It’s been widely understood for ages that Rocksteady have been secretly working away on a next-gen Batman game for a while now, but that doesn’t mean that yesterday’s announcement hasn’t got us wildly excited for the Dark Knight’s debut on the PS4 and Xbox One with Batman: Arkham Knight. So let’s dive into what we’ve been able to find out about the game since its reveal.
[promo title=”1: Rocksteady are back”][/promo]
Warner Bros Montreal had a fair go at making a decent Batman game with Origins, but it paled in comparison to the Rocksteady games. Frequent combat issues saw the combo system losing its rhythm and counters failing to register. The fact that WB Montreal have stated they’re not bothering to fix any of the remaining issues because they’re working on DLC now shows poor form too –admittedly, this will have come from upstairs. With Rocksteady back at the helm, in charge of the fighting engine they created, we’re confident Batman is going to be nailing those 30+ combos with ease.
[promo title=”2: Batman isn’t the Arkham Knight”][/promo]
Nope, Batman is known as the Dark Knight remember? The titular Arkham Knight is a new character developed by Rocksteady themselves. Can we expect some sort of insane inmate version of Batman? We’ll be hearing more over the coming months, that’s to be sure. Hopefully, he’s not just the joker in a mask. Actually…
[promo title=”3: Scarecrow is back”][/promo]
The 2.5D stages in the original Arkham Asylum were fantastically realised sections that nicely broke up the regular gameplay whenever Scarecrow used his gas to force Batman, or more accurately, Bruce Wayne, to confront his darkest fears. With old sack-face threatening to unleash the nightmares on the entire city this time, you can be sure Bats is going to get a dose or two.
[promo title=”4: It’s out this year”][/promo]
We wouldn’t have been massively surprised to see Warner Brothers not commit to any sort of release date, but we’re enormously excited that the trailer ended by promising us the new Batman game this year. Don’t get us wrong, it’ll be towards the back end of the year like the last few Arkham games, but we’re happy to wait for Rocksteady’s return.
[promo title=”5: The Batmobile is yours”][/promo]
YES! We’ve been dying to get behind the wheel of the Batmobile for years. To Rocksteady’s credit, they could have half-assed some vehicle sections into any of their games, but it would seem they’ve been waiting to fit it in with the game world and –fingers crossed- it’ll handle like a dream. Early leaks suggest that players will be able to call on the Batmobile at any point and the CG trailer suggests that we’ll be able to hop in without it even stopping –this will never get boring. Or how about using the car’s momentum to build up some speed for to eject into a huge glide? Frankly, this has ‘take my money’ written all over it.