Batman: Arkham 3

[Brendan Moody]

Details on the new Arkham title have been announced: Batman: Arkham Origins is out October 25th for PC, PS3, 360, and Wii U. As rumored, it's a prequel featuring a young Batman, and Rocksteady is not developing it; the game is being developed in-house at WB Montreal, using Rocksteady's assets to avoid aesthetic discrepancies. There's a handheld tie-in, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, a follow-up to the main game, releasing for Vita and 3DS also on October 25th. More info here.

 

[RoJoHen]

Bummer. I was not wanting a prequel. Arkham City set things up for sequel set in Gotham, and I was looking forward to the continuation of that story.

 

[Samurai8472]

This brings up some questions

-The gadgets will probably be a bit outdated since it's in the past

-No robin.

-There weren't any driving levels in the previous games and there probably won't be a batmobile

Maybe they can take a page from "Batman Year One" and have Batman steal a bike for one level.

-Will Conroy provide the voice of a young bruce?

-Instead of Riddler trophies they should have "Batcave trophies" to build up the batcave trophy room

Have one level where you get the dinosaur and giant penny


Skins- Adam West batman and golden age Batman

 

[Timby]

Bummer. I was not wanting a prequel. Arkham City set things up for sequel set in Gotham, and I was looking forward to the continuation of that story.

It's quite possible that Rocksteady is working on an Arkham City sequel but that WB has decided to align development towards the next-generation consoles, which is why Origins was handed off to WB Montreal.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, that's been something I've wondered about as well. There has been talk about a Silver Age prequel Batman game, and there has also been talk about an Arkham City sequel. The last report I read said they were NOT the same game.

So I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Bummer. I was not wanting a prequel. Arkham City set things up for sequel set in Gotham, and I was looking forward to the continuation of that story.

It's quite possible that Rocksteady is working on an Arkham City sequel but that WB has decided to align development towards the next-generation consoles, which is why Origins was handed off to WB Montreal.

So basically what they did with the Destroy All Humans games, which makes me wonder if Conroy might not be in this one becuase he might be working on the Arkham City sequel.

 

[AlphaMan]

I'm intrigued at this point. The fact that they are using Rocksteady assets is encouraging, but I'm afraid that the secret sauce may be missing. The Arkham titles had a way if making you feel like Batman. They gave you the tools to look at a room of 6 armed guards, 2 with shields and 6 other armed goons and say to yourself "I got this. I'm Batman!" and you'd jump in. If you failed, it wasn't some cheap video game controller lag problem, but more than likely, you let Batman down. That's what I loved about the Arkham titles. The empowerment. I'm not sure about this one just yet, but I'm intrigued.

 

[Infern0]

It's a shame there's no rocksteady but I for one am going to give the crew at WB a chance here.

Halo 4 was a great game without bungie, and Fallout New Vegas a great game without Bethesda.

As long as they have a talented bunch of guys who "get" what rocksteady did there is no reason this can't be a great game.

 

[Corran Horn]

Saw a couple articles that indicated Rocksteady would assist if needed (idea-wise was implied) and that WB would be using the same engine. I'm in.

 

[Timby]

Saw a couple articles that indicated Rocksteady would assist if needed (idea-wise was implied) and that WB would be using the same engine. I'm in.

It's confirmed that WB Montreal is using the same assets as Arkham Asylum / City, so presumably the same engine (which is just a very heavily modded Unreal Engine 3), but any rumors that Rocksteady is assisting ... yeah, those are merely rumors. Rocksteady went into complete radio silence after Arkham City's release, so it's anybody's guess as to what in the world they're working on. It's a small studio, they don't really have the bandwidth to be switching employees between projects for "assistance."

 

[Reverend]

Maybe it's just me, but the more I hear, the more this sounds like a small scale side game rather than a full on AAA release. Kind of like that co-op Tomb Raider game from a few years back (which was OK for what it was), or that crap looking Ghostbusters game that nobody played.

If so then I'd suspect it'll be targeting mobile platforms primarily. Out of interest, is there any conformation that this is even set to be a console release?

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

Halo 4 was a great game without bungie, and Fallout New Vegas a great game without Bethesda.

Or, one could say rather, Fallout 3 was a great game without Black Isle. Nitpickmobile, away!!

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Maybe it's just me, but the more I hear, the more this sounds like a small scale side game rather than a full on AAA release. Kind of like that co-op Tomb Raider game from a few years back (which was OK for what it was), or that crap looking Ghostbusters game that nobody played.

If so then I'd suspect it'll be targeting mobile platforms primarily. Out of interest, is there any conformation that this is even set to be a console release?

Well the site for the game shows a picture of the various game cases for the PC, X-Box 360, PS3, WiiU, and releases of what I assume is the mobile game thing for the PSVita and 3DS. So looks like its a general release.

Also from the sounds of the game description you get to go through all of Gotham City this time.

Heres the link http://www.batmanarkhamorigins.com/

 

[AlphaMan]

Saw a couple articles that indicated Rocksteady would assist if needed (idea-wise was implied) and that WB would be using the same engine. I'm in.

It's confirmed that WB Montreal is using the same assets as Arkham Asylum / City, so presumably the same engine (which is just a very heavily modded Unreal Engine 3), but any rumors that Rocksteady is assisting ... yeah, those are merely rumors. Rocksteady went into complete radio silence after Arkham City's release, so it's anybody's guess as to what in the world they're working on. It's a small studio, they don't really have the bandwidth to be switching employees between projects for "assistance."

I'm 90% certain that Rocksteady is working on a next gen platform Arkham title. This Batman is more than likely a placeholder to keep this franchise alive until the Rocksteady next gen title is ready to go.

If Arkham Origins is good, how would you all feel about the annualization of Arkham games? One year Rocksteady does one and the next year, WB Montreal does one?

The Vita version of this game might make or break my decision. I'm leaning towards 1st purchase right now just off the Rocksteady work before and the fact that they are using Rocksteady assets. The new console releases might influence when I buy it though... If the PS4 and Xbox 720 are out the next week, I may have to wait a month or 2.

 

[Timby]

If Arkham Origins is good, how would you all feel about the annualization of Arkham games? One year Rocksteady does one and the next year, WB Montreal does one?

I think that's a terrible idea and would lead to franchise fatigue and a cycle of endless factory-churned mediocrity, not unlike Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, etc.

Rocksteady spent three years putting together Arkham Asylum, and it began work on Arkham City before Asylum even wrapped. Those games were great because they started with a reason to make the game, that being a good story and a good core design, as opposed to just hitting a bi-annual deadline. If you were to turn Rocksteady (and, assuming Origins is any good, WB Montreal) into Batman factories, you'd see an exodus of talent and the games devolve into crap.

 

[Jax]

I would like to see Rocksteady going into other DC heroes and potentially even making their own game verse for a Justic League game. I personally want to see a Green Arrow game for the next gen Rocksteady game as he similar enough to Batman in gameplay terms.

 

[NightJim]

I too would like to see Rocksteady branch out, but keep it street level though. One more Batman since so many stories were hinted at in City, then an Green Arrow game (who's got the added bonus of the show going for him right now), throw in Black Canary, who's about as far as I'd go in super powers range.

 

[AlphaMan]

If Arkham Origins is good, how would you all feel about the annualization of Arkham games? One year Rocksteady does one and the next year, WB Montreal does one?

I think that's a terrible idea and would lead to franchise fatigue and a cycle of endless factory-churned mediocrity, not unlike Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, etc.

Rocksteady spent three years putting together Arkham Asylum, and it began work on Arkham City before Asylum even wrapped. Those games were great because they started with a reason to make the game, that being a good story and a good core design, as opposed to just hitting a bi-annual deadline. If you were to turn Rocksteady (and, assuming Origins is any good, WB Montreal) into Batman factories, you'd see an exodus of talent and the games devolve into crap.

I agree on all counts, but I kind of think this is where they are headed now that another studio is on the franchise. If Arkham Origins is succesful, Rocksteady will do the regular Arkham series next year and WB Montreal will be out with Arkham Origins 2 the year after that.

 

[AlphaMan]

Rumor has it that there will be no Kevin Conroy for Origins.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2013/04/29/kevin-conroy-not-returning-for-arkham-origins

I guess this makes sense , since its an origins story. I'm sure there's someone else out there who can nail Batman's voice... I just don't know who. Kevin Conroy is Batman to me.

 

[Obiwansolo18]

Rumor has it that there will be no Kevin Conroy for Origins.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2013/04/29/kevin-conroy-not-returning-for-arkham-origins

I guess this makes sense , since its an origins story. I'm sure there's someone else out there who can nail Batman's voice... I just don't know who. Kevin Conroy is Batman to me.

Diedrich Bader, not the original Conroy voice but a good one that would work