In the new issue of Games Master magazine speak to WB Montreal, the studio behind the Arkham prequel. They discuss the approach to crafting a different Dark Knight and offers some insight into features that didn’t make the cut.
Warner has confirmed the Batman: Arkham Origins release date as October 25 for consoles and PC. There is also a few new screens from the game which can be seen in the gallery at the bottom of this article.
According to a recent report, Arkham Origins will have a multiplayer mode, making it the first in the series to include it.
Here are the new details as reported in Games Master:
- Batman: Arkham Origins is the story behind “how the unrefined, rough-around-the-edges, early career Batman” becomes Dark Knight
- Batman and Captain Gordon meet for the first time during the events of Arkham Origins
- Senior producer Ben Mattes says there are elements to the story that they will never discuss before the game has shipped
- Batman in Arkham Origins has the moves and the abilities, but hasn’t faced the challenges that shape him into the Batman we know. Arkham City Batman is described as Batman 5.0, while Arkham Origins Batman is 0.9.
- It’s “year two” of Batman’s career, roughly speaking
- WB Montreal has been given everything Rocksteady had, from engine tweaks to concept art.
- It plays exactly like Arkham City
- At one point the HUD included a storm indicator. Since Origins takes place during a snowstorm, it provided warning of incoming wind blasts. However, it negatively impacted the freeflow combat as “enemies stand around waiting for you to punch them” and “you’re swinging wildly because you don’t know where they are.” The feature was cut.
- Another cut feature is the enemy quad-rotor drone which would patrol rooms in search of Bats. The drone “broke the richness of the predator room, which is in giving the player the power to play the way they want.”
- Detective mode has been overhauled, as has the gadget upgrade progression tree.
- Goons will be able to “take advantage of the verticality” of New Gotham
- Legends of the Dark Knight was the “single most inspirational piece of media”
- “Making Batman scary again is important”
- WB Montreal believes it has made “the coolest version of Deathstroke. He’s a wonderful counterpart to Batman”
- Northern Gotham is the area that became Arkham City, it is a mix of low-rent residential and industrial buildings. Referred to as the Brooklyn of Gotham.
- New Gotham is described as the ‘Soho’ or ‘East Village’ of the city. It is a brand new, upmarket area, borderline financial zone of the city. Focus is tall buildings, catwalks and walkways here.
- The GCPD is corrupt, so Gotham’s swat teams are out to get Batman too
- No mention of Joker yet.
- A ‘Most Wanted’ mechanic offers a selection of mini-campaign side-stories centered around other major villains.
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