Say what you will about the ‘Arkham’ franchise but it has been incredibly successful. From ‘Arkham Asylum’ to ‘City’ through to pre-quel ‘Origins’ and finally ‘Knight’. Even the short spin-off ‘Arkham VR’ for Playstation. Each game has been a huge money spinner for Warner Bros. and for the studios who made them.
Most fans will know that after creating the first, second, fourth and fifth games studio Rocksteady were stepping away from the franchise. That left Warner Bros. Montreal to swoop in and take back the reigns.
Their work on prequel story ‘Arkham Origins’ wasn’t bad but it didn’t live up to Rocksteady’s standards for many fans. Now a disgruntled WB employee has spilled their guts all over Reddit and whatculture.com has brought us a great breakdown of what they learnt about new game ‘Arkham Insurgency’.
We’re only paraphrasing so head to whatculture.com for the full story!
1. It’s another prequel.
Rather than follow on from the rather climactic ending to ‘Knight’ WB Montreal are going back in time again. ‘Origins’ was set during Bruce’s third year as Batman whereas the Rocksteady games covered his eleventh and twelfth years. Plenty of story to mine in the intervening period. Rumour has it ‘Insurgency’ will take place three years after ‘Origins’.
2. Conroy and Hamill are out.
Much like ‘Origins’ the new game will feature Roger Craig Smith as Batman and Troy Baker as Joker. Fans have lauded over Baker’s Joker in his various appearances whilst Craig Smith has had a lacklustre response.
3. Using the ‘Arkham Knight’ game engine.
As whatculture.com points out WB Montreal has had an easy ride at times. For ‘Origins’ they were gifted Rocksteay’s city framework for Gotham. For ‘Insurgency’ the leak reports that the engine built for ‘Knight’ has been gifted to them also.
4. Playable Robin?
The leak also reports that Robin will be a regular playable character throughout ‘Insurgency’. This is following the hugely positive response to fight sequences in ‘Knight’ which allowed players to switch characters. Presumably as this story will be a prequel Robin will this time be Dick Grayson who has appeared as Nightwing in other games.
His costume will reportedly be based more on the New 52 era of the comics. In terms of timeline Robin has been working with Batman for two years when the game starts.
5. Joker.
Well we just told you that Troy Baker is back as Joker. So it should come as no surprise that he is once again included in the games story. The overall story arc of the game is that Arkham Asylum and Blackgate have both seen huge break outs and Gotham is once again overrun with criminals. The leak reports that Joker is the main one leading the breakout but that he is NOT the games main villain.
6. One of the other villains is…
… The Court of Owls! The leak doesn’t give a great deal away about their involvement in the game but if they are anything like they are in the books then this could really set this game up to be great.
7. There will be boss battles.
No elaboration in the leak on this one. Just news that they will make a return after a weak appearance in ‘Knight’.
8. Locations.
‘Insurgency’ will reportedly feature a costal expansion of Gotham not seen in previous games. It sounds a little odd so we’ll reserve judgement on that one until we see it. The leak does state players will be able to explore regions similar in size to that of ‘Knight’ and access to Wayne Manor and the Batcave will be included.
9. Back to the old school Batmobile.
For haters of the tank seen in ‘Knight’ there’s good news from ‘Insurgency’. With the story being set in the past the Batmobile is back to a similar appearance to that seen in ‘Asylum’.
The leak specifically states that there is no battle mode with this Batmobile. Instead Batmobile combat will consist of chase sequences and disabling slow opponents.
10. There’s still a blocked off section of Gotham.
This was inevitable. We’ve yet to have see any ‘Arkham’ game which features a representation of normal life in Gotham. The leak goes on to say that the GCPD has blocked off a section of the city in which they have totally lost control. This will likely be the games main playable arena.
11. Revamped combat.
WB Montreal are giving the combat model an overhaul. The leak states that combat has been expanded to better accommodate 1-on-1 fights. Though the basic premise sounds the same it has been made more complicated to avoid the repetitive nature.
12. Skins.
Over the course of the franchise Rocksteady set the standard in downloadable content and playable skins. The employee behind the leak provided a list of skins that fans can expect to unlock in the game:
Arkham Asylum, Knight, Origins, Begins, BvS, New 52, Rebirth, Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, Adam West Batman, Anime Batman, Batman: Noel, Classic Batman, First Apperance Batmance, Knightfall, Beyond, Earth One, Earth Two, Flashpoint, Red Son, Green Lantern Batman.
The report does state there will be several more skins available.
13. Riddler collectibles & raceways.
whatculture.com highlights that although removing the tank sections is a huge plus for ‘Insurgency’ one of the downsides is the continued inclusion of the Riddler raceways.
It is reported that there are around 100 Riddler trophies throughout the game. It it noted that although the number of trophies may have reduced from previous games they were now much more difficult to find and obtain.
14. Villains, villains and more villains.
We’ve already mentioned Joker and The Court of Owls. How about a roster of supporting characters made up of:
Maxie Zeus, Dollmaker, Killer Moth, Anarky, Two-Face, Blockbuster, Ventriloquist, Cornelius Stirk, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, Dusan al Ghul, Mad Monk, Dala and of courses Riddler.
15. DLC.
The leak reports that ‘Insurgency’ will feature DLC like all the recent ‘Arkham’ games. The report goes in to greater detail on one of those story DLC packs which will focus on Hugo Strange and his relationship with Bruce/Batman.
Take this with a pinch of salt until the game is officially announced by WB Montreal. Hopefully we’ll have some solid news on this soon. Stay tuned!
