What can we expect from the new Batman game?
LET’S PLAY AS BRUCE WAYNE TOO, GETTING BATMAN’S WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN HARMONY.
I never thought I’d say this, but the new Arkham game should take inspiration from Batman Forever (please forgive me). Pinching an idea from Marvel’s Spider-Man (and Origins’ DLC) this new Arkham could see you playing as Bruce Wayne as well as Bats. Spending time in the playboy’s suits, you’ll need to keep the Wayne empire running while being careful not to give away your alter-ego in the same way as Val Kilmer’s Wayne dodged a question or two from Nicole Kidman’s Dr Chase Meridian. Seeing the other side of Batman could also usher in daytime city missions.
MY SUGGESTION: LET’S GET SILLY WITH BATMAN AND DRAG SOME HUMOUR INTO THE SERIES.
I’m not knocking everything that came before. I’m also not knocking the Nolanverse or the ’90s cartoon – I just wouldn’t mind a trip off the well-beaten, brooding path. It’s a direction that WB Games Montreal certainly won’t give a hoot about but just picture this: Batman: Arkham Smooches. Here’s the pitch: a dating sim starring Gotham’s rogues gallery where almost every ending is a bad one, but at least you’d know it was definitely them and not you. All of which silliness is to say that I certainly wouldn’t mind a return to over-the-top hijinks for stoic old Bats.
ARKHAM ORIGINS SHOULD FINALLY GET THE SEQUEL IT DESERVES.
We know the next Bat-project will be developed by Warner Games Montreal, which also made the woefully underrated Batman: Arkham Origins. It was a tense Christmas adventure centred on a Batman two years into operating (with younger voice actors to match), pursued by a group of assassins and the police. Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy seems to not be involved with the new game, so it would make sense if this was a follow-up to Origins, with that same younger Batman. And if the Court Of Owls is involved, we can expect the whole city to have a talon-shaped target on the bat’s back.
LET’S ACTUALLY GET TO BE THE GOTHAM KNIGHT, PROTECTING THE WHOLE CITY, NEXT TIME.
Bigger might not always be better, but it feels like over the course of this and the last generation the scope of Batman games hasn’t increased by much. Batman is Gotham’s Knight, yet somehow he’s always restricted to a district here or a few islands there. If the new Batman ends up being a PS5 game, surely we can expect a city that feels like Gotham, not a handful of empty streets. With a grappling hook, Batman should be able to navigate a large space without much hassle, with the minimum of boring loading screens thanks to the new console’s blisteringly fast SSD.