Top 3 DLCs I Want To See in BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT

With the release of Batman: Arkham Knight being less than two weeks away, fans are impatiently waiting for its release. The game will be Rocksteady Studios’ final work on The Dark Knight, and they have promised that Arkham Knight will be “the ultimate Batman simulator”. Based on their last two titles, Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, many have no doubt that they will deliver, especially if they keep their same quality stories, exciting gameplay, and awesome combat system. Though many complained that game and extra content are a bit pricey, Rocksteady assures that it’s worth it, since they will release six months’ worth of new DLC content.

One of the gems of the Arkham series’ are the DLC stories. From the Play as The Joker challenge maps, Harley Quinn’s Revenge, and even Cold, Cold Heart have been some of the best reasons to play the game. But how many DLCs will we get during that six month period? Information has already been released about extra skins, Batmobile race tracks, and challenge maps that will keep us busy, but I’m more concerned about the story missions involving both Batman and his allies. One of them will be Batgirl: A Matter of Family, a prequel story that a lot of fans believe will be Rocksteady’s take on The Killing Joke, and a Red Hood story mission where players take control of Jason Todd, the second Robin who became a more Punisher-styled type of vigilante. Since those characters already have their stories, there are three storylines I want to see included:

#1 NIGHTWING: A KNIGHT IN BLÜDHAVEN

Dick Grayson has been in crime fighting almost as long as his mentor and adopted father, Bruce Wayne. In his career, he has been Robin, Nightwing, and even an effective Batman from time to time. And while I could easily argue how a DLC with Grayson as Batman would be incredible, I’d rather talk about him as Nightwing. In the ‘Arkhamverse’, Nightwing has recently moved to Blüdhaven to begin his own crusade, so a DLC showing his early days in a new city would be an exciting new story for Rocksteady to tell. For shaping Blüdhaven itself, one could simply combine the north and south maps from Batman: Arkham Origins to create the city. In the comics, Blüdhaven is shown to be a much smaller city than Gotham (I’m guessing at least half the size), so a sandbox game that size would be believable. Plus, with Arkham Knight’s Harley Quinn pre-order DLC taking place in Blüdhaven, why wouldn’t they? Just because Rocksteady said they won’t be making Batman games anymore doesn’t mean they can’t work on someone else in the Bat-Family. I even wrote an article two years explaining why they should do a spinoff series with Nightwing.

#2 ROBIN: THE PROMISE

Many have taken the mantle of Robin, but few haven made the name their own like Tim Drake. Since his first appearance in 1989, Drake has changed not only what being Robin means, but the importance of a Robin to Batman and his mission. Rocksteady’s interpretation of Tim Drake was well-received by fans, even accepting the character’s buzz cut hairstyle as an indication that he is more MMA fighter than graceful acrobat. For a story mission, I would use “The Promise” storyline from Robin #167 (2007). In the story, there’s an escape from Arkham Asylum and Robin volunteers to deal with the convicts while Batman is busy. He takes down many of them, most notable are Lock-Up and Riot Act, but he takes the deaths of their victims more personally than usual. This leads him to become increasingly violent as the night goes on. It’s finally revealed that this night is the anniversary of his father’s death. Tim swears over his father’s grave that he won’t use this date as an excuse for violence, and he’ll get better to honor his memory more. This could be a good story for Robin since it would help explain why Tim’s father wasn’t even mentioned in Arkham City, which is surprising as he was a major part of his comic run. Also, it could show how skilled this Robin really is. Sure, we’ve seen him fight various henchmen, but going up against one of the major villains would really sell him as a character.

#3 CATWOMAN: ANODYNE

More so than any of Batman’s allies, Catwoman has had a strong presence in the Arkham series. Playing a major supporting role in Arkham City and Arkham Origins Blackgate, it’s no surprise that she would appear in the upcoming sequel. In recent trailers, she appears to be an ally, so is she officially not a thief anymore? If not, I’m sure the events of Arkham Knight will be just the thing to put her on that path to becoming the protector of Gotham’s East End as she was at one time. If that happens, Rocksteady can easily use “Anodyne” from Catwoman #1-4 (2003) as a DLC mission. In the story, Catwoman breaks into a GCPD morgue to investigate bodies involved in a string of murders in the East End. She finds out that the police are doing nothing about the murders because the victims are prostitutes, who are considered to be second-class citizens. With the cops refusing to help, Catwoman decides that she will protect them because nobody else will speak for them. This is a great story that can be easily adapted to fit into the game’s storyline and even introduce characters like Holly Robinson (who was mentioned in Arkham City), Leslie Thompkins (who has yet to make an appearance), and Slam Bradley into the ‘Arkhamverse’. Catwoman’s side story in Arkham City was already a brilliant move, so why not keep the momentum going?

What other DLCs do you expect to see? Are you looking forward to teaming up with a partner in the new Dual Play system? Drop a comment below! And be sure to pick up Batman: Arkham Knight on June 23rd!