Batman: Arkham Shadow Is Inspired By Arkham Asylum, Says Developer

Summary

• Batman: Arkham Shadow draws inspiration from Arkham Asylum's structure, especially in its dungeons.
• This is according to the head of the new developer, Camouflaj, who is taking over from Rocksteady on this new instalment.
• Batman: Arkham is exclusively VR, launching on the Meta Quest 3.

Batman: Arkham Shadow draws inspiration from Batman: Arkham Asylum, according to the developers. This is despite Arkham Shadow being a VR game, which is seemingly quite a departure from Arkham Asylum,

This comes from an interview with Ryan Payton, the founder of the developer, Camouflaj. Speaking with Road to VR, Payton sheds more light on what fans can expect from this new Arkham game, as the series once again returns to VR.

Batman: Arkham Shadow Isn't Open World, But Has "Asylum Inspired" Dungeons

"Above all, the structure of Arkham Shadow is inspired by the first game in the series: Arkham Asylum," says Payton. "This means the game isn’t open world, but it affords a high degree of freedom for players to explore a courtyard-like area that connects the game’s dungeons."

He adds that players will be able to return to previous dungeons and make the most of new gadgets they unlock. Some of these dungeons are said to be "Arkham Asylum-inspired".

As for the gameplay, Payton says that the most important thing for the team to nail down was the "freeflow, rhythm-based combat" from Arkham Asylum. With this in mind, it looks like Asylum is on the developers' minds often as they work on Arkham Shadow.

I Can’t Believe WB Is Bookending A Decade Away From Arkham With Another Batman VR Game

With Batman: Arkham Shadow the two most recent games in the series will be VR games released nearly a decade apart.

This isn't too surprising. We already know that, despite the change in developer from Rocksteady to Camouflaj, Arkham Shadow is part of the same universe as previous games. It serves as a sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins, which launched in 2013.

The last game in this universe, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, did come from Rocksteady, but it was met with mixed reviews, sitting at 60 on Metacritic. It also contains live service elements as new content is added on a seasonal basis, differing from previous games.

Batman: Arkham Shadow was revealed back in May. It is the second VR game in the Arkham series and will be exclusive to the Meta Quest 3. It's also the first proper instalment in the Arkham series in almost a decade, with the last game, Batman: Arkham VR, launching in 2016. Arkham Shadow is set to launch later this year, although we're still waiting on a more specific release date.

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