With the Batcave-sized caveat that we have yet to see gameplay, Batman Arkham Shadow – on paper at least – sounds extremely promising.
It’s a new chapter in the Arkham series where you actually play as Batman, created with a clear desire to build on the foundations of Rocksteady’s iconic trilogy. It is built to a scale reminiscent of the original (and perhaps best) Arkham Asylum. And it lets you do everything you really want to do as the Dark Knight: pounce, slide, investigate, and blow the bad guys in the chin.
Of course, Batman Arkham Shadow is also a VR game – exclusive to Meta Quest 3 when it releases this fall, and it sounds unlikely it will appear anywhere else. Built by Camouflaj, the talented team behind Iron Man VR, it has been a number of years in the making, working closely with Warner Bros. Games and veterans from Rocksteady itself.
The game takes place prior to Arkham Asylum (although after Warner Bros. Montreal’s own prequel entry, Batman Arkham Origins) – a deliberate move by Camouflaj to show a younger, less experienced Bat living without a series of allies under pressure could be put.
“I was amazed at how ruthless and violent Batman was in Arkham Origins, and I really loved Roger Craig Smith’s performance,” Camouflaj boss Ryan Payton told me via video call. “I thought, Batman post-Origins is definitely in a very ripe state to be going through some really tough times, given his arrogance and lack of remorse and empathy for his opponents.”
Payton, himself a veteran of 343 Industries and Konami, where he worked on the story for Halo 4 and as a producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, says he was nervous about asking Roger Craig Smith back for the role of Batman – but that the actor was quickly accepted and became a “gift from heaven” while performing, and until now a big fan of the Arkham series.
Camouflaj obviously has huge shoes to fill and move Rocksteady’s beloved franchise forward. But it sounds clear that the studio has tried to do this with respect for what has come before. Payton says he was a fan too, but he still hadn’t prepared himself for the need to build something that fit seamlessly into everything that had come before.
“One of the most important elements of Batman Arkham is the element of surprise, and we wanted to do something similar…”
“I couldn’t appreciate the extent to which Rocksteady infused these games with such a level of care and interconnectedness, even after playing the games multiple times,” Payton said. “Even now – I was on a flight last night and replaying them on my Steam Deck. I’m taking screenshots to send to the team to say ‘Hey, we’re not quite on the same page with this thing’. That’s it kind of level of complexity and difficulty in creating an official new entry in the Arkham franchise, but something I enjoy doing.”
While there are questions about what happened, Camouflaj has been given behind-the-scenes details about Rocksteady’s original intentions. Where there are narrative gaps, Camouflaj has been entrusted with the freedom to explore these areas narratively.
“There’s one part of the game that I don’t think we’ll talk about – even before launch – and that was [Warner Bros.] It really forces us to do something different,” Payton teased. “One of the most important elements of Batman Arkham is the element of surprise, and we wanted to do something similar with Arkham Shadow.”
What we know for sure is that Arkham Shadow will see the return of a number of core characters from the series, including some as we’ve never seen them before. “Since we’re still early in the Arkham timeline, this is an opportunity for us to tell the origins of some iconic DC characters,” Payton said, name-checking Harley Quinn, Scarecrow and Two-Face. Ratcatcher and Jim Gordon are also featured in the game’s cinematic trailer.
“We have the earlier versions before they become larger-than-life characters. Players are used to seeing them fully evolve, so let’s take a look at what they were like before. No one has seen what Scarecrow looks like without the mask in the Arkham franchise…”
Several Rocksteady veterans have joined the Camouflaj team and worked full-time on the project, including design director Bill Green, who served with Arkham’s founder for eleven years and was lead developer of Batman Arkham VR. “Over the past few years, we have only looked up to the incredible work of Rocksteady and the Warner Bros. Montreal team,” Payton noted.
“Nobody has seen what Scarecrow looks like without the mask in the Arkham franchise…”
Converting the Arkham series’ gameplay into first-person form (and yes, you can look down and see your Batsuit-like body) doesn’t sound easy, but Payton says Camouflaj approached the project knowing that it had to contain “all the elements”. that make Arkham games great”.
“We know it’s about exploration – grapple gun and gliding – combat, boss fights, investigation and cinema. We really had to master these five core elements,” he said. As to exactly what this will look like in action, we’ll have to wait until Gamescom in August, when Arkham Shadow’s gameplay reveal will take place.
For now, Payton says Arkham Shadow will weigh somewhere between Iron Man VR and Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum in terms of game length, and will be “very inspired by Asylum’s game structure.”
“It’s open to some extent – not open world per se – but similar to Asylum’s Metroidvania-inspired structure,” Payton concludes. “We have large, courtyard-inspired areas where players can choose where they want to go. Players can later return to multiple dungeons to search for secrets.”
As we wrap up, it’s clear that there’s still a lot to discover about the game – but I’ll be eagerly awaiting more at Gamescom in a few months, and seeing if what it looks like in action lives up to its quite exciting promise.