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- Batman Arkham Asylum could be a potential remake target for Rocksteady, but this would be a bad move.
- The team has changed over the years, with studio founder Sefton Hill leaving a few years back.
- Batman Arkham Asylum set such a high bar that the smallest of issues could ruin a potential remake.
The trend of remakes and remasters is on the rise, giving developers an opportunity to bank on cult classics to make a quick buck. This trend can also help iconic studios struggling to adapt to the modern industry, with one such example being Rocksteady.
The team behind the legendary Batman Arkham series launched Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League earlier this year, and suffice it to say, the game ended up being a complete disaster.
This release not only hurt Rocksteady’s reputation in the industry, but it also led to major financial losses for publisher Warner Bros Games. In the aftermath, a recent rumor suggested that the team would go back to square one and remake Batman Arkham Asylum in an attempt to regain lost trust.
Though the validity of this rumor remains questionable, it led me to conclude that I don’t want to see a remake of this genre-defining release from the modern Rocksteady team.
Why it matters: A remake would help Rocksteady recover from the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, but it could hurt Batman Arkham Asylum in the long run.
Batman Arkham Asylum Changed Everything
Arkham Asylum – a game that aged like a fine wine
byu/ManySleeplessNights inpatientgamers
Before delving further into the subject, it’s important to understand just how big of a deal Batman Arkham Asylum was for the industry.
Released 15 years ago, this Batman adaptation raised the bar in every way possible for superhero games. While Spider-Man had already made a name for himself in the industry, Batman’s influence far outpaced past Spider-Man games, resulting in Insomniac’s modern Spider-Man adaptations being compared to the Batman Arkham series.
Batman Arkham Asylum was not only an achievement in gameplay, atmosphere, and writing, but it also nailed practically everything about Batman as a character. It was clear that this game came from a place of real passion and love for the source material.
Even today, Batman Arkham Asylum’s Metroidvania-like level design shines through. Its atmosphere, in particular, is beyond that of its successors, and I just don’t see modern Rocksteady doing a good job of capturing the nuances of the original.
For instance, it would be all too tempting for the team to go for more open environments in a potential remake. This is, of course, a trend that plagues the industry, and it would significantly diminish the value of the tightly crafted Metroidvania-esque levels.
Take a small glimpse at Batman Return To Arkham, 2016’s remaster compilation, and it becomes clear that artistic integrity is also far from easy to carry over between different iterations of the same game.
From the gritty color scheme to the character designs, each element of Batman Arkham Asylum was meant to induce an element of mystery and fright. However, these elements were lost in the 2016 remaster due to artistic differences.
Similar omissions in a remake would completely ruin the subtlety of the original release.
Rocksteady Is No Longer The Same Team
My biggest contention with Rocksteady returning to Batman Arkham Asylum is that much of the original staff responsible for this critically acclaimed release is no longer part of the studio.
The developer rapidly lost talent following Batman Arkham Knight’s release. Studio founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker departed in 2022 and have begun working on a brand new project.
For context, Sefton Hill directed the Batman trilogy during his time at the studio. Reports also claim that many former Rocksteady developers now work with Sefton Hill at Hundred Star Games.
With the team going through such drastic changes, it’s safe to say that Rocksteady is no longer the same team that delivered back-to-back hits in the past.
A Remake Needs To Be Done Right
In my opinion, Batman Arkham Asylum doesn’t really need a remake. I can understand why Warner Bros Games would say otherwise, but the game has aged quite well for a title from the earlier part of the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation.
Still, if a remake is inevitable, I believe it needs to be done by the right people. Konami’s Silent Hill 2 Remake is a great example here. This project was led by Bloober Team, but it saw extensive involvement from the original staff to ensure the modern rendition stayed faithful to the original vision of Silent Hill 2.
Perhaps Warner Bros Games and Rocksteady can work with series creator Sefton Hill and other developers in a similar manner if they plan to go ahead and remake Batman Arkham Asylum.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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