Rocksteady Studios Announce Two New Batman Games

Breaking News:  Warner Bros. Montreal promotes two new DC universe games, Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

It’s been five years since Batman: Arkham Knight, the third of the Arkham games developed by Rocksteady Studios, was released.  The trilogy is widely considered to be some of the best RPGs ever created, due in part to the simple yet wildly satisfying hand-to-hand combat, the visually stimulating storytelling, and the incredible voice-acting talents of Mark Hamill (Joker) and Kevin Conroy (Batman).

On Saturday, Warner Bros. Montreal announced the publication of two new DC universe games, Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Here’s what we know about both:

Gotham Knights

The Gotham Knights storyline, as outlined by the trailer released by WB, will follow the events that occur after the apparent death of the Batman, although it is not set in the Arkhamverse.

There are four playable characters: Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, and Batgirl, who look to be taking on The Court of Owls this time around, as well as Mr. Freeze. Other rumored villains include Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Ra’s al Ghul, Penguin, Riddler, Dollmaker, Clock King, and Black Mask. Each character will feature their own set of weapons/tools, cosmetics, skills, and what appears to be some sort of level-up system. Robin has powers of teleportation, while
Batgirl’s hand to hand combat looks reminiscent of Batman’s in the Arkham games.

Gameplay will feature the Batcycle, which looks significantly less squirrely than the Batmobile of Arkham Knight (although this could be due to the fact that an actual developer is playing in the video released by WB), but there don’t appear to be any actual vehicle battles.

Gotham Knights can be played in its entirety either as a solo or co-op game online (no split-screen) and will be released for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2021.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

There is far less information about this game so far, but it has been confirmed that it is set in the Arkham universe, which begs the question: Is Bruce Wayne really dead, and, if not, what is he up to?

The extended ending of Arkham Knight suggests that he may, in fact, be alive and using Scarecrow’s fear toxins to create a new, much darker Batman. Whether he will be in Kill the Justice League remains to be seen.

The game’s storyline appears to follow one basic premise: kill Superman. The Suicide Squad (King Shark, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang) have been sent by Amanda Waller to kill the members of the Justice League, but Brainiac has taken over Metropolis and presumably used his nanotech (or some other technology) to take over the Justice League already.

Though WB has not released any gameplay from Kill the Justice League, it is confirmed to be a four-player co-op shooter with an AI element for those players without a squad to round out each character. No word yet on whether it is first or third person.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be released in 2022, a year after Gotham Knights, available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

-- written by Kyle King

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Photo Credit:  Business Insider