The Batman Arkham Series Should Have Been Followed Up with a Batman Beyond Game, not Suicide Squad
I recently replayed the Batman: Arkham Games and was reminded why they made such an impression on not just me, but the industry as a whole and it made me desperately want a new, non vr, iteration.
Okay, first off, the games are fundamentally fantastic experiences that really make you feel like you're experiencing a Batman story you could have seen on Batman The Animated Series. Obviously this was partially because the voice actors were the same but also because the devs at Rocksteady obviously cared about the source material. They obviously loved the Batman comics and shows and movies and wanted to adapt the caped crusader into an interesting game and I believe that those same people could have made a truly interesting game set in the Batman Beyond version of the Arkham verse. Batman Beyond was one of my favorite Batman series and it is far more deserving of a game than Suicide Squad.
I partially believe Suicide Squad was made because of the production of the Suicide Squad movies (the first one released in 2016, the same year the game entered production), people liked that setting so maybe the developers thought "lets make a game of that". I think that was incredibly misguided. To find out that Batman survived the end of Arkham Knight and that instead of him retiring and eventually helping the next generation of Batman (Terri McGuinnes), he just goes right back to it? It's just such a failure of writing and structure and is just such a shitty way to bring him back. A Batman Beyond game in the Arkham verse could have actually done more justice to the character in the prior Arkham games. Lets examine a few places that an Arkham Beyond could have been an interesting advancement of the Arkhamverse.
The Combat
The developers introduced the amazing combat system in Arkham Asylum that you can now see the threads of in a ton of different games out there. The Shadow of Mordor games used it, the new Spider-Man games used it, obviously Gotham Knights used it (I'll be talking about that game another day), and many more. The game introduced such a fluid combat system that it, even going back after all these years, didn’t feel outdated and felt like it could have been made this year.
And all of the games iterated on the combat system in a way that allowed for fundamental advancements in the action superhero genre. There's a reason the new Spider-Man games ripped off the 2015 Arkham Knight combat system, but despite this being an amazing combat system, I think there could be so many more advancements with another iteration in the series. Imagine playing as Terri from Batman Beyond and instead of Batman just casually jumping between enemies at an immense distance like in the other Arkham games, Terri could use his rocket boots to rocket himself between enemies. The system has so much room for advancements with a new iteration that you just can't do with something like Gotham Knights which is the only recent Batman iteration in the combat system and that was more of a sideways iteration as opposed to truly forward. The combat has so much room for further development that I think it is begging for some sort of advancement and even more, pushing into the Beyond era would have allowed for more advanced enemies that are more interesting to fight as opposed to the same enemies with just slightly different armor or some shock batons. The combat could actually grow as opposed to being stagnant.
And this would have allowed for a more interesting Arkham followup that instead of completely disregarding the amazing combat system that Rocksteady Pioneered, they could have actually made an iteration that has interesting new advancements for the player to experience. Instead they just ditched it
The Story
So I'm a bit of a DC nerd. I have several of the comics but my nerdy-ness comes mainly from the shows and movies. I loved them as a kid and as an adult I have them all on my Jellyfin media server so I can watch them whenever I want. These games just allowed me to feel like I was a part of those shows. That I was participating in the episodes and movies. There is nothing quite like it.
So then a new iteration in a Batman Beyond fashion would allow for a lot of interesting story advancement. Something that Arkham Knight had kinda run out of new ideas on besides just allowing the characters and villains to die in some regard. In true Arkham fashion, the game could have been some kind of adaptation of Return of the Joker, as the Arkham games are at their core stories about Batman and the Joker. And it would allow for an actually interesting former Robin character as opposed to Arkham Knight who was just Redhood, but not. It could allow for the player to see interesting advancements of Bruce post blowing up his mansion and faking his death. Could allow for seeing older more mature characters and have the same type of dynamics as in the Batman Beyond series, with added depth from the past Arkham games. Imagine having to deal with the Royal Flush gang and how interesting an Arkham version of them could be? Imagine having Ra's Al Ghoul coming back to life and seeing a new person, Terri, wearing the cowl and that causing tremendous difficulty for Ra’s. That would also allow us to see Terri, a younger person than Arkham Bruce, deal with the ethical implications behind the Lazarus pit and that could provide a new perspective on a story that we’ve seen in multiple games now.
There's just so many story possibilities that could be explored while the other Arkham games had explored so many Batman stories that have had multiple iterations, but Batman Beyond hasn't had many iterations, there's so much space to innovate. Like when it comes to the Arkham Knight character and how he was marketed as a brand new Rocksteady character but, again, was just Redhood. If there was Arkham Beyond game then the Rocksteady writers could have ACTUALLY made a unique character and villain and it wouldn't have just been a switcheroo.
Gameplay Mechanics
Okay so we know the core gameplay of the Arkham games, besides the combat which I've already talked about, but with an Arkham Beyond the gameplay could have gotten more dynamic. Batman Beyond takes place in the future so there could have been more advanced technology that Terri could have had to deal with.
For instance, Terri can fly with his rocket boots. This is a whole new dimension that would be opened up for not just traversal but structure of the world. You could have larger buildings, and the case clues wouldn't have to all be on the ground and we could be able to fly around and see stuff on the sides of buildings much easier. Imagine having a large part of a building halfway up being destroyed and on fire and we as Terri are able to investigate the side of the building while hovering with rocket boots.
The games have also introduced more interactive traversal with each iteration and with an Arkham Beyond they could have introduced a Batwing alongside Terri's flying capabilities. This also would have allowed for more interesting stealth encounters. Being able to fly down, grab someone, and rocket back up. This is obviously just a new version of the same kind of stealth but having completely new design would make it feel fresh again. Or what if Terri was able to go invisible to hide from enemies for stealth which would allow for not just occasionally more forgiving stealth, but also more possibilities for stealth takedowns. And would allow you to not always have to rely on the vents on the ground or hiding behind a wall. There could also be some interesting new gadgets that Rocksteady could have thought up. Like if there was a rocket mine that when someone walks by, it attaches to them and rockets them into the sky or ceiling and then when they fall down they're unconscious because it's still a videogame where Batman doesn't kill.
Or what if in order to track something through the sewers, Terri has to dive into the water and swim around using his Batsuit re-breather? Or if when Terri gets attacked by an enemy, they get shocked with electrical discharges that the Batsuit can generate. Or if he has to pull out his Batsuit buzz saw to allow him to cut through either an enemy or maybe for setting a trap by making something topple over onto an enemy when they get close. Or if he used his wrist mounted laser shooter to cut through windows quietly, like when Batman would rip open vent grates in the current Arkham games. Or there could be a cinematic moment where Terri's rocket boots get damaged and he's falling off the side of a building and instead of using a grappling hook (cause it's less cinematic) he whips out his Batclaws and uses them to catch himself on the sides of the building by digging them into it. And these are just the gadgets that are in the show, there's plenty of room for making up other new gadgets, it is the future after all. There's so many possibilities for gameplay advancement because of the Batman Beyond setting that I'd argue Arkham Beyond could have been a masterpiece in DC gaming.
At The End Of The Day
There are so many gameplay possibilities with an Arkham Beyond that would have been more interesting than Suicide Squad. Now an important point here is that this would not have been a Live Service game, but that would have been preferred. Making a successful Live Service game is not predictable, doing an Arkham Beyond would have allowed for Rocksteady to do what they're best at: making comic book worlds, having interesting character adaptations, and having new interesting combat encounters and gadgets.
Suicide Squad was designed to be generic. Was designed to have the exact same combat for the four characters you could initially play as so your loot would carry over between characters. Was designed to not have a complete story at launch. It was a failure because it was such a bad version of a comic book game. It was a failure because it didn't provide a story that connected with both the Arkhamverse and the players who had played those. It was a failure because it was such a departure from the Arkham games that came before. An Arkham Beyond could have been the opposite. It could have allowed Rocksteady to still make an interesting and new feeling game while also allowing them some freedom in possible story developments. The world of Batman Beyond has so much room for expansion and only one iteration, while Suicide Squad has had tons of iterations now.
Fundamentally, Suicide Squad was a failure. But Arkham Beyond wouldn't have to have been a failure. I still think that it could happen. That a true advancement of the Arkhamverse could exist, especially since the Justice League wasn't actually killed in the game that is entirely about killing the Justice League. Maybe one day the Arkham Beyond of my dreams will happen, and it doesn’t even have to be Rocksteady that does it. I've started playing Gotham Knights and I believe that team could handle a Arkham Beyond. The idea just has to be given a chance.
Anyway, Dragon Age: The Veilguard comes out tomorrow, so I'm gonna be talking about that in 2-3 weeks. And I'm also working on a Gotham Knights review which will be next week. Until then.
Meow,
Cat