The Next Batman Game Needs to Do One Thing to Be Unique

Summary

Batman games struggle to break free from Joker's shadow, lacking imagination in storytelling and game design.
Gotham Knights' avoidance of Joker makes his presence more palpable, impacting character arcs and narratives.
Rocksteady's Suicide Squad game dangles Joker in front of players as fan service and demonstrates a reliance on iconic characters.

For as long as superhero games are around there will always be a discourse for Batman. In particular, the Arkhamverse canon and its tetralogy of Arkham games developed by Rocksteady and WB Games Montreal—if not also considering Armature’s Arkham Origins Metroidvania companion piece, Blackgate. Of course, it doesn’t help that hardly any DC games have launched since, leaving that half of the superhero gaming realm uncontested. Of those two games, neither has been able to make an authentic enough stamp and have resorted to iconography they’ve both claimed to retire.

This is disappointing for several reasons but not the least of which is the fact that there’s still a lot of untapped material to adapt and create for the Dark Knight mythology in games, if only studios would be imaginative with the character and especially his rogues’ gallery. If the next Batman game wants to be unique, all it has to do is not feature Joker. Bonus points would be awarded to it if it also refused to even reference him or feature Harley Quinn, whose mere presence irrevocably evokes a sense of remembrance for the Clown Prince of Crime.

Gotham Knights Has the Worst Imaginable Joker Treatment

Gotham Knights came so close to sealing the deal on a Bat Family game that would go without a Joker, but unfortunately there’s canonically no Harley without a Joker, his memorabilia is plastered throughout the Batcave, and he’s directly responsible for Barbara Gordon’s disability and Jason Todd’s death. Therefore, Gotham Knights choosing not to explicitly reference Joker was actually more distracting than anything.

Joker having such a significant impact on characters who are present in the story didn’t mean he had to be present himself, but the narrative dances around him so flippantly and nobody bringing him up is unrealistic, particularly since it could’ve fashioned a poignant bonding moment between Batgirl and Red Hood. So while Gotham Knights’ characters pretend Joker doesn’t exist, his presence is incessant.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Beats a Dead Clown

Rocksteady killed Joker in Arkham City and still managed to find a way to reprise him in an even larger role for Arkham Knight. This was at least well thought-out as Batman’s infected blood could give way to Joker’s psyche gradually subsuming his while ingesting fear toxin, even if Batman did take a cure at the end of Arkham City that supposedly thwarted his imminent death but didn’t rid him of the blood or its effects entirely.

It was at least respectable that Rocksteady stuck with its decision and kept Joker dead before locking him away in Bruce’s psyche for good. This was a phenomenal end to a terrific antagonist and while Rocksteady didn’t revive him or harp on him further in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League it obviously couldn’t help itself from plucking at that thread for cheap fan service.

The Elseworld Joker it debuted is completely unique from the Arkhamverse’s and doesn’t have enough legitimate story-related content to even properly assess him as his own character beyond an introductory cutscene.

That said, there are tons of other Arkham or DC antagonists who could’ve filled that role on the DLC roster without Rocksteady becoming overindulgent. Whether this was Rocksteady’s call or WB’s is irrelevant, too, because this is a systemic issue at large for DC that needs to be quelled at the root. Joker being in the next Batman game would cement the idea that DC is relying wholly on iconic characters rather than refreshing, adventurous stories, and it not alluding to the Joker in any fashion would already go a long way toward being a rarer entry, though that seems like a tall order at the moment.

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Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

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Released: February 2, 2024

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Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.

Featuring an original narrative set within an expansive open-world city of Metropolis, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts the four DC Super-Villains on a collision course with an invading alien force and DC Super Heroes who are now laser-focused on destroying the city they once vowed to protect. All the while, the Suicide Squad must be mindful of the lethal explosives implanted in their heads that could go off at the first sign of defiance.

Each squad member has their own unique moveset with enhanced traversal abilities to freely explore the dynamic open-world of Metropolis, along with a variety of weapons to customize, and skills to master.