4 (or is it 5?) Batman: Arkham Origins skins I'd like to see (Part 1)

So I've not posted anything in a good while. I'd like to spin some excuse about how I was ensnared in the evil machinations of uni work but we all know it's because I've indulged in a long sex/goat cheese tasting tour around Europe. So for my first post on this newfangled "blog" thing in many days, I thought I'd wallow in a bit of post-E3 geekery about one of my most anticipated games; Batman: Arkham Origins.

One of the most fun features of the preceding Batman: Arkham City was the ability to garb Batman in alternate skins, from the outlandish (and totally awesome) Sinestro Corps Batman to the sleek Batman Beyond suit. It's already been confirmed that Origins on PS3 will feature the Adam West batsuit and the Azrael "Knightfall" armour and, with this in mind, I decided to compose a wishlist of skins I'd like to see in this upcoming bounty of Batness.

5/4) The Batman Begins/Dark Knight Batsuit

And right away I'm cheating by adding two skins to one entry, LOLOLOL!

The Nolan movie suits were something that fans were clamouring for in Arkham City, filling sweaty internet forums with "Y NO NOLAN SUITS!?!" rants and deeply suppressing their homosexual urges towards Christian Bale. Seriously, sometimes even the music in Arkham had the odd Dark Knight-esque flourish that just reminded you how fantastically the Nolan suits would fit in there. Now that the Dark Knight trilogy is over, maybe we can expect to see both suits make an appearance in an actual good videogame.

I'd love to have the contrast between the more heavy, badass suit from Begins against the stealthy, modernised suit from the other movies and it would be great to reawaken some of the excitement we felt when first watching this superlative series of movies, even crafting our own Dark Knight tales in our heads as we play. Warner Bros, make it happen!

3) "The New 52" Batman

When  DC Comics rebooted their continuity under the "New 52" banner, one of the first looks at the newly returned-from-the-dead Bruce Wayne in action was this. And fuck, did it kick ass. This is easily one of my favourite iterations of Batman because his entire design seems to form around the idea of functionality. Will it help win his war on crime? If no, scrap it. The OTT musuclature of previous versions is gone, perhaps realising that such a ridiculous physique would hamper movement and STEALTH (y'know, one of the Bat's defining skills!). Instead we get a Batman that looks strong, yet agile and more sleek. His suit looks to be based around a simple, thick armour padding, with Bat iconography kept to a tasteful minimum. The colours, too, are more conducive to stealth. No blue cape and yellow chest emblem here! Even the ears have been shortened to prevent enemies from having something to grab onto in combat.

This is a suit worn by an experienced and deadly Batman, concerned with how his armour might best maximise his chances in brutal combat. Functional, aggressive and menacing, they'd be stupid not to put this in any future Arkham games.


As I've now hit my word limit for one post, stick around for part 2 of my Arkham: Origins wishlist.