Ever since the enourmous critical and commercial succes of 2011's Batman: Arkham City, rumours of a sequel and a possible finisher to the so-far amazing video game soon-to-be-trilogy started with Arkham Asylum in 2009 have been brewing around. The news have been officially confirmed and the world will indeed become a better place by getting another entry in the Batman: Arkham franchise, and we might even get it towards the end of this year. There haven't been any other official updates or news besides the game's announcement, not even a title, so fans have plenty of time to guess, argue and theorize about potential elements of the much-anticipated upcoming game. If you read my review of Batman: AC, you already know that I loved the game just as much as the rest of the world probably did and am very hyped for its sequel, so I've decided to put together a list of the top 5 things I would like to see most in the upcoming video game.
5. Robin / Nightwing co-op missions
Robin made an cameo appearance in the story mode of AC and was playable in the Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC and the Riddler's Revenge mode, but people are obviously hungry for a situation that has never really been done rightfully: Batman and Robin fighting side-by-side, brothers in arms and justice, kicking villanous ass! I don't think that the first-associated-cheesyness of this element would ruin the dark atmosphere of the games, au contraire, it would probably make for some very cool missions, where you could switch between Batman, Robin and possibly Nightwing and the game could also include an interesting multiplayer / co-op mode. It would be extremely cool, if they would do it right.
4. Hush, Red Hood and Azrael storylines
If you played through the excellent Identity Theft side mission in AC, you know that the villain Hush has now surgically reformed his face to look like Bruce Wayne. You also know that Batman lets him go and decides to go catch him "tomorrow", which could result in a kick-ass storyline for the sequel. The bad-ass character of Azrael also appears in his teasing side mission and will definitely appear in the next game in some shape or form, probably an epic shape or form, if you listen to his monumental ending monologue. Both of the games have introduced a plenty of villains, so there basically aren't much good ones left (just kidding, in case any butthurt fanboy tries to murder me), but I am rooting a lot for the inclusion of the-second-Robin-turned-villain Red Hood and the infamous Man-Bat, who might have also been partly referenced in AC.
3. Return of The Scarecrow
Scarecrow is one of my favourite Batman characters and characters in general, and I also loved his incarnation in AA, so I can't wait to get more of him. The lack of his physical presence in AC was replaced with numerous references, from his thugs to fear gas boxes and secret radio messages that decoded, spell out the words: "I will return, Batman. You will pay for what you have done to me. Fear will tear Gotham City to shreds." If that sounds epic, it's because it really fuckin is. So I guess he really wasn't eaten by Killer Croc or something and is just out there, plotting some awesome revenge plan. In any case, The Scarecrow will most likely return and possibly form an alliance with Hush, which is even more epic.
2. Keep The Joker dead
AC made a very ballsy move by killing of The Joker at the end and it really payed off. It was an incredibly dark and poignant ending, it made me sad, it made me depressed - and I'm not use to being sad for the deaths of video game characters, barely even fictional ones in general. I just hope they don't bring The Joker back like ressurecting him with The Lazarus Pit or revealing it was Clayface who died. As much as I love The Joker, I also love the ending and the only way I want to see him in a sequel is in some kind of an emotionally affecting Scarecrow hallucination. Plus, isn't this one of the coolest endings ever?
1. Full open-world Gotham City
Of course this is the thing that fans want the most! As much as AC gave us sort of an open-world feel, I still often felt as if I was imprisoned (get it?) and would love take on a full-fledged, open-world sandbox world of Gotham City. You could also drive around with The Batmobile and have those previously mentioned Robin co-op missions, where the dynamic duo could swing around and solve regular crimes, like in the "Acts of Random Violence" mission in AC! Again, it would be much less cheesier than it sounds. And just imagine, visiting all those places in the town...agh, I'm going to start to drool.
Whatever happens with the next Batman: Arkham game, I'm sure it will be good, I'm sure they will respect some of the things I listed here, because I am sure to share some of these opinions with many people. There are some things that raise my concerns tough - rumours have been flying around about the sequel being set in the 50's and the Silver Age comics era, meaning it will basically be a prequel, of how Batman met The Joker and so on. That seems like the biggest waste of the potential kick-ass storylines I've noted here and again, forcing Joker's return. If Mark Hammil won't voice him, fans won't be satisfied anyway. Another thing that concerns me is that reportedly WB Montreal might be taking on the game instead of Rocksteady, which is also absolute bullshit. That's like Chris Nolan not directing and writing TDKR, fucking imagine that!
So what do you think of the upcoming sequel to Batman: Arkham City? What do you want to see in the game? Do you agree with me on these points? Comment below, let me know!
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