A new series I will be starting with all the wants and additions I think would be absolutely epic in an upcoming video game.
Spoiler Alert: If you have not played any of the previous Arkham games, which would be pretty ludicrous at this point. Continue to read at your own risk. This article will contain information on Easter Eggs and other elements of past Arkham series titles.
The Plot
Set one year after Joker's death crime has hit an all-time low in Gotham City. Some of Batman's most notorious nemeses decide to team up to take on the Bat once and for all, including Two-Face, Penguin and Harley Quinn. This all happens during Halloween night, in which Scarecrow decides to give the citizens of Gotham fair warning that he will soon be flooding the streets with his fear toxin (how noble of him). Only criminals now remain with the city and it is up to Batman & the GPD to stop the menacing threat that plagues Gotham.
Why I Love It: It's purely unpredictable. Who's the main antagonist? Scarecrow? The Trio of Gang Leaders? This fresh-faced rival in the series, the Arkham Knight? Batman had 3 major things he needs to combat in this game as far as we know rather than leading up to one major villain. This either means all of them are major plot points in a branched fashion in which the player will have to decide who to take on first, or two of them are subplots that lead up to the greater threat which is unknown at this point in time.
Also the setting is perfect, Halloween Night. Perfect for Scarecrow. Too bad it won't release on its traditional October release date which would have been even better for this title. But it isn't even a bother because I know this game will be phenomenal when it does release.
It makes sense: This game takes place in Gotham City (which looks absolutely stunning I might add). And because of the Scarecrow plot I won't question why I don't see Joe Schmo or Sally Dogooder. In Arkham Origins I questioned consistently where all the citizens were. I get it was late at night but the literally the only people roaming about were criminals, where I'm sure the citizens of Gotham are all too accustomed to. It boggled me because there has to be somebody out and about who didn't have rap sheet. It made sense in Arkham City because it was a closed off section for criminals only, but in Origins it made me question.
Underlying Message? :In one plot summary on the web you can find the tone setting quote that says "Batman is struggling to come to with the absence of his nemesis (Joker) and the uncomfortable feeling that the pair shared a bond deeper than either could admit." Now is it just me...or does this set the feeling of New 52's Death of the Family Story Arc? Haha I know that far from happening in this franchise but wow would it be something.
Now for the meat and bones of this article.
Arkham Asylum: Scarecrow (Left), Arkham City: Scarecrow Cameo (Middle), Arkham Knight: Scarecrow (Right)
Scarecrow's Hatred: Batman > Killer Croc: I can't think of anything Batman has done to Dr. Crane worse than what Killer Croc did. He may have beaten him to a pulp on multiple occasions, but he hasn't tried to kill him, or eat him for that matter. I honestly want to know what Crane's vendetta against the Dark Knight is that elevates him to the top of his priority list. Scarecrow narrowly escaped death in Arkham Asylum and you can see the after effects of said encounter apparent in Arkham Knight. So why does he still take Batman in priority over the Croc? Maybe it's something we will learn in Arkham Knight. Or because Scarecrow isn't scared of the Croc. Scarecrow is the Master of Fear, and the deliverer of bad dreams. I mean he huffs his own gas all the time, so obviously maybe he doesn't know fear and so he has nothing to be frightened about with the Croc, after all, he was gutsy enough to have a boat stationed in the middle of the water in Arkham City.
Unlockable Costumes: Every Arkham title so far, with the exclusion of Asylum, has had numerous Batsuits for the player to change out of. This is a great option because players love choice and being able to change the look of Batman. Although all of the costumes were unlocked through other means outside of the actual game whether through DLC, or a linked mobile game, or promotional code event. The only characters time when costumes could be unlocked in-game were during Origins multiplayer and even then those costumes could be acquired in DLC packs, and the only costume ever to be purely obtained only through actual gameplay, the infamous Worst Nightmare suit, was removed for unknown issues. What I would love is to be able to be able to unlock costumes throughout the actual Campaign by simply discovering it, meeting certain criteria, doing side mission, etc. As well as the ability to change Batman's suit during the Campaign without having to wait to finish the game first, and doing it through New Game+. Although I know this most likely won't be done because of the wear-and-tear mechanic of seeing Batman's costume deteriorate throughout the Story as he struggles with the villains throughout the night.
Also what costumes would you like to see in this game? New one or returns, doesn't matter. It's almost hard to imagine what costumes they haven't added just yet by looking at the list. One costume I would definitely like to see is the return of the Worst Nightmare suit that everyone wanted so badly, as well as a revamped version of the Beyond (Batman Beyond suit is pure epicness). Here is a list of Batman Suits that have appeared spread through the Arkham franchise:
Adam West 1960's
Animated Series
Azrael Knightfall
Beyond
Blackest Night
Brightest Day
Dark Knight Movie
Dark Knight of the Round Table
Dark Knight Returns
Earth One
Earth Two
Earth Two Dark Knight
Extreme Environments "XE" Suit
First Appearance, 1940
Gotham by Gaslight
Incorporated
Injustice
Long Halloween
New 52 Graphics
New 52 Metallic
1970's
Noel
One Million
Red Son
Sinestro Corps
Thrillkiller
Worst Nightmare-Cancelled
Year One
If believe this is all of them, if I missed any my apologize. I guess one they haven't added is the cave Batman...
The Family: In Arkham City Rocksteady threw Catwoman into the screen. They allowed you to play Catwoman who had an intertwining story with Batman himself. Even after beating the Campaign you were still able to switch between playing as Batman or Catwoman, which was without a doubt awesome. They then announced a DLC expansion which allowed you to play as Tim Drake's Robin in a separate arc as he attempted to thwart Harley's plans. They've even allowed you to play as alternate characters within Challenge Missions such as: The Joker, Nightwing, and Deathstroke. Rocksteady even announced that they would be continuing this trend by allowing those who Pre-Order the game would be allowed to play as Harley Quinn in 4 new Challenge Missions, and even more recently upgrading this to allow players to explore Gotham in her own Story!! Now as to whether this intertwines and can be switched with Batman similar to Cabwoman's or if it's a completely separate arc similar to Robin remains to be seen (my guess is the latter). What would be awesome is the inclusion of being able to play more of the Bat Family in the game, even if only for Challenge Missions. I would love to beat up baddies in a Combat Arena as Jason Todd/Red Hood or the Huntress/Catwoman. Any additional characters would be an awesome perk.
Easter Egg-HARLEY'S PREGNANT?! : This is possibly one of the biggest Easter Eggs of Arkham City. To add to it, after beating the game in New Game+ you can hear Harley singing "Hush Little Baby". Now upon further exploration in the game in the Robin DLC you also find 3 more tests that also read negative. Also if you read the box inside the crib it said there is a chance for a false positive.
Too bad this is far from coming to pass however as one of the founders of Rocksteady, Sefton Hill, confirmed Harley wasn't pregnant and it was indeed a false positive...but what if they decide to bring this back??
Reoccurring Villains:
Bane: He has been in all of the Arkham games so far, I wouldn't mind seeing him return in Knight.
Victor Zsasz: The first villain you face in Asylum and an interesting side mission mini-boss in City.
Killer Croc: He too has appeared in all of the Arkham games so far, as he was an interesting encounter in Asylum who is the reason why Scarecrow looks the way he does now. He had a visual cameo in City which was a one-chance only deal, and was the first boss in Origins. Seeing him again in Knight would be interesting and it would probably tie-in with Scarecrows own story.
Returns:
Azrael: He featured in a small puzzle based side-mission in City in which you had to find clues he left behind and find where he was lurking in Arkham City. Upon his discover he told Batman a prophecy, "I bring a message: dark days are coming, Batman. The Prophecy is coming true, you are the warrior who will close the gates of Hell, you are the one who will save this day, and in doing so, events will occur that you cannot stop, from the ashes of Arkham the fires will rage and Gotham will burn, and you, you will burn too." I can only imagine the event he was talking about coming to pass was when 3 of the strongest factions of villains in Batman's Rogue Gallery would team up against him. Still, doesn't mean seeing Azrael again wouldn't be awesome.
Hush: In another side-mission in which Batman had to search for dead bodies he was lead to the secret surgical hideout of Hush. Hush trapped Batman in his hideout so that he could give him his little gloating speech and reveal his new face before exiting and leaving Batman flabbergasted. It's highly likely that Batman put an end to Hush's plan right after he was done in Arkham City, but I would still like to see a reappearance by the Bruce Wayne doppelganger.
Black Mask: Like most villains in the Arkham franchise he had a minor cameo in some collectibles scattered around both Asylum and City. He was even a Boss in an interesting 2.5D Challenge Mission in City and a secondary antagonist to Joker in Origins. With these 3 big guns teaming up to take on the Bat he must feel somewhat left out as he seems to have sort of an inferiority complex. So it wouldn't be a surprise if he decided to flex his muscle and get his own like side-quest against the Dark Knight.
Talia Al Ghul & the League of Assassins: Talia and her league were an interested nod in the City title, as well as this being fodder for the possible appearance of their son. It is also interesting to note that after Ra's apparent death, when going back to the location you see that Ra is no longer there but his sword is still firmly planted in the ground. Resurrection anyone?
New Villains:
Prometheus: The anti-batman!! I'm not talking about an alternate reality version, but a villain in the Rogue Gallery who is Batman's polar opposite all the way down to his back stories. I NEED to see him in at least one Arkham game.
Scarface & Arnold Wesker: Who's the real dummy in this duo? Haha Scarface has had a cameo in both Asylum and City, and I don't know if this series ties in with the actual universe but if it doesn't I would love to see and square off against these two.
Ratcatcher: Another interesting villain to include in the title and I could quite easily see how the side-mission to track him and the actual Boss battle would go down.
The Creeper aka Jack Ryder: Jack had a cameo in Asylum as well as being a rescue target from Deadshot in City. Who knows what could have happened to him in the past year.
Phew. Well that does it for all the things I can say for my wants in Arkham Knight. Don't know if Rocksteady is listening but it would be a true gem if they found this. Hopefully some of the stuff is already implemented, who knows. What are your wants from Arkham Knight? Thanks for reading ^__^
SPOILER:
Note: I also want to add, I dont know the validity of this information, but this article states that it found the credits list for voice actors in the new Arkham Knight title which says that Azrael will indeed be returning as well as appearances by Damian Wayne, Nightwing, and Superman!!
http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/27494/20140703/batman-arkham-knight-damian-wayne-nightwing-superman-azrael.htm
If any of this is at all true, some of my wishlist has already been granted.