Spider-Man PS4: 10 Things It Must Learn From Batman Arkham

How about we make the stealth good this time?

by Ewan Paterson
Spider Man Arkham Asylum
Marvel/DC

Though Batman might be the comic book character most people associate with gaming greatness today, there was a time where Spider-Man was the go-to hero for gamers everywhere. There was the iconic PS1 game narrated by Stan Lee, Activision's (two) great movie tie-ins, as well as 2005's adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics.

The character has, somewhat unfortunately, been in gaming limbo ever since. And, as Spidey began to absent the spotlight, Batman stepped in to fill the void, with Rocksteady studios leading the way with their seminal Arkham Trilogy - a series of games that, while far from perfect, brought fans the definitive superhero experience for the seventh generation of consoles.

Arkham Asylum kicked things off with a stunning Die Hard-esque story of The Dark Knight trapped on Arkham Island, Arkham City went one step further (and several back) by applying the same premise to an entire city area, and Arkham Knight… well, it has its flaws.

In any case, the series itself can provide a whole host of lessons for its superhero successors, some from its many, many successes, and others from its failures.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.