Pre-order bonuses: Can’t live with them, can’t get a decent launch-day discount without them that usually dangles some sort of carrot on a stick in front of you and hoo boy this analogy has run away from me. The Batman Arkham games have always had one bit of cosmetic DLC that fans have always been eager for: Extra batsuits. Arkham City had plenty of them, Arkham Origins had even more and you can bet your WayneTech Research and Development branch that Arkham Knight will have plenty more. But at least this time, you’ll have access to them immediately.
And that’s because usually, players had to slog through an entire Arkham game before they could restart with a custom skin of their choice. That won’t be the case in Arkham Knight, as lead designer Ian Ball confirmed that alternate batsuits would be available from the start, in the Arkham Insider video:
Other cool stuff revealed: The new Dual-Play mechanic. According to Rocksteady, this feature allows for combos between Batman, Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing as players can freely switch between the two in combat. The caveat here of course, being that this will only be available during certain fights in the game. Although I’d bet easy money that Arkham Knight will expand on this feature, in the usual array of Challenge maps.
“It’s fantastic, because we’re able to build these relationships not just in the cinematic sequences, but right through the gameplay, through every aspect of the game,” said lead scriptwriter Martin Lancaster.
According to senior animator Adam Vincent, Dual-Play will allow one player to start a beatdown that can then be finished by another character that you switch to, while an in-game AI takes over to prioritise a new threat. Ball also described the new moveset in place for bat-gadgets, which involves peppering a battlefield with freeze grenades, batarangs and explosive gel as you glide down towards enemies. As for that other mysterious character in the game, Azrael, players will need to see if the new vigilante goals line up with their own,as Lancaster explained:
He sees himself as Gotham’s new protector. It’s really up to Batman, over the course of the story, to figure out whether this guy’s friend or foe, whether [Azrael’s] motives align with his own.
Which hopefully does not involve the character going balls-crazy and attempting to murder Batman, like he almost did in the comics. The 1990s! Fun times kids! Batman: Arkham Knight is out June 23 on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One, along with a ludicrously expensive season pass that’s offering six months worth of potential delights if you can’t wait a year for the 2016 complete edition.
Last Updated: May 11, 2015
HairyEwok
May 11, 2015 at 11:07
Dem nips doe…
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
May 11, 2015 at 11:08
Why though!?
HairyEwok
May 11, 2015 at 11:11
Makes me wonder if there’s another gadget hiding behind them.
http://cdn4.gurl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/austin-powers-gun-bra-robots-boobs.gif
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
May 11, 2015 at 11:14
Hahahahaa!!!
ThePoetPyronius
May 12, 2015 at 02:58
It’s cold in the Batcave.
Hammersteyn
May 11, 2015 at 11:14
Will wait for the 2017 edition if I have to.
40 Insane Frogs
May 11, 2015 at 11:26
Aye – GOTY edition will arrive later this year.
Hammersteyn
May 11, 2015 at 11:27
Either that or the Remastered Edition.
Captain JJ Browman
May 11, 2015 at 11:14
This is awesome
The header, not so much
Captain JJ Browman
May 11, 2015 at 11:15
But is there a Batman Beyond suit?
Hammersteyn
May 11, 2015 at 11:19
Dunno but s**t like this grinds my gears because does this mean the PC and the XBOX gets exclusive content as well, which I’ll miss out on?
http://media.comicbook.com/uploads1/2015/03/batman-ak-ps4-exclusivescallout-us-31mar15-129528.png
Captain JJ Browman
May 11, 2015 at 11:22
I really hope they do.
I would love that old-school suit.
Lord Chaos
May 11, 2015 at 11:25
Well at least now I know I have another complete edition game to look forward too in 2 years.
RAGE
May 11, 2015 at 18:55
ps master race!
Hammersteyn
May 11, 2015 at 11:28
How it feels like not preordering anymore
http://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/aqNODL7_460sa.gif
Lord Chaos
May 11, 2015 at 11:32
I just have one preorder remaining (depending on E3) and that’s the next Starcraft.
HairyEwok
May 11, 2015 at 11:34
There’s a reason why the word (a)Void is in the name XD. I kid i play too much SC to make jokes about it.
Captain JJ Browman
May 11, 2015 at 11:41
I just got a msg from BT reminding me to pick up my pre-order of The Witcher 3 next week.
Hammersteyn
May 11, 2015 at 11:43
Same here, But I’m done with preorders from Ubi and Warner Bros. and as always EA can go [redacted]
Captain JJ Browman
May 11, 2015 at 11:46
Same here.
Although Shadow of Mordor was good, it didn’t feel worth the price I paid. So WB is still in a grey area for me. My top three no-pre-order companies are EA, Codemasters, Ubi.
Lord Chaos
May 11, 2015 at 11:31
Azrael, the true hero of Gotham.
HairyEwok
May 11, 2015 at 11:32
Azrael is love, Azrael is life….
Loftus
May 11, 2015 at 11:34
With much sadness i came to the conclusion that i should rather wait for this game to be brought out as a GOTY before getting it
Captain JJ Browman
May 11, 2015 at 11:41
I think me too
Guilherme Colucci
May 12, 2015 at 06:27
I would too, did the same with arkham city pretty much, but since that game I became a massive comicbook fan and now I can’t wait to play this, actually even preordered game plus season pass for less than 35$ crazy deal! (Might even be getting trikd, probably not tho)
Pieter Smal
May 11, 2015 at 11:40
It is a seasonal pass suit?
Kikmi
May 11, 2015 at 11:41
ALL ABOARD DAT MOFUCKING HYPE TRAIN
toot toot
Jet Davis
May 11, 2015 at 17:30
Just release the fucking game Im tired of hearing about all the shit I will be able to do Just release the game!!!!!
Mysterious Gamer Dude
May 12, 2015 at 06:13
I like the fact that I’ll be able to play with other skins from the start, but I’m still gonna use the original batsuit to get the full experience.