Hot off the heels of yesterday’s announcement of Batman: Arkham Origins a host of screenshots have been released by Game Informer. There are shots of Deathstroke, a younger looking Penguin, Black Mask and Gotham adorned in Christmas decorations as Batman looms over some thugs.
In Batman: Arkham Origins, you will control a younger Batman as Black Mask hires the world’s greatest assassin’s to take down The Dark Knight. WB Montreal is handling development of the game instead of Rocksteady this go round, but they have full access to the engine that ran Arkham Asylum and Arkham City.
It was also announced that for the first time in the Arkham series there will be a fast travel option for Batman now that he is patrolling the streets of Gotham. When you pick a point on the map you will get to take a trip in the Batwing to your desired location, although the Batwing is not able to be controlled (bummer).
For the next-gen I would like a fully realized open world Gotham. If I want to spend 45 minutes driving around the city doing nothing but mourning the death of my parents, I should be able to.
Batman: Arkham Origins releases on October 25th.
The first screens for Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate have also been released. The game will be released on October 25th for the 3DS and Vita.
NetherRealm Studios brought Mortal Kombat back into the mainstream in 2011 with a bloody brawler that controlled like the Kombat of old and added in a fun story and unlockables galore. They threw a lot of people off with their followup, which was not in fact Mortal Kombat 2, but a game featuring characters from the DC Universe using the fighting engine from their MK reboot. Now one could be wary of this seeing as how we have already had to suffer through Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, but have no fear, this will not be anything like that.
Here are my five reasons to pick up [amazon_link id=”B0088I7L76″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Injustice: Gods Among Us[/amazon_link].
1. This is NOT Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
The fighting engine in MK vs. DC was tired and had not seen any real change in a long time. That changed with 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot. Combos felt natural, brutal and moves were easy to pull off. If you lost on higher difficulties it was not for a cheapness factor, it was because you most likely did not strategize your moves well enough against your opponent. After playing the demo for Injustice, it feels these controls are mostly transferred over. Since the DC characters are not having to share the same fighting game as the more brutal MK ones, they do not feel like they have been neutered or made weak to mix well.
2. Downloadable Content
Injustice will come with a Season Pass that will include four new unknown characters to the roster as well as new character skins from the Flashpoint event. If you pre-ordered the game at Gamestop you will receive the Red Son pack that gives you alternate costumes for three characters as well as 20 new missions set within the Red Son alternate reality in which Superman crash landed in Russia and became an agent for that country. Best Buy pre-orders will receive a Blackest Night pack which has undead character skins and a special zombie mode for the game. Now don’t worry where you pre-order your game at because all the DLC packs will be made available at a later date to everyone.
Photo courtesy Xbox.com
3. The Roster
There will be a total of 24 playable characters when you pick up Injustice and that is not including the four extras you will be getting with the Season Pass. The part I love about the roster is that you are getting your well known names that you would expect in a game featuring DC characters: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, Lex Luthor and Bane should surprise no one. Where this game gets it right is the inclusion of heroes and villains that will not be very familiar to fans outside of the comics. Hawkgirl, Black Adam, Ares and Raven are just a few of the names that may have people scratching their heads, but you will get to know them quickly and see how good they can be in a fight. All I ask from NetherRealm is that they make Swamp Thing or Animal Man one of the future characters.
4. Super Moves
Since this is not Mortal Kombat, you won’t be getting any bloody fatalities, but I assure you that once you hit your first super move you will not miss the carnage. For example, Aquaman summons a massive tsunami that lifts his opponent up, he stabs him with his trident and feeds him (or her) up to a great white shark. The Joker will assault you with a crowbar Jason Todd-style, shoot you in the face and then blow you up with a rocket launcher. Yeah, badass right? Then there is Superman’s:
5. Batman
Photo courtesy winterdrake.com
That is all. Batman needs no explanation.
I hope these five reasons have convinced you to, at the very least, give Injustice: Gods Among Us a shot. We will have our review for it up in the future so keep your eyes open.
The May issue of Game Informer has broken HUGE news on the next Batman game.
Batman: Arkham Origins will see Batman in his early days take on eight of the world’s best assassins (including Deathstroke) as they make their way to Gotham on Christmas Eve to try and eliminate Batman.
The game is being developed by WB Montreal, not Rocksteady, so I understand if that gets some fans worried about if this will be as good as Arkham Asylum or City. I think we don’t have too much to worry about. WB Montreal handled the port of Batman: Arkham City on the Wii U which was received well and the creative director, Eric Holmes, was the lead designer on one of the most fun and addictive open world games ever, [amazon_link id=”B0007OSLAA” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction[/amazon_link].
This will be the first of the Arkham series that takes Batman out into the city of Gotham. And since it will be on Christmas Eve I am hoping that we can get a Max Shrek cameo or at least a picture of Christopher Walken somewhere in the game. I think all games would do good to have one piece of Walken in them.
The game will be coming to PS3, 360, Wii U and PC. A handheld version called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate will also be releasing for the 3DS and Vita.
Batman: Arkham Origins releases on October 25th. Take a look at the reveal video below thanks to Game Informer.
Now I am just convinced that someone is after every bit of money I have in my wallet and even the secret stuff like my ass pennies (Google Upright Citizen’s Brigade for explanation). These were revealed back at the 2013 Toy Fair, but now we have some great quality shots of them.
The first series will include two Batman’s (one with Batusi hands and another with radioactive cowl), The Riddler, The Penguin, The Joker and Catwoman. And there is no telling how much they will take from me when the inevitable second and third series come out. God the possibilities!!
Eartha Kitt Catwoman, Julie Newmar Catwoman, Lee Meriweather Catwoman, John Astin Riddler, King Tut, Egghead, Minstrel, Archer!!!
And you can get an exclusive Robin when you buy this two-pack that let’s you recreate Batman and Robins’ rope climb up the buildings of Gotham!
Now I just have to find a Sammy Davis, Jr. figure to stick out of one of the windows and I will never have need for another figure ever again.
Microsoft is releasing a new bundle for the Xbox 360 that will combine a 250 GB hard drive with Batman: Arkham City and Darksiders 2. The Spring Value Bundle will costs $299.99 and is available now at all retailers.
Along with the games you will also receive a free month of Xbox Live.
In case the news did not pass you yesterday, a rather huge event happened in the Bat-universe with the death of Bruce Wayne’s son, Damian. Now, the current Robin was certainly a dick for most of the time the character has been written, but really wouldn’t you be also if you were raised like he was?
Over the past year through the different Bat titles he has gone through a maturation process and embraced his role as Bruce Wayne’s son and what that meant in the legacy of the Wayne family name. So when a character turns a corner like this, the next logical step is death. Hey, it’s comics. Damian was killed by his mother Talia, well to be more specific by her monster soldier named Heretic, who was acting on her orders. For those of you who did not read Batman, Inc. #8, Damian went out like a champ making the beating Jason Todd took from The Joker look like a love tap session.
So where does Batman go from here? Yes, we understand this is the world of comics where characters can come back on a whim and death is never…well, death. But this is a life shattering event in the life of Bruce Wayne. When Jason Todd was murdered it scarred Bruce Wayne for the twenty or so years until Todd was brought back as Red Hood (again, comics). This should, and better, have a bigger resonance with Bruce. While he has always treated every Robin as his own son, this is his ACTUAL son. A test tube one yes, but Damian came from him nevertheless.
The next few issues of Bat titles will be interesting to read and see what direction this takes the Batman character. The first title to handle this will be Detective Comics #18. The title has been in the middle of a big Penguin storyline that honestly is going nowhere for me, so I hope the team of John Layman and Jason Fabok can bring their A game.
Photo courtesy comicbook.com
The title I am looking forward to the most in this post-Damian world is easily Batman and Robin #18. I bet you thought I was going to say Batman with my love of Scott Snyder right? Sorry to disapoint, but the reason I say Batman and Robin is that Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason’s title is easily my second favorite of all the Bat tiles and the one that has truly explored the father/son dynamic of Bruce and Damian better than anyone. They have tackled the issue of Damian taking his first life and shown Damian’s love for his father by sending him on a worldwide trip to rediscover Thomas and Martha’s love for each other (even though he used that to dress up as Batman). And the team is doing something unique for their upcoming issue #18.
Batman and Robin #18 will be a completely silent issue. No words will be spoken. Peter Tomasi is leaving the entire issue to artist Patrick Gleason to show how Bruce deals with the death of his son in art alone. After that, Tomasi plans to take Bruce through the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) and then the title will be renamed with whichever member of the Bat-family is in the issue at the time, like Batman and Red Hood, etc.
Ironically enough, Damian’s death is coming off the huge Death of the Family story arc spearheaded by Scott Snyder, who brought The Joker back more sadistic than we have ever seen. As Batman #17 ended, it seemed that as Bruce was coming to trust everyone with more secretive information, but The Joker put a crack in their trust in Bruce and have started to distance themselves. Will Damian’s death be a catalyst for them to band together for Bruce’s sake?
Exactly how Damian’s death will be handled in other titles are not exactly known at this time, but needless to say this should rock Batman and the entire family to the core.
Did WB’s CFO just out the next game in the Batman Arkham series?
During the Warner earnings call CFO John K. Martin let this little bit slip out when discussing the games division:
“And we also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise.”
About a year ago came word that Rocksteady, developers of the first two Arkham games, were hard at work on another Bat tile that would take place in the Silver Age of Batman lore and possibly have appearances from Justice League members. A lot of reports had pegged the game for a 2014 release date so this may just be a snafu by the Warner chief.
If another Arkham title was coming this fall logic would tell you that we would have seen at least something as simple as a screenshot by now.
[amazon_link id=”B0088I7L76″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Injustice: Gods Among Us[/amazon_link], the new fighting game from Mortal Kombat producers NetherRealm and starring characters from DC Comics will be released on April 16th. Along with that news, WB Game unveiled a second collector’s set for the game to go along with the one announced last year which you can see below. This new set is called the ‘Battle Edition’ and will ship with the game, three special character skins for in-game use from DC’s New 52 and a custom fight stick with game artwork.
The ‘Battle Edition’ will cost you a cool $149.99 and the Collector’s Edition will be $99.99 (and features Batman having Wonder Woman in a choke hold, so worth the price).
[amazon_link id=”B004LWZWGK” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Dark Knight Rises[/amazon_link]
Christopher Nolan ends his Bat trilogy in a big way with Bane, the League of Shadows and a really big bomb. Some were less than kind but we here thought it was a great ending. Check out our review here.
[amazon_link id=”B009JBZH54″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]The Dark Knight Trilogy[/amazon_link]
You know how collections work. All three Nolan Bat flicks in one box.
The web series makes it way to Blu-Ray. It is somewhat of a prequel to Halo 4 telling how Thomas Lasky first came to meet the man known as Master Chief. It is a fun and well produced series and should be checked out by all Halo fans.
[amazon_link id=”B0095XPZBC” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Star Trek: The Next Generation- Season Two[/amazon_link]
Picard and company’s second season gets the high def remaster. Season One was very beautiful and who doesn’t want to see the Federation’s first contact with the Borg again all shiny and new.
Wu Dang? Yeah, Wu Dang. I haven’t had a chance to see this yet but most reviews have been saying this is a fun adventure flick that is basically a “kung-fu Indiana Jones”. High praise indeed.
The characters keep coming for next year’s DC-based fighting game with Green Arrow, The Joker and Green Lantern being added to the roster.
Green Arrow was unveiled with a character video which shows off Oliver’s quips and some pretty awesome use of his arrows in combat while the boxart for the game is not that kind to the marksmen as you see Superman and Batman fighting while Green Arrow lies dead (or knocked out since there are no fatalities?) beside them. The cover also confirms the rumors that The Joker and Green Lantern will be up for the fight as well.
Take a look at Green Arrow’s introduction below and some of the other character videos below. [amazon_link id=”B0088I7L76″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Injustice: Gods Among Us[/amazon_link] will be released April 2013.
