At the time, it actually added to the tragedy of the story knowing that there was no way Batman could win this time. Bane calclulated everything so that it could only go one way. After barely surviving so much, to be taken down in his own home was quite a big deal at the time.
Did you read it collected, or as it was release?
I tend to believe many of these stories lose their impact when read as a collected edition, or when binge read. You lose out on all of the suspense and anticipation; the latter being my favorite part of serial stories such as these.