first time playing Knight, I knew Man Bat was coming. I was randomly talking to myself to prepare, and this thing met my sight. It was frightening indeed.
14:46 This scare works so great it made me jump again
2 things.
1. The statue scare got me good even in this video. Literally my favorite one. Thank you. Lol. Still gets me even having played the game more times than I can count.
2. Unfortunately the Man-Bat one isn't as random as you think. Sure, it's never the same building twice, but the timing is the same every time. It's down to the amount of times you grapple to a building after that mission. I was only actually scared by it twice. Plus, once you've seen it, as well as the Joker imitation of it, the split second change of camera angle before he leaps out gives it away.
But nevertheless, good video, man. Really enjoyed this.
Who else on their first play-through of Arkham knight didn’t realize u gotta press a button to burn Joker and just sat there waiting for the cutscene to continue playing 😂
Me.
Man bat scared me the most for sure. The first time I was playing Knight, it was on a projector, so Batman was almost life size. I was just casually grappling along and then this giant monster screams at me and fills up the entire wall of my house 😂 I had to pause for a few minutes afterwards...
The jumpscare that got me is in Arkham Knight near the end where Joker is in the church and the Batman statue appears behind you.
When I first played Arkham Knight as a 12 year old, the diner jumpscare made me put the game down for several days. Heh.
This franchise has one of the best takes on jump scares I’ve seen from media that isn’t horror but you can actually predict manbat. Now even though I’ve played and completed Arkham Knight a generous 9 times new players can use this info too. Manbat will ALWAYS appear on the first rooftop you grapple to after the mission to retake the bridge. I found this out around my 3rd or 4th play through that Manbat will appear on the first rooftop you grapple to once the Riddler starts speaking.
The fact after 8 years and counting the Batman jumpscare in Knight still gets, god I have to tip my hat to rocksteady. These games always felt eery, even when they weren’t. If like me, you and everyone else who played these at like 8,9.10 years old, these were horror games, and probably our first introduction to them
Not gonna lie I got pretty shook up as a kid at the end of Arkham City when Catwoman's apartment explodes.
14:49 actually got me while watching this video. Ive never jumped at a jumpscare in arkham part from the glitch one back in asylum but this jumpscare in this video got me even though the jumpscare in the actual game didnt
I actually thought my tv was glitching in that scarecrow one in asylum, and then when it played the first scene again it only strengthened my belief
I have over 700 hours on Arkham night and man-bat still gets me
i was setting up my headphones during 14:50 and i swear i got stunned from the sudden sound of batman and the music
I am part of the 54% percent of your audience outside of the US.
A big high five from France 😊
The first jump scare that got me was in Arkham Asylum. Right in the section where all the straight-jacketed inmates got released, and the first one ambushed me from a cell (and I could not see with detective vision). Two subsequent straight-jacketed inmates also jump scared me dropping on me from ceiling vents... now that's the most scared I've been whit these games
the Arkham series really need more attention, such an amazing series of games
in the beginning of arkham knight i remember burning the joker carefully as i expected a jumpscare, because the setup seemed so perfect. The fact that it only happened in new game plus made me jump
14:52 scared me and I’ve watched this video before
14:49 even in a video, after countless playthroughs, it gets me. Every. Damn. Time.
OMG the part when you were explaining the part of the scare when you play as joker at the end of Arkham knight, I was expecting it IN THE VIDEO AND IT STILL SCARED ME
Yeah these jumpscares always get you best first time but the batman jumpscare in the movie studio when playing as commissioner gordon in Arkham Knight always gets me
Men get jump-scared, legends get glide-scared.
After learning about the Manbat jumpscare, when gliding around gotham, I would brace myself before every zip or grapple... But nothing comes. Then when I thought "this is stupid" and just relaxed, my first grapple was met with the distorted face of a man and my soul leaving my body.
The joker jumpscare in throw a loop category scared the hell out of me
Penguins pet Shark tiny and his final attack when you thought you were safe. 😱😱😱
It was so well placed. As the player you thought okay the tough part of this level was over. Then tiny was like nope one final jump-scare...
You werent kidding about the randomness one, I've seen that scare 4 times now and I still jumped when batman appeared again in the video 😂
I think the best jumpscares in the whole Arkham Series is the aquarium segement of the Batgirl dlc, the already creepy atmosphere hightened by the bright aquariums accented by the dark surroundings, when a monster fish suddenly sprung up I was legit scared
Bro, you got me with the Arkham Knight randomness one of shooting multiple Batmans.