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Batman: Arkham Origins Coming to Wii U, 3DS

by Neal Ronaghan - April 9, 2013, 8:07 am EDT
Total comments: 25

The 3DS version will be a 2D Metroidvania from former Metroid Prime developers.

Batman: Arkham Origins is coming to Wii U and 3DS on October 25, according to a Game Informer's May cover.

On Wii U, the game will be developed by WB Games Montreal, the studio responsible for the Wii U port of Batman: Arkham City. Arkham Origins takes place a few years before the events of Arkham Asylum, and will star a younger Bruce Wayne. So far, only assassin Deathstroke has been confirmed as a villain, but in total, Batman will fight with eight assassins trying to kill him on Christmas Eve. The development of the game is being head up by Eric Holmes, who worked with Radical Entertainment on The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Prototype.

The 3DS version will be called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, and will be a 2.5D Metroid-style game from Armature Studio, which was formed by former Retro Studios employees who were leads on the Metroid Prime series. The story of Arkham Origins Blackgate takes place after the events of the Wii U game.

Both games are set for an October 25 release. The Wii U version is also coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, while the 3DS version is also coming to Vita.

Talkback

RazorkidApril 09, 2013

Excite on the prospect of a 3DS Batman metroidvania and will have this on my radar.  What a year the 3DS is having.

broodwarsApril 09, 2013

Well, if Rocksteady isn't doing the console version, then I have very little interest in it. I've heard very little good about the Wii U port of Arkham City.  The 3DS/Vita game, though, sounds like it could be pretty good, and with the Retro Studios connection it has a good pedigree.  I'll have to keep an eye on that one.

azekeApril 09, 2013

On the fence on both versions, need more details.

One small note. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction was a great game. Jumping around the city as Hulk and smashing *&^% up was so satisfying.

BlkPaladinApril 09, 2013

It kind of funny this isn't announced for the other two next gen consoles as of yet. So I wonder which was the "lead" platform. I'm hoping it turns out like NFS where the WiiU one turned out to be the best because they took time to their best on all the platforms.

broodwarsApril 09, 2013

Quote from: BlkPaladin

It kind of funny this isn't announced for the other two next gen consoles as of yet. So I wonder which was the "lead" platform. I'm hoping it turns out like NFS where the WiiU one turned out to be the best because they took time to their best on all the platforms.

Well, no one can announce a Durango game at the moment, so that just leaves PS4.  I assume that that version of the game might be announced whenever the Durango gets revealed, and until then PS3/360 alone will suffice.  As for the lead platform, it's probably going to be the platform that's easiest to port from and where the majority of the sales will probably be: the Xbox 360.

It is announced for Xbox 360 and PS3, as is the portable version for Vita. Didn't think to note that in the story since this is Nintendo-focused, but will add it in since it seems to have lead to confusion. :)

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 09, 2013

360 and PS3 aren't next gen, they're this gen.  Silly staffer.

reginApril 09, 2013

I guess we'll finally find out how good Retro would be without Nintendo.

StrikerObiMike Sklens, Podcast EditorApril 09, 2013

If Arkham Origins stays open-world I'll probably pass. Asylum is the far superior game due to it basically being a Metroidvania game. I am super excited for the Armature game though. That sounds awesome.

reginApril 09, 2013

I wonder if Reggie will invite the Armature guys to the E3 press conference for a live demo.

PhilPhillip Stortzum, April 09, 2013

Excited for both versions! Playing through Arkham City again, but this time on Wii U has me incredibly pumped for this announcement!

Killer_Man_JaroTom Malina, Associate Editor (Europe)April 09, 2013

Glad to see that Armature finally got their break. It sounds like they've been through some tough times since separating from Retro Studios.

CericApril 09, 2013

October the 25th.

Yeah I don't think the PS4 or Durango will be out by then so I expect this game to be announced as a launch game at the respective events.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 09, 2013

Funny.  There was a bunch of speculation that the former Retro developers wanted out because they were tired of working on someone else's franchises and they wanted to create something new and original.

Hey, look... Batman!

CericApril 09, 2013

Quote from: UncleBob

Funny.  There was a bunch of speculation that the former Retro developers wanted out because they were tired of working on someone else's franchises and they wanted to create something new and original.

Hey, look... Batman!

Not just Batman but a game in an Established Batman game series.  Its like double yoking.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorApril 09, 2013

Oh, and Mega Man!

I want to reiterate that the claims as to why they left were speculation - I don't think anyone really went on record and said that....

ejamerApril 09, 2013


"The 3DS version ... a 2.5D Metroid-style game ... Armature Studio ..."

This all sounds good to me. Looking forward to more details!

Quote from: azeke

...
One small note. The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction was a great game. Jumping around the city as Hulk and smashing *&^% up was so satisfying.

Deserves to be repeated.

azekeApril 09, 2013

Quote from: UncleBob

There was a bunch of speculation that the former Retro developers wanted out because they were tired of working on someone else's franchises and they wanted to create something new and original.

According to rumours they left because they wanted to make "mature FPS shooter" and lameass NCL wouldn't let them:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-daK-vg8Gkg4/Tlm8HNd8xsI/AAAAAAAAAxM/bCc2MtTBcnc/s1600/Jorge+wants+to+be+hardcore+but+his+mom+won%25E2%2580%2599t+let+him.jpg

ShyGuyApril 09, 2013

I'm Batman

I played the PS3 and Wii U versions of city and saw no percepti le difference

TeaHeeApril 09, 2013

I just picked up Arkham City today at the Best Buy sale, so I will be good for console Batman for awhile but the 3Ds one has potential.

CericApril 09, 2013

I have the whole series content complete on my computer.




Uninstalled.

TrueNerdApril 09, 2013

Much, much more interested in the 3DS /Vita version.

Kytim89April 09, 2013

if Ararmature Studios does a good job on this Metroidvania Batman game then could they be a good contender to make a 2D Metroid game?

I'm excited for both of these! However, I will be consistently skeptical about the 3DS one because the core talent at Armature haven't made 2D games before. They do know something about Metroid-style game design, so there's a lot of reason to be hopeful. I just hope it plays much faster than the console Batman games.

I can see worrying about their lack of 2D experience, but their having actually made a Metroid game before instills more confidence in me than their not having worked in 2D takes away. As I argued in the Metroid thread going on in the forums right now, Metroid's style is very tough thing to pull off correctly. Very few teams have gotten it right, and the guys in charge of this studio were part of one of them.

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