10 Things All Superhero Games Can Learn From Batman: Arkham

Rocksteady's winning formula is one for the ages.

by Ewan Paterson

Prior to 2009, comic-book video games tended to invoke a number of emotions in fans of both comics and video games - primarily worry and dread. Despite the odd occasional success (Treyarch€™s Spider-Man games, Raven Software€™s X-Men Legends series), video games adapting source material from the comic medium tended to struggle both critically and commercially, with perhaps the most susceptible to poor quality licensed titles being the Caped Crusader himself, Batman. Thankfully, the developers at UK-based Rocksteady studios saved Bat-fans from another Dark Tomorrow and gifted them with one of the finest games of the past generation in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Utilising tropes from some of the most renowned series€™ in video-games and combining that with talent of some of the best people to have worked in the comic industry, it enabled Rocksteady to create a story and game worth really caring about. However, despite that titan of a title having redefined the comic-book video game, not every developer has been able to replicate their success. Why is this? Characters like Spider-Man, Hellboy and Captain America all have rich stories and exciting gameplay opportunities to exploit, but their most recent forays into the gaming medium have been all but devoid of the vibrancy that makes them so popular. The Arkham titles have raised the bar for all other licenced games to attain, and it is clear that there are lessons to be learned for developers wishing to tackle any men (or women) in tights - lessons Rocksteady can easily provide.

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.