I love Batman Arkham City. I played that game so many times.
I’ve played it so many times that I know exactly where all the Riddler trophies
are and the quickest ways to collect them all. Arkham City is easily one of the
best games I have played in the past five years and I have been waiting to hear
what the next move for Rocksteady’s Arkham series will be. Earlier this week we
finally got some solid info on the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins. While I
heard about this title earlier this year, I was worried that since it’s not
being made by Rocksteady, instead WB Interactive Montréal, that this wouldn’t
live up to previous game. However, given what I’ve read about the game this
week and the potential it has, I’m getting real excited. This is going to be a rundown of what is known
about the game so far and some of my own speculations and predictions for the
game. I wouldn’t say any of this is spoilers but if you’re the kind of person
who doesn’t want to anything about a game before playing it, I would suggest
you stop reading here. I might also
being giving some spoilers about Arkham City so if you haven’t played that
game, stop reading now and go play it.
It was announced some time last year that the next
installment in the Arkham series would be a prequel, not a direct sequel to
Arkham City. If you’ve played Arkham City, you’d know there were many things in
the game pointing to a definite sequel. Also during the Joker ‘acceptance’
video for winning a VGA award, he drops a script called Batman: Arkham World and then says ‘Oops! Spoilers!’ So I was a
little disappointed to hear the next Arkham game was going to be a prequel and said
to be set during the silver age of the Dark Knight’s comics. It was clear that
they were going the Metal Gear Solid route in making the third game a prequel
before making the true sequel to the second game (ie: MGS4 is the true sequel
to MGS2, not MGS3). I’m fine with that but when it was announced that
Rocksteady wouldn’t be handling the game I became disappointed again fearing
that this might just be a cheap cash-in game to keep the fans held over. However, after looking at what was revealed
this week, Arkham Origins holds a lot of potential.
WHAT WE KNOW: So
far it has been revealed that this will be set in Batman’s early days with
heavy inspiration from the Batman: Year One story arch but it’s not going to
just be a game version of the comic. What I find that the Arkham games have
done really well is set up its own Batman universe while drawing inspiration from
pretty much every medium Batman has appeared in. While they have mainly used
the comics as source material, they’ve also taken inspiration from the animated
series and movies (I can’t help but think the shark in Penguin’s museum was a throwback
to the DEADLY MANEATING EXPLODING SHARK from the 60s Batman movie). I honestly
like the characters, setting, and follow through of the Arkham games a lot more
than Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.
The setting for Origins goes like this. It’s set on
Christmas Eve in Gotham City and there is some kind of gang war brewing between
Black Mask and the Penguin. As Batman investigates, he becomes the target of
several world famous assassins who have come to Gotham to kill the Bat. In
addition to defeating these assassins, Batman must figure out who is behind it.
The game will be open world and we will have free reign to explore Gotham City
including what later becomes Arkham City. You will also have access to a
Batcave (I don’t know if is THE Batcave or not) and be able to use the Batwing
as a form of quick travel system. Since the game is called Arkham Origins,
obviously we’re going to be getting some origin stories here. They have made it
clear that it is not Batman’s origin story they will be covering, after all,
that’s been done to death as it is.
WHO IS IN IT?
-Batman (Obviously): We have a younger and less experienced Batman here. That doesn’t mean he is any less badass or tough but he is less refined in his combat and tactics. Facing these assassins might serve as his first major challenge as a super hero.
-Deathstroke: One of the confirmed assassins to be hunting the Batman and probably one of his chief rivals in the game. Deathstroke is kind of like DC’s version of Dead Pool but not as funny. He is most well known as being one of the arch villains of the Teen Titans. He is easily a match for Batman in terms of fighting skills.
-Roman Sionis aka Black Mask: One of my favorite Batman villains and had a small cameo in Arkham City. Sionis wears a black skull like mask made from the coffin of his dead parents. He has a hatred for Bruce Wayne after he ran him out of business and turned to crime becoming one of the biggest crime bosses in Gotham.
-Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin: Penguin is one of Batman’s oldest villains and was one of the main villains in Arkham City. We see a younger Cobblepot in Origins and does not have the broken bottle shoved into his eye yet to look like a monocle which he sported in the previous game. He seems to be in a gang war with Black Mask
-Alberto Falcone: Son of the of crime lord Carmine Falcone. He is being held hostage by the Penguin for unknown reasons
-Jim Gordon: We will see a younger Jim Gordon in Origins and he is still a captain in the GCPD.
-Branden: A character from the Batman Year One story arch. He’s the team leader of the GCPD SWAT unit and his looking to take down Batman. He might be working with the assassins.
-Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler will probably be serving as this game’s radio and tech support much the way Oracle has in the past two games. While Alfred was in Arkham City, will probably play a bigger role and get some screen time in Origins.
-Batman (Obviously): We have a younger and less experienced Batman here. That doesn’t mean he is any less badass or tough but he is less refined in his combat and tactics. Facing these assassins might serve as his first major challenge as a super hero.
-Deathstroke: One of the confirmed assassins to be hunting the Batman and probably one of his chief rivals in the game. Deathstroke is kind of like DC’s version of Dead Pool but not as funny. He is most well known as being one of the arch villains of the Teen Titans. He is easily a match for Batman in terms of fighting skills.
-Roman Sionis aka Black Mask: One of my favorite Batman villains and had a small cameo in Arkham City. Sionis wears a black skull like mask made from the coffin of his dead parents. He has a hatred for Bruce Wayne after he ran him out of business and turned to crime becoming one of the biggest crime bosses in Gotham.
-Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin: Penguin is one of Batman’s oldest villains and was one of the main villains in Arkham City. We see a younger Cobblepot in Origins and does not have the broken bottle shoved into his eye yet to look like a monocle which he sported in the previous game. He seems to be in a gang war with Black Mask
-Alberto Falcone: Son of the of crime lord Carmine Falcone. He is being held hostage by the Penguin for unknown reasons
-Jim Gordon: We will see a younger Jim Gordon in Origins and he is still a captain in the GCPD.
-Branden: A character from the Batman Year One story arch. He’s the team leader of the GCPD SWAT unit and his looking to take down Batman. He might be working with the assassins.
-Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne’s trusted butler will probably be serving as this game’s radio and tech support much the way Oracle has in the past two games. While Alfred was in Arkham City, will probably play a bigger role and get some screen time in Origins.
WHO COULD BE IN IT? (These
are mostly my speculations)
-The Joker: When the game was first announced as a prequel, it was mention that the game would focus on the first time Batman encountered The Joker. While there was no mention of the Joker in Game Informer’s article, that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing the rising of the Clown Prince of Crime in this game. I speculate that one of the assassins could be the first Red Hood. If you follow the comics, the most widely accepted Joker origin story is from the 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke where the Red Hood gets knocked into a vat of acid by Batman and becomes the Joker. We could see something similar in Arkham Origins. If the Joker returns, will he be voiced by Mark Hamill? In my opinion, Mark Hamill is the best Joker there has ever been. However, after Arkham City he said that it was his last performance as the Joker. But then a few weeks later he seemed to go back on it in an interview and then back on it again later. You know celebrities can be.
-Harvey Dent aka Two-Face: The district attorney who becomes the hideously deformed crime boss known as Two-Face was one of the major villains in Arkham City though he primarily acted as the rival to Catwoman more than Batman. We could see how he becomes scared in Arkham Origins and descends into madness or just see him as the DA before any of that happens. His character has not been confirmed so this is just my speculation.
-Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot: Deadshot was the villain for one of the side missions in Arkham City and is known as the world’s greatest assassin with a gun. I think there is a pretty high chance he could appear as one of the assassin’s Batman faces.
-Ra’s al Ghul: Another major villain from Arkham City, secret master mind behind Arkham City, and the head of the League of Assassins. There is a strong chance he could have a hand in who these assassins are taking orders from and create a greater connection to the previous two game’s story.
-Dick Grayson: We could see how Batman meets Grayson for the first time and how he recruits him to become the first Robin. Dick previously appeared as Nightwing in DLC add-ons for Arkham City.
-Selina Kyle: We could also see Batman’s first encounter with Catwoman or see how she becomes the Catwoman.
-The Joker: When the game was first announced as a prequel, it was mention that the game would focus on the first time Batman encountered The Joker. While there was no mention of the Joker in Game Informer’s article, that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing the rising of the Clown Prince of Crime in this game. I speculate that one of the assassins could be the first Red Hood. If you follow the comics, the most widely accepted Joker origin story is from the 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke where the Red Hood gets knocked into a vat of acid by Batman and becomes the Joker. We could see something similar in Arkham Origins. If the Joker returns, will he be voiced by Mark Hamill? In my opinion, Mark Hamill is the best Joker there has ever been. However, after Arkham City he said that it was his last performance as the Joker. But then a few weeks later he seemed to go back on it in an interview and then back on it again later. You know celebrities can be.
-Harvey Dent aka Two-Face: The district attorney who becomes the hideously deformed crime boss known as Two-Face was one of the major villains in Arkham City though he primarily acted as the rival to Catwoman more than Batman. We could see how he becomes scared in Arkham Origins and descends into madness or just see him as the DA before any of that happens. His character has not been confirmed so this is just my speculation.
-Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot: Deadshot was the villain for one of the side missions in Arkham City and is known as the world’s greatest assassin with a gun. I think there is a pretty high chance he could appear as one of the assassin’s Batman faces.
-Ra’s al Ghul: Another major villain from Arkham City, secret master mind behind Arkham City, and the head of the League of Assassins. There is a strong chance he could have a hand in who these assassins are taking orders from and create a greater connection to the previous two game’s story.
-Dick Grayson: We could see how Batman meets Grayson for the first time and how he recruits him to become the first Robin. Dick previously appeared as Nightwing in DLC add-ons for Arkham City.
-Selina Kyle: We could also see Batman’s first encounter with Catwoman or see how she becomes the Catwoman.
As for what Rocksteady’s current project is, it is being kept under wraps for now. If it is the purposed Arkham World then it’s likely we won’t see it till 2014 or 2015 and could be on next gen consoles by then. In terms of story, I have no idea what it could be really. I just know it’ll probably be bigger than both Arkham City and Arkham Origins. It could also introduce the Justice League and maybe lead to a Justice League game. After the success of Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, many fans have been wanting to see Rocksteady try to make a game just as good as their Batman games for other super heroes, namely Superman. Poor Superman really could use a good game and a good movie. We’ll see how Man of Steel does this summer. As for Batman: Arkham Origins, I have a feeling we’ll see a teaser trailer very soon. There is a high likely hood we could see it after Injustice: Gods Among Us releases next week. Speaking of which, be on the lookout for my review of Injustice coming in a couple weeks. Thanks for reading!
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