14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Rocksteady says that the team at DC Comics consulting on the creation of the new Batman: Arkham Knight has given it the green light to create an entirely new character for the title, which will have a long-term impact on the comic book franchise.
The Arkham Knight name is being used to refer to an entirely new masked hero who is teased as being an antagonist for Batman himself, at one point holding a gun pointed towards the protagonist.
Dax Ginn, a producer working on the game and marketing executive, tells VG247 that, “The opportunity is exciting, but the expectation is off the scale. That’s why working with DC is so awesome for us, because those guys are so experienced, and it’s obviously something they do a lot of.”
The new Batman is designed to end the series created by Rocksteady and close the character arc for the protagonist, but the developers are not yet willing to offer any sort of information on the exact narrative they are planning to deliver.
Batman: Arkham Knight will aim to use the same core mechanics introduced in the first title in the franchise, but with new elements related to the Batmobile and refinements to the combat system, designed to include even more moves and gadgets.
Ginn adds, “when the idea was on the table for us to develop our own character and introduce that into Batman’s world, there was so much energy and excitement around it at Rocksteady – but we really were conscious of the value of the collaboration creatively we have with DC to make sure the gameplay role the Arkham Knight has is really reflected in his appearance and his outlook and his perspective.”
The developer has also suggested that the new Arkham Knight is designed to show how Batman himself would act in a world filled with enemies if he broke his oath to never kill his enemies.
The new game will see the entire city evacuated as Batman deals with a gallery of villains including but not limited to Scarecrow, Penguin , Two-Face, Harley Quinn and Riddler.
Rocksteady has promised some exciting game moments and a few revelations about the game world they have created over the past few years.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and the Xbox One from Microsoft on October 14 of this year, at the same time on all major markets.