Batman: Arkham Insurgency - 9 Things It Must Learn From City
Remember when Batman games actually had great boss battles?
Perhaps because it's always sandwiched between the revered Arkham Asylum and the divisive Arkham Knight, Arkham City is often overlooked when discussions about Rocksteady's Batman franchise pop up.
It's a shame that the sequel doesn't receive the same recognition as the iconic first title, because even though it branched off into an entirely different direction, it still stayed true to the roots of what made the original game so special.
Landing somewhere between the contained design of the original Asylum and the expansive, free-form open world focus of the latest release, City was an experimental title in a lot of ways, and the upcoming Arkham Insurgency could learn a lot from both its successes and failures.
Because after Knight's misstep and without the franchise's main developer at the helm, WB needs to come out swinging with a refined Batman sequel if it wants to win back estranged players.
It'll take some self reflection on WB's part, but looking back at what the previous games did well and understanding where the cracks in the franchise began to show will be essential in making Arkham Insurgency the hero the fledgling franchise deserves, as well as the one it needs right now.
9. Don't Sideline Other Villains For The Joker
A mistake that all Arkham games have made so far, sidelining or undermining villains that are supposed to be major threats by constantly returning to the Joker only limits the creative freedom that comes with telling Batman stories.
Because although City told one of the best Joker stories in the Caped Crusader's history, it also attempted to centre the main thread on others like Hugo Strange and Two Face - the latter ending up being particularly shortchanged as a result.
If City had always been sold as a pure Joker story then it would have been fine, but up until its release the game was positioning itself as a Batman title that was going to dig deep into the superhero's rogues gallery, making it all the more disappointing when the main threat turned out to be the Clown Prince of Crime the whole time.