The Arkhamverse predominantly comprises third-person, over-the-shoulder perspectives. The onlyArkhamgames that have chartered new courses in genre perspectives are the delisted mobile fighting gameBatman: Arkham City Lockdown, the2.5D side-scrollerBatman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and the standalone VR experienceBatman: Arkham VR. The latter isn’t a game as much as it’s technically a lightly interactive VR treatment of the Arkhamverse and a prelude of sorts toBatman: Arkham Knight, though, while the Meta Quest 3-exclusiveBatman: Arkham Shadowhas plunged the Arkhamverse wholly into the realm of VR/MR with comprehensive gameplay superbly adapting the flatscreenArkhamgames’ tried-and-true formula.
It’s no surprise that the biggest point of contention regardingBatman: Arkham Shadowhas long been its VR exclusivity, either. Besides the fact that the Meta Quest 3/3S title concretely earns its praise on the platform, it makes the case for the possibility of a flatscreen entry in the Arkhamverse bearing a first-person perspective.
Batman’s Arkhamverse is No Stranger to First-Person Perspectives
One ofBatman: Arkham Shadow’s primary design challenges was obviously having to adapt the mechanics and features that the Arkhamverse is known for with VR functionality, and it does so incredibly well. Gestures are immersive with Rats in Batman’s chokeholds, for example, and striking enemies in guided motions is remarkably fluid.
It’d be easy to see how a casual player might be taken aback by theArkhamformula’s transition into Batman’s POV, too, and meanwhile the Arkhamverse has proven countless times that anArkhamgame with a first-person perspective could not only be feasible, but also equally immersive and fluid. There are a handful of instances across theArkhamgames where the camera assumes a character’s POV instead of its ordinary over-the-shoulder perspective, such as when players discover Scarecrow’s secret hideout within a ship inBatman: Arkham City.
Every instance of Batman crouched and slipping through a ventilation duct has been experienced through his POV aside from inBatman: Arkham Origins Blackgate’s 2.5D perspective.
Moreover,Batman: Arkham Knightmakes frequent use of first-person perspectives to profound effect: a cold open with Officer Owens’ POV in Pauli’s Diner; an expository prologue flashback with Police Commissioner Jim Gordon’s POV lending itself to a terrific Batman jump scare; and afear toxin-induced nightmare sequence with Joker’s POVas the deceased and incorporeal Clown Prince of Crown begins to fully subsume Bruce Wayne’s mind, to name a few. None of these sequences include gameplay as robust as during regular over-the-shoulder sequences—electing to introduce first-person gunplay to the series instead—butBatman: Arkham Shadowdemonstrates how that POV would look so long as the game’s controls had a pad’s familiar button scheme.
Of course, a first-person flatscreenArkhamgame would abandoneverything that makesBatman: Arkham Shadowunique as a VR game, including players literally holding their arms out to cape glide or retrieving the batarang from their chest, but it’d be interesting to see such a game meld the two formats and determine what a competent blend of their features might look like.
A New Arkham Game Doesn’t Seem Like an ‘If,’ But a ‘When’
Not unlike Joker’s death being confident and bold,Batman: Arkham Knightwas seemingly the franchise’s cremation untilSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguedecided to roll around in its decorative urn. Lore, references, and Easter eggs always laid bare the potential forArkhamgames to exploreprequel stories taking place in Batman’s formative years, however, andBatman: Arkham Shadowwas smart to hop on that untapped market a decade afterBatman: Arkham Originsand itsBatman: Arkham Origins Blackgatecompanion piece.
Now, all signs point to the inevitability that a brand-new third-personArkhamgame will arrive in the future given that Batman was reiterated as a focal point of Warner Bros. and DC’s success in video games, and having it be as traditional as possible would probably gain the most traction with the widest audience imaginable.Camouflaj and Meta deserve to followBatman: Arkham Shadowwith a direct sequeland there are many blank pages in the Arkhamverse’s past, present, and future where a first-personArkhamgame, let alone any spin on POVs or genres, could be excellent.
