It sounds like a newBatman: Arkhamgame might bein the works at Rocksteady Studios, but as exciting as that could be, it’s incredibly unlikely that the game will be the one that I personally want. TheBatman: Arkhamseries is iconic for a reason, elevating the superhero genre with engaging stories, fluid combat, and a richly atmospheric take on Gotham City. More recent successes like theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames for PS4 and PS5 draw a lot of inspiration from Rocksteady’s titles, and I’d argue that the newer alternatives still lose in a direct comparison.
Like a lot of fans, I started myBatman: Arkhamjourney withArkham City. As an open-world sequel toArkham Asylumat a time when open worlds were just becoming all the rage,Arkham Citymanaged to give titans likeThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimand the all-time masterpiecePortal 2a run for their money as a GOTY contender. Unsurprisingly, I had a great time with the game, butbouncing back toArkham Asylumafterward is what really made me fall in love with Rocksteady’s work.
Arkham Asylum Has An Unbeatable Atmosphere
I Love Every Nook & Cranny Of Arkham Asylum
Arkham Asylumis the one game in Rocksteady’s series to put the emphasis on theArkham, confining Batman to the asylum and its grounds for the entirety of the game. Considering how fun gliding around rooftops inArkham Cityis, stepping back to a game that’s so comparatively restrictive could easily have been disappointing. I had the opposite experience, however, andArkham Asylumwon me to its side long before the credits rolled.
For my personal tastes, the biggest strength of theBatman: Arkhamseries isn’t the great gameplay or interesting villains, but the detailed environments and the mood that they set. TheGothic sensibilities ofBatmanmediahave always played a large role in making the caped crusader such an interesting hero, and few things come close toArkham Asylumin this regard.Tossing Batman into the lion’s den and never letting him out lets the game focus on every grungy feature of a facility in disrepair, quickly turning the memorable setting into a major character in its own right.
How To Enjoy The Entire Batman: Arkham Series In Order
Although only totally four mainline games, the Batman: Arkham series has its own expansive continuity, and experiencing it all can be difficult.
Although some visual elements ofBatman: Arkham Asylumhave naturally aged in the 15 years since its release, it’s still a marvel of detail in a way that larger open-world games struggle to match.There’s simply no way to make every corner of a giant map ooze with the personality ofArkham Asylum’s claustrophobic corridors, and exploration can quickly dull once copy-pasting hits a certain saturation point. To their credit, the environments inArkhamgames consistently hold their own, but I thinkArkham Asylumremains the peak.
A Smaller Scale Might Make A New Arkham Game Better
I Want Something Like Arkham Asylum Again
I’m well aware that puttingArkham Asylumon a pedestal isn’t the most common take regarding theBatman: Arkhamseries, and the prospect of returning to an open-world Gotham is probably one of the most exciting promises of a new game for many fans. 2025 will mark the 10-year anniversary sinceBatman: Arkham Knight’s release, and the passage of time certainly opens up new opportunities in open-world design. A new game could make exploration more intuitive and meaningful than before, and there’s no reason why its most important areas couldn’t rivalArkham Asylum’s memorable atmosphere.
I’d rather see another smaller-scale title, however, something that I don’t think Rocksteady and I will see eye-to-eye on. For better or worse, AAA games have largely been in an arms race of scale for a long time now, and backing off from huge open worlds simply isn’t done in most scenarios. When a game does go smaller —Assassin’s Creed Mirage, for example — it tends to be positioned as a cheaper, less ambitious entry rather than something that converts that same giant machine of production to produce a more intimate, highly polished result.
TheBatman: Arkhamseries is getting a smaller-scale game in the form of theVR titleBatman: Arkham Shadow, but as a Quest 3 exclusive, I won’t actually be able to play it for the time being.
A smaller game would be a great way to re-orient things after the recent fiasco ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a big live-service swing for Rocksteady and an even bigger miss. IfSuicide Squadsuccessfully converted any one strength of theBatman: Arkhamfranchise, it was the joy of bounding across rooftops, with each character receiving unique movement possibilities that could be fun to employ. In an empty city that struggles to place memorable landmarks or find a dynamic visual identity, however, that just doesn’t feel all that meaningful.
What Happened Between Batman: Arkham Knight And Suicide Squad: KTJL?
A lot has changed in the Arkhamverse in the five years between Batman: Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Using a setting that’s closer in ambition toBatman: Arkham Asylumcould ensure that every major piece of the game feels genuinely bespoke, which is what Rocksteady needs to hone in on more than anything else. A focused, relatively linear experience also runs less risk of an extended development cycle, something that the studio might not be able to afford in the wake ofSuicide Squad:KTJL’s financial failure. The ceiling for potential sales would likely be lower, but chasing the highest possible profits is what led to this mess to begin with.
A New Open-World Batman Game Could Still Be Good
The Series Has Already Done It Well
My case for a newBatmangame that’s more likeArkham Asylumis more of a personal fancy than anything. I bounced hard off ofMarvel’s Spider-Man, which felt to me like an incredibly polished shell around a hollow core, and I’d love for a new superhero game to suck me in likeArkham Asylumdid. I’m not advocating a regression in design philosophy, as I’d like to see it innovate on its own terms, but I think that a limited scope could help it do so.
The Batman: Arkham Freeflow Secret No Other Superhero Game Has Mastered
Despite many attempts to copy it over the years, no game has reached the heights of the Batman: Arkham series' freeflow combat.
At the end of the day,I’ll be happy if a newBatman: Arkhamgame is simply good, even if it is the huge open-world title that it almost certainly will be. Dredging a finished story back up shouldn’t be done unless there’s a strong reason for it, and I’m hoping that reason is more than just financial needs. In my dream world, though, Rocksteady’s nextBatman: Arkhamgame would revisit everything that madeArkham Asylumspecial, and I’ll have to allow myself a moment of mourning whenever that dream world is officially destroyed.
Batman: Arkham Asylum (dupe)
Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum puts players into the cape and cowl of the Dark Knight himself, pitting them against a host of villains after the Joker starts a riot that takes over the titular psychiatric hospital. A Metroidvania-style action-adventure title, Arkham Asylum tasks players with locating the Joker and stopping his plans to take over Gotham City, encountering some of the Caped Crusader’s most iconic allies and adversaries along the way.
