Train2Game News: The Dark Knight Returns

Arkham CityYou may or may not know that your Train2Game blogger is a massive fan of the Dark Knight so hearing the news that there is going to be a third Arkham game made me very happy.

The next entry in the Batman: Arkham series will be released this year, Time Warner quietly revealed in a financial meeting last week. A transcript of the company’s Q4 2012 earnings call, quotes CFO John K. Martin as saying:

“We expect [digital home video revenue] to grow close to 20% in 2013. And we also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise.”

Batman: Arkham City, the previous game in the franchise, was released in 2011 and was a huge success thanks, in part, to the story being written by the Batman animated series writer, Paul Dini. The game play was also incredible and as you were battling with the thugs of Gotham you did feel like Batman. The game was then retooled for Nintendo’s Wii U and re-published last November.

Last year it was rumoured that the next game in the series would take the form of a prequel, with developer, Rocksteady drawing inspiration from the Silver Age of comics. However, VG247 claims the UK studio is not developing the next game in the series.

In addition, in August of last year Paul Dini, announced he also will not be working with Warner Interactive on a Batman: Arkham 3 and Mark Hamill said that he would never voice The Joker again after Arkham City. A few months after the games release however, in an interview with film director Kevin Smith, Hamill said that he wouldn’t be opposed to playing the insane villain again if the part was right.

Batman: Arkham City multiplayer confirmed and new screenshots released

New look Harley with Batman

Batman: Arkham City will feature multiplayer gameplay, at least that’s according to  appropriately named Batman: Arkham City fan site Arkham City.

The news comes as screenshots  of Batman: Arkham City have appeared online through Flickr.

A news post on Arkham City says that multiplayer is confirmed by Batman: Arkham City developers Rocksteady in a feature from this month PSM3 Magazine. The developers claim “Multiplayer is a certainty, but no details on this yet” with no further details about how this would actually fit into Batman: Arkham City.

Rumours have been circulating ever since Batman: Arkham City was announced, that Catwoman would feature as a temporary ally of The Dark Knight in co-operative gameplay. Or perhaps players will be able to experience Batman: Arkham City as Robin or Nightwing in a co-op mode.

On the other hand, could the multiplayer element of Batman: Arkham City be the competitive player vs player experience that some gamers would rather not see included?

With Batman: Arkham City – the sequel to the highly successful Batman: Arkham Asylum – not scheduled for release until autumn 2011, it’s likely we’ll be waiting for quite some time before solid details appear.

Batman: Arkham City will be available in PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

So Train2Game students, how do you feel about a Batman: Arkham City multiplayer mode? Would you welcome co-operative or competitive online play? Or do you think Batman: Arkham City should stick to the format of Batman: Arkham Asylum and leave multiplayer gameplay alone?

You can leave your thoughts about Batman: Arkham City multiplayer here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.