More Details About Arkham Origins Emerge

If you're somehow not aware now that Batman: Arkham Origins is a thing, go read Nick's post and come right back. It's time for the nitty-gritty details.

Arkham Origins is set on Christmas Eve, presumably continuing the Arkham tradition of setting the plot over the course of a single really, really bad night for Batman. This is a younger Bats, but not him as a complete rookie- Geoff Johns, creative officer of DC Entertainment, clarified that Arkham Origins would not feature "beta Batman," such as the one comic fans might remember from Earth One.

"The Batman in Origins still kicks ass and he's learning kind of trial by fire..." Johns said. "This is really more about Batman's initiation into that insane world."

The Black Mask, who had a minor role in Arkham City, has put out a bounty on Batman's head and assassins from all over converge on Gotham to collect. Standing tall among the assassins out to kill Batman is Deathstroke, who comic fans know well as DC's response to Boba Fett and kids know well as "the guy Ron Perlman played in Teen Titans." Crooked cops are in on the job, as well, including the GCPD SWAT team leader Branden, who was featured in Batman: Year One.

It wouldn't be a worthwhile successor without some new advancements, and while the combat system is (thankfully) unchanged for the most part, a new gadget that's sure to be fun is the remote claw, a gadget similar to Just Cause 2 which allows players to attach two people or objects to each other with a kind of grappling hook. The Game Informer article notes that this can be used to "knock enemies together, slam heavy objects into foes, or string objects or people up under a perch." Sounds fun!

The last big change of note, and arguably the most interesting, is a complete overhaul to Batman's investigation mode. Heavily inspired by the BBC's Sherlock, according to the game's developers, the new investigation mode will not only allow Batman to go more in-depth with details around a crime scene, but the scene will visually play out before him as he puts the pieces together. Crimes may go unsolved and Batman may have to return to them later on in the game, but when they are finally solved, players will be treated to "a video rundown of the case narrated by Batman."

Arkham Origins could have been a completely phoned-in successor, but it's pretty clear that new developers Warner Bros. Montreal are putting a lot of love into this production. As more details filter in, this project will likely get only more and more exciting.

[Source: Game Informer, May 2013 Issue]