Tag: rocksteady

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League- When Game Development Turns Out To Be A Waste of Time

Adam1 Comment

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has been one of the year’s biggest talking points within the gaming industry. It’s been coming to be one of the biggest gaming flops of 2023 thus far, losing Warner Bros over $200 million for the first quarter of the year. Despite being in development for nearly a decade, the long-awaited installment in Rocksteady’s successful Batman: Arkham series could not have been more of a critical and financial disappointment if they tried.

For months to even years, many folks have spectacled just what the hell went wrong behind the development of this game and why it took so long to come out. This was set to be Rocksteady’s next main game after concluding the Arkhamverse in 2015 with Batman: Arkham Knight. After the success of that series, it seemed like they could have done ANYTHING and leave plenty of folks excited for what was to come next for the studio. But yet after all that time and waiting, they come up with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, a game that basically puts all of the worst trends in recent memory in terms of gaming development and pop culture all into one, basically making it doomed from the very start.

Recently, there was an article that was published by known gaming insider, Jason Schreier, which he interviewed over 20 folks from Rocksteady that were part of the creative team of Kill The Justice League to get a sense as to what happened with the development history for this game. And let me tell you, there is some juicy, JUICY stuff in here! Not only going into great detail about everything wrong when it went to making this game but just how you can’t help but feel like Rocksteady wasted nearly a decade of time and money to a game that was basically dead on arrival.

I’m not going to go word-by-word of what was reported by Mr. Schreier but I will certainly give a cliff notes version of what was stated in that article. I will provide a link at the end of the piece of that article along with other sources that have info on what went behind the scenes for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

  • After Arkham Knight, Rocksteady’s co-ceos Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker set out to make an original multiplayer puzzle-solving game, codenamed Stones.
  • However, Warner Bros was eager to get a Suicide Squad game out ASAP after the 2016 movie was a big hit at the box office.
  • WB Games Montreal already had a Suicide Squad game in development for a few years but it wasn’t coming together. Warner Bros then approached Rocksteady to helm the Suicide Squad game by the end of 2016 and they agreed. This put an end to the development of Project Stones and WB Games Montreal’s involvement with this Suicide Squad project.
  • Rocksteady began development on the game in 2017 but were entering unfamiliar territory, as neither Hill or Walker had experience making online multiplayer games nor did they do much research on it or even played much online multiplayer games beforehand.
  • Nevertheless, they decided to make Suicide Squad an online multiplayer game with live-service elements added to it.
  • When the duo confirmed to the rest of the studio they would be making a live-service multiplayer Suicide Squad game, new hires of Rocksteady were SHOCKED by this, resulting in many of them leaving the project as that was NOT what they signed up for.
  • Due to Hill and Walker’s inexperience with making online multiplayer games, that led to big chunks of the scripts being scrapped and the studio struggling to convey the ideas that the co-ceos had in mind.
  • Devs would have to wait for weeks to months for Hill and Walker to review their work and provide feedback, which caused constant slow downs in production.
  • The constant delays made staff members want to abandon the project, as barely any progress was being made in development.
  • Rocksteady adopted a “Toxic Positivity” policy, where no criticism of the game was allowed, with management kept going on to it’s staff about how the game will turn out great no matter what by the final stretch, just like it did with the prior Arkham games.
  • Hill pitched an elaborate vehicle system that allowed for players to equip their vehicles with weapons and navigate the streets, similar to the Batmobile in Arkham Knight.
  • This BAFFLED the staff as the Suicide Squad members already had their own means of transversal through the skies and wondered why the players would chose to patrol through the streets of Metropolis in a large vehicle over quicker methods of transversal. This idea would later be scrapped.
  • The visions of the leaders kept shifting throughout development, most notably going from an emphasis on melee combat to focusing heavily on gunplay.
  • Changes like that left the staff confused as to why a character like Captain Boomerang would carry around a gun as his choice of weaponry instead of just…..you know….a BOOMERANG, like the name of the character states. However, Captain Boomerang with a gun would stay in the finished product.

And here is some behind-the-scenes info that came from another notable source in the gaming industry, Miller Ross. This goes into the spoilers of the main plot for the game. If by some chance, you haven’t been spoiled yet and don’t know what happens in the main plot of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, then click off this article RIGHT NOW because I’m about to dive deep into the controversial decisions in the story.

  • It was Sefton Hill, the mind behind Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy (JUST SO YOU KNOW!), that acted as the lead visionary behind the story and premise of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
  • The story 100% came from Hill, who took inspiration from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, with the main campaign acting as Infinity War and the post-launch seasons would act as Endgame.
  • The plot was designed to make the audience believe that the heroes did in fact die for real and the bad guys actually won, creating a shocking twist and setting the groundwork for the post-launch seasons.
  • Developers at Rocksteady BEGGED to include hints that the Justice League were not actually dead to avoid inevitable backlash but Hill was persistent, wanting to keep it a complete surprise.
  • Future seasons is set to see new playable characters that will join the fight with the Suicide Squad to eliminated the remaining Brainiacs, including Mrs. Freeze, Deadshot’s daughter, and Deadstroke.
  • Each upcoming season will have the player resurrecting a previously fallen member of the Justice League.
  • Season 2 will resurrect The Flash, Season 3 will resurrect Green Lantern, and Season 4 will resurrect Batman (still voiced by the late great Kevin Conroy, who did record lines before his passing).
  • This will all come together with Season 5, which will see the Justice League resurrected and coming together to stop the final Brainiac.

And now in regards to the aftermath of all this and what awaits the future of Rocksteady and Warner Bros, going back to what was stated in Jason Schreier’s piece.

  • Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker left Rocksteady in 2022 to start their own gaming studio, which is now titled Hundred Star Games.
  • Their departure SHOCKED the staff at Rocksteady, giving little to no hints that they would abandon ship right before the game was scheduled to come out in 2023, which would again get delayed to 2024.
  • Hill and Walker told the staff that they wanted to make games of their own and free of the mandates and pressure from Warner Bros, giving the confirmation that they will no longer be associated with WB or their franchises.
  • Despite the financial failure of Kill The Justice League, Warner Bros do NOT plan to layoff staff members at Rocksteady and are committed to releasing the remaining seasons of the game.
  • Because Rocksteady is more understaffed compared to other gaming studios they collaborate with, WB doesn’t view layoffs for them to be necessary.
  • Rocksteady staff are now working on a director’s cut for Hogwarts Legacy, the best-selling game of last year, while some members will commit to complete the remaining seasons for Kill The Justice League.
  • The newest leaders at Rocksteady are currently planning to pitch a new single-player game to Warner Bros, hoping it will bring the studio back to its roots.

It’s also worth noting that both Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker declined to be interviewed for this story.

So……..yeah! That is QUITE a development history! When taking all of that info into account, it’s no wonder why this game was in development for so long and why it turned out so bad?! From WB handing the Suicide Squad torch to a studio that had ZERO experience with making online multiplayer games to visions constantly changing to the developers having to wait FOREVER for feedback on their work to the founders literally bailing at the last minute in order to avoid consequences, is it any wonder why the finished product turned out to be as half-assed and half-baked as it comes? There are plenty of great games out there that were able to overcome troubled development, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was certainly NOT one of them!

To make matters worse is just imagine all that time and effort that could have went into something COMPLETELY different! Imagine if Rocksteady spend the last seven to nine years crafting a game or even multiple games that are actually worthwhile and involves them doing what they do best! Just imagine if we got that Arkham-style Superman game that everyone wanted for them! Imagine if they made a Batman Beyond game, that follows the plot threads of the Arkhamverse in a RESPECTFUL way! Imagine if we got a proper Justice League game where we had to take down the Suicide Squad members ourselves instead of the other way around! Heck, there’s some folks out there that would even take a sequel to Urban Chaos: Riot Response, the first video game they ever made and their only video game that doesn’t involve Batman in some way! Instead, we all exist in the elseworld where we just got Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League from Rocksteady! And man, does that all feel like a waste of time!

And that is the worst part of all of this is! Whenever a game has been in development for as long as it has, you have to make sure it has the proper payoff and success that you envisioned! Otherwise, you just get a sense that the entire development cycle felt like a GIANT waste of time! All that time, work, and effort put into a product that was received poorly and failed financially! It’s bad enough when that is just a couple of years but when you have put nearly a full DECADE into something and it turned out so bad, well….that’s just a full decade of your life you will NEVER get back! And I imagine that’s the exact feeling that Rocksteady is feeling right now with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

It’s bad enough that development of Triple A gaming is now longer than ever in this day and age. Instead of a traditional two to three years of development, it now ranges somewhere between four to five years! That’s why you are always seeing teasers for games when they first get announced and then you literally hear NOTHING about that game until at least two or three years later on down the road! Ex.) Insomniac with Marvel’s Wolverine, Monolith with Wonder Woman, and MachineGames with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. You don’t hear much from them until much later on because they are no where close to being done! That is why it’s apparent that video games turn out as great as they should to not only justify the 70 dollar price tag but also justify the long as hell development cycle of it. When it doesn’t, you get games like Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, a game that was a waster of time to not just the players but also the developers who made it.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League should act as a perfect example of what NOT to do when developing Triple A games. The whole idea and premise of a game where you play as the Suicide Squad and literally kill the heroes of the Justice League was questionable at the start and it was only made worse with what Rocksteady put out after over seven years of work! WB should have NEVER given this project to a studio that was known for making single player experiences, Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker should have done more research on developing these online multiplayer live-service games and brought in staff members who had that experience and they CERTAINLY should have known better to rely on tiresome trends that was going to be dated by the time the game was released. Making games is already hard enough as it is but it’s even harder when so much time goes into making a game and it brings very little satisfaction to players and the companies themselves.

While I’m glad that Warner Bros will not layoff staff members from Rocksteady, both sides are going to have to work BIG TIME to win back the trust of gamers everywhere! A pitch of a single-player game and developing a director’s cut of Hogwarts Legacy is a good start but they have a LONG way to go before being trusted to deliver high quality games again. We can all only hope they learn their lesson with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and never feel obligated to put this much time and effort into a project which does not suit their reputation whatsoever. If not, then I look forward to them throwing another decade of development away in favor of chasing the trends from the 2020s! Let’s all hope we don’t have this exact same talk when Insomniac releases Thunderbolts: Kill The Avengers in 2035, which will have Peter Parker being shot and killed by Screwball!**

Jason Schreier’s Full Article

Miller Ross’s Tweet About The Story Direction and Spoiler-Filled Plans For The Upcoming Seasons

Batman Arkham Videos on What Happened with Suicide Squad and What’s Next for Rocksteady?

**That’s actually gonna happen, isn’t it?!

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (2024) Season 1 Review- The Game Is Saved!

AdamLeave a comment

At long last, the first season of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has FINALLY launched! I don’t know about everyone else but I was pumped out of my MIND for this update! After how AMAZING the main campaign was and the way it ended on a MASSIVE cliffhanger, I could not WAIT to jump back into Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League! After all, who WOULDN’T be excited when the overall gameplay was nothing but the exact same three missions over and over and over again and getting to face off against the Justice League with boss fights that were clearly not finished?!

Rest assured, Rocksteady has officially launched their latest update where you get to play as the Joker and all I can say is WOW! For any of those haters out there who likely were the same folks that were jerking off Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and are hyped for that obvious Overwatch rip-off, Marvel Rivals, perhaps to eat your words because Season 1 has without a doubt saved Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and proves that Rocksteady and DC are still at the TOP of their game!

What makes this update so amazing you may ask? Well, it’s quite simple! It’s literally the exact same game all over again but with the Joker in it! And you don’t even get to play as him right out of the gate! Instead you have to work HARD by playing the exact same three to four missions over and over and over and over again! You play through these same missions until you upgraded all off your players at MAXIMUM level to beat the boss and THEN you get to play as the Joker!

Of course, you can do the cowardly thing and BUY your way to getting the Joker! (Wait, wasn’t this all suppose to be for free?!?!) However, for all the REAL gamers out there, you get to GRIND your way into getting the clown prince of crime!

There’s no extra story missions, no extra side missions, no new enemies, no new gameplay styles added in, there’s only one new cutscene with the Joker himself, and the Joker basically plays the exact same as all of the other characters but with a new umbrella move thing-y! I know that might sound underwhelming to closed minded DC haters out there but come on, after all this seasonal update is absolutely FREE until it isn’t so STOP COMPLAINING!

Not to mention, you get an animated comic intro with the Joker that feels like it was made by an intern at Rocksteady during their lunch break! Can you think of ANYTHING game out there that did that?!

I certainly had an absolute blast once again playing through all these exact same, repetitive missions! There’s the missions where you have to escort some random nobody to a particular rendezvous point, there’s the missions where you have to aid baby face Poison Ivy, there’s the missions where you have to play capture the flag and then destroy your flag, and then there’s the missions where you have to kill a bunch of enemies, you know the things you are ALREADY doing when you are roaming around Metropolis anyway!

We also can’t forget the elseworlds missions where you have to travel to another multiverse! And what do you do once you make to the elseworld you may ask?! Why, the EXACT SAME THREE TO FOUR MISSIONS YOU WERE ALREADY DOING IN METROPOLIS, OF COURSE?!?!?! However, before that you have to grind for enough points to play these same three to four missions by playing through these same three to four missions in Metropolis first BEFORE going to the elseworlds to play the same three to four missions! In a nutshell, this is a game you have to grind for points, tokens, and upgrades to play new elseworld levels so you can do more grinding! It’s a game where you have to grind for progression where you will have to more grinding for more progression! This is not lazy and incompetent on ANY LEVEL!

I should also mention the new Brainiac you fight here, which is the second of a total of 13 Brainiacs you will need to fight, assuming this game doesn’t get shut down by the end of summer! Despite the trailers for Season 1 suggesting the exact same boss as Superman in the main game, you instead get the EXACT SAME BOSS as Green Lantern in the main game! Exact same tactics, exact same ways to beat them, and the EXACT SAME RESULTS! This is not lazy and incompetent on ANY LEVEL! I sure can not WAIT until I get to the fight the exact same boss ELEVEN MORE TIMES!

After you free the Joker from Brainiac, you take him back to the Hall of Justice, he said some cringy lame puns in a more high pitched voice, and you put in the cell where he belongs! Not to mention, Harley Quinn doesn’t seem to care that a version of her pudding is still alive because well, she’s just over him now all of a sudden! Never mind the fact that she was the ultimate simp who would do ANYTHING for her Mr. J and was completely HEARTBROKEN over his death! She’s just over him now because…..she’s now a strong independent woman, I guess! I guess a good five to six years can REALLY change a person! Almost as if this game wasn’t meant to be in the Arkhamverse and was added in at the last minute to boost sales!

Also, The Riddler is still here because…………………..

Overall, I can NOT recommend Season 1 of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League enough! It takes everything that didn’t work about the original game and somehow makes them even worse! The missions are more of the same and even more repetitive, the grinding is increased ten fold, there’s no real story progression, each character still plays exactly the same, and you don’t even get to play as the Joker until the very end after you have already done all the busy work to get him! At least you get to see him going on that memory lane tour of the previous Batman: Arkham games, which only exists to remind you how good Rocksteady USED to be at making games!

Even so, that still doesn’t take away the fact that this latest update of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a MAJOR step in the right direction! With this game along with DC Universe Online still getting TREMENDOUS support 14 years later, DC is crushing Marvel in their video game department just like how they are in their movie department! No amount of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Midnight Suns, and Marvel Rivals can hold a candle to what Warner Bros Games is doing right now with their DC properties!

In my initial review, I said I would only talk about the season passes if I felt they were worth recommending! And considering the fact I came up with this piece, I can with confidence that it 100% absolutely IS and you should go play it ASAP! Nice job, Rocksteady! Keep up the good work! I will be among the first in line of two folks online that will ready and waiting for you next big update on Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League!

This update gets a five out of five star rating for me! Absolutely SPECTACULAR!

Take notes, Avengers! THIS is how you do a live-service superhero game!

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APRIL FOOLS!

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Nah, but seriously, this season was a GIANT waste of time and my patience with this game has officially expired!

This game now gets a two out of five stars for me! Great job, Rocksteady! Keep up the “good” work!

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Also, FYI, congrats to Jared Leto! You are no longer the worst Joker ever!

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League- About Batman

AdamLeave a comment

*Warning! This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League! If you haven’t played the game yet and/or don’t want anything spoiled for you, then you might want to click off the article right now! You have been warned!*

Oh, boy! Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is perhaps the hottest and most controversial game at the moment! Even before it’s release, there has been plenty of things that have inspired it’s controversy. From the required online services to it’s obsessed looter-shooter mechanics to this not being a Superman or Batman Beyond game, things were not looking too bright for Rocksteady’s first console game since the mid 2010s. And the fact that it was delayed numerous times didn’t seem to help much either! However, there is certainly not been a bigger controversy of this game than that of Batman’s role. Before we dive deep into why people are angry about how Batman was handled in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and whether or not it’s justified, let’s go back a bit to see what happened with the Caped Crusader between Arkham Knight and into this game.

As we all know, Batman: Arkham Knight for a while was considered the definite conclusion to the Arkhamverse. After all, the game ended with Bruce’s identity being revealed to the world by Scarecrow, which gave the orphan playboy billionaire the impression that his time as Batman in Gotham has come to an end. By installing an emergency protocol he activated in case his true self ever got exposed, formerly known as the Knightfall protocol, that led Bruce to faking the death of himself and (presumably) Alfred to have the world think he is dead and hopefully keep those he cares about out of harm’s way. Despite everyone else in Gotham believing he is dead, it’s revealed in the very last scene of the game where two muggers attack a family in an alley that Bruce might in fact still be alive but cosplaying as a nightmarish figure resembling Batman, using the fear toxin from Scarecrow to make that happen.

Even though Arkham Knight was designed to be the true endgame for this iteration of Batman, it still had such an open ending that could open the door to pretty much anything if this series would ever be continued. For a while, there were rumors and speculations that suggested this would lead to the likes of a Damian Wayne-lead Batman game which would have Bruce Wayne in his “Batman Beyond” phase. This game was confirmed by voice actor Josh Keaton to be true and he would have been the voice of Damian Wayne himself. However, due to leaks and potentially WB Games Montreal (the studio that was developing the game) having cold feet on having a game focused on Damian Wayne taking on the Bat mantle, that project never came to pass.

It was then that project would later turn into Gotham Knights, putting the focus on the other members of the Bat family with Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Batgirl after Bruce Wayne’s supposed death. Despite being a reasonable thematic follow-up to Arkham Knight, that game was not considered part of the Arkham canon and stood alone as it’s own game. After several years of rumors of a potential Superman game set in the Arkham universe along with the un-canon release of Gotham Knights, the true continuation of the Arkham canon came with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, which the version of Batman would be the same one as we’ve been following in Arkham Asylum, City, Origins, and Knight.

The game states that after Arkham Knight, Bruce disappeared for several years until Superman found him. After he found Bruce, Superman asked for him to come back as Batman and join the Justice League. An offer which Bruce accepted. So now, Bruce as a new home in Metropolis and a new purpose as Batman in the form of the Justice League. Because of all that, the story of Bruce Wayne as Batman continues….even though everyone in the world knows his true identity.

And…that is literally all the context that the game gives us. There have been a few expansion novelization that suggest that post-Arkham Knight, Bruce was depressed and felt his live was ruined after Scarecrow revealed his identity, with the mindset that joining the Justice League would cure him of his depression and allow him to continue his crime fighting persona. But other than that, just about everything that has gone on with Batman between games happened offscreen with major important context being completely handwaved.

When you view that status quo with the little context the game offers us, that basically renders the ending of Arkham Knight rather meaningless. Why did Bruce go through all that trouble in faking his death to protect his friends if he was just going to come back in another city as Batman? By that point, criminals were no longer afraid of him and the world knowing his identity would put his friends in graver danger than ever before. Did Bruce just assume he trained his companions hard enough where they could handle any danger by themselves without his presence, even though Arkham Knight showed us they clearly can NOT?! And what happened with Alfred? Did he die with Knightfall Protocol or was he presumably killed offscreen by evil Batman like his other companions have been (We’ll go into THAT soon enough!)? The game doesn’t really give us any answers to those questions. While that is understandable from a narrative standpoint because this is suppose to be a Suicide Squad game first, it just makes it all the more clear that this could not have been a worse game to continue the plot threads of the Arkhamverse. Instead of getting a Superman or Justice League game first that might expand on that status quo and even justify it, it’s thrown to the wayside where you basically have to fill in the blanks yourself.

When it comes to Batman’s role in the game, he is basically in his pure evil form the whole way through due to being mind controlled by Brainiac. So much so, that he does what normal Batman would not do….kill people. This is shown in the very first sequence with him when he encounters the Suicide Squad. He blatantly uses his batarang to murder security guards and comes close to beating mind-controlled Barry Allen to death until he is ordered by Brainiac to keep him alive. Although, as usual in mediums where Batman breaks his “no kill” policy, it’s incredibly inconsistent. Like, he has no problem wiping out security guards and even the freaking FLASH but when he has the squad pinned down, he just screws off because otherwise….the game would be over in an hour.

However, as someone who tries to overprepare for EVERYTHING in his life, Batman even offered preparations in case something like himself and the Justice League being mind controlled by Brainiac happened. This is revealed in a recorded message once the Suicide Squad breaks into the Batcave. This was a message intended for his companions: Robin, Nightwing, and Oracle (which I guess answers one of those questions I stated before) as a guide on how to stop the Justice League if the group became compromised. Unfortunately, it’s revealed that Robin got taken out by evil Batman with the fates of the other two, Jason, and Alfred being unknown (which proves how dumb of a decision it was for Bruce to come back as Batman leaving his companions defenseless).

It’s then you fight Batman in his nightmare form he had been fighting in since Arkham Knight. After a rather intense sequence where you have to spread the Bat lab with fear toxin gas, you confront the nightmare fueled caped crusader head on until you’ve shoot at him enough times to beat him. The end results leaves Bats badly wounded and bleeding everywhere. The squad takes him to Lex Luthor’s lab, who uses Batman to develop golden kryptonite weapons to kill Superman. In comes the most talked about scene of the game!

In order to lore Superman out of hiding, the squad takes Batman out in the open to execute him. After Harley gives a speech about the history the two have shared throughout this series of games and Batman calling the speech s*it, Harley shoots Batman blank in the face and kills him. Supposedly putting an end to the Arkham Batman as we know it and possibly the last time we will ever hear Kevin Conroy’s voice as Batman.

To say this has pissed people off would be an understatement! To take a version of the character that is considered to be the definite Batman medium in terms of video games and possibly all forms of entertainment and kill him off in such an unceremonious way is guarantee backlash from day one! However, there may be something here that we are NOT aware off and will have to await for seasonal content to determine the true outcome.

First off, I will say right off the bat! DO NOT USE KEVIN CONROY’S DEATH TO DRAG BATMAN’S TREATMENT OF THIS GAME THROUGH THE MUD! THAT IS DISGRACEFUL AND UNCALLED FOR!

No one at Rocksteady could have predicted his death and I’m fairly certain his voice work was recorded at least a few years before his untimely passing. Let’s also not forget that Kevin Conroy himself DID agree to do the voice work for Batman in this game and (if sources close to him are any indication) was perfectly okay with what was done with Batman in this game. It’s not like this is some A.I.-generated voice or anything, this was in fact all Kevin Conroy. The man NEVER once stated that Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League would be his final time voicing the character. It was just unfortunate this had to be one of the very last times for him to do it!

Secondly, let’s not act like Harley Quinn or anyone else is incompetent or isn’t capable of taking the Bats down. After all, this was the same Harley Quinn that was able to capture Batman in her DLC for Arkham City and would have in fact killed him due to lack of oxygen if it wasn’t for Robin saving his life. And if you continue to treat this game as canon to the Arkhamverse, it does tie back to Arkham City and Arkham Knight of Harley Quinn seeking vengeance against Batman for the death of her pudding. Yes, it seems like little HQ is over her pudding’s passing throughout the game, but it does thematically feel natural to her character.

Thirdly, and I’m pretty sure this has basically been confirmed through leaks, this is NOT the same Batman as the one we’ve been following since the Arkham games. What I mean by that is I’m fairly certain that upcoming DLC will reveal that the evil Batman presented throughout the game is not the real Batman but a clone made from the same DNA by Brainiac. The evil Batman that is presented throughout feels so out of left fired compared to the prior Arkham games that I would be shocked if it was not revealed that the Batman in this game is a fake and the real one is still out there somewhere.

If you don’t believe me, there are plenty of hints throughout the game that give the indication that the Justice League presented in the game are in fact not the real ones. You have the Flash that was able to regrow his finger after it got cut off, there’s Green Lantern whose ring doesn’t act the way it normally does, Superman surviving the kryptonite from Wonder Woman, all of the bodies of the JL after their “death” being teleported back to Brainiac’s ship, and even just the fact Brainiac refers to the Justice League at the final battle as MY Justice League and not THE Justice League. Not to mention, this is literally the same game where you have to go to another world to find another Lex Luthor after the one in this universe was killed off by The Flash. It’s time travel at will!

And if you are wondering about the hints of Batman’s potential resurrection, a recent video by the GOAT Batman Arkham Videos, found a hidden easter egg that teases that exact possible outcome for the future. There’s a hidden message in the forms of calendars scattered throughout Metropolis, each highlight a specific date, which the one from December has the bat symbol labeled on the date of the 14th. These calendars serve as a nod to Calendar Man, a villain from Arkham City, and spells out a message in twelve letters that makes sense once you crack the code. That message states, “He will return!” If that’s not a sign that Rocksteady is not done with their version of Batman yet, then I don’t know what is.

I’m sure there will be PLENTY of folks that will claim that Rocksteady would only resurrect Batman and the other previously fallen Justice League members due to the massive backlash of the game but if the hints, easter eggs, and leaked audio of the upcoming DLC is any indication, it’s clear this was planned from the very beginning. Plus, as we should all know now the old saying of comic book storylines, no one ever stays dead except for Uncle Ben and the Waynes.

The bigger question isn’t so much about if Rocksteady plans to revive Batman and the rest of the Justice League but more of when and how? Will they stick to their guns and release the seasonal content when they originally planned to? Will they release ASAP in response to the negative reception of the game? Were they able to get voice recordings of Kevin Conroy’s Batman for this DLC before his death or would they need to recast in order to do so? I’m sure those questions will be answered as 2024 goes around but I’m fairly certain that this will be the final outcome for the Arkham Batman.

Although this is the main problem with live-services games that rely on seasonal content to determine the final outcome of the game but the only thing we can all do is wait and see. While Batman’s resurrection will not solve all of the problems with his inclusion in this game, I am hopeful Rocksteady is able to find some alternative that can either continue his story in this universe or find a real proper ending for the character.

Even if Batman is getting much proper treatment in the upcoming DLC, I still consider Arkham Knight to be the true definite send-off for this iteration of Batman. Anything afterwards to me is basically a “What If?” scenario and nothing else. If it’s done well, I can be like “Yeah, I guess that would be cool!” If it’s not done well, I can then be like, “Well, at least it ended with the last game for me!” I have my Batman games to look back upon fondly and nothing this game does can take that away from me!

Regardless, I’m grateful we got to hear Kevin Conroy voice Batman at least one more time for a big major title! And as I said in my main review, he sounded just as good there as he did when he first put the cape and cowl on back in the 90s with Batman: The Animated Series!

Thanks for everything, Kevin! We will miss you!