With “Marvel’s Spider-Man” eating up PS4 owner’s spare time, it seems reasonable and feasible for a true free-roaming experience in a real-feeling Gotham to be in the works in the near future. What will a post-Arkham game be like?
1. A Real-Feeling Gotham Similar to Manhattan From “Marvel’s Spider-Man” Game
Though I love the Batman Arkham games, The Dark Knight deserves an environment that isn’t like a gigantic movie set designed to be cannibalized in one night. A fully functioning Gotham City would be amazing, and probably incredibly difficult to pull off. Then again, Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4 did a fantastic job with Manhattan. But usually Marvel and DC try not to directly copy each other, so I’m hoping that the success of the Spider-Man game will make DC give us the Gotham we desperately need.
2. More Stealth Options
For god’s sake BATMAN, pick up and hide that unconscious thug! Shove his ass in that oversized vent that you just came through! Arkham’s Batman could have done better when it came to keeping his presence a secret, however once a player gets used to the intricacies of stealth rooms it hardly hurt the Arkham gameplay, in my opinion. That said, if Batman has time to do something, he should be able to do it, whether it’s taping a thug’s mouth shut, knocking him tfo or hiding their body. In general, stealth room design seems pretty tricky to pull off well in video games, so full props should go to the Arkham games for beginning and maintaining greatness in this area of gameplay. I am very interested in what various future franchises in gaming choose to do regarding their stealth designs, hopefully future devs will take inspiration from other games that do stealth better. Regardless, it seems like a ripe playing field to be revolutionized, maybe the future Batman games can give us something fresh and new that we didn’t even know we wanted.
3. Move Away From Arkham and Animated Series Influences
The Arkham games flourished partially because of the great team of alums from the old animated series. And though I have great fondness and nostalgia from that era, I think the new Batman games would benefit from an altogether different take on the Bat while maintaining the love and dedication of the Arkham teams. The recent Batman games from the now-defunct Telltale Games are a great example of this, but they were also some of the strangest takes on Batman canon I have ever witnessed. I’m hoping for different-but-canonically-familiar for the next free-roam game.
4. Free-Roam Arkham Knight/Web of Shadows-Style Team-Ups and Crossovers
This may be my hundredth time mentioning this, but we need that big Gotham City environment to play in! Would there be anything better than having Nightwing or Catwoman jump into the fray while free-roaming with Batman?! My favorite example of this in a superhero game was how Wolverine (and others) fought side-by-side with you as you played Spidey in “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows” (if it had been co-op, I’d never have left my house). We got combat-only team-ups in Arkham Knight, and they were AMAZING, but it seems like the Batman franchise only trickles a little bit at a time each game, slowly working its way towards our greatest wants as fans and players.
5. Mundane Patrol Encounters and Old-School Detective-Style Mysteries
I would love a Gotham CSI game starring Batman and the GCDP. There is so much potential there that Joker wouldn’t even be needed, although he probably would still be inserted somewhere. But Batman patrolling a gigantic Gotham map, taking on all sorts of criminals in a story that takes place over a couple in-game days/weeks would be pure pleasure. Slow the pace down, make a top notch and gritty M-rated narrative, it’s what dreams and nightmares are made of. It probably goes against the “PG-13/maximize the profits with bright lights” philosophy, but by Bat-God, it would be amazing.