For those who have not yet heard, the next chapter in the Batman Arkham video game series is a confirmed prequel, set to center around Batman's first encounter with The Joker in the Silver Age, as well as Batman joining the Justice League for the first time. The next game will also be slightly less darker than Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. The following is a list of what I think we should see in the next game.
THE GAME NEEDS TO BE A TRUE PREQUEL:
This game needs to stay in continuity with the Arkham games. If this game is going to have a lighter, Silver Age feel, it needs to set up what would make them grow dark in the future. What did Joker do in their first few encounters that would lead to this long rivalry? What would make Dick Grayson want to quite as Robin in the future? What was Arkham like decades before the events of the previous two games? Of course, unlike the previous two games, this prequel should not be set completely in Arkham.
The gadgets should also be less advanced, but similar to the ones in the last two games. But not too primitive. If this game is in the Silver Age, it should at least hint at Robin disliking how Batman is "treating him like a kid," however, it shouldn't take place at the time of the break-up. Robin should still be very young. It would also be nice to see Barbara Gordon as Batgirl rather than Oracle.
RIDDLER CHALLENGES:
Considering this takes place in the early days of Batman, this would be the perfect chance to show Batman's first encounter with The Riddler. It would be cool saving Riddler's hostages, collecting his trophies, and solving his riddles for the first time. It was great solving the Riddler Conundrum side mission in Arkham City, solving a little bit of the challenges at a time, saving one hostage after another until finally reaching Riddler himself. It gave me plenty to do after completing the game. I would love to have them have another Riddler Conundrum side mission, and would be happy to see what they could add to it, especially with it being Batman's first encounter with Riddler. My one complaint is, in Arkham City, there was 440 Riddler challenges total, and after completing 400, you could go after and capture Riddler. I expected something to happen after completing the last 40, but all I got was an achievement. Hopefully they'll fix that in the next game.
VEHICLES/FREE ROAM:
Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to actually drive the Batmobile in the next game? It will probably be an Adam West type Batmobile but it's better than nothing. And when it comes to free roam, they need to go bigger. Instead of just a section of Gotham, we should be able to roam the entirety of Gotham. And the section that we played through in Arkham City should be more primitive, and feel like a completely new environment, but we should still be able to tell that its the same area.
SKINS:
Most Batman: Arkham City fans know about the selection of alternate skins playable through download. I feel that if this is a Silver Age game, there should be some Silver Age skins such as a Adam West skin, a Brave And The Bold skin, a Zebra Batman skin or Rainbow Batman skins. I also don't think a Modern Age Christian Bale or New 52 skin would hurt.
MOST OF THE VILLAINS SHOULD BE FROM THE SILVER AGE:
The villains should fit the timeline. Some villains from that time include Killer Moth, Egg Head (60's TV Series), King Tut (60's TV Series), Mad Hatter Imposter, and younger versions of Scarecrow, Riddler, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze. The Mad Hatter Imposter would make a good side mission, discovering it's not the real Jervis Tetch and all. And it would be interesting if they retconned the old comics and have Mr. Freeze start off calling himself Mr. Zero.
FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH THE JOKER:
I am interested in what they will do with Batman's first encounter with The Joker. If they're going to go into Joker's origin, hopefully they use Joker's "multiple choice" and have us decide for ourselves how he came to be. I wonder if their going to go into him being the Red Hood and forshadow Jason Todd, despite this taking place in the Silver Age, years before Jason Todd became Robin.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
This should be BATMAN'S story, not the Justice Leagues. This should be about Batman, and about how HE joined the JLA, and HIS first encounter with Joker. Does that mean the JLA can't be playable characters or have a major role in the story? No, but this needs to be mainly about Batman. Also, this game needs to be for the fans and not just some way to make a bunch of money because a Justice League film has been announced. Do I expect this to be better than Arkham City? No. But as a fan, I expect them to at least try. Hopefully this game will surprise us all. What do you think about the announced Batman: Arkham City prequel? What would you like to see included in it? I will be happy to read your comments below.