Batman: Arkham Shadow’s cape stun is exciting and immersive as players swipe their own arm in front of them and watch as the cape billows out. The cape is elusive in VR since it is naturally draping behind Batman and can only be seen when it would normally be visible or wielded around his person, such as when he’s holding it out at his wingspan to glide or when he lands after dropping a great distance and the cape falls to his sides. These moments are terrific on the Meta Quest 3 and are subtle reminders that players are wearing the Batsuit, much like when theypeer down at their bodies or catch a glimpse of Batman’s shadow cast out along a surface.
However, Bruce Wayne doesn’t wear the Batsuit for the entirety ofBatman: Arkham Shadowand intermittently swaps to a brand-new costume: Irving “Matches” Malone, inmate at Blackgate Prison. In this disguise, Bruce relies solely on his fists to handle disputes, defend himself, and even rescue Carmine Falcone from TYGER’s Lyle Bolton, but he thankfully is able to wield pocket sand as a substitution for Batman’s cape stun. Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the first time Bruce resorted to brandishing the unorthodox item to incapacitate enemies as it can be traced back toBatman: Arkham Origins’ Initiation DLC.
Batman: Arkham Origins’ Initiation DLC Reveals Bruce Wayne’s Prototypical Gadgetry
Batman: Arkham Origins’ Initiation DLCmay only be a single challenge mode campaign composed of combat and predator challenges, but it’s also an interesting glimpse into Bruce Wayne’s immensely perilous training under the tutelage of Master Kirigi—someone Bronze Tiger also knows and name-drops inBatman: Arkham Shadow.
Here, the campaign mode reveals that Bruce’s trials included taking on waves of peers who were instructed to try to kill him, and striking his way through them all tofinally go toe-to-toe with Shivaonly awarded him with the opportunity to make tea for everyone and discuss further training. It’s this hardship that obviously helped mold Bruce into the hardened combatant and assassin he is sometime roughly two years later inBatman: Arkham Origins, where someone as revered and intimidating as Slade Wilson’s Deathstroke is outmatched and put down with swiftness and grace.
Plus, looking back at Initiation it is intriguing to see what kind of tools Bruce had available during his training and how they were adapted into the gadgets he equips on his utility belt as Batman. Shurikens were his choice of projectile that would later be adapted into batarangs, for example.
It’s no secret thatBatman: Arkham Originsis built from the bones ofBatman: Arkham City, and Initiation appropriates the Zip-Kick grapple gadgetCitydebuted for Robin. It’d be a neat nod if the Zip-Kick grapple hook was kept in its prototypical state and became a hand-me-down for each Robin, but that’s a speculative narrative stretch when it was likely just adapted for the sake of convenience.
The Cape Stun is a Paramount Element of Batman’s Gameplay in the Arkhamverse
What’s not a stretch is the idea that, before donning a cape and cowl, Bruce originally used pocket sand as a means of temporarily blinding and staggering enemies and then returned to that tactic as“Matches” Malone inBatman: Arkham Shadow. It’s a brilliant adaptation because being able to stun enemies is crucial to putting the “flow” in freeflow, instigating beatdowns, or dispatching a shield-wielding enemy before having to inevitably counter a henchman nearby.
Batman: Arkham Shadowcould’ve chosen to rob players of that mechanic when they’re Malone, but without any other gadgets to rely on as a safety net it helps facilitate great momentum. This might not have been an issue if Malone didn’t engage in much fisticuffs himself, but there are thankfully quite a few combat encounters as Malone while players are willingly incarcerated at Blackgate, including a boss fight againstTYGER’s Lyle Bolton, Blackgate’s newest warden.
